Episcopal class reunions Revived

Maggie Dugery ’23

Each April, the Campus Green is covered by large white tents in preparation for Alumni Weekend, a time for former EA students to return to campus. At Episcopal, the alumni network is very strong, anchored by class reunions every fifth year after graduation. While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused alumni reunions the past two years to be very different, they may be returning to normal. 

During Alumni Weekend, some classes attend an Upper School Chapel service; others take part in different festivities over the weekend.

This weekend is looked forward to by many alumni. Peter Dugery ‘87, comments, “Alumni Weekend has always been a good time. Class participation is usually high because classmates who live outside of Pennsylvania make an effort to visit EA for the weekend so it is really fun to see classmates who I don’t keep in touch with on a regular basis.” 

The last in-person alumni weekend took place in 2019. Leigh Stewart, Director of Alumni Engagement, explains the adjustments taken during 2020 and 2021, remarking, “For Alumni Weekend of 2020, I don’t think they [Episcopal] did a ton just because Alumni Weekend is typically end of April, beginning of May, and so I think they had obviously been planning everything and then had to put it on hold.” 

She continues, “But for Alumni Weekend 2021, it was all virtual. They had a coffee with the coaches, so Coach Buggy and Coach Fairlie were on a call. They did a cocktail mixing class with Tori Pratt, who is an alum.”

However, while virtual reunions have provided an opportunity for alumni to come together, this change is not a perfect substitution for in-person events. Michael Whalen ‘08, Upper School History teacher and EA alumnus, was lucky enough to have his ten year reunion in the fall of 2019. He reflects on this experience, saying, “It was nice. I saw some people that I haven’t seen since I graduated and some of my really good friends that I lost touch with, it was nice seeing them. We actually met up beforehand and then went.” 

Like many other alumni, Whalen believes that the reunion would not have been the same had it been on Zoom, remarking, “It takes more time going into Philly than clicking on a link, but it’s not the same connection. I think it would be weird. You would have to do breakout rooms. You can’t really connect with some of the people you want to see.”

Although the Zoom meetings were not a desirable situation, classes who attended those meetings were able to make the best of it. EA alumni have gained access to a myriad of new programs that were started because of the shift to online reunions. Stewart notes that, “Lauren [Maloney], the previous Director of Alumni Engagement, started a program called Engage EA, which is a virtual webinar series with events.”

 She explains, “[There was] a panel of CEOs and entrepreneurs. We had a panel with our first black graduates–because this April will be the 50th Anniversary of EA’s first Black graduate–a panel with journalists, as well as an EA lawyers network session.”

 Fortunately, EA reunions are beginning to shift back to in-person formats. Over the fall of 2021, there were many alumni events held in outdoor venues in Philadelphia, New York, and on EA’s campus over EA/Haverford Weekend. These events were attended by many alumni, and the Philadelphia reunion had double the number of attendants compared with previous years, which demonstrates how alumni are very excited to come together again. The Class of 1971 had a reunion in November, which included a memorial service for all members of that class who had passed away in the last fifty years. Looking ahead, Alumni Weekend of 2022 is scheduled to take place in person at the end of April. 

 EA’s alumni program and extensive network is part of what makes EA special and the alumni cannot wait to be back in person on EA’s campus and reunite with their classmates. Jill McEntee ‘21 says, “I think reunions would be a great opportunity because–especially for the classes of 2020 and 2021–our senior years were a bit abnormal and flew by so quickly. I would love to do a reunion soon to catch up with everyone because it’s sometimes hard to stay connected when we all go to school all over the country.”