Returning "home"

No matter how many Facebook friends you have, there’s nothing that beats reconnecting in person.

For hundreds of Dal alumni, the chance to reconnect with classmates is one of the main reasons they return to campus for Homecoming festivities each fall. Reunions are a key part of the Homecoming experience, especially for a campus with the diversity of faculties that Dal has. They’re an opportunity to see familiar faces and places and take stock on how things have changed — and what’s stayed the same.

This year’s Homecoming, which takes place October 3-5, features a number of milestone reunions, including 10th (2003), 20th (1993), 25th (1988), 40th (1973), 50th (1963) and 60th (1953) reunions.

Halifax-based Engineering alum Ron Gilkie isn’t part of a milestone class this year, but he’ll be at Homecoming all the same. He’s no stranger to milestones, though: he’s already celebrated two 50th reunions (for his Science and Engineering degrees) and plans on attending a third next year for his Masters of Engineering class.

“As both a former student and a former professor, it’s just really fun to meet up with everyone I’ve known through the years,” says Gilkie, who was a faculty member from 1967 until 2006 — starting back when the school was the Nova Scotia Technical College, known casually as “Tech.”

When asked about campus memories, Gilkie, who is a past president of Engineers Nova Scotia and served as longtime secretary for Camp 7 of the Iron Ring association, cites his relationships with faculty as well as cheering on the Tech teams against their rivals at other universities.

“Because students at the associated universities [that fed into Engineering] would eventually come to Tech, we had the cream of the crop of athletes,” he says.

Lifelong friendships

For law alum Penny Tham, athletic memories also stand out — in particular, cheering for the intramural teams (including the beloved “Law C” team) with her classmates in the Class of 1984. For their 25th reunion in 2009, the class members organized a ball hockey tournament and auctioned off an old jersey for charity, signed by the entire Law C team. (Photo: Penny Tham)

Tham also attended her 20th reunion, taking the award for the “furthest from away” alum. (She was living in Hong Kong at the time; she now works with the International Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C.) She says part of the appeal in returning to campus was getting to see how the Weldon Law Building had changed: she graduated just prior to the fire of 1985 that destroyed the law library.

“We got a tour of the new classrooms and the new library, but there were still the old classrooms too,” she says. “It was special, seeing the old and new coming together.”

But her main reason for returning was the chance to see her classmates again. As a student who came to Dal from away (she was raised in Vancouver), spending time with her classmates in and out of the classroom defined her Dalhousie experience.

“I remember our first thanksgiving, first year, six of us just rented a car and drove up to the Annapolis valley to explore. It was just spectacular.”

Advice for attendees

What advice do Gilkie and Tham have for alumni who are thinking about coming to Homecoming this year?

“For the ones coming from away, for sure take advantage of the tour of the campus and see all the things that are going on and how things have changed,” says Gilkie.

“You won’t be disappointed,” says Tham. “It’s fantastic to see so many people at the same time. They should sign up for as many events as possible.”

For more on this year’s Homecoming, visit the Alumni and Friends website.