Alumni Weekend

Why they really come back

This past weekend featured a plethora of events, most notably homecoming and Alumni Weekend. For some, this meant their dining hall was closed, which was just another unjustified inconvenience. For others, it explains why many of the people walking around campus seemed out of place. For a select few, it explains those two old guys who showed up at that frat party Friday night.

For me, this meant an opportunity to spend the evening with two alumni reliving their glory days, gaining invaluable insight into how alumni actually feel that one weekend they revisit college.

To the administration, Alumni Weekend is a chance to collect donations and to remind old students that, despite graduating, they are nevertheless a part of Binghamton history. Sound sappy? It is, to an extent.

Then again, college is a monumental four years of one’s life. It is true that most alumni look favorably upon those golden years, and are willing to come back and visit their university. The main difference, however, is that the reasons they come back, and often give back, are much different from what you might think.

The program of events for alumni offered over 20 different choices of activities to attend. Let’s face it ‘ if alumni wanted to attend another lecture, workshop or cultural development program, they would have stayed at work. To be fair, there are social programs offered to alumni. For a small fee of $15, one could attend a jazz and hors d’oeuvres social, with talk of country club life and Medicare filling the air.

I am not an alumnus so I cannot have a complete idea of what drives them back. However, this past weekend I was able to get a sense of what ‘coming back’ is really about.

In college you always had your favorite bar. Though you may not remember all the bars, you will have many memories in your favorite. Even though the official bar for alumni gathering is the Mad Moose, you will not wind up going to the Mad Moose. You never did as a student and you won’t as an alumnus. You will question why they chose Mad Moose and at the end of the night, Sports Bar is where you will wind up.

Odds are you will still remember your professors when you return. You probably won’t seek them out, but you will ask about them. You will be eager to share stories from when you were a student. Who wouldn’t want to brag about trick-or-treating at President Lois DeFleur’s home, or being friends with the Student Association president and watching him almost get impeached?

We all hope to have more money after we graduate than we did in college. It makes sense that when you come back you will stay at the newest hotel and you might treat yourself to a steak dinner at Number 5. Nonetheless, you will not forget the days of hoarding every cent you had. You won’t eat a meatball sub from Pepe’s, but you may drive by, just to see if crazy, dirty Pepe is still there.

No one ever forgets the first apartment they ever lived in, that true sense of independence. It is almost certain that you will drive by it and contemplate ringing the doorbell. Then you will realize that it is located in Downtown Binghamton and that going up to the door might not be such a bright idea. In the end, you will be appreciative you will probably never have to live in such a hovel again.

Alumni Weekend and homecoming are rich traditions. If you try and tell yourself that after you graduate you won’t come back for anything in the world, you will be mistaken. College is like a fantasy life, and though you may not follow the Alumni Weekend program, you will seek to relive those glory days, even if just for a weekend.