Spanning four different faculties and three generations, the Goodwin tribe attended the Alumni Weekend’s Sunday brunch. (L-R): grandsons Sam and Jack; Duncan Jr. and Duncan Sr.
Classes without Quizzes
The dancing Heebee-jeebees. Paint-the-rock sessions. Running clinics. Campus tours. Reunion brunches. Rollicking panel discussions. Quantum dots. Fairness, bias.
All of these events and topics were highlighted last April at the University of Calgary’s first-ever Alumni Weekend. More than 1,200 graduates, friends and families attended the educational extravaganza that launched UCalgary’s 50th anniversary that will continue to be celebrated throughout 2017.
While some alumni were content to swap memorable stories with former classmates and professors, others toured their offspring under the red arch, stopping at our very own prairie chicken before letting them paint one of our iconic rocks. And then there were those who came out to be students again — to absorb what new graduate-level research is taking place that keeps UCalgary an intellectually-vibrant campus. From provocative panels and interactive clinics to readings and entertaining brunches, one of the challenges was deciding what, exactly, to do.
Now, deep in the plans for next year, we hope you’ll attend Alumni Weekend 2017. Details and dates will soon be posted at ucalgary.ca/alumniweekend U
Many of the weekend’s events — from scavenger hunts and comic-making to CJSW Radio tours — were multi-generational. (L-R): Mary Moran, Andrew Mosker and Jackie Forrest discussed the future role of universities in a popular panel titled Calgary’s Next 50 Years. Professional drummer Tristan Wolfgang Knox led a drumming circle that left the lower level of Mac Hall vibrating. Running 101 was a sold-out workshop that gave personal assessments on running gaits and techniques. The “rock” was stamped by hundreds of handprints. The Calgary-based, all-alumni Heebee-jeebees kicked off the weekend. (L-R): Ken Lima-Coelho and Jonathan Love. (Back row, L-R): Singer-songwriter Matt Masters (Burgener), Amanda Burgener, Nora and baby Charles. Philanthropist, alumnus and business leader (L) Geoff Cumming chats with (R) Kelsy Norman (producer of podcast Peer Review) during a sit-down lunch in Mac Hall. They’re here, they’re there — they were everywhere. Discussing Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission were (L-R): Phil Fontaine, Lorena Fontaine, Kathleen Mahoney, Fred Kelly and Leroy Little Bear. More than 60 caricatures of alumni and their children were drawn by two artists from Shiraz Creative. Bouldering at the Outdoor Climbing Centre was a huge hit with all ages. (L): English professor and historian Aritha van Herk and (R) UCalgary president Elizabeth Cannon were two of the panelists who spoke at the Sunday brunch in the just-opened Taylor Institute for Learning. (L-R): One of the drumming circle’s participants kept the beat with the session’s facilitator, Chantal Chagnon.