Welcome Message from Chris Kiegle
Dear Members of the Class of ’89,
It is hard to believe it has been almost 15 years since we graduated from RPI. To put it in another light, this year’s freshman were born the year most of us started our freshman year but, in many ways, learning and life at RPI are a lot different for them than it was for us.
Do you remember crawling out of bed early in the morning, running to grab a quick DAKA breakfast, and then joining the march of the weary to the 8am F Test?
What about camping out for weeks on Hockey Line and going to sold out hockey games back when noisemakers were allowed and the Swarm ruled the rink?
How about climbing up or down the rickety steps of the Approach, perhaps after a late night out?
A lot has changed in the world since then, and a lot has changed on campus, too: The Approach has been completely restored; the Union has been completely renovated; and the classrooms and learning experiences have changed to take advantage of current technology. Now is your chance to come back to RPI again, to see what is new, and to reconnect with your old classmates.
It is time to make your plans for our 15 year reunion on June 10-13, 2004. There are lots of events on tap for the weekend:
Thursday – Dinner Cruise on the Hudson, campus tours
Friday – Golf outing; lunch with the Dean; Alumni College; All Class dinner
Saturday – President Jackson’s State of the Institute; Parade of Classes; Luncheon at the Armory; Class Dinner at the Desmond Hotel; Dance afterwards
Sunday – Sendoff breakfast
Lodging for reunion is available at the Desmond Hotel (site of the Saturday night dinner in Albany, 10 minutes from campus, (518) 869-8100 / (800) 448-3500), the Rensselaer Inn/Best Western (downtown Troy, (518) 274-3210 / (800) 528-1234), or right on campus, and will provide another way to link up with members of the class. Other than the Class dinner, kids are welcome at all events, and a babysitting service is available.
If you’re thinking about coming, talk to your friends. We’ll be adding a website to list who is coming, do more planning, and provide ways to link up with classmates. Keep an eye out for the class web page (coming to http://www.alumni.rpi.edu/Services/class/1989) and more general reunion information at http://www.alumni.rpi.edu/si/reunion/reunion.html. If you can’t make it, please make sure to fill out the Personal Update form so others can find out what you have been up to. You can also send on any news you want to share with the class to Joe Hom and he will post it to the alumni magazine.
We hope you can make it back. It can’t be a reunion without U!
Chris Kiegle