Gather Brings Alumni Collectively for Shared Experiences, Family Enjoyable, and Extra

Earlier this month, Lawrenceville alumni got here collectively on campus for the first-ever Gather, co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni and Development and the Office of Community and Belonging. Gather is a brand new idea from Alumni and Development, designed to convey alumni of like pursuits collectively for a homecoming-style weekend on a two-year cycle – the years when Hill Weekend is hosted at The Hill School.

The inaugural Gather welcomed Black and Latinx alumni and their households for a weekend of particular displays, meals, and enjoyable for all ages, with over 130 attendees from as far-off as Los Angeles. Plans are being made for Gather 2027 to rejoice Lawrenceville’s alumnae, commemorating the fortieth anniversary of coeducation on the School.

With steering from co-chairs Dwight Draughon ’04 and Barry Gonzalez ’82, and enter from alumni focus teams, the weekend kicked off with a Friday night time Family Dinner and the film “Encanto.” Saturday started with breakfast adopted by introductory remarks from Head of School Steve Murray. Spanish instructor Julio Alcantara, who had been the scholars’ alternative as college speaker at Commencement within the spring, supplied the keynote handle. Attendees additionally loved Harkness lessons, group discussions, a profession panel, and a energetic dance social gathering within the night. With the night time nonetheless younger, soccer underneath the lights was an added attraction for alumni and their households.

Murray’s welcome message targeted on Lawrenceville as a world household and the place of all alumni within the School’s historical past and traditions. He acknowledged that the alumni function has developed over many many years and expressed gratitude to attendees for his or her contributions to School tradition. He famous the joy across the Gather initiative as an essential subsequent step in recognizing alumni teams within the context of the worldwide Lawrenceville group. 

Alumni from the lessons of 1967-2016 included Lawrenceville’s first two Black college students, Lyals Battle ’67 and Darrell Fitzgerald ’68, whose School expertise is honored within the naming of the Battle-Fitzgerald Atrium of Tsai Field House, the positioning of Saturday afternoon’s Big Red Social. Stuart Robertson ’11, additionally in attendance, had labored with Lawrenceville college students throughout his 2021-23 tenure because the School’s first artist-in-residence to create the expansive mural spanning the partitions of the Atrium. Some alumni returned to campus after a 20-year hiatus, and former college students of retired Spanish instructor Jose Marti had been significantly happy to reunite with him and his spouse, Sally.

Harkness lessons, led by Lawrenceville college, explored themes round constructing group, with alumni sharing tales drawn from their lives and reflecting on how these experiences associated to their time at School. Cameron Brickhouse, dean of Community and Belonging and historical past instructor, led a Harkness class on “Mapping Diaspora – Visual Connections, Ruptures, Creative Possibilities”; Hugo Caraballo, group life coordinator and language instructor, led “The Stories We Carry – Belonging and Community”; and Marisa Hedges, historical past instructor, led “Legislating Inequality – How Eugenics Shaped American Policy.” Zaheer Ali, government director of the Hutchins Center for Civics and historical past instructor, offered “Discovering the Hutchins Center for Civics – A Community Briefing.”

Panel discussions featured conversations round group, belonging, and Black and Latinx alumni who’re making an influence of their respective fields of endeavor. Director of Community and Belonging/Religion and Philosophy instructor Nuri Friedlander joined Battle, Brickhouse, Fitzgerald, and Gonzalez, together with present college students Olivia Codjoe ’26 and Kellen Fisher ’26, in a panel dialogue moderated by Draughon, “Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?” Ashley Gerrard ’12, Carl Haywood ’77, Chris Luise ’01, and Luisa Reyes ’10 participated in a panel dialogue moderated by Kat Martin, assistant director of Alumni Engagement, “Alumni Making an Impact.”

In his keynote, Alcantara urged the attendees to remain engaged with their School: “You are the living memory of this place. As alumni, you are not only storytellers but also co-educators. By sharing your journeys, by mentoring, by opening doors to internships, by simply showing up—you help prepare the next generation. With your presence, you keep the flame of this institution alive so it can light the way forward. You are the past and the present.”

Visit Lawrenceville’s Gather photo gallery on Flickr.

For extra info, contact Lisa M. Gillard H’17, director of public relations, at [email protected].