Hens come home
Fourth annual UD Alumni Weekend a hit with returning Blue Hens
3:39 p.m., June 4, 2012--Although it began amidst ominous weather warnings on opening night, the fourth annual University of Delaware Alumni Weekend held June 1-3 was a great time for more than 3,000 Blue Hens of all ages to catch up with former classmates and sample the wide variety of activities on the Newark campus.
“Things went beautifully, in spite of the weather,” Cindy Campanella, director of alumni relations, said. “I personally want to thank all the internal and external UD partners, and several hundred volunteers, including our UD employees.”
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While the Dela-bration Mug Night was postponed from Friday to Saturday due to the threat of severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning, the weekend was full of fun events that included a 5K race, the Blue Hen Picnic, President Patrick Harker’s "State of the University" address and the Alumni Wall of Fame ceremony.
“We had more than 2,500 attendees for Mug Night, including 300-plus walk-ins,” Campanella said. “Other outdoor events planned for Friday were transferred inside and everyone had a good time."
The fourth annual Blue Hen 5K was held Saturday morning, June 2, and drew some 339 entrants. Mark Hannagan led all runners with a time of 17:03. Top female finisher was Jeanine Radice, assistant head coach of the UD women’s basketball team, who covered the course in 19:47.4. For a list of finishers and their times, race entrants and finishing order, visit this website.
Reunion classes celebrating 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 50th milestones made gifts to the University added to the festivities with gifts totaling $2,036,140 -- helping UD to continue a strong tradition of academic excellence.
Tours of the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus were extremely popular, and the weekend also included a first-ever private tour of Longwood Gardens, Campanella said.
“I want to thank all of the colleges and departments for hosting all the remarkable events that took place,” Campanella said. “It takes a lot of imagination and innovation to come up all the creative programs that making coming back to campus exciting and memorable.”
Other Alumni Weekend resources
An article on the "State of the University" address.
An article on the Alumni Wall of Fame's Class of 2012.
UD in Photos Alumni Weekend galleries.
Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson, Evan Krape, Ambre Alexander, Duane Perry, Shawn Kirkpatrick, Doug Baker and Lane McLaughlin