It was an unscientific poll--we pretty much accosted whoever happened to be standing there--but the preference was for the milk chocolate fountain over the white chocolate fountain. Personally, I preferred the bitter sweetness of the white chocolate to the sweet sweetness of the milk, but, hey, it was the Class of 2009's night. What they want, they get.

Besides, that just left more white chocolate for me.

The dessert reception at the Miller-Ward Alumni House that follows the Candlelight Crossover is a must-see for anyone who likes breaking fire codes. Graduating students literally spill out onto the patios because the house can't hold any more. For many students, the reception is their first visit to the house and frequently their first encounter with the EAA (although we're working hard to change that). The EAA owes them a great time and judging by how long it takes to clean up, we deliver.

The Crossover itself was impressive. It took more than 20 minutes for some 600 students to make their way across the Houston Mill bridge from the Emory Conference Center Hotel to MWAH. Last year a drizzling rain put a slight damper on activities, but this year the weather was perfect. And every year, more and more alumni come out to greet the new students, which is great. Now in its sixth year, Crossover festivities are a great draw for Emory Young Alumni, many of whom helped establish the tradition. It's exciting to see how it's growing, and by every account, the Class of 2009 is all in.

Seeing so many graduating seniors gathered at our front desk to update their email information (a hugely important effort in making sure our newest alumni stay connected to Emory after graduation) was exciting. I swear it looked like the Connector at rush hour. There were no real lines, everybody just moved in and out without using their signal, and way too many people were uncomfortably close to way too many other people they really didn't know all that well. It was great.

Getting new alumni signed up is all well and good, but once the candles were extinguished, the evening was all about the desserts. And there were a lot of desserts.

There were cakes and cookies and little pudding-thingys that would make even the most finicky eater's tastebuds do backflips. My personal favorites were these lime treats that looked like mini-pies. Had no one been looking I would have seen how many I could have stuffed into my mouth at once, but I was wearing a nametag and couldn't risk it.

Besides, there are always leftovers.

--Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA