As a newcomer to Emory, this weekend was an exciting time not only to celebrate the newest graduates of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, but to enjoy hearing alumni who graduated 50 years ago reminiscence about memories they shared together at Emory. Whether it was a story about traveling North together and their car breaking down in the middle of a snowstorm, a lab rat escaping from one of the classes, or their interesting choice of pets (one reunion attendee had multiple monkeys as pets during her adventures in Africa), one thing was very clear – this group may have graduated 50 years ago, but they could remember the good times they had at Emory and the friends they made along the way like it was yesterday.

The Class of 1961 arrived at the School of Nursing on Saturday. The day began with a tour of the nursing school, and included a faculty and student panel. They inquired about life as a nursing student now and discovered tuition is no longer $165 a quarter; nonetheless, some things remain the same (like the reasons students choose to become a nurse). Following the panel, the class joined special guest, Dean Linda McCauley for a lunch celebration to hear about the exciting updates happening at the nursing school. Following our busy day of activities, the class met up Saturday night to continue catching up. After a long dinner, they had to call it a night to prepare for the rest of the weekend’s activities.

On Sunday, we had a great group from not only the Class of 1961, but graduates from as early as 1942 join us at the Miller-Ward Alumni House for the Corpus Cordis Aureum induction ceremony. The reunion weekend culminated early Monday morning, with the procession at Emory’s 166th Commencement ceremony where graduates from 50 or more years ago from all schools gathered. After attending the Nursing School diploma ceremony, the reunion weekend had come to an end until the next time the group gets together to share stories of their latest adventures and continue to relive the great memories made at the School of Nursing.

It was certainly an early morning, but it was worth seeing the alumni in their golden robes leading the newest graduates into commencement.

-- Elizabeth Powell, associate director for alumni relations, Woodruff School of Nursing