Summer 2008: Register

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Emory Weekend Traditions Shine

Alumni join grads and parents for ‘best ever’

By Eric Rangus

For each of the past five years, at the conclusion of Emory Commencement Weekend, the Emory Alumni Association (EAA), as well as many of the alumni, parents, and students taking part, has branded it the “best ever.” The aftermath of the 2008 celebration was no different. “We’re better at getting the word out and traditions are being established,” said Gloria Grevas, the EAA’s assistant director for reunions and Emory Commencement Weekend. “We’ve had Corpus Cordis Aureum and the Candlelight Crossover for five years, and they have become meaningful components of the Emory experience for both our older and newer alumni.”

Emory Commencement Weekend, which ran from May 8 to 12 with events stretching from Oxford to every corner of the Atlanta campus, drew an estimated two thousand alumni and guests.

Thursday evening’s Candlelight Crossover was more popular than ever. The Block Party and Concert on Saturday afternoon previously had been held on McDonough Field, which is now closed for construction. That prompted a move to an actual block (Asbury Circle), with happy results. Guests (estimated to be about 1,200 during the three-hour event) moved freely through the heart of campus, enjoying chili dogs from The Varsity and grooving to the sounds of Emory bands We Fly Standby and Splitting Images.

The Torch and Trumpet Soirée, a student and parent dance party at the Emory Conference Center Hotel, began on Friday, May 9, and didn’t end until around 1:30 the following morning. Music from the Gary Motley Trio and DJ TJ 06C kept the dance floor full.

There were also poignant moments, as when student speaker Samantha Ehrlich 10C addressed some two hundred guests at the Corpus Cordis Aureum induction ceremony, Sunday, May 11. This is the EAA’s special group of alumni from fifty years ago and earlier.

“I cannot begin to image what I will be doing fifty years from now,” said Ehrlich, cochair of the Student Alumni Association. “I know for a fact that I want to be exactly where you are today, still engaged with my alma mater. I admire each of you for your dedication, your contribution, and your eternal spirit. You inspire me to reach for my goals, you teach me to embrace deeply rooted traditions. Most importantly, you are my friends.”