Long hours in the tents: The Reunions crews

As over 20,000 alumni and current students throw their cares away at Reunions this weekend, small teams of students work nonstop to ensure that all the events run smoothly.

Each of the major reunions has its own crew that arrives on the Tuesday before Reunions to set up tables, prepare the class’s costumes and set up the registration sites.

After the setup, the Reunions crews are responsible for making sure alumni and their families are enjoying themselves.

“The kids have been really cute,” said Kate Miller ’13, who is working the 20th Reunion tent in front of Dillon Gym.

Miller said she enjoys the 20th Reunion because the alumni are old enough to have young kids yet are still fun enough to be around each night.

“You keep people coming through, and we keep them entertained with our Rubik’s Cubes and karaoke,” Miller said.

Brendan Connolly ’13, who is in charge of running the 15th Reunion, said there are plenty of cute kids at the 15th as well. One of his responsibilities is to organize activities for them.

“We had an Olympic field day today with the kids,” Connolly said. “Each kid probably got about eight gold medals because we have plenty to give out.”

For younger children, many tents have small play areas. The 15th Reunion tent also has various accommodations for parents with younger children, such as changing rooms.

Connolly worked the 10th Reunion his sophomore year and said there has been a major difference in his experience between working the two tents.

“The 10th felt like much bigger of a workload,” Connolly said. He said this year, “there have been a lot less problems and small things to worry about, and the alumni have been pretty chill.”

Each Reunions crew is composed of about 15 student workers who are overseen by a student leader and an organizer from the alumni class.

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Although the crews are well-compensated, they work extensive hours throughout the weekend. Miller said the crews work from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. “or whenever people leave, so probably later.”

Each crew is organized by members of the previous years’ crews, working in conjunction with members of the organizing class years.

Connolly, a center on the men's basketball team, said he got involved because an alumni representative reached out to members of the team and asked them to piece together a crew to work the 15th Reunion.

Even though the hours are long for the members of the crews, Connolly said he does not feel like he’s missing out on the chance to participate in the fun.

“I’ll have my time to get out there,” Connolly said. “Right now I’m making the money, and one day I’ll have my time in the spotlight.”