Reduction in number of senior wristbands for Reunions causes distress

Members of the Class of 2015 were upset last week when they were reminded in an email that all graduating seniors will only be allowed one guest wristband for Reunions.

According to the April 2 email, graduating seniors can attend Reunions free of cost but can register one guest for $65, the same price as a wristband for students who are not guests of seniors.

Last year, graduating seniors were given the opportunity to purchase two $60 wristbands for their guests, and the year before they were given the opportunity to purchase five.

The Office of Alumni Affairs sent an email last year on April 2, 2014 to the then-senior and junior classes explaining that the number of guest wristbands would be reduced to two for the Class of 2014 and further reduced to one for the Class of 2015 and future classes.

The wristbands are only required for activities that take place after 5 p.m. in the Reunions tents. Wristbands are not required for events before 5 p.m., including the P-rade and events after that time outside of the Reunions tents, including the orchestra lawn concert and fireworks.

The email last year cited “the dramatic increase in overall Reunions attendance in recent years” as the reason behind the reduction, but interviewed seniors said they had either completely forgotten or never read this message.

Several of those interviewed said they were upset and shocked by the number of wristbands they would be allowed to have, explaining that they felt they were being forced to pick one of their parents or one of their friends, to celebrate their graduation.

Kat Gebert ’15 said she was distressed when she received the most recent email.

“It’s very inconvenient because I, like many other seniors, have more than one friend and multiple siblings,” Gebert said.

The Alumni Association should find a way to accommodate the crowds as opposed to stiffing new graduates, Emily Burr ’15 said.

“I find it irritating because students have to pay for guests anyway, and I feel that every senior has put enough time and money and effort into this school that they should be allowed the same number of guests previous years have been allotted,” Burr said.

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Others did not feel so strongly about the issue.

“It doesn’t affect me personally,” Brie Gilbert ’15 said. “I am hoping to be at NCAAs during Reunions, provided our [crew] season goes well. Also, as an international student, bringing friends and family to Reunions isn’t super easy for me anyway.”

The Undergraduate Student Government has also expressed dismay at the newly enforced policy, according to USG president Ella Cheng ’16. She said USG has contacted the Alumni Association for the allocation of two wristbands per senior and has requested the policy’s reversion to last year’s two-band distribution on behalf of the Class of 2015 and future classes.

Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The Alumni Association’s Associate Director for Reunions Mibs Southerland Mara stood by the University’s newly instituted wristband policy, noting that an email was sent last year explaining the policy for 2015.

“Due to the rapid increase in Reunions attendance and for the preservation of the Reunions tradition, the University reviewed its guest policy before Reunions last year and decided to limit the guests of seniors to one for 2015 and beyond,” she said.

Mara suggested that the University is already unique in offering Reunions.

“No other university does Reunions like Princeton, where all alumni are invited back for the weekend and seniors are included, free of charge,” she said.