Frequently Asked Questions

Since we haven't started receiving questions quite yet, here's the full text of the letter from Reunion co-chairs Dave King and Gabrielle DiBianco describing the excellent events of our 25th Reunion Weekend:

For information on specific topics, check the menu items on the left side of this page.

Dear Classmate:

May, 2009 marks our 25th Reunion, when ’84 Thanks the Academy!  While we still have months of planning left until Reunions begin, this letter will tell you most of what you need to know about Reunions in order to plan a trip back to Old Nassau.

Reunions weekend kicks off Thursday, May 28, 2009 and we have a lot of things planned over the ensuing 4 days and 3 nights including our community service project, all kinds of kids activities, alumni/faculty forums, and of course great class dinners followed by awesome entertainment.  You can get all the details and register on our website, “Princeton 84.org”.  Registration will be entirely web-based this year.  The website will also provide updates on everything about Reunions, from who is registered to any additions to activities or changes to schedules.  We expect to have the website up and running for registration by the time you receive this letter or very shortly thereafter.  Stephen Ban, our webmaster, has developed our new site to handle everything ’84 related.

On Thursday we have planned a day of ’84 Gives Back – a voluntary community service project which ‘84 will undertake as a class.  This will be a great hands-on opportunity for class members and their families (including children) to give back to the local community.  One of the most interesting things about ’84 Gives Back is that we are coordinating it with current undergraduates, so this will be a great opportunity to work side by side with undergrads and learn what they are up to.  John Hatch is organizing our ’84 Gives Back effort and can answer any specific questions you may have.  More details will be posted on the website as we get closer to Reunions.  All you need to do now is to plan on being in Princeton Thursday morning.

Thursday night, Reunions activities begin at Whitman College with dinner and some mellow entertainment.  For those of you wondering, “Did I live in Whitman?” the answer is no. It wasn’t even there 25 years ago.  Go to where you remember the tennis courts – just north of Baker Rink and west of Dillon Gym – and you will be in Whitman College – Princeton’s first newly-constructed residential college.  This is the headquarters for ’84 Thanks the Academy.

Friday, May 29, 2009 kicks off with all sorts of Going Back activities ranging from Alumni Faculty Forums to athletic events and the Reunions golf tournament.  Stay tuned to our website for the most up-to-date details on these and all other programs.  There will be numerous opportunities for kids of all ages to participate in Reunions, as well.

Friday night we will have an ’84 Class Dinner followed by Studio ’84 back in Whitman College. Bring your dancing shoes.

Saturday’s highlight will be the P-Rade.  ’84 leads it off this year from Nassau Hall.  Dave Brodess is organizing the 1984 P-Rade procession so make sure to touch base with him if you want to help out with the 1984 Procession in the P-Rade.

There are a lot of details to pay attention to and we have tried to make this very easy.  You can register online simply by going to our new class website, www.Princeton84.org.  But read on so you know everything about our 25th to help with Registration.

Let’s start with the basic premise that we can clothe you, feed you, house you, and entertain you for four awesome days and three fantastic nights in Princeton.   When we say “you” we mean, the ’84 you, your spouse or significant other and all your progeny - everything but the dog and cat.

HOUSING:  We have a campus housing allotment, but not nearly enough of an allotment for every member of the Class who will want on-campus housing, and not necessarily in room configurations that match your family configuration.  We will allocate campus housing on a first-to-register basis.  Wendy and Tock Rush, our Housing Chairs, have also acquired rooms very close to campus at Westminster Choir (Rider) College and at the Seminary.  These rooms are bargain-priced options very near campus, and will be served by our shuttle service.  When we run out of on-campus rooms we can house people in these very convenient locations at very attractive rates.  Wendy and Tock have also reserved rooms in a number of local hotels.  These rooms are reserved under the Class of ’84 and are available to all classmates.   A list of hotels and their phone numbers was mailed out earlier this year and can also be found on the website.

COSTUME:  So what are we wearing?  Jackets of course!   Each classmate will have a jacket which will become a permanent part of our Reunions wardrobe.   Gabby DiBianco has designed the men’s jacket to fit “comfortably” while the women’s model is more fitted.  Women can order either the women’s version (sized by women’s sizes) or the boxier, fuller cut version (which is denominated in men’s sizes).  Men had probably better stick with the men’s version.

Every classmate will also have a Reunions pullover shirt – in some form of orange.  Bring back all your old Reunions gear as well – the 15th Hawaiian shirt, your 20th Birdwell Beach Britches, an Eighty-Fore 10th Reunion golf shirt, and of course, the famous tie-dyed 5th Reunion pants.  All are appropriate Reunions wear.  We have great shirts for the kids as well this year. 

ACTIVITIES:  So what do I do during the day while I’m drying out, and more importantly, what do my kids do in Princeton?

We will have an awesome entertainment program for kids of all ages.  Terry Pflager has planned a lot of entertainment including games, music, and kids entertainers around our ’84 Thanks the Academy HQ.  We also have some athletic programs organized for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.  These will include a soccer camp run by P.U. varsity players as well as a lacrosse camp run by members of the P.U. lacrosse team.  On Saturday night we will have movie nights for little and larger kids with appropriate Academy-rated celluloid rolling.

There will be plenty of daytime activities for adults.  On Friday there will be alumni-faculty forums which are discussions led by professors and alumni on current topics.  Patrice McConnell Cromwell is organizing our participation so if you have an idea for an interesting topic or an interesting classmate who should be on a panel, contact Patrice.  You can also get more detailed information on the Alumni Faculty Forums on the website. 

MEMORIAL:  Lastly, we will find an appropriate time and place to honor those classmates who are no longer with us during Reunions.  Tina Dockstader Kinard heads this effort and will be posting details of our ’84 Memorial shortly.

OUTREACH:  As a major Reunion approaches, classmates always ask, “Who is coming back this year?”  This is a tough question to answer right now, but one of the benefits of our new website is that we will be able to see who has registered for the 25th.  There are 1,134 active members of the Class of 1984.  Somewhere between 600 and 700 of those can be expected to return to Old Nassau for the 25th.  Not too shabby.  With that said, there are a lot of classmates out there who have never returned to a reunion.  And there are plenty of others who need a little encouragement to return.  To this end, Stan Berger has agreed to captain ’84 OutReach, our class effort to bring all of ’84 back for the 25th.  If everyone who reads this letter would reach out to his or her freshman roommate(s) with a phone call or an email to encourage them to come back, we will set another 25th Reunion attendance record as we did at the 20th.  Phone numbers and email addresses are all on Tigernet.  Every member of our Reunion Committee has agreed to make this effort – some with a little arm twisting.  Could each of you reach out as part of ’84 OutReach to your freshman roommate and ask him or her to meet you at the ’84 Thanks the Academy – the Class of 1984’s 25th Reunion?

That’s a great start on what you’ll need to know for what promises to be an exceptional weekend of Orange and Black festivities.  Book your travel now, register online (if registration isn’t working when you receive this it will be working very soon), contact your classmates and friends, and get ready to walk the Orange carpet for our 25th Reunion.

Yours in Princeton,


David King                           Gabrielle DiBianco
Reunions Co-Chair                Reunions Co-Chair