The Eastman Quadrangle was ‘ever better’ during Meliora Weekend, with many alumni, students, and families stopping to pose for photos with the larger-than-life letters. (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)
Thousands of alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, community members, and friends celebrated their connections to the University during Meliora Weekend, October 6-9. This year’s festivities featured a gala event to celebrate the success of The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester. The Campaign, which formally concluded June 30, raised more than $1.3 billion in support of University research, endowed faculty professorships and leadership positions, student scholarships and fellowships, new buildings as well as renovations to existing facilities, and new academic and curricular programs.
Combining reunions, homecoming, family activities, performances, lectures, and community celebrations, the weekend offers something for everyone.
Headlining performers included Tony Bennett, in concert at Kodak Hall; Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show; and a free outdoor concert from multiplatinum singer-songwriter Ben Folds.
Meliora moments
#URMW16 on social
Celebrating a campus transformed
Meliora Weekend follows one of the most active construction periods of all time on the River Campus. Many new buildings and spaces have been opened and dedicated over the course of the The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester.
Meliora milestones
An animated timeline shows the transformation of the University’s campuses, highlighting new buildings and projects from 2006 to the present day.
‘Reinvented Douglass’ new hub of student life
The Frederick Douglass Building officially reopened in September after a complete renovation of the iconic 79,000-square-foot space. “I feel like I’m in a different building,” says Laura Ballou ’97, director of the Campus Center.
Burgett Intercultural Center dedicated at refurbished Douglass Building Established in 2013 and named for the vice president and senior advisor to the president and Eastman School of Music alumnus, the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center promotes cultural awareness and engagement, and educates on issues of identity, culture, and diversity.
Evans Lam Square offers new approach to library design
A new state-of-the-art learning and research space in Rush Rhees Library, named for University Trustee Evans Lam ’83, ’84S (MBA) and dedicated on October 5, “will function much like a town square,” says Mary Ann Mavrinac, vice provost and the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of the River Campus Libraries.
50th reunion for ‘U of R, U of R — ’66!’
Celebrating its 50th reunion at Meliora Weekend this October, the Class of 1966 ushered in “the ’60s” between freshman and senior years, as policies relaxed and a commitment to protest grew. “We wanted to the heard and seen and to show that we knew things were going on in the world and we didn’t like it,” says reunion cochair Larry Cohen ’66.
Class on the cusp
From ‘professionalism to protest,’ members of the Class of 1966 ushered in the ’60s.
Recalling a ‘Golden Past’
Jocelyn Trueblood ’66 shares the musical bent of her great-grandfather, Herve Dwight Wilkins, Class of 1866. He arranged the tune for “The Genesee,” Rochester’s alma mater.