1st all-alumni, all-virtual reunion is May 13

The La Follette School’s first all-virtual alumni reunion is less than a month away! Alumni from 1975 through 2018 already have registered for the hour-long event on Thursday, May 13. Registration is requested.

Starting at 6 p.m. CDT, alumni will celebrate with the Class of 2021 and then reconnect with former classmates in Zoom breakout rooms based on class year. Breakout room activities will include a friendly La Follette School trivia competition, which is sure to bring back fond memories of Workshop and other grad school group projects.

The alumni reunion is this spring’s final Alumni Connections 2021 event. More than 100 alumni participated in the first two events.

On February 28, alumni from 15 states participated in a panel discussion with six emeritus and current faculty members. Participants discussed The Importance of Public Policy Before, During, and After COVID-19.

Emeritus Professors Dennis Dresang, Bob Haveman, and John Witte along with Professor Bobbi Wolfe and Associate Professor Geoffrey Wallace shared their insights and answered audience questions. Director and Professor Susan Webb Yackee moderated. A recording of the event is on YouTube.

“Thank you for putting together this event,” one alumna from the Class of 2014 said afterward. “As a bureaucrat feeling quite disheartened these days, it filled me with a surprising amount of hope for the future, and of course, pride in what our community has built so far.”

More than 50 alumni and students also participated in an online networking event April 15. Alumni hosted breakout rooms on health policy, education policy, state and federal government, international affairs, and community and social services. Each room had two to three alumni VIPs who hosted the conversations, with up to 13 people participating.