Introducing the 5th Reunion Committee

The Reunion Committee for the Harvard Class of 2016 is group of classmates that volunteer time to facilitate our 5th Reunion and foster community within the class long-term. The Committee is divided into three working streams, each led by a group of Reunion Chairs:

1. Program: responsible for coordinating virtual and in-person reunion events

2. Participation: responsible for raising awareness and engaging classmates in activities

3. Gift: responsible for fundraising to support the Harvard experience for future students

The Reunion Committee is open to all classmates, and we need all the help we can get to ensure our reunion is a success. If you’re interested in joining one or more of these functions, please email our Harvard liaisons, John Prince (John_Prince@Harvard.edu) and Molly Stansik (Molly_Stansik@Harvard.edu).

A Letter from your 5th Reunion Chairs

Five years ago, we exited the gates of Harvard Yard with the mandate: Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many of us were in a position to directly serve our communities as essential workers, researchers, and critical thinkers, working together to get us through this past year. And so, we would like to begin by thanking our fellow classmates who have continued to fight this unprecedented crisis.

Especially with the uncertainty and disruption that this year has brought, we think it is more important than ever to reunite our community. In addition to the devastating physical impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year has caused an immense emotional burden. While recognizing that we are as a whole quite privileged – including, in this case, by our age that makes us less vulnerable to the virus – many of us have suffered unpredictable financial circumstances, career instability, and physical isolation, at a time in our lives when we are perhaps especially dependent on our social networks. We have had to navigate the unknown, while also helping family and friends get by. Our response to this crisis has demonstrated our own strength, perseverance, and resilience, but has also shown us how much we rely on each other for comfort and support.

When we began planning this year’s reunion, we were optimistic that we would be able to gather in Cambridge together. But of course, we know that this is just one in a long list of life events – birthdays, weddings, graduations – that have had to adjust in the interest of keeping our communities safe.

We hope that although this year looks different, it will nevertheless provide an opportunity for nostalgia and for making new memories. We look forward to remembering the collective experience of our college days while also recognizing and sharing our individual journeys – the good and the challenging – over the last five years. While we can’t gather on campus – to dine in our Houses, hang by the river, drink margaritas at Felipe’s (or scorpion bowls at the Kong), sit on Widener steps where we were last all together, or visit any of the other countless places that formed memories through our four years at Harvard – a reunion is meant to be a celebration. We should be very proud of the people we have become since leaving Harvard Yard, and we know we will have opportunities to reconnect and to continue to reflect on our personal and collective growth for the rest of our lives.

We are still very excited to see you all, albeit virtually, in June. Cognizant of the dreaded “Zoom fatigue”, we have worked to design a reunion for these unique circumstances that is by and for the Class of 2016. We have so much in store for this weekend, from original stories to masterful talents to House stein clubs and more. Perhaps you will connect with a classmate on the other side of the world whom you never met in the four years we spent living within a one-mile radius. The upside of a digital reunion certainly is the accessibility and inclusivity it affords for our classmates who might not otherwise be able to attend in person.

In the meantime, we hope the Red Book offers you a chance to begin catching up with your classmates; to read about one another’s travels, passions, careers, and life highs and lows in the five years since we left Harvard. This book, in moments of disruption like the one we are currently living through, truly represents a snapshot not just of us as we are now, but of our world as it is today. We know it’s one we will likely come back to in the future when we reflect on this moment in our lives.

Given the compounding crises of this past year, we should also use this five year marker to think about the role we play in the world around us. We hope you will take this chance to reflect on how we can individually and collectively contribute to addressing systemic issues, confronting challenges in our society, and working towards a more equitable and just future – to continue to serve our country and our kind.

Sincerely,

Your 5th Reunion Committee

Harvard 2016 5th Reunion Committee Chairs