Second Alumni Weekend a big success
22 Sep 08
Around 1,000 people visited Oxford University between 19 and 21 September to take part in its second university-wide Alumni Weekend. Returning Oxford graduates were offered a packed three-day programme of 140 events, many chaired by well-known alumni. A video containing highlights of the weekend will be available at the Alumni Weekend website on Friday 26 September.
Highlights included Dame Emma Kirkby in concert with the London Baroque; an exclusive University of Oxford Question Time hosted by David Dimbleby; a lecture on 20th century battlefields by Peter Snow; memories of the Playhouse by Libby Purves; and looking back on the Proms with Sir Nicholas Kenyon.
The 2008 Weekend entitled Meeting Minds – Global Oxford attracted more visitors than last year and included, for the first time, an additional strand of events for children too.
Commenting on the Global Oxford theme, the Chancellor Lord Patten said the aim was ‘to showcase our international presence and demonstrate our continued focus on the big global issues affecting our world today’.
Nancy Kenny, Director of Alumni RelationsWith an attendance more than quarter larger than last year's, 2008's Alumni Weekend was a great success, and promises well for next year's event.
Nancy Kenny, Director of Alumni Relations, said: ‘More than 1,000 alumni and their guests returned to Oxford on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the second annual Oxford Alumni Weekend. Some had signed up for as many as 15 of the 130 separate events, and all had a stimulating time, reminding themselves of the Oxford of their student days and learning about the Oxford of 2008. With an attendance more than quarter larger than last year's, 2008's Alumni Weekend was a great success, and promises well for next year's event.’
As well as the lectures, concerts and panel discussions, there were behind the scenes tours, which offered alumni the opportunity to get special access to the workings of the museums and see the underground book conveyor linking the New Bodleian to the Old Bodleian Library. Other popular sessions were beginners’ workshops in a variety of international languages, from Modern Greek to Mandarin Chinese.
Next year’s Alumni Weekend will run between 25 and 27 September 2009 and you can sign up for it as from today at the Alumni Weekend website. Reports, photos and downloads from the 2008 event will also be available at the site.