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With sunshine overhead, laughter across campus, and familiar faces around every corner, more than 1,200 alumni, family, and friends returned to the Hill for Reunions Weekend, June 11–14.

“I went to Hamilton because I loved the sense of community there, and I get excited about bringing people together.”

For Dan Trachtman ’75, staying off campus during Reunion Weekend was never an option. “This will sound corny, but I want to be awakened by the Chapel bells,” he said.

Every time Shelley Gertzog Cowan K’75 returns to the Hill for Reunions, she makes new friends. Kirkland College, she said, was by definition a place where independent women charted their own paths, which involved coming and going — Cowan herself spent time abroad in South America doing field work during her college years.

The first test broadcast nearly wiped out the station’s total budget. The original broadcast range was only a few dormitory rooms and fraternity houses. The station survived fire, war, and COVID-19. And in 2026, WHCL-FM celebrates the 85th anniversary of broadcasting on campus.

Elizabeth Dolan Wright ’05’s love of returning to the Hill for Reunions took on an added dimension when she brought her two sons to her 15th and 20th reunions. After the 15th reunion, her younger son, Connor told his parents they’d have to move to Syracuse to be closer to Hamilton because that’s where he was going to go.

From sunny skies to drenching downpours, Reunions Weekend brought all kinds of weather — and even more joy — as more than 1,000 alumni, family, and friends returned to the Hill.

A constellation of affinities and engagement keeps Peggy Malloy Garte ’01’s heart on the Hill.

For Karthik Ravishankar ’19, his five-year reunion in 2024 was a uniquely enjoyable experience. The intervening years saw his classmates diverge in their paths in life and then converge again on the campus they so recently called home.

Fabulous — that’s the word Nanelle Napp K’74 uses to describe the Alumni Colleges and author talks presented by her classmates at their 50th reunion in 2024. Napp has always learned and taken inspiration from fellow Kirkland women, from her first semester at the College to her reunions and beyond.