Children of all ages accompanied their parents to the festivities; not an uncommon sight were infants squirming or sleeping in parents' arms while their elders reminisced with classmates, listened to lectures, and marched in the P-rade.

There was no lack of intellectual stimulation -- the weekend's activities were packed with panel discussions and symposia. Alumni could choose from a wide range of topics, from tax reform and tuberculosis to bioethics and China. The Class of 1953 kicked off the weekend on Thursday with a symposium on "Population, Birth, and Death in the 21st Century. Who Lives, Who Dies, and Who Decides?" On Friday the Class of 1943 sponsored an all-day forum on "The Amazing Human Mind."

Early birders, roughly half of whom were physicians, trickled into a Friday morning discussion on reshaping health-care delivery. Panelists talked about what's lacking in our nation's health-care system and what we should expect from it in the future. According to David S. Gordon '63, senior vice-president and chief medical officer of Aronex Pharmaceuticals, medicine is in trouble. Physicians aren't managing the business side of medicine, he said, and patients aren't assuming enough responsibility for the quality of their care. Hewes D. Agnew '58, a cardiovascular surgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital, was more blunt: "We have a lousy medical system." The only people who should exercise leadership in reforming the system are doctors, patients, and hospitals, said Agnew, but they aren't.

At a discussion titled "What's Happening to News Journalism?" alumni working in media discussed problems in their field, some of which are timeless -- the lack of editorial integrity and sourcing, sensationalism, and political agendas -- and some of which are new, a result of the need to get news out faster and the changing economic pressures on news organizations. William A. McWhirter '63, a contributor to Time, said, "We are in trouble today." Newsrooms, he added, are experiencing "civil wars" between publishers and editors over the control of coverage. H. Scott Gurvey '73, a bureau chief and correspondent for PBS's Nightly Business Report, said journalists have to deal with the constant dilemma of covering what the audience wants versus what they think is worthy.

According to a panel of alumni who examined the structure of contemporary families, the days when the vast majority of families have a biological mother and father living under one roof are over. All panelists seemed to agree that "it takes a village to raise a child," drawing on an African proverb popularized by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and that we need to support the various family structures that exist today. Adrien K. Wing '78, a professor at the University of Iowa's College of Law who is a divorced single mother of three children (including a son who had been a foster child), noted that 70 percent of black families and 30 percent of white families are headed by women -- a trend, she added, that "is inexorable at this point."

To commemorate the 25th reunion of the first fully coeducational Class of 1973, alumnae discussed the status of women at Princeton and their relationship to the university. Laurie Watson Raymond '73, a psychiatrist and clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, recalled awkward moments that the early Princeton women experienced on campus. She recalled professors asking her if she was at Princeton simply to find a husband. Janice Stultz Roddenbery *77, a fund-raising consultant, observed that the faculty wasn't ready for women, and that many professors were guilty of sexual harassment. The atmosphere today, she said, is "much healthier." Karen Magee '83, a trustee and the general manager of Time, said that for women to become more fully a part of Princeton, they need to take leadership roles as alumnae volunteers. Another panelist, Colleen Shanahan '98, observed that women are still changing Princeton "so that it belongs to us."

The new James S. McDonnell '21 Hall and the Reynolds Auditorium were dedicated on Friday, May 29. The gift of James S. McDonnell III '58, John F. McDonnell '50, and the JSM Charitable Trust, McDonnell Hall, which adjoins Jadwin and Fine halls, houses classrooms, teaching laboratories, and two auditoriums for the physics department. Reynolds Auditorium, the largest facility in the new building, is the gift of the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation. The Reynolds family includes David P. Reynolds '38, Richard S. Reynolds III '56, and R. Roland Reynolds '93.

On Saturday, excitement mounted inside FitzRandolph Gate as the two o'clock start of the annual P-rade neared. Alumni lined up with their classes, bands tuned up, and spectators took their places. The Princeton Marching Band led the procession playing "Going Back." The 25th-reunion Class of 1973 followed, with many of the members carrying their college pictures. Their hats and belts were adorned with "first class" tickets -- a reference to their pioneering role in coeducation -- and their entourage featured one of the original Dinky cars. Next in the procession were members of the Old Guard, led by Louis B. Dailey '23, who carried the Class of 1923 cane as the oldest member of the oldest class returning to Reunions.

Abandoning what was once a universal tradition at Reunions, the Class of 1948, celebrating its 50th reunion, for the first time allowed wives, widows, and daughters to march with the men. Members of the class carried placards with observations such as "Everything hurts and what doesn't, doesn't work" and "We've been there, done that, and now we can't remember." With some its members wearing faux- aviator flight jackets and white silk scarves, the Class of 1988 celebrated its 10th reunion going "Around the world in 88 days."

As usual in the P-rade, younger classes hailed older ones -- and vice versa -- with locomotive cheers. Clowns, decorated cars, numerous placards, dogs on leashes, kids in strollers and backpacks, cartwheeling cheerleaders, and bands of all kinds -- the P-rade had it all. But by the end, many had wilted from the heat and excitement. Members of the Class of 1993, celebrating their fifth reunion with the theme "Pardi Gras" and bedecked with shiny beads, seemed partied out when their turn came to join the march. Doubtless they were showing their age. Wearing T-shirts proclaiming "The year of the tiger," exhuberant members of the graduating Class of 1998 entered the line and hooted, hollered, and chanted "98" on their way to Poe Field.

By Saturday night, word had gotten around that the Reunion fireworks -- put on for the third year in a row by the Santore Brothers of Garden State Fireworks -- was an event not to be missed. Stands were packed, and the audience spread out across Poe-Pardee Field for a display that lit up the sky and showered spectators with debris. Preceding the Santores' sound and fury, the University Orchestra inspired the crowd with the music of Beethoven, Gershwin, and Schumann.

Post-fireworks, reuners migrated up campus for another night beneath the tents. As it often does, the fifth reunion seemed the most raucous and crowded. The 10th-reunion Class of 1988 provided a fenced-in area with toys to occupy the youngsters while mom and dad caught up with friends. At the Class of 1973's 25th reunion, the Party Dolls, a girl group decked out in tight tiger dresses and bouffant hair, offered up vintage hits like the Supremes' "Baby Don't Leave Me." Some Tigers shook their booties, while others took to a nearby court to play volleyball with their kids.
-- Kathryn Federici Greenwood