June
1, 1998
									Contact:
Wayne Cozart
										  (804)
984-9242

Please Note: A schedule of events is attached.

THEY'RE COMING BACK!  
U.VA. ALUMNI TO ENGAGE IN WIDE, COLORFUL ASSORTMENT 
OF EVENTS JUNE 5-7

	Watch out, Charlottesville!  About 4,500 people -- with hundreds
bedecked in orange and blue -- will converge on the University of
Virginia for an alumni reunion weekend June 5-7.
	About 2,800 alumni from the classes of 1953, '58, '63, '68, '73,
'78, '83, '88 and '93 will participate in a wide range of events around
the U.Va. Grounds.  Alumni and their spouses can gain updates on the
University and acquire new knowledge on topics ranging from alternative
therapies to rhythm and blues by attending a variety of seminars
throughout the weekend.  They can also tee off in a golf tournament,
engage in community service, go aloft in a hot air balloon and take a
nostalgic walk down the Lawn.
	Modelled after Ivy League schools' reunions, the weekend's
events are designed to build class loyalty and increase the number of
alumni who return for reunions, says Wayne Cozart, the U.Va. Alumni
Association associate director in charge of undergraduate reunions.
	"Our numbers are increasing significantly," Cozart said. "We
anticipate a 22 percent alumni return rate.  Overall, our total number
expected during the weekend is up about 40 percent over last year's
figure."
	Most Ivy League schools experience about a 35 percent alumni
return rate to reunions.  The average return rate among comprehensive
Virginia universities is about 10 percent, Cozart said. 
	A new offering this year will be a Kid's College on Saturday,
June 6, from 1 to 4 p.m.  Faculty in the popular University Summer
Enrichment Program will teach sessions in the arts, science and history
to first-through sixth-graders.
	Wearing class paraphernalia such as orange pants with blue
blazers and specially cast medallions and holding bright orange
umbrellas with blue Rotundas, alumni are scheduled to recreate their
graduation ceremonies by processing down the Lawn on Saturday, June 6,
at 9:30 a.m.  U.Va. President 
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John T. Casteen III will address the group at the south end of the Lawn.  
(In the event of inclement weather, Casteen will give his remarks at 10
a.m. in University Hall.)
	"The walk down the Lawn will be canceled in the event of rain --
with one exception," Cozart said.  "The class of 1968 was rained out;
they were not able to hold their Final Exercises on the Lawn.  So they
are determined to walk down the Lawn, no matter what the weather."
	After Casteen's remarks, representatives will present class
gifts to the president.  Awards, including a large 1913 sterling silver
trophy that has not been used since 1943, will be presented to classes
who have the highest reunion participation rates.

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