Class of 1999 Newsletter

September 2023

We’ll be sending monthly newsletters to keep you up-to-date on our plans to help us reunite at Carleton for our 25th Reunion.

It has begun! A couple dozen of your classmates gathered on campus in August to wrangle creative ideas and tactical project plans with one goal: To welcome the Class of ’99 back to campus in June 2024.

There’s something special about 25th reunions. They historically have the highest attendance of any milestone year, and we hope 2024 stays on trend as the biggest, most welcoming reunion yet. Whether you’re a reunion regular or haven’t set foot on campus since 1999, you belong here.

Our theme is Relive, Replay, Reconnect. It’s more than clever alliteration. The words inside the words matter, too: Live. Play. Connect.

Relive. Our unique experiences at and since Carleton are worth revisiting. We have diverse stories and adventures, but we all have this place in common.

Replay. When was the last time you got to “play” with a group of people your same age, immersed in nostalgia, forging new friendships, staying up all night laughing in a lounge or stargazing in the Arb? It’s not too late to form new Carleton memories.

Reconnect. The best part of reunion is the people. Reconnecting is about picking up where you left off, and sometimes it’s simply “connecting” – getting to know smart, interesting, fun classmates whom you missed the first time around.

Why is 25 such a big deal? Maybe it’s the math: a quarter of a century, half our lifetimes since we studied in the Libe and hung posters on dorm walls. Or maybe it’s middle age: we’re all looking back and forward, making sense of our past and craving connection to the people who knew us then and can authentically relate to who we are now.

New Carleton memories await you. Your presence will make reunion more meaningful for someone else. Please join us in June.

Our 25th Reunion is an opportunity for us to reflect on the impact Carleton has had on each of our lives and the collective impact Carleton continues to have in the world.

Our Carleton experience was made possible by the generosity of the alumni who came before us—and this milestone reunion presents a remarkable opportunity for us to pay it forward to the next generation of Carls!

The 25th Reunion class gift is important to Carleton. It makes up a significant part of the college’s Alumni Annual Fund (AAF) every year. It is also typically the largest gift that a class makes to the AAF over its reunion history. The AAF is critical for Carleton to meet its needs-based assistance obligations and provides flexible funding for college operations and specific initiatives.

To meet this challenge, the Gift Committee has set an ambitious goal of raising $333,333 from at least 63% of our class. (See what we did there with those 6s and 3s?!) We need your help to meet these goals, which would represent the highest giving rates ever for our class!

Thanks to early commitments from generous donors, we are already one-third of the way to our dollar goal—but it will take many more of us to achieve the dollar and especially the participation goals.

If you can give early and make a stretch gift, it would help us to build important momentum in these early months of the campaign. Members of the Gift Committee will be reaching out to you in the weeks ahead. We hope that you’ll respond to our emails and take our calls. We’d love to catch up with you and understand your view on giving to Carleton! You can also donate from now until June to be counted in the gift.

Thank you so much for considering a gift—your support is deeply appreciated. Every gift will make a difference for our Class Gift and every gift will make a difference in the lives of today’s students.

Pop Quiz!

When you think of the word “progressives”, what does it make you think of?

a) Auto insurance
b) Politics
c) Transitional Bifocals
d) Walking cocktail parties

Dave’s Dad Joke of the Month!

Why are there only two doors on chicken coops?

If they had four doors, they’d have to call them chicken sedans.

Raise a big glass of sparkling refreshment to the last blast of hot weather. Spritzes feel fancy, but they’re easy and flexible once you know the ratio: 3-2-1. Fill a wine glass with ice cubes and add:

3 oz of bubbles (Prosecco or sparkling grape juice)
2 oz of flavor (a sweet liqueur or juice)
1 oz of soda water

Play with the flavor ingredient for variations. Try it with Aperol or Limoncello for a classic Italian cocktail, or St. Germain and fresh mint for a Hugo Spritz. For mocktails, try mango nectar, pineapple juice, or any rich, sweet flavor you enjoy. Cheers!