{"id":569732,"date":"2023-10-08T19:27:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T23:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=569732"},"modified":"2023-10-18T15:29:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T19:29:08","slug":"meliora-weekend-2023-boundless-possibility-festivities-569732","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/meliora-weekend-2023-boundless-possibility-festivities-569732\/","title":{"rendered":"Boundless festivities at Meliora Weekend 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
More than 10,000 people\u2014including alumni, students, families, employees, and community members\u2014registered to attend this year\u2019s Meliora Weekend at the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>, which took place October 5\u20138. The traditional fall event combines reunion, homecoming, and family weekend and offers guests an array of opportunities to learn, socialize, celebrate, and reminisce with their extended Yellowjacket family.<\/p>\n LIVE UP TO YOUR NAME:<\/strong> Elijah Barnard \u201924, a microbiology and economics major, posed with an apt portion of the Meliora letters as they were being installed on the Eastman Quadrangle before Meliora Weekend kicked off.<\/p>\n IT TAKES A MELIORA VILLAGE:<\/strong> The Wilson Quadrangle was transformed into Meliora Village, the campus hub for many of the weekend\u2019s performances, games, meals, and meet-ups. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ AJ Pow)<\/p>\n FROM WASHINGTON, DC, TO ROCHESTER, NY:<\/b> \u201cFor all the years I\u2019ve been covering American politics, I\u2019ve been reminded again that I still have a lot to learn,\u201d said Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent and former anchor and managing editor for the PBS NewsHour. During her keynote address in the Palestra, she reflected on her decades-long career as a journalist and shared her predictions for the upcoming presidential election year. She said, \u201cIt’s time to fasten your seat belts. We\u2019re in for a wild ride over the next 13 or 14 months.”<\/p>\n STRAT CHAT:<\/b> During a Q&A with Deputy to the President Joe Testani (left), Provost David Figlio discussed the University\u2019s new strategic plan, Boundless Possibility<\/span><\/i><\/a>, the main roadmap for the institution. \u201cSarah [Mangelsdorf] and I think about the strategic plan being a direction rather than a directive,\u201d Figlio said. \u201cAnd we’re all moving in that same direction because the schools and units are interested in the same thing: making sure the people of the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ are the most successful they could possibly be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n GO, JACKETS!<\/strong> The Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ faced Union College for the weekend\u2019s big game in Fauver Stadium. The Garnet Chargers eked out a 21\u201317 win over the Yellowjackets, who demonstrated persistence until the end with a couple of big fourth-quarter stops.<\/p>\n \u2018WRITING CHOSE ME\u2019:<\/strong> Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah<\/em>, Purple Hibiscus<\/em>, and We Should All Be Feminists<\/em> (among other works), shared her perspectives on growing up in Nigeria, moving to America, writing her books, and other topics to a packed house in Strong Auditorium. \u201cI do think that storytelling makes a difference\u2014that when we tell a story about something, there’s a greater likelihood of touching that part of us that is universally human,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n GEARED UP:<\/b> Each year at Meliora Weekend, undergraduates in Arts, Sciences & Engineering get to claim their class-specific Rochester traditions giveaway items. This year\u2019s gear included a mascot heritage banner, baseball hat, knit soccer scarf, and\u2014for seniors\u2014a much-coveted vintage \u201cR\u201d sweatshirt.<\/p>\n
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