Modern Languages Alumni Reunion 25th June 2011
Well over a hundred alumni who graduated any time between the 1950s and the Noughties attended our recent reunion held in two stages. In the afternoon we gathered in the Buchanan Building most graduates will remember well. The classrooms and lecture theatre have undergone a total refurbishment but many of the offices have changed little over the years. Current and retired academic and support staff joined the reunion and after a few short speeches by the Head of School Professor Margaret-Anne Hutton, Professor Emerita Helen Chamber and Morven Fraser, a current research student, there was time to catch up, to spot friends and teachers in old photographs, to share memories of peers and professors present and absent, and to hear about recent developments in Modern Languages teaching and research.
Morven who also is a recent graduate of Modern Languages at St Andrews described in her speech the special community bonds that make the experience at this university unique:
Having just attended the graduation ball for this year’s class, I am reminded once again of the importance of St Andrews for each and every student who studies here. There are few other places in the world where it is commonplace to see a desperate pack of students clutching their coats around a bonfire after running into the North Sea at dawn to bring them good luck for their upcoming exams (a practice I can vouch for) – or describing to one another the intricate networks of their academic families. Our bubble is a special place as all of you no doubt remember, and I hope you are all able to rekindle some old memories while you are here.
In the evening nearly one hundred guests attended a formal dinner held in the new Gateway Building at North Haugh. It was a convivial and vivacious event at which old friendships were rekindled and new ones formed. BBC presenter and Spanish alumna Louise Minchin (née Grayson) shared some of her memories before handing over to Catriona Collins -- who became the first recipient of the Modern Languages Alumni Award in recognition of her contribution to this website. Catriona’s career profile and her speech at the award ceremony perfectly embody the spirit of Modern Languages graduates who forge their own career paths displaying good humour, flexibility and courage. Understanding languages and cultures other than one’s own and having spent time in a foreign country during one’s formative years are invaluable assets whose immaterial benefits far outstrip the material ones. Having studied Modern Languages and having experienced the world first hand enables you to take many things life throws at you in your stride.
Whilst some of our guests went on to the grand Alumni Ball, others opted for one of the many pubs of St Andrews to round off the evening. Some names have changed – such as the Raisin’s -- but the Central still is central to Modern Languages. The next day saw a service at the university chapel and a Hog Roast with a mediaeval theme. As our mediaevalists pointed out, the level of historical accuracy was rather low but the fun factor made up for that. (There was no potato salad in Scotland six hundred years ago!)
The unanimous verdict was that Modern Languages reunions should – and will – be held every three to five years. The School is happy to oblige. We just ask our alumni to register their contact details with us and to keep them up to date.
Images courtesy of Ben Goulter © 2011.