Great Alumni Reunion 2022
By Diane Peters
After returning home from the 2022 Great Alumni Event on May 6, Zuhair Waheed 2T1 went to his computer and started hunting for in-person networking and continuing education opportunities.
“I miss getting together. When things are not in person, you miss out on so many things,” says Waheed. For this recent grad, that included Dentantics and a grad formal, just for starters.
The Great Alumni Event, the all U of T Dentistry alumni reunion event, ran in person this spring for the first time in three years. About 300 people attended, with roughly 250 of them U of T Dentistry alumni and from years ranging from 1954-2022.
“The comment I heard the most was, ‘It’s so good to see everyone together,’” says Roshaan Hajira, alumni engagement officer with the Faculty, who spearheaded the organization of the event.
The event served, for many, as the first opportunity to get together with former classmates and colleagues in years. This was something the Faculty thought was important coming out of the confines and pressures of COVID-19. “We were so relieved we were able to host the event in person this year,” says Dean Daniel Haas 7T9. “People needed to have some fun and re-engage with each other. We wanted to provide this venue for our alumni community to come together. This event is about them.”
And while many have worked hard to stay connected via social media, it’s not the same.
“In-person conversations have more room to run into a tangent. Online, and on Zoom calls, you have to stick to the topic of conversation. But when you go off on tangents, you learn more,” says Jenny Luo 2T0.
She’s been in regular contact with her class via social media. “We’re really supportive of each other. When we need something, we’re just a message away.”
Her class, which was affected by pandemic closures in 2020, still feels the impact. Luo says the grad formal has been organized and rescheduled numerous times. She’s hopeful it’ll be happening soon.
Waheed says seeing his former classmates in person allowed him to find out what was really going on in their professional lives. “It’s very important for classmates to communicate about their working life. Most of us are in associate positions. We want to vent. We want to talk about how things are for us.”
Many are looking ahead to buy practices or go back to school for specialty training. Waheed is curious about their plans and the barriers and benefits. “Everyone has a five-year plan. I want to gauge myself against them.”
Virtual meet-ups kept the connection going for the Class of 1987’s study club, says John Simpson 8T7. While the group used to meet regularly at one of their member’s offices, they switched to video starting in 2020. He says it helped to stay connected and informed, but he finds he learns just as much from casual conversations at continuing education events as from the formal lectures.
“I embraced Zoom as everyone did. But being a dentist, I definitely like the face-to face, whether it’s with a colleague or a patient. That’s what I’m used to,” says Simpson.
Hajira notes that many grads from decades ago are less comfortable with digital forms of communication. Hence the likes of the class of 7T7 — which was an honoured year for its 45th reunion — came out to the Great Alumni event with strong numbers.
Nothing can duplicate what happens when you connect with an old friend, or meet up with someone new that shares an important connection with your personal or professional life. That happened to Simpson when he heard the words, “Are you Jack’s son?” at the Great Alumni Event.
It was Ivan Hrabowsky 5T4. He’d called earlier that year, looking for Simpson’s dad, Jack Simpson 5T4. John was able to send over the contact info for his dad — who was seriously ailing at the time. Jack passed away at the end of March, so the grieving son and his dad’s former classmate were able to chat that night and share some warm memories.
“Not only do you see your own classmates, but you see other dental colleagues from U of T you may or may not know were connected to you in some way,” says Simpson.
The Great Alumni Event got the ball rolling on other social engagements for many. After the event, Simpson went to a nearby restaurant to hang out with more alumni who were not able to attend the formal event.
For Luo, the event was part of a busy weekend of seeing people again, including a birthday party the following night for a former classmate.
As the spring winds down with many classes hosting reunions, it’s already time to think about next year. The next edition of the Great Alumni Event will be held in person on May 12, 2023. All alumni are welcome and the alumni office and the Faculty hope people save the date and can come out and to make real, in-person connections all over again.
And to re-live the memories and see the faces of your classmates from the 2022 event, check out the photo gallery here.
Photo: Great Alumni Event (Steve Frost)