For UM alumni, the years since graduation are also years of giving, connection, community and impact. Between every milestone class reunion the graduation anniversaries that end in a 5 or 0 there are many more moments that matter.
The Class of Medicine 1969 - 55 years, 76 alumni
Last year during Homecoming, Dr. Allan Becker and other members of the Class of Medicine 1969 gathered in Winnipeg to celebrate their 55th grad anniversary. Since 2011, these alumni have supported the Class of Medicine 1969 Medical Student Bursary Fund, which offers bursaries each year to undergraduate students in the Max Rady College of Medicine.
So far, nearly $176,000 has been disbursed from the fund to support 58 students pursuing their studies in medicine.
Becker shares how the motivation to give back grew with the class itself.
"At our 20th reunion, we set up a proposal to each donate $5,000 to the university over five years. We knew tuition fees were getting higher, and we recognized that we need primary care physicians," he explains.
For Becker and his class, these acts of collective giving, the efforts that would eventually lead to the establishment of the bursary fund in 2011, also arise from a deep sense of gratitude.
"We had marvelous teachers," he says. "And I don't think many of us appreciated the quality of the education we received here while we were in it. Our class ended up being first across Canada in writing the licentiate exams, so we really received a great education.
"[The fund] is a real recognition of the value we received, the 76 of us."
The fund is also another way that the close-knit class of 1969 connects and grows together. Over the years, the reunions have grown larger with spouses and family members joining in, even when class members no longer can.
And the reunions aren't limited to group events. Becker recalls reconnecting with a classmate during planning for their 50th anniversary, when a phone call, the first in 50 years, led to a visit across provinces.
"That sense of community, it's everything," he says, also commending the work of classmates Dr. Diane Biehl, Dr. Cal Gutkin and Dr. Stan Moroz, who have led the charge on keeping the class connected over the years.
Members of the Class of Medicine 1969 gathered last year in celebration of their 55th grad anniversary. Image provided by Dr. Allan Becker.
Class of Pharmacy 2014 - 10 years, 49 alumni
While Becker reflects on a decades-long class legacy, recent UM alumni are also taking opportunities to celebrate, reminisce and give back.
Alia Marcinkow recently celebrated her 10-year grad anniversary with a dinner and a family picnic to honour the class and the community that had grown around it.
"Everyone showed up. To me, it felt like no one was missing, and it was really lovely," she says.
"It was really nice to see how everyone's families have grown, how everyone's careers have evolved, and how they've grown as people, but it was also like no time had passed at all."
Last year also marked the 10th anniversary of the class's collective giving through the Pharmacy Class of 2014 Bursary Fund. Starting with a gift of $25,000 in 2014, the fund supports students entering their second year of pharmacy in the College of Pharmacy (Rady Faculty of Health Sciences).
To date, the fund has supported nine pharmacy students and disbursed over $10,000.
The fund got its start during the graduating class's annual fundraiser for their grad dinner as it turns out, the Class of 2014 had a knack for fundraising, bringing in more than enough to cover the cost of their celebratory dinner.
Marcinkow and her classmates decided to use the extra contributions to start an endowment fund. "That way, if someone wanted to donate more in the future, it was already there," she explains.
"I think for us, because many of the students in the Class of 2014 relied on student loans and financial aid, the impact comes from the fact that we know what it's like to struggle with money during university and how hard it is. Many of us came from outside of Winnipeg and had to pay for housing in the city.
"Knowing that we might be providing that extra bit of relief for students today it's amazing," she adds.
Reuniting, then and now
For the Class of Medicine 1969 and the Class of Pharmacy 2014, reunions are a chance to reconnect over shared experience, shared generosity and shared gratitude for the programs that brought them together.
With their generosity over the years, these alumni also set the stage for more students to learn and succeed, finding a community and a way to gather as they were, and as they are today, over and over again.
What does a future fueled by generosity look like? It's in the faces of new graduates with big ideas, in bold research solutions for Manitoba and the world, and in community initiatives coming to life in collaborative ways. Here, a legacy of philanthropy is shaping the leaders, innovators and change-makers of tomorrow. Learn how you can get involved.
Class reunions are a wonderful opportunity, not just to reconnect and reminisce with former classmates, but also to make a lasting impact through collective giving. Learn more about planning class reunions.
