Spring Reunion

After more than 20 years, I finally succumbed (succame?) to one of the many Alumni invitation emails my Alma Mater sends, and registered to attend a few events for this year's Spring Reunion at U of T.

The first, a "Soiree" for LGBTQ alumni, was held at the 180, near Bay and Bloor.

The 180, a resto-bar-lounge atop one of Toronto's tall buildings, offered a lovely view of the city, and since the weather was so fine, we soon installed ourselves at a table out on one of the venue's two decks.

Sadly, this first reunion event was a bit of a bust socially, as I had to run off within an hour of arriving, to attend the keynote of a conference I was signed up for with ETFO.  While that conference itself was amazing (and the guest speaker in some sense ironically suitable for the evening), I was sad to have missed the opportunity to get to know some fellow graduates from my "tribe" in a focused social context.

After registering at King's College Circle (and picking up some U of T swag for my students at school), Tats, the boys and I headed over to the archaeology department, where we were invited to explore some skull replicas, and identify which skull did not belong (one was a chimp skull, it turns out).  Then we had to order the remaining skulls from oldest to most recent.

Next it was off the astronomy lab, where we were treated to an amazing, 1/2-hour presentation by a grad student whose specialty was exo-planets, and who led us to awe and wonder with his digital show displayed on the dome of a mini-planetarium in the form of what looked from the outside like a large, black bouncy castle (sorry, didn't think to snap a photo of that one!)

After the planetarium, we got to check out the old telescope and take in the view atop another of Toronto's tall towers...

As we exited the telescope show, we found ourselves outside the next "family" event, an array of physics experiments and hands-on activities in the lab next door.  The boys really enjoyed exploring and learning about fiber optics, superconductors and more.  There was even an invisible light bulb!

Following our brush with science, we stumbled upon the BBQ tent, where a wide array of free lunch (yes, even for vegetarians) awaited us.  Tired, hot and hungry, we gratefully sat at a flower-adorned table under a large, airy tent, and ate lunch together.

After a quick stop at the photo booth, we left Spring Reunion, and headed up to Spadina and Bloor, to grab an ice cream at Greg's (which I had first discovered when I was doing my undergrad at U of T!)

We didn't have a chance to talk with many other alumni, but I felt really good about the students we spoke with.  They were bright, engaged in their topic, and seemed like interesting, kind people.  I was pleasantly surprised by the breadth and depth of at least few students' understanding of equity and social justice -- while I myself loved the university experience at U of T, I also know that University in general is a class divider, and I was pleased to see that at least some of my alma mater's current science students were aware of and could speak articulately about the impact of social structures on such things as gender, for example.

Tats laughed at me when I got a little teary-eyed while eating a burger during lunch... "They just want you to make a donation, you know!" she reminded me.

Maybe so, but given the manner in which we were well and authentically dined and treated as a family on Saturday and as a lesbian couple at the event the week before, then isn't this the kind of university I would want to make a donation to?