Alumni Weekend

ANNUAL REVIEW 46 Hosting Alumni Reunion Weekend in virtual form was an interesting prospect. Without a physical return to College, the chance to check up on familiar haunts, catch up with old friends and fill up on indulgent food, what was left? Well, quite a lot, as it turned out. One hundred and twenty alumni joined us via Zoom ALUMNI for a weekend which demonstrated that the energy, vitality and variety of Homerton life were undiminished by six months of remote activity. • A Welcome session with the Principal, Senior Tutor and HUS President explained how Homerton has responded to the pandemic, from supporting remote learning, to working towards antibody testing and supplying PPE to Addenbrooke’s. • Our Director of Music, Dr Daniel TrocméLatter, and members of the Charter Choir described the process of creating a recording (and an Evensong!) while scattered in their respective homes, as well as looking ahead to their plans for gathering once again as a choir. • Our Pre-Clinical Director of Studies in

Medicine, Dr Julia Kenyon, provided a clear, accessible and fascinating session on how knowledge of other viruses is enabling her and other scientists to unravel the mysteries of Covid-19.

• Dr Mariah Whelan made her first official appearance as the Jacqueline Bardsley Poetin-Residence, leading a moving and thoughtprovoking session on Poetry and Connection.

Groups of alumni celebrating 60, 50, 40 and 30 years out also gathered in social Zoom calls. It was wonderful to see so many people engaging with the College, and fascinating to see how a new approach, while brought about by inauspicious circumstances, can have benefits. Several participants mentioned that distance or other commitments meant that they would be unable to attend an in-person event. We are delighted that they were able to take part this year, and will incorporate online access into future events to enable them to continue to do so. We are enormously grateful to Sally Nott, who joined Homerton as Alumni Relations Manager in March and had spent a mere 10 days in College before lockdown banished her to work from home. Creating the first ever virtual Alumni Reunion Weekend, six months into the post but having spent almost none of that on site, is no small achievement! n

Alumni Relations Manager Sally Nott leads the reunion from a distance