Class reunion

"High school reunion" redirects here. For other uses, see High School Reunion (disambiguation).

"School reunion" redirects here. For the Doctor Who episode, see School Reunion (Doctor Who).

For other uses, see Class reunion (disambiguation).

Class reunion invitation, Yale College, 1850

A class reunion is a meeting of former classmates, typically organized at or near their former school by one of the class on or around an anniversary of their graduation. Former teachers may be invited as well. Usually, participants nostalgically reminisce about their old school days, fondly remember their school pranks, and bring each other up to date on what has happened to each of them since they went their separate ways. Alumni are quite often concerned about how their lives have turned out when compared with the lives of their former classmates, and will sometimes feel pressured enough to go to great lengths to concoct stories about their fruitful careers, personal accomplishments and relationships with others.

Some class reunions also include a reunion class gift to the institution.

Class reunions in film and literature

In film and literature, especially crime novels, thrillers and psychological suspense novels, class reunions have been a frequent device used to show the eruption of emotions such as shame, hatred or guilt within individual characters who, suddenly faced again with their own youth, become aware of the fact that they have been unable to cope with their past. In many cases, those who used to be bullied, humiliated or in any other way mistreated by their teachers and/or classmates believe that now their chance has come to take revenge on their former torturers.

Another staple of this kind of fiction is former classmates taking up with their old flame again, either because they have changed to their advantage and developed into an admirable adult or precisely for the opposite reason—because they have not changed at all in a fleeting world.

Examples of films, revolving around class reunions, include::

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion National Lampoon's Class Reunion Kenneth Branagh's Peter's Friends (1992)

George Armitage's Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) Since You've Been Gone (1998), directed by David Schwimmer

Examples of fiction, revolving around class reunions, include:

Tim O'Brien's July, July (2002) Paul Reizin's Fiends Reunited (2004)

Ben Elton's Past Mortem (2004) Simone van der Vlugt's De reünie (2004)

See also

• School and university in literature