Reunion Weekend 2011

October 18, 2011 —

Dean William M. Treanor at the Oct. 15 Reunion Gala with Paul R. Dean Alumni Award winners Rufus King (L'71), Ted Burke (L'86), Maurita Coley (L'81), Jules Kroll (L'66) and John Podesta (L'76).

The weekend began with the annual Golden Years Luncheon. “I tell [the Class of 2014, they] are people of remarkable gifts who will go on to do great things because of graduates who have come before,” Dean William M. Treanor told those who graduated 50 or more years ago. “I thank each of you for the lives you have led, the careers you have built and the name you have given this law school.”

At a separate Reunion Volunteers Luncheon, Dean Treanor also thanked the 150 alumni who served on their reunion committees — before heading to Hart Auditorium for a conversation with Senator George J. Mitchell (L'61). Mitchell shared stories from his days at Georgetown and his time in the Senate, when his first all-night filibuster found him sleeping on a cot between Ted Kennedy and Jesse Helms. Friday's activities concluded with parties to honor each of the 10 reunion classes from 1961 through 2006.

Saturday’s highlights included the dean’s “State of Georgetown Law” address and a conversation with Congressman Steny Hoyer (L’66), D-Md., and John Podesta (L’76) on their respective careers in public service. “Georgetown is unique in so many ways … [it] has a national reputation and is located essentially on the lawn of the Capitol of the United States,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer and Josh Kern (L’01), co-founder of the Thurgood Marshall Academy, each received the Robert F. Drinan Alumni Public Service Award — along with Malika Saada Saar (L’01), founder of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights. And Saturday night’s gala at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture celebrated five alumni who received the Paul R. Dean Award for their dedication to the school and the legal profession: Ted Burke (L’86), Maurita Coley (L’81), Rufus King (L’71), Jules Kroll (L’66) and Podesta.

“Wherever you look to find people who are making a difference, you find Georgetown Law graduates,” Treanor said while presenting the Drinan Awards. “[From the beginning, this school] was about giving people an opportunity to go out and make a difference. That defined us. And that’s our future.”

-- Ann W. Parks

Check out photos and video from Reunion Weekend 2011.