Alumni Weekend 2022

Alumni Weekend 2022 will be held on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 and will feature reunions for the classes ending in 2 and 7. Alumni Weekend activities include the Dessert Among Friends and Alumni Association Awards, Meeting for Worship, Lunch and Learn on Saturday, Explore the Playscape, an Alumni of Color Meet-Up, Student-Guided Tours, an All-Alumni Reception at Van Meter Hall, and much more! Contact the Development Office to learn more about Alumni Weekend 2022 plans or to get involved in your class reunion plans.

Alumni Weekend 2022 Schedule

Friday, May 6

7 p.m. The Dessert Among Friends and Alumni Awards Program, Baiada Field House Gym. Meet classmates, applaud the 2022 Alumni Association Award recipients, and honor retiring faculty. See those who will be celebrated below. 

If you can’t attend the Dessert Among Friends in person, you can see the event by joining the Zoom broadcast. Click here to register to receive the Zoom link.  Note that while the event will start at 7 p.m., people will be getting dessert and being seated so the broadcast won’t begin until around 7:15 when the program starts.

Saturday, May 7

11:30 a.m. Meeting for Worship, Meeting House

12:15 p.m. Lunch and Learn, Baiada Field House Gym. A free special lunch program for alumni and their families to experience several interactive activities hosted by faculty, staff, and student presenters. Programs on offer include making origami paper cranes for peace to support our Ukrainian community, speaking with students and faculty who participated in a service trip to Puerto Rico during Intensive Learning, hearing from two seniors about their individual Capstone Research Projects (one is A Global Ancestry Story and the other is an Exploration of the Significance of African American Social Clubs), and more.  

1:15 p.m. Welcome from Julia de la Torre, Baiada Field House Gym. Meet our Head of School and hear about what’s happening at MFS. Hosted by the Alumni Association.

1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Student-Guided Tours depart from Baiada Field House Commons.

2 p.m. Explore the Playscape, Lower School Playscape. Join Lower School Technology Teacher Lisa Martin ’84 and check out all the features of the newest addition to campus.

2:30 p.m. Alumni of Color Meet-Up, Baiada Field House Commons. Hosted by Dot Lόpez, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, and Trustees Braheim Knight ’92 and Kennette Banks ’02, as well as Eliezer Cartagena ’14, Odeymarys Garrido ’13, and Trinh Son ’13. Alumni are invited to visit with current Upper School leaders from the Black Student Union, East Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Multi-Racial, Women of Color, and South Asian Affinity Groups, as well as the student clerks of our Diversity Committee.

4 p.m. All-Alumni Reception with Head of School Julia de la Torre, Van Meter Hall Back Lawn. At this gathering for all alumni, enjoy wine, soft drinks and hors d’oeuvres and connect with alumni and classmates. Class Reunion Photos. Activities for kids hosted by student volunteers. MFS apparel on sale.

6 p.m. Reunion Gatherings, off-campus.

Note: The Former Faculty and Staff Gathering was held via Zoom on Sunday, May 1 at 4 p.m. via Zoom. Thanks to Lynne Brick and Marge Dawson for hosting!

2022 Alumni Association Awards – Come to the Dessert Among Friends on Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. to learn more about these people who have contributed so much to the MFS community.

Alice Stokes Paul 1901 Merit Award – Sarah Feyerherm ‘82 is being recognized for her career of fostering community and inclusion in the world of athletics and higher education.  She is the Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Washington College (MD) and an active member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association, where she has been a voice for LGBTQ+ athletes.  

Service Award – Lynne Brick and Marge Dawson are recognized for their leadership and dedication to strengthening former faculty and staff ties to the community. In 2014, they started a new, popular Alumni Weekend tradition, a reunion for former faculty and staff.  Lynne served as the Lower/Middle School Quaker educator from 1994 to 2013.  Marge taught Second Grade at MFS from 1988 to 2009.  

The Young Alumni Award is being given to two deserving members of the Class of 2007, whose work was found by the Awards Committee to resonate with important Quaker testimonies:  Andrew Bernard’s speaks to the urgency of the stewardship of the earth and its inhabitants; Briana Ellerbe’s, to the importance of equality, through better representation in children’s media. 

Young Alumni Award – Andrew Bernard ‘07 is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan, whose interests include primatology, conservation biology, tropical ecology, and biological anthropology.  An alumnus of Bates College, his adventurous field work has taken him around the world, from Uganda to Borneo, and he has published on the impact of climate change on the populations he studies. 

Young Alumni Award – Briana Pressey Ellerbe ‘07 is a Ph.D. candidate at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.  Her focus is children’s media and community-engaged research.  She earned her M.Ed. at Harvard University, worked at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center (Sesame Street’s independent research and innovation lab), and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Faculty/Staff Retirements:

Rose Frola is retiring after 24 years at MFS. She has served as the Administrative Assistant for the Business Office and to the Director of Finance & Operations, and has lent her costuming skills to countless theatrical productions and special events.

Steve Shaffer is retiring after 29 years at MFS. He served generations of students as the Middle School Director for 22 years. He also taught English for Middle and Upper School students, and coached Middle School boys’ soccer and girls’ basketball teams.

It’s a reunion year for the classes ending in “2” and “7.” Check out reunion plans on the pages below: