MiniU participants listen intently during one of the sessions. More than 40 Queen's presenters discussed their research throughout the weekend. 

Queen’s welcomed alumni and visitors to campus for both Queen’s MiniU and Spring Reunion activities this past weekend.

“From speaking with many MiniU participants, I can tell they enjoyed the wide variety of topics that were offered, the superb lecturers and the animated discussions that followed many of the presentations,” says Tom Harris, Vice-Principal (Advancement). “Spring Reunion was a great success. Alumni and guests were greatly appreciative of the opportunity to reconnect with Queen’s, and the thoughtful and compelling speeches of Chancellor Dodge and Principal Woolf.”

For the fifth annual Queen’s MiniU weekend, more than 40 Queen’s presenters were on-hand to discuss their research and engage in energetic intellectual discussion with a varied group of 250 participants.

“It was a great experience to be back in an interactive classroom setting with other Queen’s alumni discussing things that didn’t even exist when I was a student here 15 years ago,” says Suzanne Kerr (ConEd’97), who participated in Sidneyeve Matrix’s Mobile Marketing session. “I liked how there were students present at the lecture and Dr. Matrix brought them into the discussion. I felt like the whole experience really reinforced my connection with Queen’s.”

On Saturday afternoon, Chancellor David Dodge presented his Last Lecture on Earth to a crowd of more than 500 people in Grant Hall. His topic was "Incentives, Risk and Innovation: On the Importance of the Freedom to Fail.”

For Spring Reunion, classes from 1947 to 2002 returned to campus to catch up with classmates and tour their old haunts. On Saturday night, members of the Queen’s Tricolour Guard – those celebrating 50 years or more since their graduation – were feted by Principal Daniel Woolf and Chancellor Dodge at a celebratory dinner in Ban Righ Hall.

Photos from the weekend will be posted on the Alumni Relations website.