More than 4,000 UC Irvine alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends visited the campus Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24 and 25, for the first weekend-long celebration of homecoming.
Reunions for the classes of 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009 were held Friday in the Newkirk Alumni Center. On Saturday, the center hosted “Classes Without Quizzes,” which included a debate on gun ownership and a discussion of emotional maturity and happiness.
Festivities continued Saturday evening with a street fair and a nail-biting men’s basketball game against the University of Hawaii that ended in a heartbreaking overtime loss for the Anteaters.
The street fair featured a Ferris wheel, a bounce house, balloon artistry and music that spanned the generations. The popular beer garden venue and funnel cake booth provided carnival sustenance.
The UCI Alumni Association is gearing up to do it all again in November, as homecoming makes the transition from a winter celebration to a fall one.