St. Andrew's celebrated its annual Reunion Weekend June 9 through June 11, and welcomed more than 300 alumni and their families back to campus for the three-day celebration. This year's Reunion honored class years ending in 3s and 8s, from the Class of 1948 to the Class of 2018, with the Class of 1973 celebrating its 50th Reunion, and the Class of 1998 celebrating its 25th Reunion. Weekend events included an LGBTQIA+ panel discussion and conversation session; a panel discussion on waterway environmentalism; mini-sessions on the inner workings of St. Andrew’s (the school's financial model, the admissions process, how we live out the school's mission, etc.); and of course, food trucks, karaoke, good times on the Front Lawn, crew races on Noxontown Pond, and much more.

“Three hundred of you are back here for the same reason I am back to be head of school—we share an incredible love for this place and for each other," said Head of School Joy McGrath ’92 during her remarks to alumni on Saturday. “We are an extended family.”

At the all-alumni Reunion Banquet on Saturday night, the Class of 1988 was awarded with the Giving Bowl, which recognizes the Reunion class that has contributed the largest total amount of gifts to the Saints Fund (as of Reunion Weekend) in the current fiscal year. Our 1988 alums have given $74,343 to the Saints Fund in 2022-23.

The Fishers of Men and Women Plate, another annually given Reunion award that recognizes the two reunion classes (pre-1979 and post-1979) with the greatest percentage of alumni making gifts to the Saints Fund (as of Reunion Weekend) in the current fiscal year. The pre-1979 Fishers Plate was awarded to the Class of 1968 with 68% participation. The post-1979 Fishers Plate was given to the Class of 1998 with 88% participation, a new record for 25th Reunion giving (previously held by the Class of 1997). 

Alumni giving is also honored with a third award: the Founders Cup. Instituted in recognition of the School's 75th anniversary in 2004, the Founders Cup recognizes the importance of alumni support of every kind, and is given to the Reunion class that has given the greatest total support to the school (Saints Fund, capital, endowment, and planned gifts and pledges) since their Class's prior Reunion. This year's Founders Cup was awarded to the Class of 1988, for their total giving of $1,320,234 to St. Andrew's since their last Reunion in 2018.

Additionally, the Class of 1988 broke the 35th reunion record for Saints Fund dollars donated during a Reunion year, previously held by the Class of 1965, and the Class of 1948 broke the 75th Reunion record for Saints Fund dollars donated during a Reunion year, previously held by the Class of 1946.

Finally, this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award was given to Ev McNair ’73. The Distinguished Alumni Award celebrates the alumna or alumnus who has distinguished themselves professionally, personally, and in service to the community and country with strength, commitment, and perseverance. The Distinguished Alumni Endowment Fund was created by the Class of 1959 at its 50th Reunion in 2009, and the award brings the recipient to campus during the following school year to deliver a Chapel Talk on Founders Day, and to visit classes and speak with students, teachers, and staff.

In her introduction of McNair at Reunion, Head of School Joy McGrath ’92 said:

Everett McNair '73 is a public school educator in Charlotte, North Carolina. After he left St. Andrew’s—where he won the Mamo Prize for Wrestling, which currently sits in glory in the Cameron Gym—Everett went to the U.S. Naval Academy. There he received the Brigadier General Wayne H. Adams Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership.

For seven years, he held various positions within the U.S. Marine Corps, eventually attaining the rank of captain prior to his 1984 departure. He then attended Duke University, earning his M.B.A. For 24 years, Everett worked for Corning Cable, first as a marketing director charged with international expansion, then as a director of manufacturing before being appointed VP of customer support services. After various chief operating officer appointments in the information and communications sector, he joined African American Inc. as president in 2014. The company specializes in providing food and non-food products to retail and food-service institutions across the U.S. with a focus on collaborative, community-minded social change. In 2020, inspired at the notion of working with young people, Everett reinvented himself as a public school math teacher.

Thank you to all of our alumni who made the trek back to campus for Reunion Weekend 2023! If you weren't able to make it, please know that you were sorely missed by your fellow Saints.

Click here to view all photos from Reunion Weekend 2023