Centre News

Dozens of alumni living in Louisville turned out for the Centre in
the City event held there this month.

Centre in the City in Cincinnati was hosted by Rachel Conrad
Fausz ’02.

The event was also well attended in New York City, home to many
young Centre alums.

In Washington, D.C., young alumni showed their Centre pride
and reconnected with old classmates during the event.

Thursday, Sept. 2, marked the first ever Centre in the City event, a Young Alumni Happy Hour held in 20 cities across the U.S. and Germany. The multi-city, multi-time-zone gatherings were part of the new GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) program aimed at helping young alumni stay connected.

Jillian Embrey, associate director of alumni affairs and a ’06 Centre graduate, was the event organizer.

“As a recent Centre grad, I notice every year that my closest friends from college are getting farther and farther away. We now span most regions of Kentucky, as well as Washington, D.C., North Carolina, West Virginia, Mississippi, Los Angeles and even Germany,” Embrey says. “It can be a disconcerting thing to leave the safety of the 'Centre bubble' for a new place, but I wanted to create an opportunity for Centre’s young alumni to meet other alumni they might not have known were right in their backyard.

“We arranged all the events on the same night to symbolize that even though we’ve strayed far from campus, we’re still part of one large Centre community,” Embrey continues. “We plan to make this an annual event and continue to increase participation and to include more locations. My original goal was to have 12 cities hosting events, and we had 20. Overall, I think it was a great success, and it showed that young Centre alumni still feel a strong connection to their alma mater.”

Heather Hauntz Hize ’05 attended the Louisville Happy Hour. “It's great to know that even after we've left campus as students, Centre wants to help us maintain the friendships and relationships we built during our years there,” Hize says. “Gatherings of Centre grads, no matter where they're held, always feel a little bit like coming home.”

Rachel Foster ’05 also attended the Louisville event. “Living in Louisville, I often have the opportunity to visit with friends from Centre,” Foster says. “But the Centre in the City event allowed me to reconnect with fellow alums I haven't seen in years.”

The cities represented were: Burlington, Vt., (hosted by Tyler Ward ’07); New York City (hosted by Laura Behrendt ’09 and Kelenda Allen-James ’01); Philadelphia (hosted by Kristin Coleman ’00); Washington, D.C., (hosted by Mary Jane Saunier ’07 and Jared Cutright ’05); Raleigh, N.C., (hosted by Mandy Smith ’08); Charlotte, N.C., (hosted by Melissa Breeden Hall ’01); Greenville, S.C., (hosted by Sherry Meador Jensen ’05); Sarasota, Fla., (hosted by Meg Harney Gregory ’02); Chattanooga, Tenn., (hosted by Melanie Bradshaw Farrell ’02); Nashville, Tenn., (hosted by Julee Baber Brooks ’00 and Sterling Sanders ’01); Lexington, Ky., (hosted by Sara Luna Osborne ’05); Louisville (hosted by Kimberly Mattingly ’08 and Ashley McGinnis Redenbaugh ’03); Bowling Green, Ky., (hosted by Laura Ford ’06); Cincinnati (hosted by Rachel Conrad Fausz ’02); Indianapolis (hosted by Shelley Crispin ’01); Chicago (hosted by Caroline Kraft ’02); Boulder, Colo., (hosted by Amanda McCracken ’00); Houston (hosted by Elaine Beastrom Womack ’05 and Shavonne Smith ’00); Los Angeles (hosted by Erin Grumley ’05 and Ian Jones ’02), and even Garmisch, Germany (hosted by Mark Carr ’10).