Wear Back 2009: University of Sunderland’s big reunion

Graduates of the University of Sunderland are being invited to relive old times as it prepares for its biggest ever reunion.

For the first time the University will host a reunion open to all ex-students in May. Wear Back! 2009 will be a night where alumni can gather on the banks of the River Wear.

The evening starts at the newly refurbished ‘CAMPUS’ nightspot (formerly Manor Quay) before moving onto the National Glass Centre for dancing, food and drinks.

The University’s alumni community is growing stronger every day since the launch of their new online community Wear United. WearUnited is a networking site for past graduates to talk, reminisce and benefit from a whole host of benefits offered by the Alumni Association.

The Alumni Association is now 80,000 members strong and Sarah Fairless, Alumni Officer believes that Wear Back! is an ideal opportunity for alumni of the University to get together for the first time in many years:

“There are a lot of our alumni communicating on WearUnited since its recent launch. We were aware that our alumni do communicate with each other and we believe Wear Back! will be the ideal opportunity for people to meet up face to face, talk about old times, have a drink enjoy being back in Sunderland”.

The Alumni Association organise many reunions each year but this is the first year that all graduates who have ever studied here are invited. Although the event will be mainly aimed at those who graduates since the institution gained University status in 1992, anyone who is interested and attended one of the former establishments can attend including Polytechnic students.

Jo Dann, Data Officer and Manager of the new on-line community said: “WearUnited has been a huge success and our online alumni community is growing from strength to strength. We provide many benefits and services through the site.

“These include but are not limited to email for life, blog areas, discounts, a find a friend service, event calendar and of course reunion advice. It really is user friendly and those who use other networking websites will enjoy using it.”

“We don’t want our students to perceive graduation day as the end of the relationship with the University. WearUnited is an excellent tool to help us establish lifelong connectivity with the Institution. It is also an invaluable asset in helping us to maintain a link with our international alumni wherever they may be in the world.”

Sarah Fairless, Alumni Officer said about the site: “My job is to keep a relationship active between us and our alumni, friends in touch with each other and keep the links alive. I find it really interesting and I am sure others do to, in finding out what friends have gone on to do since graduating. If people cannot attend Wear Back! they can use the network to do some friendly research”.

To sign up for the alumni on-line community or to buy tickets for Wear Back! on 9th May at CAMPUS and the National Glass Centre, log on and register at www.wearunited.com or call 0191 515 3664.

Tickets for the event are only £3 and that includes a selected first drink. The event kicks off at 8pm.