Related: Alumni Week Recap
Alumni Week 2021 was bigger than ever as the invitation to celebrate was extended to alumni of all Classes, as well as the Punahou community, and virtual festivities allowed the worldwide alumni ‘ohana to participate.
Reunion Classes hosted virtual get-togethers and small in-person gatherings, while Punahou hosted larger online events. The week of June 7 – 13 was jam-packed with activities, including the Holoholo Punahou Fitness Challenge; the inaugural Festival of Ideas; the Punahou Alumni Association (PAA) Awards Ceremony; a State of the School: Future of Punahou address and question and answer session with President Mike Latham ’86 and school administrators; a traditional Hawaiian lei-making class; and of course, the week’s finale: Buff ‘n Blue Together: Virtual Alumni Lu‘aū Celebration.
Attendees were invited to take part in a shared meal, and Punahou offered prepared lū‘au meals and cook-your-own lū‘au kits for sale. A festive drive-thru pickup event on June 9 featured alumni musicians, Reunion merchandise booths and volunteers from the 24th Class of 1997 and PAA helping with curbside pickup.
The virtual Lū‘au was an hour-long celebration of Punahou and its alumni. Musical groups Ke‘olu and Kualoa included alumni musicians, while on-camera hosts Lauren Day ’13 and Kainoa Carlson ’07 gave viewers a peek into the School archives, honored Reunion classes and shared memorable moments from the past school year and Commencement activities.
While the virtual format was new and posed some unique challenges, it also presented opportunities for far-flung alumni to engage with the School, friends and classmates. Live events offered the chance for real-time engagement between participants, while on-demand recordings gave alumni with busy schedules and in different time zones the opportunity to participate on their own time. All Alumni Week events can be viewed on the School’s YouTube channel.