Reunion Weekend 2006 at Cornell, June 8-11, will welcome the "Classes of 1s and 6s" with a full slate of events for some 6,700 attendees, including family members, from classes ranging from 1931 to 2001.

"It's very volunteer-driven," said Cathy Hogan '70, associate director of class and reunion programs in the Office of Alumni Affairs. "All of the classes and associations are involved with designing their own programming, so it's always fun to see what interesting and unique events they've planned for their classmates."

Two special exhibitions opening June 8 will focus on the generosity of Cornellians: "Treasures on Paper: Alumni Gifts to the Collection" at the Johnson Museum and "In the Founders' Footsteps: Builders of Cornell University Library" in Kroch Library's Hirshland Gallery, offering rare books, manuscripts and artifacts donated or funded by alumni and friends. An opening reception for the Kroch Library exhibit will be held Thursday, June 8, at 5:30 p.m.

The annual Olin Lecture, on Friday, June 9, at 3 p.m. in Bartels Hall's Newman Arena, will feature Sheryl WuDunn '81 and columnist Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times, husband-and-wife journalists who shared a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 1990 Tiananmen Square protests in China. They will speak on "Report From Sudan: The Politics of the First Genocide of the Twenty-first Century."

The 50th reunion of the Class of '56 will welcome such classmates as famed architect Richard Meier (B.Arch.) and trustee emeritus Jon Lindseth (Engineering) and his wife, Virginia "Ginny'' MacDonald Lindseth (Arts and Sciences). Meier, the architect for the Life Sciences Technology Building, now under construction at Cornell, also will be included in a video on architecture alumni, "Big Red to Meier White," produced by alumni Phil and Maddy Handler, on June 9. The Lindseths, who funded the climbing wall in Bartels Hall, will present a slide show on Saturday, June 10, from 9 to 10 a.m. in G10 Biotechnology Building, highlighting alumni mountain ascents from around the world.

The Cornell Black Alumni Association, the oldest minority alumni organization in the Ivy League, will celebrate its 30th anniversary during Reunion Weekend this year.

The fifth all-class reunion of the Cornell Native American Alumni Association will welcome up to 50 members this year, headquartered at Akwe:kon on North Campus, with special events including a traditional Iroquois dinner on June 9.

Other Reunion highlights include:

New West Campus facilities will house the Classes of '86 (in Alice Cook House) and '66 (in Carl Becker House). The Thurston Avenue Bridge will be open to two-way traffic from 4 p.m. Thursday, June 8, until the morning of Monday, June 12. For more information, visit http://alumni.cornell.edu/reunion.