Since dispersing at the close of their fellowship year at MIT, the 1993-94 Fellows have nearly all kept in close touch with each other as their lives, careers and families have evolved. These connections have included photos and news shared in a Facebook group, frequent visits when two Fellows find themselves in the same city, wedding receptions, and most significantly a regular series of reunions. Every other summer since leaving MIT, a majority of the group has gathered for a few days in a series of colorful locales: the Outer Banks, Cape Cod, Lake Tahoe, the Rockies, Quebec City, Moscow, and Tuscany.
The largest reunion took place over the July 4, 2012, holiday, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Ten of the 11 former fellows and the acting director that year, David Ansley (who also organized the reunion), made it, together with spouses, partners and children, adding up to a group of 30. They spent several days together, hiking the rainforest and beaches, cooking huge meals, remembering the year at MIT and talking about current events and journalistic challenges. Attendees came from Australia, Germany, California, Wisconsin, Washington and the East Coast.
Among the highlights was a field seminar – a tidepool walk at Salt Creek County Park, led by Ansley’s daughter Kaza, who was 4 during the Fellowship year but now has a marine biology degree. During that beach trip, the Fellows re-enacted their official fellowship photograph, borrowing a weathered drift log in place of MIT campus sculpture. The only two people missing from the new photo are fellow Etsuko Furukori (whom the group has lost contact with), and former administrative assistant Linda Lowe.
— David Ansley, Acting Director, 93-94