Though faces may change slightly as the years pass, enthusiasm for the class picture remains the same. (photo: Brian Faircloth)
A little morning rain could not dampen the spirits of more than 500 NCSSM alumni who returned to Durham recently for the school’s annual Alumni Weekend. Classmates from the classes of 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 came together to swap stories and catch up with friends old and new.
The weekend kicked off Friday afternoon with an Alumni Association Annual Meeting before moving into the NCSSM Foundation reception in the early evening. A Happy Half (if you know, you know) closed out the evening. Saturday saw members of the eight celebrating classes mingling and milling about campus for class slideshows, campus tours, class photos, and a food truck rodeo. Later that evening, alumni spread throughout venues in Durham to celebrate with classmates over drinks and food. Reunion Weekend activities wrapped up on Sunday with a team of alumni runners (Team Nerd Herd) participating in the Bull City Race Fest. Brunch with current students in NCSSM-Durham’s newly remodeled dining hall closed out the weekend.
Barbara “Barbie” Watson and Allyson Norris Meyer, both Class of ’91, have been friends since they were neighbors on the second floor of NCSSM-Durham’s Beall dormitory. They’ve each returned for several of their reunions to recall moments from their youth and see old friends.
“You don’t ever leave NCSSM,” Watson says. “Those of us that keep coming back, we were talking about how we still have dreams of, like, we go back to school as adults, but we fake it like we’re kids. Another group was talking about, you know, if you had to give something up in your life, what was the thing you would least want to give up? For a lot of us, it was coming to Science and Math.”
“It saves lives,” Meyer says. “And it taught us to show up for one another.”
This reunion weekend was the third for Jay Carter ’01. He says the bond between alumni extends far beyond the students one went to school with.
“You’re only ever on campus with three classes: your class, the class below, and the class above. But we get to know the ’91s and the 2011s. I would never have known these people. But we see them here and it’s nice. These are your people in ways that [others] are not.”
Brock Winslow ’86 spent the weekend on campus as well. Not only was his class part of those being celebrated, Winslow is also NCSSM’s Chief of Staff and Vice Chancellor for External Relations, which organizes Alumni Weekend each year. Being part of both sides of the weekend provided him a unique perspective on the event and its importance to NCSSM’s alumni, and the school itself.
“In addition to a work weekend, it was also my 40th reunion, and it was a truly terrific experience,” Winslow said. “So many of my classmates and other reunion alumni expressed their appreciation for a weekend full of fun and friendship, and for the care and stewardship of an institution that means so much to them, our students, and our state.”
Photos from Alumni Weekend 2026 are being curated and will be linked here at the bottom of the story when ready. Please check back!
