THE IDEA IS SIMPLE. 8595 is about increasing the attendance, engagement, and connectedness of the nearly 18,500 William & Mary alumni that constitute its target audience.
The vague outlines of an "8595 club" began emerging in early 2004 during 15th year reunion planning for the Class of 1989. A concerted effort was made to include alumni from `88 and `90 in both official and unofficial `89 reunion events and the approach helped make that weekend the most successful 15th year gathering apart from the Tercentenary year. Many alumni came back to campus for the first time in years. And more than a few people left wondering why such a great gathering could only happen once every five years.
More ideas were exchanged throughout the Spring of 2005 and by September the name and basic concept had crystallized and were receiving enthusiastic support.
A few weeks later, during Homecoming 2005, the concept was circulated more widely and received nearly universally positive response. Additional support and valuable suggestions from alumni attending the `95, `90, and `85 reunion events were received.
We also learned that the alumni of Sigma Nu, Pi Lam, and other Greek chapters that no longer have a base in Williamsburg could benefit by using our venue as a replacement meeting spot at Homecoming.
After the 2005 Homecoming these suggestions were compiled into a lengthy document and then, after editing and feedback from a number of involved alumni, that piece was distilled down into a much more presentable two-page concept paper. For those interested in that level of detail, that document is available at http://summary.8595.org.
In Spring of 2006 the decision was made to go forward with the inaugural event and the push to recruit the first host committee began. After dozens of e-mails, an impressive list of names had been put together and it was this involvement that led to the event's success.
As for now we are just looking to repeat and improve last year's fun, well-attended event! Nothing beyond that has been planned yet.