November Alumni Perspectives: Shay Totten '91

Hello! 

I’m going to dive right in and give you the big news: Clear your calendar for October 3-5, 2025, and make plans to attend Bennington’s All-Class Reunion! 

As Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka said, “We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that. Reverse it.”

We have many months to plan and program, but it’ll go by quickly. Email me if you’d like to volunteer your time and/or ideas to help bring classmates, former roommates, housemates, and Bennington friends back to campus.

An official registration form will be unveiled in early 2025 along with a dedicated webpage, but feel free to start making plans. You can even book your rooms now. Here is a handy link of places to stay. 

For now, you can reserve at Hotel Vervana (formerly the Paradise Inn). Just let them know you’re part of the Bennington College Reunion group to get a discounted rate. We are working to reserve blocks of rooms at additional area hotels and will let you know when they become available. 

Speaking of alumni gatherings: The day this email is landing in most people’s inboxes—Thursday, November 14—I’ll be in Chicago gathering with local alumni. And, I tell you what...I want to hang with more of you before Reunion. And, yeah I know, it is my job. 

If you’re interested in getting alumni together in your city or region, let me know and we’ll work on a plan. Or, if you’re traveling in or near Vermont and would like to meet, I’d be happy to host you on campus.

Another way to connect with other alumni is to join Bennington Connects. This Bennington-only online platform allows you to find community, post a job, look for a job, and offer your mentoring skills and career advice to current students. If you’re thinking of ditching one of the mainstream social platforms, consider joining Bennington Connects, and help us build a strong community of alumni in service to each other and current students.

With Reunion next year, we have some ways for you to ensure that you get all the news you need to plan your visit. But, we want to make sure we know how to reach you.

First of all, update your information with us if you’ve moved or plan to update your email address. If you hear of an alum who says they’re not getting emails from us, send them this form! I’ve found a number of times where folks have unsubscribed from one Bennington email or another over the years, and it means we can’t email them about things that they might want to know about, like regional gatherings and Reunion.

Second, send us your Class Notes! We’re collecting notes until November 20 for the next issue of Bennington Magazine. It’s the most-read section of the magazine, so be sure that you’re letting your classmates know where you are and what you’re up to.

As we settle more solidly into late fall and move into stick season, I’ve been working to get caught up on my reading, especially alumni-written books. The one currently on the top of my stack is The Slow Road North by Rosie Schapp ’94. Perhaps you saw the recent review in The New York Times? If you missed it, we published a roundup of alumni books that are out and about in a bookstore near you. 

Onward,

Shay Totten ‘91 
Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement