Nearly 500 alumni and friends gathered on an idyllic, late-summer evening at Larkin Square last Friday to toast UB during its third annual all-alumni reception.

Dubbed Larkinville, the popular historic urban park site of the former Larkin Soap Company warehouses just east of downtown Buffalo provided an optimal setting for the celebration, which included several individual school receptions leading up to the main event a presentation by President Satish K. Tripathi.

Members of the UB cheerleading squad and the UB Bulls were on hand to greet guests during a bustling night of music, hula-hooping, dance and reunions with friends and former classmates.

Even UB Athletic Director Danny White and Head Coach Jeffrey Quinn took a break from what the football team calls Focus Friday preparation for the next days game v. Norfolk State to enjoy the festivities.

Julie Winkelman and Preethi Govindaraj, both 2002 Honors College graduates, are two of a group of eight friends who met at UB in 1998 who still get together regularly, despite the others living out of state. They were happy to see each other and some of their fellow graduates at Fridays event. When asked how she came to choose UB for college, Govindaraj smiled.

My father, uncle and cousin all attended UB, so I wanted to go as far away as possible to college, Govindaraj recalled with a laugh. But after speaking with humanities majors and learning about the faculty at UB and the Honors College itself, it actually was the best choice. Then, of course, once you start, you meet all sorts of wonderful friends.

Before his talk, Tripathi obliged several alumni by posing for photos with them. Those who posted their selfies on the UB Alumni Association (UBAA) social media sites were eligible to win prizes of UB gear, which were awarded every half-hour.

To begin the presentation, the UB fight song played as cheerleaders led onlookers closer to the podium under the squares canopied atrium. UBAA President Carol Gloff, BS 75, introduced Tripathi, who updated the crowd on the latest happenings on all three UB campuses, including construction of the new medical school just a few miles away on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

And he asked all UB alumni to get involved at the university.

You may want to help recruit the best and brightest students to UB or assist fellow alumni getting started on a new career path, Tripathi said. We have an alumni-powered global network of more than 235,000 graduates around the world, and were asking all of you to get involved according to your own interests.

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Alumni reception draws hundreds to Larkin Square