On the last weekend in June, UWC Adriatic welcomed back alumni celebrating the 30th and 25th anniversaries of their graduation (generations 1994-96 & 1995-97 and 1998-00 & 1999-01). What began with warm embraces, familiar songs sung once again together and shared memories quickly became something deeper: a celebration of the lifelong impact of a values-based education built on living, learning and growing alongside young people from every corner of the world.
The reunion programme combined opportunities to reconnect with classmates with moments to rediscover the college as it is today. Campus tours, informal gatherings, concerts, the traditional gala dinner and a fundraising auction for scholarships, all created space for old friendships to flourish once again. Many alumni spoke of returning to Duino not simply as revisiting a former school, but as coming back to a place that still feels like home.
A highlight of every reunion is the Saturday morning plenary session, where the College leadership shared developments from today’s UWC Adriatic and alumni reflected on the lasting influence of their years in Duino. This year’s speakers offered deeply personal accounts of lives shaped by the UWC experience.
Some described the confidence they gained by leaving home at sixteen and learning to navigate a multicultural community. Others reflected on friendships that have endured for decades and continue to influence both their personal and professional lives. One alumnus movingly recalled arriving from Tunisia with almost nothing, describing UWC Adriatic as “my personal Hogwarts” before explaining how the community quite literally changed the course of his future. Another encouraged today’s students to put their phones aside from time to time and fully embrace the extraordinary opportunity of living every day with classmates from more than eighty countries.
Listening to these stories, a common theme emerged: while academic learning is important, many of the most enduring lessons at UWC Adriatic are learned outside the classroom – in conversations across cultures, shared meals, community life and friendships that continue long after graduation.
The weekend also demonstrated another defining feature of the UWC community: alumni remain actively involved long after leaving Duino. Many now volunteer within UWC national committees, support UWC International or mentor younger generations, ensuring that future students can benefit from the same transformative opportunities they once received.
That spirit of giving back was perhaps most visible during the Reunion Gift campaign. Throughout the weekend, alumni came together to fund a scholarship for Marah, a student from Syria who will join UWC Adriatic this August. The scholarship auction, filled with memorabilia, artwork, music and generous donations, culminated in the successful achievement of the fundraising goal: Marah’s first year at UWC Adriatic has been fully funded. It was a powerful reminder that every new generation of students is made possible by those who came before them.
As the final conversations continued late into the evening, one impression remained unmistakable: although alumni have built lives across the world, UWC Adriatic continues to be a place they carry with them. For many, returning to Duino is not simply about remembering the past – it is about reconnecting with a community that continues to shape who they are.
The success of the weekend would not have been possible without the invaluable contribution of our volunteers: Joanna and Yamini from the University of Oxford, who joined the College through the Summer Internship Programme), together with Alon, Eugenia, Giona and Joep, to whom we extend our heartfelt thanks.
