In addition, some pieces come in that need to be reworked or scrapped altogether.
"There are certain disasters, and I mean disasters," says Lynch. "There are certainly Harvard graduates who have gone over the edge and their writing sounds deranged."
The reunions are such a serious business that even the student help is carefully screened. Keith R. Sarkisian, a coordinator for the University's child care effort, says for every student hired as a day camp counselor for the reunions, three are rejected.
Jellis says she subjects students who apply for jobs in the Wadsworth House reunion office to an intensive application and interview process.
"I interview every single [student] candidate myself," says Jellis. "And then I pluck probably ten of the best."
Reunion week is also a moneymaker for several Harvard entities that provide services for the alumni.
The University's security department, for example, receives a larger-than-usual payment for the guards it dispatches to perform details at reunion events, according to sources. And Harvard Dining Services aims to make a little profit on the meals it serves.
"When we negotiate with reunions, we're not just trying to break even but also make a very small profit--a 3 percent margin," says Director of Dining Services Michael P. Berry. "We love billing the reunion people."
Berry says he begins planning in October for Commencement week, during which his employees serve 50,000 meals and prepare 15,000 box lunches. The meals are generally of the same quality as the festive meals served intermittently in the College's dining halls.
"Logistically, it may be impossible," Berry says.
But the logistics--and the corporation within the corporation--only seems to get more complicated. Graduate schools, long having noted the largess the College gains from its reunions, have stepped up or started class gift programs.
The Medical School, for example, launched a pilot reunion gift program in 1990. Officials call it a success, and the 120 members of the school's 50th reunion class donated $200,000 this year.
"I think we find the alumni more responsive in a reunion year," says Kate Hill, the Medical School's assistant director of annual giving. "So the development office tries to tap into that excitement."
The Reunions:
A Two-Part Look
Today
Tomorrow