MUNCIE, Ind.-- While the campus celebrated Family Weekend November 6-8, members of the Ball State’s international family arrived from points of origin as scattered as the Philippines, Ecuador and Norway.

Momentum for the reunion began more than a year ago when Francisca "Pixie" Reyes visited campus for the first time in three decades. Since leaving Muncie in 1967, recently retired Reyes had been a guidance counselor at the American School of Quito, Ecuador.

Among Reyes’ best memories of her student days were activities with fellow members of the International Relations Club. In contact with fellow club member Dr. Allen Bernard, a public school administrator in the Cincinnati area, Reyes contacted other former club members to reunite in Muncie.

Dr. Magnus Haavelsrud, Norway, was the first to plan his return to Muncie, combining the reunion with an invitation to speak to students on his research on peace studies. Recently appointed to a faculty position at the University of Trodheim, Haavelsrud taught for more than 20 years at the University of Tromso, Norway.

Bernard and Cincinnati neighbor, Philippine-born Dr. Estela Matriano, who received her master of arts from Ball State in 1962, made plans to attend. Jean Brault, former International Relations Club president, also decided to join the group from his home near Portland, Oregon.

Dr. James Orr, the international student adviser during the 1960s, heard of the gathering and also decided to return to Indiana.

Regrets were received from as far away as Austria and Puerto Rico, from California to Massachusetts, but those in attendance made a series of plans to bring a much larger group together in Muncie in the coming months and years.

Reunion planners invite those interested in more information about fellow students during the "Orr years" (1964-68) to contact Dr. Martin Limbird, Ball State University International Advancement, by telephone (765) 285-8129, fax (765) 285-1218, or E-mail at mlimbird@bsu.edu.