By Ed Cen

Alumni old and new gathered at the Park Plaza Hotel on Friday evening. As a part of Homecoming week, Northeastern University and the Office of Alumni Relations held an alumni ball and award ceremony.

The alumni ball, the first event of its kind, drew about 415 alumni back to their alma mater.

Many of the alumni said they returned to Northeastern to reflect on their college experience, even though much of the campus is different than what they remember.

“I hate coming back because I don’t recognize anything,” said Theofanis Frank Peters, an alumnus from the class of 1965. Peters said his main reason for attending was to locate some of his former classmates.

Larry Blumsack, an alumnus from the class of 1960 and former faculty member, said he remembers when there were only five buildings on campus.

Before dinner, alumni assembled in the ballroom of the hotel and mingled with former acquaintances, colleagues and President Richard Freeland.

Graduate Eric Graham said there has been a lot of change and development since he attended and said the school had done “an amazing job.”

As dinner began, Dick Power, president of the Northeastern University Alumni Association, introduced board of trustees chairman Neal Finnegan and President Freeland.

Both Finnegan and Freeland discussed the importance of developing and establishing ties with alumni. Freeland said it was his initiative to make alumni a top priority as he ends his term as president.

As the evening progressed, Freeland presented several awards to both alumni and students. The Medallion Award was awarded to Herby Duvern