Buchanan Alumni House 5th Anniversary Celebration Highlighted with Gift from Rudy Vallee’s Widow
Contact: Amos E. Orcutt, (207) 581-5100
Todd D. Saucier, (207) 581-1138
ORONO — Buchanan Alumni House, which celebrates its fifth anniversary as part of Reunion Weekend 2007, has set a new standard for excellence at the University of Maine. An architectural gateway to the campus, it is a signature building that displays outstanding alumni and their achievements, providing inspiration to current and prospective students.
“The building demonstrates excellence, which is what the University of Maine is all about,” says Amos Orcutt, president of the University of Maine Foundation. The Foundation and the UMaine Alumni Association are both housed in the facility.
Buchanan Alumni House was designed by WBRC Architects/Engineers of Bangor. It won the 2003 American Schools and Universities Interior Design Award. The general contractor was Nickerson and O’Day of Brewer.
Since its opening during Reunion Weekend in 2002, Buchanan Alumni House has been an exceptional resource for the University of Maine. Over 90,000 people have attended functions at at the facility, not including casual “drop in” visits, which number in the hundreds each year. Buchanan Alumni House also serves as the University’s “front door” to potential students and their guests. In the past three years, over 15,000 students and guests have begun and ended campus tours at the building.
Through this partnership between the Alumni Association and the University of Maine Foundation, over 14,000 alumni and friends have given to construct and/or endow Buchanan Alumni House. The facility was built exclusively with private contributions, making it the most successful private fundraising project in UMaine’s history. No tax dollars or tuition money were involved in the project.
A special fifth anniversary program and champagne reception are planned for Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 4 p.m. at Buchanan Alumni House. A special highlight of this event is the presentation of Rudy Vallee’s saxophone to the Alumni Association by his widow, Eleanor Vallee. The Maine Stein Song, which was made popular by Rudy Vallee of UMaine’s Class of 1925, is one of the most recognized collegiate songs in the United States.
The public is invited to participate in Saturday’s celebration located at the Buchanan Alumni House, 160 College Avenue, Orono, Maine.