NECO Alumni Return to Beacon Street for Reunion
On Saturday, April 6, over 75 New England College of Optometry (NECO) alumni from 10 different graduating classes gathered at Beacon Street to commemorate the college’s inaugural reunion event. This was the first in-person reunion since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Amidst warm embraces and a few tears, former classmates reconnected and swapped tales from their unique and shared experiences as NECO students.
Among the attendees was Gary Bleiberg ’94 who made a memorable entrance sporting a personalized hockey jersey emblazoned with “NewEnCO,” the former anagram used before “NECO” became the college’s standard nickname.
Speeches were made by NECO President and CEO Howard Purcell, OD ’84, and Andy Kall, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, who highlighted the unwavering support from NECO alumni as the school continues to lead the way in optometric education. It is the hard work and dedication of the NECO alumni that continues to attract top-tier students and secure NECO’s future.
Attendees from the classes of 1983, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2013, and 2014 participated in a special Continuing Education session taught by three fellow alumni: Marc Bloomenstein, OD ’94; Steven Ferrucci, OD ’94; and Roxanne Achong-Coan, OD ’98. Topics that were covered during the session included dry eye, geographic atrophy, and scleral lenses. The educational segment of the day was organized by Gary Chu, OD ’95, MPH, FAAO who also broadcast the session to an online audience of health providers from across the country.
The alumni were also offered the chance to check out a NECO-sponsored industry micro expo that featured representatives from seven different optometric organizations. Companies like Bausch & Lomb, Hoya, Topcon Healthcare, Tarsus, Sight Sciences, Apellis, and CooperVision shared their latest developments. The alumni made their way through the space learning about the latest in vision care, consumer health care, and surgical and pharmaceutical products.
Beyond the day’s events at Beacon Street, classmates enjoyed dinners and exploring Boston together. Arriving on Friday, members of the class of 1999 even stopped by Beacon Street before the reunion to check on old friends, former teachers, and even the old dorms in building 418.
Being back at 424 Beacon Street brought a lot of laughs and memories of studying that seemed to be worth it as our alumni reflected on their own optometric careers and just how much NECO influenced their lives over the decades. We are NECO Proud of all our graduates and enjoyed learning about all the ways NECO alumni are Changing the Way People See the World.