Syracuse University witnessed an unusual phenomenon in the days leading up to Saturday’s Final Four victory. Familiar faces began popping up around campus as alumni returned to their roots and flocked to the Hill to cheer on the Orangemen.

Rachel Buske, who got her masters degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2001, came from Washington, D.C., with three friends to watch the game on the big screens in the Carrier Dome. Even though she grew up in Central New York and is a veteran of SU’s 1987 and 1996 Final Four appearances, Buske was still blown away by the Dome crowd’s energy.

‘I hadn’t been in the Dome in two years,’ Buske said. ‘I had forgotten what it was really like.’

For many alumni, economics were a major factor in deciding where to watch the game. Weighing the steep price of a trip to New Orleans and the lack of a car, Buske decided to make her pilgrimage to Syracuse by train. She’s staying for the long haul, taking two days off from work so she can watch SU play in the championship.

At least one former Orangeman found himself in Syracuse on Saturday night by a happy coincidence. Caleb Lubarsky, who earned a dual degree in sociology and advertising in 2002, was on his way back to SU for the First Year Players production of ‘Damn Yankees,’ an organization of which he is an alumnus. While in town, Lubarsky ate dinner at Faegan’s Cafe and Pub, caught the game at a friend’s house and celebrated with the crowd on Marshall Street afterward.

‘It was the next best thing to being on Bourbon Street,’ Lubarsky said.

Lubarsky wasn’t the only person who came back to revisit old ties. Nate Schirmer, a member of the class of 2001 and Phi Gamma Delta brother, drove down from Woodstock and spent the weekend with alumni and current fraternity brothers.

‘It was great to come back and watch us win,’ Schirmer said. ‘It gives me a lot of pride to be a part of the university.’

Recent alumni said they didn’t sense a significant change in the vibe on the Hill. Lubarsky said it was strange to return when most of his close friends had already graduated, but that didn’t spoil his good time.

Alumni young and old agreed that there is something special about this year’s basketball team, both in terms of their athletic prowess and the strength of their character.

‘They seem like a good bunch of guys,’ said Bob Piraino, a 1982 graduate with a degree in political science. ‘Some of the other teams didn’t seem like the best people to be around.’

Having been a student during some of the team’s lean years, Buske was pleased to see so much support for SU’s basketball program. When she watched the Orangemen win at Georgetown earlier this season, the MCI Center was so packed with SU fans that they nearly outnumbered Georgetown’s.

‘The last couple of years Syracuse hasn’t been that great,’ she said. ‘It was good to see the fans come out and support them all season.’

The throngs of Syracuse fans that Buske saw in Georgetown may have been a result of the university’s extended alumni relations efforts. SU operates centers in Washington, D.C., and New York. Both centers have alumni relations programs that cooperate with alumni clubs in the area. University spokesman Kevin Morrow said that clubs across the country hosted gatherings for alumni who couldn’t make the trek to either New Orleans or Syracuse.

Published on April 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm