Pitchers with Professors always draws a crowd, but never more so than Reunion Weekend. The kickoff event for this weekend's reunion runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Triton's Pub. It will be followed at 6 p.m. by the Alumni Summit in Fox Hall, 

a forum for all alumni to discuss and take part in the future of Eckerd College, hosted by President Don Eastman. During the weekend, members of the Class of 1965 will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their graduation, and more than 30 members of the class are expected to attend and be inducted into the Golden Triton Society. Many of the Class of 1964 will also return to campus to help celebrate. Other events include the Alumni Awards Breakfast, the Reunion Celebration Dinner and a Memorial Worship Service and Farewell Brunch. Read more.

If you are a boater in need of supplies, plan to attend the 29th Annual Eckerd College Marine Yard Sale on Saturday, March 14, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Eckerd Waterfront. Expect a large crowd. In the past the sale has drawn up to 1,000 people. All proceeds support Eckerd College Search and Rescue (EC-SAR), the volunteer student organization founded in 1971 that provides free maritime search and rescue to the Tampa Bay boating community - the only college marine rescue service in the country. EC-SAR received widespread attention recently when team members recovered the body of 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck after her father allegedly threw her from a bridge leading to the Sunshine Skyway. It was one of more than 600 emergencies the team responds to annually. Student volunteers told the Associated Press last year that they learn invaluable lessons in life, leadership and their place in the world. Read more.

Piper Kerman, author of the best-selling memoir Orange Is the New Black, drew some 1,500 people to McArthur Gymnasium on Thursday, March 5, for a penetrating talk on the woeful state of the American corrections system. It was the largest turnout of the academic year for a public event on campus. Kerman, whose book formed the basis of the popular and award-winning Netflix series by the same name, urged the audience to not forget the 100,000 prisoners who are released each year and to donate books to jails and prisons. The U.S., she said, has one-third of the world's female prisoners and continues to put more and more people behind bars despite a drop in crime. "No society has more people locked away than the U.S. has and combined with the fact that in the last 30 years women have been the fastest growing segment of our prison population and women are typically convicted of nonviolent offenses this is all very troubling," she told the Tampa Bay Times.