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Oct 02, 2025

Tuck Relaunch 2025: A Week of Connection, Reflection, and Community

By Catie Baumgartner

As second-year students return to campus each September, Tuck Relaunch offers them a chance to pause, reflect, and reconnect. The program began as a way for the returning class to set intentions for their final year by clarifying personal goals, recommitting to leadership priorities, and considering how they want to contribute to the Tuck community.

This year, Relaunch grew in both scope and impact. For the first time, the program included both classes—welcoming the T’27s into the experience after their initial Tuck Launch orientation.

As Tuck Student Board President Matthew Sindelar T’26 explains, “Relaunch was a series of community-centric events focused on bringing together our Tuck community. The academic calendar always has the first years on campus a few weeks before the second years, and this year we wanted to be very intentional about bringing the two classes closer together as soon as we were all on campus.”

Four Days of Connection

With that vision, Tuck Relaunch became a series of four events designed to spark connection, reflection, and fun. 

  • Day One: Time Traveling Tuckies
    Students gathered based on the places they’ve called home, encouraging conversations around shared backgrounds and experiences.
  • Day Two: A Taste of Tuck
    A 600-person dinner paired groups of first- and second-years and had them play a Tuck-created conversation-starting card game.
  • Day Three: TuckTails with a Twist
    At a special TuckTails, students wore visual icebreakers to help spark new conversations.
  • Day Four: Twilight Walk & Candle Lighting
    The week culminated in a twilight walk through campus to a special spot in the woods. Everyone got a candle and, with just one flame, worked together to light them all. “We invited the entire Tuck community…where the only goal was to celebrate what makes Tuck, Tuck—the people,” Sindelar shares. As candles spread through the crowd, Student Board members introduced themselves, and the event closed with each person setting an intention for the year and signing a giant “Welcome Home” banner.

“The T’26s have done an incredible job creating an open and welcoming community—and we wanted to share that with the T’27s,” reflects Sindelar.