How Facebook United Kanreki and Peter After a Long Dismissed Orange Friendship

Posted on by Sydney Trager

Both of my parents went to Syracuse, therefore I’ve been bleeding orange my entire life. What anyone who has experienced this school understands is that it isn’t just a college you attend for a few years and then forget about; it’s a lifestyle. I’ve found through 22 years of admiring SU that it harbors incredible lifelong and meaningful relationships, which the Daily Orange can back-up with stories about ‘Cuse relationships turning into marriages. Before social media, there was email, letter writing, and phone calls that continued to drive these relationships beyond time spent in central New York.

However, I’ve personally seen this bond transform due to social media with my fathers’ bountiful list of friends from Syracuse that map all over the world.

A particular moment that stood out to me revolves around a man named Kanreki Mameuda. I’d heard stories of my dad and him rapping songs about the dean in the school talent show, but I’d never thought it would amount to anything real considering he moved to Japan.

It wasn’t until we planned a family vacation to Kyoto that my dad brought his name to light after years of my sister and I forgetting who he was. With my help, we were able to find Kanreki on Facebook and coordinate a reunion for the two SU alums. That’s the first time my father recognized the importance of social media; when he observed that despite not having Kanreki’s phone number, email or home address, he would be able to introduce Kanreki to his family, after not speaking to him in 30 years. Facebook was able to unite this long lost friendship, proving to my father and reminding me that social media has the power to bring the world closer together.

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