Homecoming/Family Weekend Brings Them Home

Oct. 21, 2008 by Olivia Bartlett Drake

Wesleyan hosted Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 17-19. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)

Come Home!” was the theme of Wesleyan’s Homecoming/Family Weekend (HCFW) Oct. 17-19.

“I chose Come Home! as the theme for this event because I believe that Wesleyan is a family that grows stronger by engagement at regular gatherings such as Homecoming/Family Weekend,” says Wesleyan President Michael Roth. “Many things in our lives change year to year, but we can always come back to Wesleyan and feel we belong.”

The event featured 21 WESeminars, several athletic events, campus tours, an all-college dinner, a performance by Crooked Still, a breakfast for parent volunteers, family swim, alumni water polo game, reunion committee meetings, a donor associates reception, a gathering for Wesleyan Grandparents, tailgate party, scholarship celebration, party at Eclectic, fall harvest brunch, among several other activities.

Wesleyan played rival Amherst in the Homecoming football game. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

Special events included an Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony and dinner for the second class of inductees; A benefit concert for the Green Street Arts Center featuring Wesleyan A Cappella groups; the “Where on Earth Are We Going: Climate Policy: A Progress Report” Schumann Symposium; the Festival on Foss Hill featuring a Taste of Middlesex County; and the 16th Annual Dwight L. Greene ‘70 Symposium: “Enough: The Future of Black America” featuring NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams.

According to Makaela Kingsley, associate director of events, more than 2,500 alumni, family members and guests registered for HCFW.

More than 2,500 guests attended Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 17-19.

“We also had several athletic spectators, members of the Wesleyan and Middletown communities, and friends attending, so all told, there were well over 5,000 people on campus to enjoy the festivities,” she says.

Below is a photo gallery of Homecoming/Family Weekend. Click on the image to open it in a larger window. A final photo gallery will be published in an upcoming Wesleyan Connection.

: More than 2,200 guests attended Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 17-19.

: Wesleyan played rival Amherst in the Homecoming football game.

: Wesleyan hosted Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 17-19.

: Wesleyan played Amherst College during the Homecoming celebration. The Cardinals lost 10-17. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: President Michael Roth, right, congratulates former basketball player James Akin ‘72 for being inducted into Wesleyan’s Athletic Hall of Fame. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)

: Rudi Motshubi ‘11 and Diana Rodriguez ‘09 assist James He ‘11 and his mother, Jayne, with registration inside Usdan University Center Oct. 17. Alumni, parents, students and families checked in for a schedule, welcome packet, campus map and other information. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Benjamin Bernstein Kaplan ‘09 gives a hug to his grandparents, Estelle and Abraham Bernstein of West Hartford, Conn. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Dr. Davis Smith, medical director at the Davison Health Center, and members of the Student Pandemic Leadership and Training committee, presented an information session on the science behind avian influenza. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Bud Dorsey ’50, P ’81, P’83, GP ’12, enjoys the Wesleyan-Amherst homecoming game. Dorsey, of Saint Simons Island, Ga. visited his granddaughter, Elizabeth Dorsey ‘12, during the weekend. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Several families watched the Homecoming game from the sidelines. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Students serve cotton candy to campus visitors.

: The Wesleyan Cardinal made several appearances on conference throughout the weekend. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)

: Several families tailgated before the Wesleyan-Amherst game.

: Slavei, a group of Wesleyan singers devoted to bringing the inspiring music of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Caucasus Georgia to Wesleyan, performed at the A Cappella Concert to benefit the Green Street Arts Center. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)

: Jessica Bowen ’11 shares a hug from her mother, Zorina Bowen, who visited from Memphis, Tenn. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Angel Gil–Ordóñez, adjunct associate professor of music, hosted a “Join the Orchestra and Play Along” event for Wesleyan musicians and their families. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Face painting and games were available for the younger campus guests. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Writer Randy Cohen P’09 leads a Voices of Liberal Learning seminar titled “Writing the Ethicist” in Memorial Chapel. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Andrew Gladstone ’11 and his mother Peggy Chan view Homecoming/Family Weekend activities from Foss Hill. Chan visited from New York, N.Y. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Katherine McDonald ’11 takes a campus tour with her parents, Isabelle McDonald ‘80, and McDonald ‘79. Katherine’s grandfather, Francis Baudry ‘51 also is a Wesleyan alumnus. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: Hilary Ireland of Exeter, N.H. P ‘09 plays a game with her son, Dominic Ireland ‘09 (Photo by Olivia Bartlett)

: The student fire-spinning group Prometheus performed on Foss Hill during Homecoming/Family Weekend. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)

: Juan Williams, senior correspondent for National Public Radio, was the featured speaker at the 16th Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium. (Photo by Bill Burkhart)