A variety of activities have been scheduled for the annual Homecoming Weekend at Hope College, running Friday-Sunday, Oct. 13-15.
Highlights include the 29th annual Run-Swim-Walk, a Homecoming parade, an exhibition of artwork by Hope alumni, a lecture on geckos' adhesive feet, a tailgate picnic for alumni, a home football game with Kalamazoo College, a worship service, and reunions for the classes of 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001. The weekend is expected to bring hundreds of alumni back to campus.
Many of the Homecoming events are open to the public.
An exhibition of work by 25 invited alumni of the college's department of art, titled "Treasures from Our Past," continues in the gallery of the De Pree Art Center through Sunday, Oct. 15. The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
On Friday at 4 p.m., Dr. Kellar Autumn of Lewis and Clark College of Portland, Ore., will present "Geckos: biological inspiration for novel adhesives and climbing robots" in room 102 of VanderWerf Hall as the second annual Gentile Lectureship. The lectureship, a divisional seminar in the natural sciences at Hope, is named in honor of Dr. James Gentile, a former dean for the natural sciences at Hope who is now president of Research Corporation. Autumn, who is an associate professor of biology at Lewis and Clark College, led a research team that discovered that a gecko's toe adheres to surfaces by a nanostructure rather than by chemical glue, leading to the development of synthetic adhesive nanostructures with a variety of applications.
The volleyball team will host Calvin College on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse. Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for those under 18, with admission free for children age five and under, and will be sold on the day of the game at the ticket office in the front lobby of the fieldhouse.
The 29th Run-Swim-Walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 14, with registration starting at 8 a.m. at the west entrance of the DeVos Fieldhouse. Events will include a health fair in the fieldhouse from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; a two-mile prediction walk; a five-kilometer run; and quarter-mile and half-mile swims. Starting times vary for competitive events, and registration information may be obtained by calling the department of kinesiology in the fieldhouse at (616) 395-7070.
The Hope-Geneva Bookstore in the DeWitt Center will be open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The bookstore will also sponsor a tent staffed by members of the college's Alumni Board and featuring selected Hope merchandise, primarily clothing, at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. through the end of the college's game with Kalamazoo College.
There will be a tailgate picnic for alumni and their families on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the lawn of the DeWitt Tennis Center. Tickets for the third annual picnic may be ordered in advance for $10 for regular admission and $5 for children age five to 12, with admission free for children under five, by sending a check to: Hope College; Alumni Relations; PO Box 9000; Holland, MI 49422-9000 or by credit card by calling (616) 395-7339. Tickets will also be sold on-site.
The Alumni H-Club's annual Homecoming luncheon will begin on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center. The club will celebrate the 100 years of MIAA baseball, and will present its annual "Hope for Humanity Award" to Ron Boeve. Boeve is a member of the Class of 1960 who is a long-time Holland realtor and assistant baseball coach and volunteer at Hope, and was a stand-out baseball player as a student.
The women's soccer team will host St. Mary's College on Saturday at noon at Buys Athletic Fields.
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Homecoming parade will leave campus at 13th Street and College Avenue and wind its way to Holland Municipal Stadium. The parade will travel north on College Avenue from 13th Street to 10th Street, east on 10th Street to Columbia Avenue, south on Columbia Avenue to 13th Street, and then east on 13th Street to the stadium.
The men's soccer team will host Albion College on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Buys Athletic Fields.
The Flying Dutchmen will host Kalamazoo College at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. The pre-game show, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will feature the Schoolcraft High School band, which will also be marching in the parade. Halftime will feature the band; the presentation of the 11th annual "Favorite Faculty/Staff Member Award," as chosen by the student body; the introduction of the Homecoming Court; and the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen. In addition, the college's chapter of Mortar Board will be holding a children's book drive at the stadium beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Great Performance Series will present the Dave Holland Quintet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Tickets are $16 for regular admission, $12 for senior citizens and $5 for children under 18, and are available at the ticket office in the front lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
A Homecoming worship service will be held on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The service will feature the college's Chapel Choir and Alumni Chapel Choir under the direction of Dr. Brad Richmond of the Hope faculty. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Trygve Johnson, who is the Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel at Hope. Dr. Huw Lewis, professor of music, will be organist.
The Chapel Choir and Alumni Chapel Choir will perform in concert on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Richmond and Roger Rietberg, who is a professor emeritus of music and former director of the choir, will conduct, and Hope students Chris Dekker and Richard Newman will provide organ accompaniment.
Events for the reunion classes include parties Friday evening and Saturday evening for 1986, 1996 and 2001, and a reunion celebration brunch Saturday morning.
The soccer fields at Buys Athletic Fields are located on Fairbanks Avenue at 12th Street. The De Pree Art Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The DeVos Fieldhouse is located facing Fairbanks Avenue between Ninth and 11th streets. The DeWitt Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The DeWitt Tennis Center is located on Fairbanks Avenue near Holland Municipal Stadium. Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street. The Haworth Inn and Conference Center is located on College Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets. VanderWerf Hall is located along the south side of 10th Street between Central and College avenues.
A full schedule of Homecoming activities is available online at www.hope.edu/alumni/homecoming