Hope College will celebrate Homecoming Weekend on Friday-Sunday, Oct. 23-25, with highlights including multiple events open to the public in addition to activities for alumni.

Among other highlights, the weekend will feature academic and arts events, an open house at the new Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, a family-oriented picnic, athletic contests, a 5K run, and a wide range of activities for alumni including a “Homecoming on 8th Street” event and affinity gatherings.  Some related activities will even begin in advance of the weekend.

The Department of History will host a panel presentation by alumni discussing their career experiences on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. at the 1st Floor Rotunda of the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication.  Admission is free.

The Gentile Interdisciplinary Lectureship in the natural and applied sciences will feature addresses by two members of the St. Olaf College faculty.  Dr. Jay Demas, assistant professor of biology and physics, will present “Circadian Photoreceptors, Light Pollution and the Diminishing Power of the Dark Side” on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., and Dr. Laura Listenberger, an associate professor of biology and chemistry who is a 1997 Hope graduate, will present “The Skinny on Fat: Lipid Storage in Mammalian Cells” on Friday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m.  Both presentations will be in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.  Admission is free.

The college’s Arts and Humanities Symposium will explore “Music, Art and Placemaking” through a series of presentations on Friday, Oct. 23, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.  The events will begin with the keynote address “We Are All a Collage: Romare Bearden, Toni Morrison, Homer’s Odyssey” at 11 a.m. in the DeWitt Center main theatre by Robert O’Meally, professor of English at Columbia University.  Three presentations and responses will take place between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts: “Storytelling in Music, and How It Defines Place” at 1 p.m. by Christopher Theofanidis, a composer on the faculty of the Yale School of Music; “Reflections and Thresholds—Architectural Musings on The Miller Center” at 2 p.m. by Bill Blanski, who is a design principal with HGA, an integrated architecture, engineering and planning firm; and “We Are All Collages, Redux” at 3 p.m. by O’Meally.  The symposium will conclude with a reception from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall.

The De Pree Art Center and gallery is featuring the exhibition “Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal,” a collaborative project with the Grand Valley State University Art Gallery, through Saturday, Oct. 31.  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.  Admission is free.

The Kruizenga Art Museum, which opened in September, will offer tours on Friday, Oct. 23, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in addition to featuring its ongoing inaugural exhibition, “Past Present East West: Highlights from the Permanent Collection.” The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

The Department of Chemistry Seminar Series will feature the address “Nanoscale Self-Assembly and Imaging” by Dr. Shelley Claridge, assistant professor of analytical/physical chemistry at Purdue University, on Friday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m. in room 1000 of A. Paul Schaap Science Center.  Admission is free.

There will be a men’s alumni lacrosse game on Friday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse lawn.  Admission is free.

The Flying Dutchmen will host Davenport University in Hockey at The Edge Ice Arena on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for general admission.

There will be a 5K run on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 9 a.m. at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.  Registration is $20 for alumni and members of the community, and $10 for Hope faculty, staff and students.  Advance registration is through Friday, Oct. 16, with on-site registration taking place on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 8 a.m.

Hope students and faculty will lead a “Family Hands-On Science and Engineering Experience” for families with children age five to 17 on Saturday, Oct. 24, between 10 a.m. and noon at the A. Paul Schaap Science Center.  Admission is free, but pre-registration is required.

President John Knapp and his wife, Kelly, will host “New Orleans Jazz & Jambalaya: Another Taste of the South” in the Dow Center gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 2 p.m.  Intended for the campus and Holland communities as well as alumni, the family-oriented event will include southern cuisine, live music, giveaways and a variety of activities as well as displays by student organizations.  Tickets are $10 for regular admission, $5 for children age three to 10, and free for children two and under.

Women’s soccer will host Alma College on Saturday, Oct. 24, at noon at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.  Tickets are $5 for regular admission and $3 for those under 18.

There will be an open house at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  In addition to an opportunity to tour the building, the event will include multiple musical performances throughout the building.  Admission is free.

There will be a women’s alumnae soccer game on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.  Admission is free.

Volleyball will host Saint Mary’s College on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2:30 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse.  Tickets are $5 for regular admission and $3 for those under 18.

Football will host Alma College on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.  Tickets are $5 for regular admission and $3 for those under 18.

Halftime will feature the introduction of the Homecoming Court and the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen, and presentation of faculty and staff appreciation awards by the college’s Student Activities Committee and student life office to Yoli Vega, a member of the education faculty who directs the Phelps Scholars Program, and Loi Kham Xayasane of the physical plant staff. The college’s chapter of Mortar Board will have a table set up through halftime of the football game, to collect new and gently used children’s books and donations to benefit Great Lakes Elementary School.

A Homecoming worship service will be held on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 10 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The service will be led by the Hope Campus Ministries team and feature the college’s Chapel Choir and Alumni Chapel Choir.

Activities for alumni will include a “Homecoming on 8th Street” event center for all alumni will be open on Friday, Oct. 23, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre.  The site will include live music, appetizers, and “passports” linked to a variety of restaurants and shops in downtown Holland.  Advance registration is required.

The weekend’s multiple affinity gatherings include the 25-year reunion for the Class of 1990; the 125th anniversary celebration for the Cosmopolitan fraternity and the 110th anniversary celebration for the Sigma Sigma sorority; a celebration of the 60th year of the Vienna Summer School; and receptions for alumni of the departments of English, History and music.

Advance registration and tickets for all events are available online at hope.edu/homecoming or by calling the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at (616) 395-7250.

A full schedule of Homecoming activities is available at hope.edu/homecoming.