Homecoming activities at Hope College will take place on Friday through Sunday, Oct. 17-19, and are expected to bring hundreds of alumni back to campus.
Highlights of the week include an open house and undergraduate research celebration at the new science center, the 26th annual Run-Bike-Swim-Walk, a Homecoming parade, a home football game with Adrian College, and reunions on Friday and Saturday for the classes of 1988, 1993 and 1998.
Many of the Homecoming events are open to the public.The departments of biology, chemistry and physics will sponsor a seminar on Friday, Oct. 17, at 3 p.m. Dr. Marsha Lester, who is the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, will present "Significant Radical Reactions in the Lower Atmosphere: A New View" in room 102 of VanderWerf Hall. Partial funding for her visit has been provided by the Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society.
The college's third annual Undergraduate Research Celebration will run in conjunction with an open house at the new science center on Friday, Oct. 17, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event will feature student poster presentations concerning joint student-faculty collaborative research projects and self-guided tours of the building, which opened in August. The displays and opportunity for self-guided tours will continue on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. to noon.
The 26th annual Run-Bike-Swim-Walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 17. Events will include a health fair in the Dow Center from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; a two-mile prediction walk; a five-kilometer run; ¾-, 2.5- and five-mile criterium bicycling events; and quarter-mile and half-mile swims. Starting times vary for the competitive events, and registration information may be obtained by calling the Dow Center at (616) 395-7690.
The Hope-Geneva Bookstore in the DeWitt Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. 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 p.m. through the end of the college's game with Adrian College.
There will be an "Alumni Men's Soccer Game" on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Buys Athletic Fields.
The Alumni H-Club's annual Homecoming luncheon will begin on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in the Haworth Inn and Conference Center. The club will celebrate the victories of the college's 1962 and 2003 men's tennis teams, the only two teams in the history of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association to defeat Kalamazoo College in men's tennis since 1936. R. Jack Baas, a 1942 graduate from Grand Rapids, will receive the group's annual "Hope for Humanity" Award.
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 Flying Dutchmen will host Adrian at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. The pre-game show, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will feature the Battle Creek Central High School Marching Band. Halftime will feature the band, the introduction of the Homecoming Court, and the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen.
The college's chapter of the Mortar Board national collegiate honor society will be collecting books and cash for charitable organizations during the game. The collection will take place on the lawn near the stadium's main entrance from 1 p.m. to approximately 4 p.m.
A Homecoming worship service will begin on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The service will feature the college's Alumni Chapel Choir and Chapel Choir under the direction of Dr. Brad W. Richmond, who is an associate professor of music and director of choral activities. Dr. Huw Lewis, professor of music, will be the organist. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Jan Luben Hoffman, a 1971 Hope graduate who is co-pastor of First Reformed Church of Scotia, N.Y., and is also a member of the college's Alumni Association Board of Directors.
A variety of other activities will also run during the weekend.
The gallery of the De Pree Art Center is featuring the exhibition "Loteria!," featuring work by contemporary artists on the theme of "la Loteria," the popular Mexican bingo game, through Saturday, Nov. 8. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
A lecture in the new science center on Friday, Oct. 17, at 3 p.m. will precede the Undergraduate Research Celebration. Dr. Marsha I. Lester, who is the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, will present "Significant Radical Reactions in the Lower Atmosphere: A New View" in room 1000. Partial support for Lester's visit is provided by the Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society.
The college's Faculty Recital Series will present a program on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 3 p.m. in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.
The weekend will also feature events geared toward the college's fraternities and sororities, other departmental and student-oriented activities, and several activities for the reunion classes of 1988, 1993 and 1998. Reunion highlights for the three classes will include get-togethers on Friday and brunches on Saturday.