A variety of activities have been scheduled for the annual Homecoming Weekend at Hope College, running Friday-Sunday, Oct. 5-7.
Highlights include the 30th annual Run-Walk, a Homecoming parade, a tailgate picnic for alumni, a home football game with AlmaCollege, a worship service, and reunions for the classes of 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002. The weekend is expected to bring hundreds of alumni back to campus.
Many of the Homecoming events are open to the public.
On Friday, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m., Dr. Jeremy Edwards, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, will discuss efforts to sequence DNA molecules quickly and cost-effectively. He will be speaking in room 102 of VanderWerf Hall through the college's Gentile Interdisciplinary Lectureship, a divisional seminar in the natural sciences named in honor of Dr. James Gentile, a former dean for the natural sciences who is now president of Research Corporation.
The college's Symphonette will perform on Friday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Hope College Theatre is presenting the play "The Nina Variations" by Steven Dietz on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 5-6, and Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 10-13, at 8 p.m. in the DeWitt Center studio theatre. Tickets are $7 for regular admission and $4 for senior citizens and students, and are available in the ticket office in the front lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890. Tickets will also be sold at the door on performance nights.
The exhibition "Artist/Designer" featuring work by E. McKnight Kauffer and Don Shepherd continues in the gallery of the De Pree Art Center through Friday, Oct. 5. 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.
An orchid show is being featured in the greenhouse of the A. Paul Schaap Science Center from Wednesday, Oct. 3, through Monday, Oct. 15. The show will be open from 8 a.m. to dusk daily.
The 30th Run-Walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 6, 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 at 10 a.m. and a five-kilometer run at 10 a.m. Registration information may be obtained by calling the department of kinesiology in the fieldhouse at (616) 395-7070.
There will be two-hour tours of the college's biological field station west of Holland near the lakeshore on Saturday, Oct. 6, starting at both 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. The tours will begin at the A. Paul Schaap Science Center.
The Hope-Geneva Bookstore in the DeWitt Center will be open on Saturday, Oct. 6, 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 Alma College.
Alumni of lacrosse at Hope will play a game on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. on the east lawn of the DeVos Fieldhouse. Alumni of the men's soccer program will play a game on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 11 a.m. at Buys Athletic Fields.
There will be a tailgate picnic for alumni and their families on Saturday, Oct. 6, from noon to 2 p.m. on the lawn of the DeWitt TennisCenter. Tickets for the third annual picnic may be ordered in advance for $5 for children age five through adults, 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, Oct., 6, at 11:30 a.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse. The club will recognize female Hope athletes from the era before the passage of the national Title IX legislation in 1972, presenting them with varsity letters retroactively in honor of their role as pioneers in women's sport at the college, and will present its "Hope for Humanity Award" to Russ DeVette, a Hope graduate who spent 37 years at Hope as a member of the faculty and coach.
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6, 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 Alma College on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. at Buys Athletic Fields.
The Flying Dutchmen will host Alma College in football at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 6, 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 12th 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.
A Homecoming worship service will be held on Sunday, Oct. 7, 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.
Events for the reunion classes include parties for each on either Friday evening or Saturday evening, and a celebration brunch at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center on Saturday. There will also be a reunion for cheerleading alumni on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Dow Center, and a gathering for international students and alumni on Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the rotunda of the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication.
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. The Martha Miller Center for Global Communication is located on Columbia Avenue at 10th Street. The A. Paul Schaap Science Center is located on 12th Street at College Avenue. 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