Hope College will host its 89th annual Nykerk Cup competition on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse in conjunction with the college’s One Big Weekend (Homecoming + Family Weekend) celebration.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The event will feature members of the freshman and sophomore classes competing in song, plays and oration. The participating classes this year are the freshman Class of 2027 and the sophomore Class of 2026, who are being coached by the junior Class of 2025 and the senior Class of 2024, respectively. The then-sophomore Class of 2025 won last year’s event.
The competition, first held on March 16, 1936, is named in honor of the originator of the program, John Nykerk, a professor, college dean and founder of the Hope College Department of Music.
Nykerk has never been canceled, having been held with the participants online in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and was even held twice in 1939, when it transitioned from the spring to the fall. The only postponement on record was in 2008, when a campus norovirus outbreak caused the event to be delayed to the following weekend.
The doors will open at 6 p.m. Access for those attending will be through the main doors on the east side of the building, facing Fairbanks Avenue.
The college’s One Big Weekend (Homecoming + Family Weekend) celebration is running Friday-Sunday, Oct. 13-15. Additional information about the weekend is available at hope.edu/alumni
To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar
The Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets.