Celebrating Community: Homecoming & Family Weekend 2023
Homecoming Video
video by Stephen Munchel
Milestones, memories mark annual campuswide event
Dickinson's 2023 Homecoming & Family Weekend brought alumni and families to campus to celebrate, connect and explore all things Dickinson. Dickinsonians turned out in full force to cheer on the Red Devils football team vs. Johns Hopkins University and the Dickinson volleyball team as it took on Muhlenberg College. But athletics were only a small part of the weekend, which included an all-campus barbecue, academic open houses, information sessions and open Friday classes that provided a sense of what it’s like to be a student at Dickinson today.
The Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life brought generations together with a traditional Shabbat service, kosher dinner and bagel brunch, as in years past. And newer affinity groups also gathered to celebrate a strong sense of community. The Women of Color Summit Homecoming Brunch built momentum for its spring event, and alumni connected and reconnected at gatherings for Dickinsonians who identify as Latinx and as Black or African American.
The Red Devil Alumnae Brunch, hosted by the Hera Society and the McAndrews Fund for Athletics, joined Dickinson athletics alumnae with junior- and senior-year student-athletes, while the International Students' Gathering featured cultural and culinary delights from around the world.
There were also milestone celebrations for campus groups, including a toast to Pi Beta Phi’s 120th anniversary and a virtual half-reunion for the class of 1965—one of several select virtual events for those who couldn’t attend in person. And Dickinson’s arts departments presented gallery tours, a jazz concert and a program by artists-in-residence Imani Winds, while student and alumni singers shared their talents in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium. The weekend closed with the 19th-annual Run for Steph, a 5K benefit run or two-mile walk in memory of Stephanie Kreiner ’03.
In between celebrations and informative sessions, the college opened the doors of the John M. Paz ’78 Alumni & Family Center so the greater college community could get a sneak peek in advance of the center’s official launch. Formerly known as the Historic President’s House, the Paz Center is designed to deepen connections among alumni, current students, families, faculty, staff and college leaders. Renovations kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony during last year’s Homecoming & Family Weekend. Roughly a year later, the college hosted two open houses for alumni and Dickinson families to show off the nearly complete campus hotspot.
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Published November 2, 2023