Emory Report
September 14, 2009
Volume 62, Number 3

 

Weekend highlights

Parade
The annual Homecoming parade sets off from Glenn Auditorium at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 and winds its way through campus to Asbury Circle where everyone will adjourn to a tailgate party at the Woodruff P.E. Center.

Sustainable Food Fair
Emory’s Sustainable Food Fair and Farmers Market showcases farmers, chefs, stores and nonprofit groups working for a revitalized local food system. Join the fun on Cox Bridge from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, with music, samples and veggies.

Classes Without Quizzes
The annual Homecoming Weekend faculty lecture series returns with featured speakers Reshma Shah, assistant professor of marketing in the Goizueta Business School (Sept. 26, 11 a.m.) and Arthur Kellerman ’80M, associate dean of public policy in the School of Medicine (Sept. 26, 1 p.m.).

Download the full schedule at www.alumni.emory.edu/
homecomingweekend.

    

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September 14, 2009
Homecoming: Something for everyone

By Eric Rangus

Emory Homecoming Weekend, as the name implies, marks the traditional journey back to campus for Emory alumni. Whether they return for their class reunion, just to visit old friends, or to see firsthand the many changes at Emory since their graduation, thousands of guests make the trip.

The trick is how to encourage the people who come to campus every day — faculty and staff — to stick around for Homecoming festivities. The key to that, according to planners, may be to focus on the broad, shared sense of community campus-wide events like Homecoming, scheduled for Sept. 24–26, instill in everyone.

“I think faculty and staff underestimate how excited students are to see them at campus events,” says Matt Garrett, assistant director in the Office of Student Leadership and Service. “And the best way to introduce students to the alumni experience is to show it to them as part of their everyday campus life. That’s what makes Homecoming Weekend so perfect. All these disparate audiences come together and celebrate what we have in common: Emory.”

With dozens of events spread out from Oxford to Atlanta, ranging from the artistic (an art exhibition and the Carlos Museum’s Bacchanal celebration kick off the weekend on Thursday, Sept. 24) to the athletic (not only are Emory Eagle teams in action, the annual Homecoming 5K run through Lullwater on Saturday, Sept. 26, offers a participatory angle) to the social (four words for Goizueta fans — Kegs in the Courtyard — on Friday, Sept. 25), Emory Homecoming Weekend has something for everyone.

Sept. 26 marks the inaugural Spirit Day, when the entire Emory community is encouraged to turn the world blue and gold. On campus, that shouldn’t be tough. The fun part is seeing how many alumni and parents outside Atlanta wear their Emory gear. All Spirit Day participants are invited to send blue and gold pictures of themselves to the Emory Alumi Association’s Stacey Gall (sgall@emory.edu) for posting on the Spirit Day Web site.

Finally, “Homecoming” carries a lot of meaning for alumni, particularly those who will be reconvening with classmates from years past.

“Nine undergraduate classes from years ending in nine and four will be holding their reunions over the weekend,” says Gloria Grevas, the EAA’s director of Homecoming and reunions. “When you add the alumni from the graduate and professional schools also attending their school reunions, the campus will really be buzzing with activity. It’s just a wonderful time to be here.”