This year’s festivities will include reunions for the classes of 1972, 1982, 1997 and 2012, along with a reunion production of the play “Noises Off,” featuring cast members from Newberry’s 2000 production. The events will also include the second annual Rock the Quad, featuring The Tams, as well as alumni awards, an alumni market, and a Homecoming worship service to cap the weekend.
“Homecoming is always a special time for our alumni to return to campus to reunite with professors and classmates and enjoy fellowship as the Newberry College family,” said Whitney Mitchell (Class of 2009), associate vice president for institutional advancement. “This year’s celebration will be even more special, because it marks 100 years since our very first Homecoming.”
Newberry College’s first modern Homecoming celebration was held in 1922 and coincided with the dedication of Setzler Field, originally located next to the present-day MacLean Gymnasium. On the brand-new gridiron, Newberry beat The Citadel for the first time by 10-7. Homecoming has been an annual tradition ever since.
Coinciding with this year’s Homecoming events is a special exhibit at the Newberry Museum titled, “Coming Home to Newberry.” The exhibit covers Newberry College’s beginnings, from its earliest documented origins in the 1820s through the first Homecoming in 1922. The exhibit will open Sept. 15 and run through Jan. 15, 2023.
“The museum is deeply tied in with the college,” said Steven Knapp, executive director of the Newberry Museum. “It’s one of the three places that we really try to represent, being the County, the City and the College. And so particularly with the fact that 2022 is the centennial of Newberry College Homecomings, we thought trying to recognize that was just a vital thing to do.”
To complement the museum’s permanent Newberry College exhibit, “Coming Home to Newberry” will focus on how Newberry became the college’s home, as well as the significance of the first Homecoming, especially in the context of the First World War.
For more information and to register for Homecoming, please visit newberry.edu/homecoming.
Erskine College presents The Mac Frampton Trio in concert Sept. 22