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Alumni and parents gathered on campus from Friday, Nov. 1, to Sunday, Nov. 3 for the University’s annual Homecoming + Family Weekend. Visitors had the opportunity to attend classes and various open houses, participate in seminars, go on campus tours, and watch sports games over the event-filled three days.
The festivities began on Friday morning, when attendees checked in and received their name tags and information packets. At Olin Memorial Library, a variety of collections—from pottery from the Archaeology & Anthropology Collections to University memorabilia in Special Collections & Archives—were on display. On the first floor of the library, the “Drift/Loop” group performed for a full day beginning at noon.
In addition to the performance in Olin, the Zilkha Gallery and Pruzan Art Center both had exhibitions that opened earlier this semester, featuring artists such as Justin Caguiat, Grant Mooney, Jasper Johns and Glenn Ligon ’82, Hon. ’12. Ligon held a WESeminar concurrent with his show on Friday afternoon, discussing form and themes in his work.
Around a dozen WESeminars were held over the weekend, covering art, politics, culture, and student life.
“The [seminars] I’ve heard about really seem very interesting, from alums and former administrators who are coming back to talk about their recent books, to programs about the environment, to politics,” President Michael Roth ’78 said. “So, it seems like a range of really interesting seminars.”
The weekend’s programming was centered around identity. This year, the Office of Advancement highlighted Latine alumni in the second year of a three-year initiative to increase minority engagement during Homecoming, hosting daily meals and events such as the Dwight L. Greene Symposium discussing Latine voters in the 2024 election. Last year focused on Black alumni, and 2025 will celebrate Asian Pacific American alumni. Other events celebrating identity on campus included a Muslim Friday Prayer and Lunch and Shabbat Service and Dinner.
“Shabbat with my family is always full of laughter and it was wonderful to share Wesleyan with them,” Adam Mazur ’28, who attended the Shabbat service and dinner with his visiting family, wrote in a message to The Argus. “We had a meaningful Shabbat service and a delicious dinner, but the joy I experienced from the melding of my family and Wesleyan community made it a Shabbat to remember.”
Sports games were some of the highlights of the weekend. Wesleyan football entered their 1 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Nov. 2 against Williams tied for first place in the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference (NESCAC). In front of a reported 7,500 spectators, a season-high, the Cardinals pulled off a thrilling 25–24 victory to stay atop the NESCAC standings. Women’s soccer also beat Conn. College at Jackson Field in a playoff match to advance to the NESCAC semifinals.
“The women’s soccer team, they have been undefeated for a long time, that’s exciting, and the football team is trying to stay tied for first place,” Roth said. “So, lots of good things.”
Parents and alumni also attended events showcasing student achievements, such as the Freeman Asian Scholars Reception, an Argus archive exhibition, College of Film and the Moving Image student projects, and an a cappella concert featuring eight groups.
“It was great, it exposes you to the different a cappella genres and groups we have on campus, because they say Wesleyan is known as the singing college of the Northeast,” Gavin Cui ’26, who performed in the a cappella concert on Sunday, Nov. 3, said. “It showed what we did to some of our group member’s parents, and there were some surprise solos for parents which were nice. Most of the people in the a cappella circle know each other, so at the end of the day it was great fun.”
Students also found the weekend a rare opportunity to see their family on campus.
“Parents weekend was such a surreal chance to combine my two lives together that had never previously interacted,” Eli Villalobos-Sharone ’28 wrote in a message to The Argus. “I also think it was really important for my family to be able to visualize what my life is like now as a way for us to stay connected.”
Raiza Goel can be reached at rgoel@wesleyan.edu.
Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.