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Homecoming/Family Weekend Preview

The University is welcoming families and alumni to the campus for its 50th annual Homecoming/Family Weekend this Friday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, Oct. 22. This year’s event is particularly notable as it marks the University’s last with President Doug Bennet before his retirement and takes place during the 175th anniversary of the University’s institutional charter. The three-day affair will feature seminars, performances, athletic events, tours, tailgating, food, and social gatherings.

On Saturday, the football, field hockey, women’s soccer, and men’s soccer teams will all face off against Little Three rival Amherst College, and men’s rugby will take on Central Connecticut State University. Other athletic events on Saturday include a baseball team golf tournament, various receptions and field dedications of Smith and Jackson Fields, and tailgating (weather permitting) on Andrus Field. Players and coaches from the 1966 football team will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Little Three Championship season, and the 1991 men’s soccer team will also hold a reunion.

Nearly 30 seminars will be held around campus this weekend, including “Studies of Consciousness: Linking Neuroscience and Philosophy,” “Keeping a Healthier Mind Through Solving Crosswords,” and “Becoming Global Citizens: Travel Notes from Wesleyan’s Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Journey to Istanbul and Jerusalem.” Other highlights of the Voices of Liberal Learning series include “The War on Terrorism: Are We Winning?” “When Sunlight Kills,” “Why Jews Laugh at Themselves,” and “Africa: Beyond Divestment to Engagement.” Readings at the Russell House will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Wesleyan Writers Conference.

Arts events will include the Fall Faculty Dance Concert, a benefit concert for the Green Street Arts Center featuring the Ebony Singers, an open rehearsal with the orchestra, a Celtic Music Workshop and Jam, and a Musica Viva Western art music recital. Additionally, the Assad Brothers will perform Brazilian guitar, and on Sunday several student a cappella groups will hold a recital.

This Homecoming weekend holds a few once-in-a-lifetime events such as an “Irish Breakfast Fundraiser” in support of (and provided by) Middletown’s Brian O’Rourke, whose diner is still closed due to fire damage sustained in August.

On Saturday, community members will be invited to participate in an open conversation regarding the University’s next president. University graduates and staff will be holding presentations all week, covering activity and changes within the University community, and addressing undergraduate matters such as academics, studying abroad, and event planning. Interested parents will have the opportunity to attend class on Friday or Monday.

Students will provide informational tours, and the admissions office will hold an information session and panel on Saturday for any prospective students. Special tours of Olin Memorial Library will be offered, and visitors will also have the chance to privately tour the University’s collections of art, archaeology and anthropology, East Asian work, and world musical instruments (which will be housed in the future Wesleyan University Museum). On Saturday, there will be open houses of the newly opened Wasch Center for Retired Faculty, the Career Resource Center, the Special Collections and Archives collection, the Latino Alumni Council, and Delta Kappa Epsilon.

Offered for families are events such as Friday’s Shabbat services and dinner and the Wesleyan Christian Fellowship meeting, followed on Saturday by a Fellowship Homecoming Reception. There will also be a scavenger hunt celebrating the University’s 175th anniversary, a family swim with a swim team alum, a kids fair and festival on Foss Hill, and the annual legacy photograph.

A historic Terquasquicentennial exhibition will be on display in the Zelnick pavilion. Other exhibitions include “Multiple Fascinations: Dutch and Flemish Prints from Bruegel to Rembrandt,” a collection of prints selected by Wesleyan students, and “Beijingren (Beijing people),” a collection of photographs by Derek Dudek.

Additional events include a presentation of Race and Representation in Weimar Cinema, a community bike ride, a Connecticut River expedition, a Gamelan workshop, a symposium on innovation in corporate America, an astronomy presentation, and a ‘Day of Dance’ commemoration.

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