Waynesburg University will celebrate homecoming Oct. 18 and 19 with some special recognition of its 175th anniversary. Before the event, students will have the chance to choose the homecoming court with the first round of voting on Oct.1 and 2.

Maura Fenske, who serves as the coordinator of Development and Alumni Relations, stated in an email interview on what to expect at this year’s celebration.  

“We are hosting a number of events which will be unique to this 175 anniversary year, including dedication ceremonies for our commemorative brick installation locations,” Fenske said.

She listed the locations as  Cusick Court, between Miller and Hanna Halls; Veterans Memorial Plaza in front of Eberly Library; and Wiley Stadium.  will also be a new opening on campus as well as a ceremony to honor donors, as Fenske wrote,“A ribbon cutting for the new Center for Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation and a dedication of one of the classrooms in Hanna Hall in honor of one of our donor families, Jorge (’68) and Maggie Villacampa.” 

Fenske mentioned several departments that will be assisting this year when it comes to campus events.   “In addition to these special events, we are also partnering with various academic departments and athletic teams to host their alumni on campus that weekend, including the Department of Biology, Environmental Science & Health Science, the Department of Chemistry & Forensic Science, the Department of Education, the baseball program, and the women’s soccer program.” Fenske said.

Waynesburg University President, Douglas G. Lee, talked about the history behind homecoming and what motivates alumni to come back and visit their old campus.  “There was always that wanting to come back to the university many came back to visit in commencement,” Lee said. 

Lee talked about alumni stories from “The Waynesburg College Story” book by William Howard Dusenberry that included a person from history who traveled from a river boat to stagecoach to come to campus, and how he was “excited” when “he could see the college in the distance.”

“So there is a long connection of just wanting to jump back, and see a place that is such an impact,To be around people that you were such great friends with for four years. So there is a tradition there that I think homecoming grew out of,” said Lee.

 Associate Dean of Students, Pat Bristor, talked about a few homecoming details, including the expected number of alumni to visit.  “We always have a nice show of students plus alumni that attend, so I would expect that to be no different this year, so we will see what happens,” Bristor said. “Hopefully we have good weather and people will be there.” 

Bristor also mentioned how students on campus who are interested in being on homecoming court are chosen. 

“You must have completed 90 credits, so it’s typically seniors, and then we take the applications and then we will have the first round of voting and the top five male and female vote-getters will represent the court,” Bristor said. She continued, “ and then we will do another round of voting for the king and queen, so the top five males and females that students will vote, pick one from each category and that will be the king and queen and they are announced at the football game at half time on Oct. 19.” 

According to the homecoming court application, the deadline to apply was Monday, Sept 23, at 4 p.m.

Students will be able to vote for homecoming court in two rounds. The first round will be Oct. 1 and 2 will be for the whole homecoming court. The second round will be held on Oct. 8 and 9, just for the king and queen.