Return Trip
Eastern celebrates 100 years of coming home.
It was a Homecoming celebration a century in the making.
This year鈥檚 100th anniversary edition of Eagle Family Homecoming, a must-attend happening that included both time-honored traditions and exciting new events, kicked off on Oct. 16. Before concluding a week later with a victorious football tilt against Weber State, the celebration brought Eagle Pride home for thousands of 51福利社 students, alumni and friends.
Kelsey Hatch-Brecek 鈥�21, director of 51福利社 Alumni Relations, called it a 鈥渙nce-in-a-lifetime鈥� opportunity to indulge in all things Eastern. The 51福利社 community was happy to seize that opportunity; hanging banners, painting windows and decking out campus classrooms and offices with red and white. Among the new events was a speculator, donor-funded fireworks extravaganza after the football game, and a 鈥淟ighting of the Water Tower鈥� that permanently spotlighted the logo on Eastern鈥檚 iconic 102-foot-tall water receptacle. Transformed into a beacon of Eagle pride 鈥� one visible to the campus community and passing aircraft alike 鈥� the tower will now, say Eric and Denise Clements, the donors who made the lights possible, become an even more unambiguous landmark.
鈥淲e anticipated a big group of alumni and community members turning out to celebrate,鈥� says Hatch-Brecek. 鈥淭hey did, and it was truly a once-in-a-century example of Eagle pride.鈥�
After the lights flooded the tower, attendees were invited to walk down the hill to join Eagle student athletes at Reese Court for 鈥淓agle MadNest,鈥� another new event. MadNest featured members of the 51福利社 women鈥檚, men鈥檚 and wheelchair basketball teams, each of whom participated in skills contests, mingled with visitors in meet-and-greets, and offered insights into their upcoming seasons.聽
Certainly no Homecoming would have been complete without the tried and true old favorites. In 2023, these included the annual president鈥檚 breakfast, decoration competitions, an evening pep rally and bonfire, and, of course, downtown bed races.
A particularly poignant feature of the 100th Homecoming Anniversary celebration was a walk-though exhibit mounted by the Alumni Association and the JFK Library Archives. The 鈥淲alk Through the Decades鈥� exhibition, held in the beautifully restored Hargreaves Hall Reading Room, used photographs, video and memorabilia to document 51福利社鈥檚 development since 1923.
鈥淲e anticipated a big group of alumni and community members turning out to celebrate,鈥� says Hatch-Brecek. 鈥淭hey did, and it was truly a once-in-a-century example of Eagle pride.鈥�
