MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College will celebrate its
homecoming Saturday, Oct. 9, by honoring alumni along with authors who chronicled the college’s history for its sesquicentennial last year.
Cornell’s homecoming celebrates the reunion classes of 1954, 1959, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999, plus the 50th anniversary of one of the college’s largest social groups for women, Kappa Theta. Events begin Friday, Oct. 8, and include a pep rally and fireworks in Ash Park, starting at 9:30 p.m.
Two alumni and four authors of books for Cornell’s sesquicentennial last year will be honored at a convocation in King Chapel at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9. Michael Conklin, longtime Chicago Tribune writer and a 1969 graduate, will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award. The Young Alumni Achievement Award will be presented to Matt Weiss, a 1999 graduate. After an outstanding academic and athletic career at Cornell, Weiss completed medical school and is a general pediatric resident in Kansas City, with ambitions in international humanitarian medical work.
Alumni Leadership and Service Awards will be presented to Cornell historians and authors Charles Milhauser, William Heywood and Richard Thomas, as well as Vivian Heywood, who assisted in producing her husband’s scholarly history volume. Milhauser wrote “ Cornell College: 150 Years from A to Z.” Heywood and Thomas produced the two-volume “ Cornell College: A Sesquicentennial History.”
Following the convocation, Milhauser and Thomas will sign their books at the bookstore in The Commons from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Also signing books will be
Robert Dana, professor of English and poet-in-residence emeritus who was recently selected Iowa’s poet laureate. His newest book of poetry is “Morning of the Red Admiral.” The English department will host an open house for Dana from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in South Hall.
Also on Saturday is a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. for the current exhibition in the Peter Paul Luce Gallery of McWethy Hall.
“Cornell Alumni Woodfire” features wood-fired ceramic works by five alumni: Gary Hootman, Leila Denecke, Barbara Reinhart, Takusuke Kawasaki and Joe Cole.
The Kappa Theta 50th-anniversary celebration includes a picnic luncheon and reunion dinner Friday, and then the annual reception at halftime of the football game Saturday. The group, whose founders will return for the homecoming celebration, is working to raise $25,000 to establish Cornell’s first social group-endowed scholarship.
Other special activities are the historic tours of campus, featuring reenactors representing characters from Cornell’s past, starting outside The Commons at 3 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday; an exhibit of color landscapes of the upper Midwest and West by alumnus and professional photographer Jim Becia, who will attend a reception Saturday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in The Commons; and the homecoming football game against Simpson, kicking off at 1 p.m. in Ash Park.
