Inauguration and Homecoming 2010 is reaching its zenith with the Inauguration ceremony to take place Friday afternoon and Homecoming activities all day on Saturday.
Please make all the alumni and special guests coming to campus welcome, and we appreciate everyone’s cooperation in accommodating our guests this weekend.
The central focus of the week, the inauguration ceremony, will take place at 2 p.m. Friday in Pioneer Arena, located in the Niswonger Commons. The ceremony will feature alumni representatives from each graduating class, beginning in the 1940s, as part of the processional as well as current students representing various campus organizations, delegates from more than 25 colleges and universities, a former Tusculum president, the college’s Board of Trustees and faculty members.
A special Inaugural Festival Choir has been formed to perform during the ceremony, which includes alumni and members of the college community. Brief remarks are to be made by representatives from various college constituents including current students, alumni, faculty, staff, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the community. Dr. Kenneth A. Bowman, chair of the Board of Trustees and a 1970 alumnus, will administer the investiture and oath to Dr. Moody, who will then deliver her inaugural address.
Preceding the ceremony will be the Inauguration Luncheon to take place at 11 a.m. on the lawn of the Thomas J. Garland Library.
Friday’s inauguration activities will conclude with the President’s Inaugural Dinner and Ball 6 p.m. at the General Morgan Inn. The special speaker for the dinner will be Deborah Kapp from the McCormick Theological Seminary. Tusculum’s first benefactor, Nettie Fowler McCormick, and her husband, Cyrus McCormick, were also general supporters of the seminary and the couple learned of Tusculum through alumni who were attending the seminary. Special music for the dinner will be provided by the Dr. Bob Orr Trio. The cost of the dinner is $50 per person.
On campus, students will have the annual Pep Rally and Bonfire at the Gravel Pit, beginning at 9 p.m.
Saturday’s Homecoming events begin with a Homecoming Memorial Service that honors the memory of alumni who have passed away since Homecoming 2009 last October. The service will be at 8:30 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center inside the Niswonger Commons.
The Alumni Association meeting will follow at 10 a.m., providing alumni an opportunity to learn the latest about their alma mater and meet new alumni officers. Alumni awards will be presented during the meeting, also held inside the Chalmers Conference Center.
The 7th annual Homecoming Parade will travel through campus starting at 11:30 a.m., featuring members of the Golden Pioneer Class of 1960, who will serve as grand marshals, the Pioneer Pep Band, Homecoming court candidates and student organizations.
A tailgate party for alumni and the Pioneer Club at Pioneer Park (the baseball stadium) will precede the football game. The cost of the tailgate is $15 per person.
Students will have a tailgate from 11 a.m.to 1 p.m. at the basketball courts next to Katherine Hall. Stop by and visit with Electric 94.9, a Tri-Cities radio station, that will be doing a live broadcast from campus.
The Homecoming football game begins at 2 p.m. The Pioneers will take on the Newberry College Wolves in a South Atlantic Conference match-up. Tickets for the game are $10 for adults, $5 for children with children 5 and under free. The tickets can be purchased at the game.
Homecoming activities will conclude Saturday evening with the All Alumni Dinner and Dance/Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The dinner, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Comfort Inn, will include the induction of three past Tusculum student-athletes into the Sports Hall of Fame of Tusculum College – 2005 alumna Amanda Musick Hale , 2002 alumnus Caleb Slover and 1998 alumna Deb Varney Zevetchin.
On Thursday, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the College engaged in some friendly competition during the Homecoming 2010 Golf Tournament at Link Hills Country Club. On campus, students enjoyed the performance of “The Human IPod,” John Rush.