Homecoming – DreamersAndGiants.com

This past weekend was full of great events and a lot of fun. This post, if I tried to write about all of the things I saw and the people I met, would be way too long! Don’t be surprised when you see things slipping in for the next few weeks.

For today, I would like to tell about one of the first things that happened. I was asked to help lead a tour of campus for some of the members of the Class of 1969. The group was about 35 people including some of the spouses and friends who did not join in the photo.

Since it was a big group, I invited some of the students in my First Year Seminar class to come along and mingle in with the group. They have been studying the history of WVWC, and in particular we had just talked about 1969 last week. They were excited to meet people who had been students at that time when Wesley Chapel was being built, as well as Christopher Hall of Science, and they were not disappointed.

If anything, they found that this livey group of people who graduated 50 years ago, was a fun-loving group with lots of memories and stories. A group who greeted each other with hugs and tears and laughter and stories. They discovered that in the group were homecoming queens, people who had gone one to earn PhD degrees and had taught at universities, and a few people who were coming back to campus for the very first time. They were real people with real stories.

Last week, when we talked about the construction of Christopher Hall of Science and Wesley Chapel, the students in my class had speculated about how students felt about being here at such a time. They had guessed that students were excited, amazed with the buildings, that they felt lucky to be here at such a momentous time in the history of the college. Everything was growing and changing! When asked on Friday what they remembered about that time, the group answer was unanimous as they answered with one word…..in unison……MUD!

Stories

As we walked, the stories flowed.

When the class of ’69 arrived on campus, the Benedum Campus Community Center and Holloway hall were just two years old.

There was apparently some discussion on campus when it came to naming the new dormatory, which had been opened one year earlier. Known as New Hall, many of these students had taken to naming it after themselves……until the administration officially named it Paul G. Benedum Hall.

Other things that came up:

Jenkins Cafeteria memories were many – and amazement at the Wellness Center
Required Chapel — they remembered Atkinson as well as Wesley Chapel
Curfews and strict rules for girls
Could not wear jeans!
Food in the library???????? And MILKSHAKES??????? No way!!!

The class of ’69 seemed to approve of the changes. The students (aspiring members of the class of 2023) were enthralled as well as a little bit taken aback when told, “One day you will be US!!!”

So Many Stories – So Little Time

The interest was high. The time was short. I promised the folks on the tour that I would make some more information available. Enjoy!

Other Resources

Chronology of Buildings

Full List of Blog Entries can be found on DreamersAndGiants.com

The Spring 2019 Emeritus Newsletter, which featured a welcome to the Class of 1969 into that elite group of people, included a story about how all of the buildings were named. You can read it here.