Central College’s 2024 Homecoming plans offer alumni and the greater community opportunities to join in festivities for the whole family.
Central will open the Homecoming week with guest speaker, Joy Harjo, former U.S. Poet Laureate, sharing her poetry followed by an interview with Harry Smith, Central trustee, Class of 1973 alumnus and former NBC Today Show and CBS reporter. The Writers Reading will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30, Douwstra Auditorium.
Central students, faculty and employees will join together for the annual Service Day volunteering in the community Wednesday, Oct. 2.
The Visual and Performing Arts department will perform the play, “A Body of Water,” by Lee Blessing, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3-6.
Geisler Library will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an open house 2-4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
The return of the Pep Rally and Barbecue Street Party runs from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, with free dinner. Celebrate with the annual Lemming Race at 6 p.m. followed by the Central cheerleaders, dance team, Dutch Boom and concert by the band Fresh Cookie Tuesday on Broadway Street.
The Dutch Dash, Central’s 1.853-mile walk/run through campus, begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5.
A pre- and post-game party will be in “The Red Zone” on the east side of the Kuyper Athletics Complex parking lot, with a kid’s zone of family activities and games, lunch and post-game pizza party.
The Class of 1974 will celebrate its 50-year reunion with a dinner. Alumni will organize other class parties.
“Central welcomes the public as well as the Central family to campus for a full schedule of activities, sports events, a theatre production and a tailgate,” says Mary Benedict, director of engagement. “Central is a beautiful place to spend a Saturday in early October to enjoy fall, watch great football and sporting events and take in the arts.”
Sporting Events Scheduled
The public is invited to attend the women’s tennis match against Wartburg, 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, Pella High School tennis courts.
The Central volleyball team takes on Luther College at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.
Catch the women’s tennis team match with Coe College at noon, Saturday, Oct. 5, Pella High School tennis courts.
The football team will take on Simpson College at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.
Traditions to Catch
The Dutch Masters Golf Tournament begins at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4, Pella Golf and Country Club.
Lemming Race begins outside the Geisler Library at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
Athletics Hall of Honor Banquet honors inductees at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
Sunday Brunch in Central Market begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 6.
The Flying Pans Alumni Steel Band concert begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6, Douwstra Auditorium.
The Mills Gallery will feature a display by Stina Henslee, which highlights two-dimensional mixed media art. The Mills Gallery, Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Thank you to our corporate partners who have supported this event and our athletics program. The benevolent sponsors are Bank of Iowa, Diamond Landscaping, Royal Amsterdam, George’s Pizza and The Brew, Hopkins Roofing and Wild Bramble. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a sponsor, contact Benedict at 641-628-7641 or benedictm@central.edu.
For registration information and the full list of events, go to central.edu/homecoming.