Some of our virtual events include:

• Rock YOUR Block
• Virtual 5K
• Regional College Coffees
• Food and drink demos
• Elon’s Got Talent
• … and much more!

Visit elon.edu/homecoming for more information on the festivities.

Family Weekend will kick off on Friday, Sept. 27. The Phoenix will take on the James Madison Dukes on Saturday, Sept. 28. Homecoming and Reunion Weekend is Nov. 1-3, as the maroon and gold faces the William & Mary Tribe on Saturday, Nov. 2. Schedules for both weekends, including football game times, will be announced this summer when online registration opens.

Visit elon.edu/familyweekend or elon.edu/homecoming for more information on these exciting weekends.

Festivities began the night of Friday, Oct. 21, at Elon’s inaugural block party, Rock the Block. Reunion attendees were invited to a special Reunion HQ tent just for class and affinity reunions, with giveaways, yearbooks and a customized photobooth available for enjoyment.

During halftime of the football game vs. Richmond on Saturday, Oct. 22, each class and affinity group presented checks for total funds raised to President Leo M. Lambert, and Vice President of University Advancement Jim Piatt. In total, alumni celebrating reunions contributed more than $3.1 million to the university and more than 130 alumni volunteered to coordinate reunion fundraising efforts.

The Class of 1966 celebrated its 50th reunion with 44 percent giving participation and $243,889 raised for Elon. Class members were inducted as Golden Alumni at a special brunch on Saturday and also hosted a reception, dinner and other weekend events. President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46 was an honored guest at the Golden Alumni Brunch and Class of 1966 Induction Ceremony sharing words of wisdom with members of the class and other Golden Alumni.

Mary Benson Daniels ’66, committee co-chair for the 50th reunion, stated that every person she saw during their reunion events was pleased and enjoyed the weekend, especially enjoying how special Elon made them feel. Eileen Cobb ’66, committee co-chair for the 50th reunion added, “Our 50th reunion weekend was a time to celebrate the impact Elon had on our lives individually and the friends we made collectively who became family for the rest of our lives.” Eleven alumni volunteers helped Mary and Eileen plan a memorable 50th reunion weekend.

More than 200 alumni and friends gathered at the Tap House on Friday night for the third annual “Alumni Celebration at the Lighthouse.” The signature entertainment for the evening was a two-hour set by the band Dakkota. Made up of Elon alumni from the 1990s including Rudy Baker ’93, Joe Beckham ’94, Stan Powell ’94, Patrick Riddick ’96, Brian Spangler ’96 and Andy Timmons ’94, the band had not played together in at least five years. They came together and rocked the house for alumni from the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s.

Jim Bush ’91, leader of the 25th reunion committee, shared that staying involved with Elon and reconnecting with alumni from all over the country is important to him. He reflected on his experience by saying, “I think about the great times I had at Elon every day. Volunteering is a small way to give back to an institution that has given me immeasurable opportunities. I would not have been able to go to Elon without the financial help I received from the school. I am happy to be a volunteer fundraiser today so that other students have the same opportunities I had. Elon is a family, and family members take care of each other.”

Elon is currently recruiting volunteers to help with Homecoming 2017. Visit the class reunions website for more information and contact classreunions@elon.edu if you would like to volunteer.

The chill in the weekend air was a sure sign fall has arrived, and the flood of alumni to campus left no doubt it was Homecoming at Elon. And while the weekend focused on celebrating those who are part of Elon’s history, events and announcements throughout the weekend helped pave the way for what Elon will be in the future.

More than 2,000 alumni representing classes stretching back to at least 1945 converged on Elon for Homecoming 2016 held Oct. 21-23 to head back to the classroom, “rock the block,” reconnect during Homecoming tailgating and be reminded how special it is to be part of the Elon family. 

Reunion events throughout the weekend and tailgating before Saturday’s football game against the University of Richmond were just a few of the ways alumni, faculty, staff and current students were able to celebrate Elon during Homecoming. 

Dennis Clinton ’66 returned to Elon from Plymouth, Massachusetts, to celebrate his 50th reunion this year along with his daughter, Kelle Clinton Sisk ’03, and their family. Clinton was living in Massachusetts when he enrolled at Elon, and came to play basketball as a nonscholarship athlete. He was also a member of the golf team during his time here, and fondly remembers competing at Alamance Country Club. 

“It’s so great to be back to see the place and see how big it’s become,” Clinton said. “I would recommend Elon highly to anyone thinking of coming here. The education is great. The campus is always expanding. They’re thinking beyond the immediate future.”

One visit to Elon was all it took for his daughter to want to attend — and then remain in the local community after graduation. Sisk is a detective with the Burlington Police Department, and said the growth at Elon “speaks a lot for the school and the alumni that gave to the school to see it expanding. I love walking the campus and talking to people.”

This year’s Homecoming including a number of new offerings for alumni, with new programs and gatherings added to what has traditionally been a weekend filled with ways to reconnect with old classmates and the campus, as well as honor those alumni who are so important to the Elon family. 

New this year was an offering of mini-classes with eight different Elon professors who spoke on a broad range of topics. The 45-minute sessions on Friday afternoon in classrooms around campus drew dozens of alumni to learn about microbiomes, childhood development, polling and politics, engaged learning, civil discourse and more. 

​Hundreds of alumni, faculty, staff and current students turned out for on Friday night that offered live music, lawn games, inflatables, artists drawing caricatures and plenty to eat and drink with seven food trucks lining a closed stretch of East Haggard Avenue through campus. 

Stephanie Longenbaker Ponzio ’98 was back at Elon with her husband, Andy Ponzio ’96, to celebrate his 20th reunion. The two, now living in Atlanta, were gathered with friends Saturday tailgating before the football game, with Stephanie Ponzio saying that “Rock the Block” was a great way to connect with Elon friends. 

She hadn’t been back to campus in about 15 years, and said the changes are striking, but the Elon community is welcoming when alumni come back. “It’s a beautiful place that has great academics, and is a place that can offer a lot of what bigger schools can,” she said. “It’s so great to come back.”

The good food and music wasn’t the only thing celebrated on Friday, with hundreds gathering by Hunt Softball Park to mark the , the new convocation center and arena that will serve as a home to Elon’s basketball and volleyball programs. The 161,000-square-foot center, to be completed in mid-2018, is being built thanks to the support of a host of donors led by benefactors Dwight C. and Martha Schar P’16, P’19.

Another major building project on Elon’s campus received a Homecoming boost Friday, with the announcement of , to name a new student gathering space planned for the historic part of campus. The LaRose Student Commons will provide much-needed gathering and study space for students living in the Historic Neighborhood, which includes West, Sloan, Virginia, Smith, Carolina, and Hook, Brannock and Barney residence halls.

Back again for Homecoming was the Brick Run 5K Run/Walk, an event that was introduced in 2015 and returned this year, with participation doubling to close to 100 entrants. The event, with a course that wound along the brick-paved sidewalks through campus, was organized by the Office of Alumni Engagement and Elon ľĂľĂČČ Recreation. 

Saturday morning saw nearly 40 members of the Class of 1966 in attendance to be inducted into the ranks of Golden Alumni, and for the first time, Elon saw its first 55th reunion organized, with five members of the Class of 1961 reconnecting. Close to 400 members of Elon’s most recent class of alumni—the Class of 2016—returned to campus for Homecoming. 

Homecoming was also time to honor alumni, with during a reception and ceremony on Friday, and on Saturday, the Elon Black Alumni Network and Elon’s LGBTQIA Alumni Network presenting awards at brunch events. 

Homecoming also saw the return of a piece of Elon’s history with the reinstallation of a recently restored chandelier that hung more than a century ago in Old Main, the university’s former administration building that was destroyed in the 1923 fire. A dedication ceremony for the historic chandelier, , was held Saturday afternoon in the Archives Reading Room at Carol Grotnes Belk Library, where the chandelier now hangs. 

The band members coming back to Homecoming include: Rudy Baker ’93, Joe Beckham ’94, Stan Powell ’94, Patrick Riddick ’96, Brian Spangler ’96 and Andy Timmons ’94. In 2002, Dakkota officially ended their time touring because life, families and careers took them away from the music scene. Or as Brian Spangler shared, they finally “started to grow up.”

Lee Leckie ’98 could not be more excited about this fall’s Dakkota reunion. The band members are good friends of his, and he says it was a big part of his Elon experience. According to Lee, “anyone that was there in the late ’90s, Dakkota at the Lighthouse would have been a big part of our experience.

They first played at the Kappa Alpha house because the owner of the Lighthouse said a country band would never be successful.” But when they finally did start playing at the Lighthouse it was “wall-to-wall people every time they played, good music and good fun.” Lee said, “they played a lot of big shows and opened for a lot of country artists. It’s fun to hear some of the stories.” Dakkota has opened for country greats, such as George Jones, Travis Tritt, Kenny Chesney, David Allen Coe, Rhett Atkins and Tracy Byrd.

This year, for Elon’s Homecoming, the class of 1996 20th reunion committee and Elon’s Office of Annual Giving are bringing in Dakkota for a special performance at College Street Tap House, formerly known as the Lighthouse. This alumni celebration is open to all, with a $10 cover charge, to attend. A cash bar will be available at the event. Attendees should register before October 14 on the Elon Homecoming website. In addition to a performance by Dakkota, Elon is highlighting the following reunion years: 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001.