Throughout Homecoming weekend, a flood of alumni will return to campus. Class reunion dinners allow returning graduates to reminisce and dine with old classmates around Abilene and  ACU’s campus.
On Saturday, ACU will welcome back its graduating classes ending in two and seven, such as the class of 2002 or 1967, with dinners and a special evening event. Samantha Adkins, senior alumni relations officer, said alumni are invited back after dinner to the Hunter Welcome Center for dessert, coffee and music performed by Stephen Bailey (’92) and his band Acoustic Shade.
“When they step foot back on campus they are reminded of all the great times they had as a student and how their lives were shaped here,” Adkins said.
Kimberly Wheeler (’87) is excited to be returning to ACU. A current Arizona resident, Wheeler said Homecoming is the ideal place to reconnect with her college friends who stayed in Texas.
“I picture that Homecoming at ACU is what heaven might be like, surrounded by joyful family and friends who love to praise the Lord and have tons of fun,” she said. “Of course, heaven will last a whole lot longer than a compact weekend. Even though it is a short amount of time, it is great to see and visit with people I haven’t seen in years.”
Each year, ACU makes sure Homecoming is a weekend to not only celebrate with alumni, but to thank them.
“The alumni are the lifeblood of the university,” said Adkins. “They send students and provide financial support. It provides an opportunity for the university to remind them of what, hopefully, was a meaningful, purposeful time in their lives.”
Wheeler agrees that attending ACU is a formative time in student’s lives.
“ACU was about friendships for me,” Wheeler said. “Those friends remain my closest friends today.”
For those who will be celebrating the decades since their ACU glory days, Wheeler asks mercy when reuniting with all those old faces.
“Now if I don’t recognize some of you right away, it’s because 25 years have gone by,” she said. “You might have to give me a reminder.”
