The Homecoming Tailgate, one of the main events of Oswego State’s fall Homecoming celebration, was cancelled due the inclement weather.
The event was coordinated by Oswego State’s Department of Campus Life, who also made the rain call for the tailgate. The event was supposed to be held on Saturday, Oct. 13 and was meant to coincide with three Oswego State athletic games. These included Lakewr volleyball at Union College at noon, men’s soccer against SUNY Fredonia at 1 p.m. and field hockey against St. John Fisher College at 4 p.m.
The campus was full of many alumni this past weekend. The first in-person meeting of Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) was held on Friday. While some were disappointed they would not be able to attend the Homecoming Tailgate, others, such as spring ’18 Oswego alumnus and GOLD Leadershp Counsel member Reid Adler, were indifferent on the matter.
“I came up for a wedding, so Homecoming weekend was really just an added bonus,” Adler said.
The weekend was not a total loss, however. Campus Life worked in collaboration with the Alumni Office to host a number of events.
“Other events during Homecoming, which were coordinated by our office, did still take place,” said Laura Kelly, director of Alumni and Parent Relations. “They were very positively received.”
The weekend was comprised of events that ran from Friday, Oct. 12 until Sunday, Oct. 14. This included a wide variety of events tailored to different student groups.
Green and Gold Day kicked off the weekend on Friday with a photo in the Marano Campus Center Arena. Kelly said this year drew in the largest crowd yet for the photo, though a number was not specified.
Other events were more specifically aimed at alumni. Return to Oz – Alumni of Color Reunion ran from Friday until Sunday and drew more than 100 alumni back to campus. This event was comprised of numerous activities for alumni involvement in during their weekend in Oswego.
The event that received one of the largest groups for alumni participation was the Scholars Brunch on Saturday. There were approximately 200 guests at the event, including both scholarship donors and the recipients.
The Scholars Brunch, however, was not the only awards event during Homecoming weekend. Saturday, there were seven new inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame, including Joe Carrabs ’04 – ice hockey, Barb Verdoliva Carroll ’93 – soccer, George T. Gelsomin ’78 – golf, Paul Newman ’83 – wrestling, Mark H. Serron ’81 – lacrosse, Sheri A. Smith ’91 – basketball and softball and Gregory Arthur Wilson ’68 – basketball. This event drew around 90 guests, including alumni, student athletes, family and friends.
Homecoming weekend is organized to provide fun and relaxing events for students to take advantage of. While the tailgate may have been cancelled due to the weather, both Campus Life and the Alumni Office had a variety of activities planned to still provide guests with an event-filled weekend.
Photo provided by Jim Russell ‘83
