Alumni return to Queen’s University for first in-person Homecoming since 2019

Homecoming at Queen’s University runs Oct. 28-30 and this year it is the first in person homecoming since 2019.

University officials are expecting a solid volume of alumni on campus this year.

“We have approximately 2,700 alumni and their guests returning to Queen’s and the Kingston community,” Karen Bertrand, vice-principal of advancement told Global Kingston.

With that volume of graduates returning it could pump $2 million into the local economy based on pre-pandemic numbers, she noted.

“We are typically booked from from Belleville to Brockville in terms of hotel rooms so certainly for the hotel partners this is a really important weekend,” she said.

Graduating classes ending in two or seven are attending homecoming this year and for some like Nancy McEvoy, a 1987 graduate, homecoming is a must-attend event.

“I come back every five years and my husband’s in ’85 in engineering, so we come back with his class every five as well so we get twice as many opportunities,” said McEvoy.

Martin Gerwin, a 1962 graduate, is with a group of friends that have come from as far away as Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

“We’re wandering around the campus looking at all our old haunts and the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery which is very beautiful now, seeing how things have changed or haven’t changed,” said Gerwin.

Stewart Goodings is part of the same small group as Gerwin. Goodings says over the three days he has some events that are a top priority for him.

“We’ve got a dinner of our class, so it will be limited to those of us who graduated the same year but also I want to go to the football game,” he said.

Over the three days there are dozens of faculty and sporting events and the university is trying out some new ones, like the Alumni Fall Harvest taking place Saturday afternoon behind Grant Hall.

“It is an open event for alumni and the current campus and Kingston community to come to,” said Bertrand. “It is a collection of local artisans and food trucks.”

Homecoming wraps up officially at Richardson Stadium Sunday afternoon when the Queen’s Women’s soccer team squares off against the Nipissing Lakers in a second round playoff match.”

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