After the busy week of homecoming activities for students, homecoming day finally came. The day was filled with sports, activities, food and visitors. Alumni had fond reflections on their undergraduate experiences at Bluffton from the events they went to and the relationships they made.
Sherri Yoder ’84 and Jan Croyle ’84
Sherri Yoder and Jan Croyle, class of ’84 at homecoming. Photo taken by Elizabeth Rockwell.
After randomly being assigned roommates, Croyle and Yoder decided to be roommates for three of their four years together at Bluffton. The two had many fun stories to tell about their experiences together.
“We participated in all of the campus activities,” Croyle said. “Dances every weekend in ‘the barn.’ What was it called now? Bob’s Place! They would have a dance-a-thon once a year. We got to stay up all night and dance.”
“Ball tag was a big thing that you no longer have,” Yoder said. “Someone would leave open a window in the archives. Then someone would crawl through a window and let a whole bunch of people sneak in. They would partner the girls with a guy. You had to hand off the ball to another couple in the dark. This was when the security people were students.”
Chad Adams ’93 and Steve Owen ’93
From left: Paula Owen, Matthew Owen, Will Owen, Steve Owen, Chad Adams, Bobbi Adams. Photo taken by Elizabeth Rockwell.
“Well the fun hangouts were always second floor Lincoln or the Lincoln lobby,” Adams said. “That’s where I remember having the most fun. Or we would also go up to what used to be called The Establishment. We called it the Pub, but now it’s called Luke’s. It was a dive joint back then.”
“We would also go up to Findlay and Bowling Green,” Owen said. “We played a lot of tennis ball golf around campus. We were kind of the ones who originated it. It was around our time. One of the big things we did was our water balloon escapades. We had a water balloon slingshot we would set up around different parts of campus and wait for people on their “lover’s lanes” walks.”
Thomas Eachus ’96
“I created a program of students who were interested in security due to a fellow student who was involved with an attack on campus during a seasonal break. I took it seriously, and we developed and installed the initial magnet strip entrances into all of the student halls in 1994.”
“Some of my favorite things to do on campus was getting involved in just about everything. Being a small community college, you could do anything. I had no experience in high school with soccer, and I played two years in the soccer program. I had no experience in high school with tennis, but I played tennis. Being involved in Camerata singers was probably my most memorable time on campus. I spent three years touring the country off and on, East to West. Senior year was very special. We got to go to Colorado, and in our off time we got to ski in the Rocky Mountains.”
Robert Ruppert ’20
Alumna Robert Ruppert class of ’20 at homecoming. Photo taken by Elizabeth Rockwell.
“Being the mascot was really awesome, honestly. I got to go to a lot of events, see a lot of different people. I got to enjoy hanging out with alumni, students, alumni’s children, coach’s children. It’s just really awesome because it’s just something new. Then you are also the face of the University like that was who you were. You were J. Denny or Jenny and that’s who people saw and that’s our mascot. It’s very important to show people who you are even though you’re hitting and show who the school is. I played soccer once with a kid at a soccer game. As I was a beaver during the winter, I was crossing the bridge between Marbeck and the art building, and I almost fell into the Riley, so that was pretty funny and intense.”
Bri Baker ’21
Bri Baker, class of ’21 at homecoming. Photo taken by Elizabeth Rockwell.
“I was in MCB and the chairperson, I was involved in BEO and SAAC. I worked the mail desk, and I was in softball. I’m excited for them to have people back on campus. Like it’s nice that we can have people back again. It’s nice to see people and be able to just come back and see how fun it was. It’s almost back to normal, well back to normal as we can get so it’s nice to be back here and enjoying being around each other.”
“Enjoy your time as much as you can because I am an alumnus, and I wish that I could come back again because I miss it. Enjoy being around your friends. Put all you have into Bluffton because once you’re gone, you miss it.”
Many of the alumni still had ties to the community whether it be a child or sibling attending the university or a spouse working at the university. They all did have one thing to say: they wanted to see how the school was doing after not being allowed on campus for a year. COVID-19 had taken experiences from alumni and students alike, but no matter how long alumni were gone, homecoming was a time to welcome everyone home again.
