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Maryville College Homecoming 2024 Wrap-Up

Nov. 19, 2024

As dawn broke on College Hill, they returned.

From Hawaii to the College Hill neighborhood next door, Maryville College alumni came back to campus for the annual Homecoming celebration, and it was without embellishment one of the finest in recent memory.

They always are, especially in the moment, when the flag atop Anderson Hall whips about in the wind and the lush lawns around it are filled with a sea of old friends bedecked in Scots gear from across the decades. Homecoming 2024 took place Oct. 25-27, and those who came “Home to College Hill” departed at the weekend’s end having been reminded of why this place is so special.

On the court inside Cooper Athletic Center, the MC Volleyball team clinched two victories over Huntingdon and Wesleyan. On Honaker Field, the Football Scots crushed the Monarchs of Methodist University, and even though the day started with bountiful sunshine, rain moved in shortly before halftime.

No matter. Gray skies couldn’t dampen orange-and-garnet spirits as Scots, Scot supporters, friends of the College and current students, staff and faculty members descended on College Hill for the annual festivities that make Homecoming the biggest day of the year.

On Friday, the annual Founder’s Day Showcase followed a President’s Welcome Reception during which Dan Greaser ’60 and his wife, Shirley, were recognized as the newest members of the elite Founder’s Circle, made up of individuals and organizations who have given more than $1 million to the College. During his remarks at the Showcase itself, MC President Dr. Bryan Coker noted that 2024 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Sign Language-English Interpreting program, and a number of Homecoming activities were included to celebrate it, including a performance by an ASL Choir on Friday night, and a gathering of alumni who graduated from the program that was held on Saturday.

Homecoming newcomers and old-timers alike took part in long-standing traditions, from the annual Homecoming Parade to the Sutton Science Social and Potluck to the Alvin C. Baker ’72 Harvest Craft Fair to the Sunday morning Service of Remembrance that paid tribute to Scots who passed away between Homecoming 2023 and this one. And to a one, they all seemed to agree: Homecoming Weekend is an unparalleled experience, a place where surprise encounters with old friends elicit squeals of joy, where choirs made up of current students and alumni lead tear-jerking renditions of the Alma Mater, where championship athletic teams are recognized for their accomplishments, and where the gridiron warriors of the Maryville College football team are celebrated as heroes. A winning score led to the annual dousing of the winners on Victory Hill, a tradition that means as much to the alumni who take part as it does the student-athletes reveling in their victory.

On Homecoming Weekend, that feeling … that undeniable certainty that Maryville College is one of the most special places on the planet, filled with folks who understand you better than yourself and educators who help you understand the world in ways you never could have imagined … is ever-present, just as it always will be up here “On College Hill.”

Here’s a look back in picture, video and word of Homecoming 2024:

Photos

Homecoming 2024

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Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”