Homecoming Weekend
In 1923, after studying other institutions' mid-year alumni gatherings, the Graduate Council scheduled College Day for November 2, the day of the home football game with Hobart. College Day or Alumni College Day became an annual event until the Second World War interrupted it after the fall of 1939.
In 1935 the Council moved the day (which had sometimes been scheduled as late as November 13) back to early or mid-October, when the campus is more attractive. Resuming in 1946, the fall alumni gathering was renamed Homecoming. Union's opponents in the football game have included RPI, Hobart, Hamilton, Williams, Amherst, Vermont, and Norwich, but 'traditional' homecoming rivalries have been short-lived.
From the early years, the College has scheduled additional events, such as parades and visits to classes, for Homecoming Weekend. In 2001, the event was renamed "Homecoming and Family Weekend."
Condensed from Wayne Somers, compiler and editor, Encyclopedia of Union College History (Schenectady: Union College Press, 2003), page 397.
Image courtesy of Union College, Schaffer Library Special Collections and Archives, Photograph Collection