BC’s 2020 @HOMEcoming

Bluefield College hosted its 2020 Homecoming celebration for alumni and friends, October 9-11, but this year’s Homecoming was a bit different in light of the social distancing restrictions related to COVID-19. In fact, Homecoming 2020 was a virtual affair with all activities online and not in person.

According to BC’s Nicole Kaklis, director of alumni relations, this year’s Homecoming required a lot more work for the Office of Alumni Relations. The Homecoming Committee, she said, had to switch the date for the celebration multiple times due to schedule changes with football.

“When they finally moved football to the spring, we kept Homecoming in the fall because of the new (COVID) restrictions on the number of people at events,” Kaklis said. “Planning was challenging in a way that you have to think outside of the box.”

Because of the restrictions on large crowd events and the risks of exposing alumni to the coronavirus, the Alumni Board and the Homecoming Committee decided virtual gatherings were the way to go, but they wanted to make sure they planned the virtual weekend in a way that alumni would still participate and enjoy.

“There was a decent amount of alumni response, but we wanted more people online,” Kaklis said. “However, with the more quaint groups, there was more interaction between alumni.”

The most attended event was the Annual Alumni Association Meeting where new members were elected to served on the Alumni Board and annual alumni award winners were announced. New members elected to served on the Board included Steve Coffman (’97), Eli Hairfield (’17), Beth Kinser (’18), Bill Knox (’11), Matthew Mullins (’18), Olivia Ray (’18), and Michael Rutherford (’98).

“In years past, I have gotten together with my friends during Homecoming,” Mullins said. “I missed being able to go to the football game, despite not actually caring about the game, but having that time to socialize with my friends. Homecoming is a great time to not only catch up with (friends), but also the faculty and staff of Bluefield College.”

Winners of alumni awards included Dr. Robert Shackleford, Jr., who was named Alumnus of the Year; Rev. Jared Berry, who won the Primitivo Degado Christian Service Award; Sarah Jones, who was named the Distinguished Young Alumna; and Dr. Cynthia Bascom, who received an Honorary Alumna Award.

“The theater reunion had largest reunion rate, because they are a really tight-knit group,” Kaklis said. “The ’80s reunion was also highly attended, because those grads all stayed in touch and put the word out on their Facebook groups.”

Other virtual Homecoming events included the Goodness and Light Award ceremony, a BC Rams Huddle Zoom session, a Department of Nursing Zoom session, a criminal justice graduates Zoom session, a Music Department Zoom session, a fraternities and sororities Zoom gathering, a Golden Graduates Zoom reunion, a worship session with Highlands Fellowship, and a virtual escape room.

And while a virtual Homecoming was a necessity this year, Kaklis said the virtual option does provide benefits that might be further used in the future, including making events more accessible for those who live too far to travel to Bluefield or who simply can’t make the trip.

“We would like to offer virtual options (in the future), but not in a way of just throwing something on a computer,”

Several in-person Homecoming events were also scheduled for current BC students, but later postponed due to the pandemic. However, hope is not lost Kaklis said.

“There will be Homecoming events in a few weeks for student engagement.”