Expect for Saturday’s basketball game to get livelier with an anticipated 200 alums coming back to campus for St. Bonaventure University’s 43rd annual Homecoming Weekend. The event takes place Feb. 23 to 26.
From attending a basketball game to making future career connections at Bonnies4Bonnies and earning free Bona gear, many are traveling from across the nation for this anticipated event. The weekend provides Bonaventure students with an opportunity to interact with alumni and keep alumni involved with the university.
The weekend kicked off on Thursday, Feb. 23 with the second annual Bona Giving Day, a 24-hour fundraising event where Bonaventure officials encourage students and alumni to rise to the challenge of making an online donation to the Bonaventure Fund. Bona’s gets the community involved by asking for help in spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #BonaGivingDay. The event focused on pride for Bonaventure.
As part of Bona Giving Day, the university held a scavenger hunt for students to win free Bona gear. The event took place Thursday, Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Seven different locations on campus had different facts and clues for participants to post a selfie using the hashtag #BonaGivingDay.
Today is the 8th annual Bona Pride Day. Wear Bonnie gear and use the hashtag “#BonaPrideDay2017.” Prizes of Bona gear will be given out randomly to those who participate.
At 4p.m. in the Doyle Dining Room, a Bonnies4Bonnies networking event will be held. Students can come to connect with SBU alumni. Following the event, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Rathskeller there will be a senior/alumni Happy Hour with a musical performance by a student band.
Saturday morning at 8:30, there will be a board meeting of the National Alumni Association. Followed by an open house in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts from noon to 4.
Joe Flanagan, director of Alumni Services, said, “Homecoming Weekend was re-started 43 years ago by what was then called the Dorm Councils. Before this, in the 1940s-50s, Homecoming [Weekend] was a fall home football game. For recently, the weekend is just an informal weekend for recent grads to return to reconnect with their classmates, students and teachers.”
From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Brian Toolan ’72 will be signing his book, Snubbed, in front of the bookstore located in the Reilly Center.
The SBU men’s basketball team tips off at 4 p.m. against Duquesne in the Reilly Center.
From 6 to 9 p.m. in the Rathskeller, there will be a post-game reception with a DJ. First Year Experience is hosting a Trivia Night immediately following the reception.
Alumni Alison Thomas, ‘16, said she plans on visiting Bonaventure this weekend. One of her highlights were the basketball game.
Thomas said she is “excited to be back in the Reilly with the fans and my friends. It is truly a Bonaventure experience to be inside of all of the excitement that surrounds the games.”
She also said she plans on visiting the local Allegany bars, The Other Place and The Burton.
Kimberly Brunhofer, ’16, also said she’s coming to Bonaventure.
“I plan on getting a Burton Burger and going to the basketball game,” she said. “I might check out the Hickey just for fun.”
The bookstore will be open all weekend, Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Sunday morning there will be mass at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the University Chapel as well as 11 a.m. at Mt. Irenaeus.
oasm14@bonaventure.edu
