100 Years of Home

Homecoming is a timeless embodiment of the benefits of membership in the Newberry College family. Last fall’s celebration was a century in the making — building on the traditions started 100 years ago and growing to reunite the largest family Newberry College has ever seen.

Born of the Gridiron

Homecoming 2022, aptly dubbed “100 Years of Home,” celebrated the tradition’s centennial on the Newberry College campus.

The first “Homecoming” was held Nov. 4, 1922, when the College invited alumni back to formally dedicate Setzler Field (originally established between present-day O.L. Casey Center and Pearson Hall). The field was named in honor of professor and 1892 graduate Edwin B. Setzler, who helped revive football after it had been banned in 1905 for “brutality.” He and other advocates succeeded when the game kicked off in 1913 as an intercollegiate sport. The first Homecoming game was an upset victory over The Citadel by a score of 10-7, and it was Newberry’s first win since the two schools began playing each other in 1914.

The tradition grew in popularity and scale over the years, adding dances, parades, concerts, and beginning in 1947, the Homecoming court. The first court was sponsored by the student newspaper “to add prestige to the Homecoming celebration.” The student body crowned two-year business student Martha Graham, and elected Betty Greene ’51 and Mary Westmoreland ’48 her attendants. Thirty-nine years later, Ernestine (Pitts) Sims ’87 became the first African American to wear the crown. The title of Homecoming king was introduced in 2001, going to Jamie Fetterman ’02.

In more recent years, the festivities have grown to include the Alumni Market, which showcases goods and services created by alumni; Rock the Quad, which featured The Tams in 2022; and the Wolves Walk, where attendees gather to cheer the football team ahead of kickoff. Last fall, Homecoming also marked milestones for the reunion classes of 1972, 1982, 1997 and 2012.

Encore!

The centennial Homecoming marked another milestone — the 22nd anniversary production and second reunion of Noises Off. The comedy, by Michael Frayn, follows an ambitious director and his troupe of mediocre actors as they blunder from a bad dress rehearsal to a spectacularly disastrous performance.

Members of the original 2000 cast who returned include Kirk Campbell ’00, former counselor Michael DiPalma, Pat Gagliano, interim dean of arts, humanities and social sciences, Lawrence Ryan and Steven Stack ’96. Amanda (Pennekamp) Bluestein ’04 was on the 2000 crew and joined the cast in 2010. Jane (Ellis) Martin ’05 came aboard in 2010 as a cast member and as assistant director, both roles she reprised in 2022. Newcomers to the production included Vicky Saye Henderson ’90 and Amy Pontiff ’03.

As director, Gagliano was assisted by Jeramy Oropeza, instructor of music. The moving set was designed and constructed by Matthew Fuller, director of technical theatre, with assistance from Gagliano and Timothy Roesler ’22.

After the show closed in 2000, the cast casually discussed an encore in 10 years. After the first reunion production in 2010, Campbell jokingly said, “alright, see you again in 10 years.”

Planning for a second reunion began in earnest in 2019, and though it was postponed due to the pandemic, the cast still rehearsed regularly over Zoom.

They returned to campus in late July 2022 for a week of intense hands-on work ahead of last year’s production.

“It was just an emotional and physical exhaustion that was totally worth it,” said Gagliano.

The team agreed that the show came back for its third (and final, if you ask Gagliano) run not only because the show itself is so much fun, but also because they savor the connections they forged during their time at Newberry.

“I think it's because we all enjoyed each other's company the first two times around,” said Ryan. “[The show] brings people together in a way that, I don’t think any other show that I’ve been in has.

“It requires a lot of trust. Moving around the space with all of these other people, you build a relationship with these folks over that period of time.”