Homecoming welcomes all for a weekend of fall fun with family and friends

Liberty University’s Homecoming on Oct. 30-31 will offer a host of new and renewed opportunities for alumni and the greater Liberty community to connect with one another across campus, including at the new Champion Center. The weekend promises to be filled with family-friendly fun and plenty of school spirit.

“Homecoming is the entire campus getting together to celebrate alumni,” said Cort Comfort, director of Student Activities, which organizes many of the weekend’s activities. “It’s a gathering of Christians from every generation who have one thing in common: they spent four years on this campus praising and worshipping Jesus Christ and bettering themselves as a student. …  We’re here because we all have this unquenchable thirst to worship and take joy in our relationship with Christ. I think there’s no better reason to come back to this campus.”

Alumni are encouraged to register in advance to take full advantage of the weekend’s events. Register online or at The Champion Center; check-in is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday.

The weekend kicks off on Friday morning with the special Hymnology Convocation featuring Matt Boswell, a hymn-writer and lead pastor of The Trails Church in Celina, Texas. Following Convocation, the Liberty Homecoming Golf Tournament will be held at 12:30 p.m. at London Downs Golf Club. Proceeds directly benefit Liberty Golf. Registration closes Oct. 26.

The Golden Alumni Luncheon on Friday will give the Class of 1976 a chance to reconnect with their classmates and look back on what God has accomplished in their lives in the 50 years since graduation. This is the second year the Alumni Relations Office has hosted this special event.

The Alumni Relations Office will also hold its first Homecoming Chapter Leaders’ Dinner on Friday night, welcoming the leaders of Liberty’s 33 alumni chapters across the country.

On Saturday morning, the office will host the annual Alumni Breakfast, one of the most popular Homecoming events for alumni and their families to spend time with former classmates and share memories. The Alumnus of the Year Award will be announced.

“The crown jewel, I call it, of the weekend is the Alumni Breakfast,” Senior Executive Director of Alumni Engagement Dr. Greg Tilley said. “That’s our main attraction for the office during Homecoming, and it’s going to be in the new Champion Center this year, so it’ll be a chance for a lot of alumni to come check it out for the first time.”

Alumni can take advantage of Liberty’s outdoor recreation venues on Friday with fall hayrides at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center and an open house at Liberty Mountain Gun Club.

Sporting events over the weekend include the men’s soccer game against Virginia Military Institute and men’s DI hockey against Virginia Tech on Friday. Flames Football kicks off against Florida International University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Seven new members of the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame will be honored during the game, following the induction banquet on Friday night in the Montview Alumni Ballroom.

Entertainment on Friday also includes William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” in the Black Box Theater and Family Movie Night with “Toy Story 5” in the Vines Center. Friday will be the final evening of Scaremare, Liberty’s outreach event that guides visitors through a house of scary rooms to point them toward their own mortality and need for Christ. Tickets can be purchased at the door, and admission will be open from 7:30-11 p.m.

The annual Homecoming Parade starts at 12:30 p.m. on Regents Parkway and then University Boulevard, featuring the Spirit of the Mountain Marching Band, university leaders and floats from different departments across the university. The Alumni Tailgate (free with Homecoming badge) and free Flames Fan Fest will take place from 1-3 p.m. before the football game.

The Champion Center will be a main touchpoint for alumni this year, as several events will take place in the 64,000-square-foot facility, an extension of the Hancock Welcome Center, that officially opened on Oct. 20.

“The heart of that building is dedicated to the growth this university has seen over the last 55 years,” Comfort said. “It’s the perfect venue to showcase just how many great things can be done when you trust God’s vision for your life and God’s plan for your life. That’s what the building speaks to, so the fact that it’s going to be a part of Homecoming, not only for check-in but some of the major events going on that weekend, makes it an exciting year to be a part of Homecoming.”

While Liberty offers year-round opportunities for alumni connection through both online and in-person platforms, Homecoming is always a family favorite.

“We try to set up events and opportunities for them to enjoy and experience,” Tilley said, “but what draws them back isn’t me and it’s not the Alumni Relations Office; their passion, their heart for Liberty is what beckons them back. Homecoming is a special time in the fall where they can pause their busy schedule and get a chance to come back home.”