Tribe Homecoming

This past weekend was Homecoming! What a great way for members of the Tribe (past, present and future) to connect yet again in good ole Williamsburg. For the past few months I have eagerly counted down the days until the streets of Williamsburg would be full of W&M alumni, some coming to relive their college days, others attending to reconnect with friends they had not seen in decades, and some returning after leaving the college only months ago. Whatever the time lapse might have been between October 2008 and when an alumnus left William & Mary for the “real world” that tie that binds us together is still as strong as ever. As this year’s Homecoming Grand Marshal and former Vice President of Student Affairs, Sam Sadler ’64, has famously said, “Those who come here belong here.”

Besides getting to see old friends again, the best part of the weekend was meeting all of the children of alumni who will some day also be part of the Tribe family. Throughout the weekend I saw parents proudly holding infants and toddlers wearing mini Tribe football jerseys and proclaiming, “I was class of 1998, but this one will be class of 2028!”, middle school students sporting hand painted t-shirts with “Class of 2016” written on the backs, or even the many high school students decked out in green and gold and screaming “GO TRIBE!”

I knew looking towards this weekend that I would be excited to reminisce about the good ole days and retell stories of college highlights, but I did not expect to come away from the three day event energized and excited about the future of the College. Homecoming is not only a time to reflect on the ties that bind all of us to this special place, but it is also an opportunity to look towards the connections that will follow W&M into the next decades and centuries.

– Amanda Norris