Big crowds, perfect weather, world-class entertainment,
for starters.
"This is what homecoming should
be," said Chancellor Kyle R. Carter
after the celebration on October 8.
"It was a great week to be a Brave!"
At the Braves Club luncheon
before the game Chancellor Carter
led a large gathering of alumni and
friends in a rousing "Go...Braves!"
cheer.
"It's good to see so many alumni
getting together to remember the
best times of their lives," he said. "I
miss Homecoming 2012 as we celebrate the university's 125th
anniversary. It will be legendary."
Official attendance at the football game, which UNCP
won 58-38, was 4,189. There were many special events, said
alumni director Renee Steele `93. "We had something fun for
everybody during the week, which is what makes homecoming
special," Steele said. "There is no way to count, but I am
confident saying that a record number of alumni turned out.
The weather was great, and Kool and the Gang's performance
in GPAC was outstanding.
"Everywhere I went there were alumni groups like the Tri
Sigmas, Pi Kappa Alpha, former basketball players and the
Black Alumni Council, who hosted a scholarship gospel sing,"
she said. "When alumni who were great friends in college get
back together after not seeing each other for 20 years, that's a
special moment."
The alumni director was not alone in her assessment of
Homecoming 2011. Grant Merritt '11 returned for his 5th
consecutive homecoming. "My freshman year was the first year
of football, and we had fun then," Merritt said. "But this is the
better every year."
Joel Beachum `97, who was taking homecoming
photos for the Indianhead yearbook, agreed. "This is by far
the best homecoming in my 10 years doing this," he said.
Tim Brayboy '64, who regularly attends games, said this
homecoming inspired him. "This is fun," he said. "It looks like a
record crowd."
Matt Lynch '75, who was inducted into the UNCP Athletic
Hall of Fame on Friday, summed up his thoughts about
homecoming and UNCP. "These were the greatest years of
my life," he said. "It's great to come back and humbling to be
honored like this."
Thursday evening. The university--then Pembroke State
College (PSC)--was at a turning point, and this class was at the
intersection of a proud past and a daunting future.
Led by Pandora Bryant Strickland, who taught music for more
than 45 years in the local public schools, the class of '61 gave a
recitation and sang their alma mater, "Hail to PSC."
"These were exciting times to be at Pembroke State College,"
Strickland said. "I loved it, and I still do."
The title of the skit was "An old dirt farmer I will not be,
because I'm headed to PSC." The university was founded to
lift up a community, noted Dr. Dalton Brooks, who returned to
teach physics at the university for three decades.
"When they gathered at Pates (the university's original
location), they made plans for a future like this," Dr. Brooks said
while delivering the invocation. "This university is a miracle that
proves there's nothing impossible with God."
Alumni President Sylvia Pate praised the class for giving back
in so many different ways. "Not only have you established a
scholarship to benefit future students, during your careers as
educators--and most of you were educators--you trained the
next generation of UNCP students," she said.
In his message to the gathering, Chancellor Carter said the
class of 1961 is evidence that "UNC Pembroke produces great
alumni, and you are the tangible evidence."