Homecoming showcases today's Cornell, Sept. 23-24

homecoming 2015 fireworks
Lindsay France/Cornell Marketing Group
Families take in the fireworks and laser light show at Homecoming 2015.
homecoming 2015 face painting
Lindsay France/Cornell Marketing Group
Students enjoy Homecoming 2015.

Cornell’s Homecoming 2016, Sept. 23-24, will start with a bang – the popular fireworks and laser light show – and continue through a weekend of fun and engaging events for the university and surrounding communities.

“It’s our welcome back to alumni and welcome to the community,” says Terry Hahn, director of Homecoming and special interest programs. The goal of the weekend, she says, is to show all who attend, especially returning alumni, new students and residents of neighboring communities, “today’s Cornell.”

This year, Homecoming features a mix of traditional and new events.

The weekend’s activities kick off Friday, Sept. 23, with the fireworks and laser light show at 7 p.m. in Schoellkopf Field, a mainstay of Cornell Homecoming fun. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the 5K race at 8:30 a.m. will benefit the United Way of Tompkins County, and the Big Red Fan Festival will fill the Crescent parking lot with tailgates, music and games before the 3 p.m. football game against Yale.

New this year are an Arts Crawl, a walking tour of four campus art exhibits that begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Human Ecology Commons, and a welcome tent for alumni, parents and friends, open noon–3 p.m. in the Crescent parking lot. There’s also a new Virtual 5K, which invites Cornellians who can’t come back to campus in person to run a 5K anywhere in the world, “expanding Homecoming beyond Ithaca,” says Hahn.

The weekend will be special for Cornell’s Africana Studies and Research Center, which has planned two major events open to all: a screening and panel discussion of the film “Agents of Change” at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Willard Straight Theatre; and the dedication, at 11 a.m. Sept. 24, of the original site of the Africana Center at 320 Wait Ave., which was destroyed by suspected arson in 1970.

Colleges and units, fraternities and sororities, and other affinity groups have planned events for their alumni and students.

Homecoming highlights include:

Friday, Sept. 23

  • Fireworks and laser light show, 7–9:30 p.m., Schoellkopf Field, featuring a pre-show performance by the band Sparks the Rescue.

Saturday, Sept. 24

  • Homecoming 5K, 8:30 a.m., F.R. Newman Arboretum, registration required, proceeds benefit the United Way of Tompkins County.
  • The Big Red Fan Festival, noon–3 p.m., Crescent parking lot, with tailgate parties, free music, rides and college showcases.
  • Cornell versus Yale football game, 3 p.m., Schoellkopf Field; tickets are free for Cornell students with ID; tickets for purchase at CornellBigRed.com.
  • Glee Club concert, 8 p.m., Bailey Hall; tickets for purchase at GleeClub.com.

Visit homecoming.cornell.edu for a full list of events and more information or contact Terry Hahn at Terry.Hahn@cornell.edu or 607-254-6185.

Kate Klein is a writer for Alumni Affairs and Development.

Media Contact

Daryl Lovell