Grove City College will host a historic 2026 Homecoming this week as the annual collegiate reunion celebration turns 100 years old.
The festivities Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3 center on traditions that date back to the first official Homecoming and others that have become integral to the celebration over the years. The weekend will conclude with a fireworks show over campus at 9 p.m. Saturday.
The anniversary edition of Homecoming arrives during a big year for the College, which is also marking the sesquicentennial of its founding in 1876.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to celebrate our community of alumni, students, parents, and friends, and the traditions we treasure at Grove City College. Our 100th Homecoming in the 150th year of our College and the 250th year of our nation is a wonderful milestone in a year full of milestones for this special place,” Senior Director of Alumni and College Relations Melissa MacLeod ’96 said.
The College expects to welcome up to 4,000 alumni, family, and friends to campus for the weekend, she said. They will celebrate milestone reunions of Greek groups and longtime college organizations like the Touring Choir, Orchesis dance troupe, and Red Box Global Outreach.
Homecoming 2026 will be a little bit different than in past years, she said, with anniversary-themed events and activities, a new parade route, and a night game under the lights on Thorn Field followed by fireworks.
Most of the weekend’s activities are geared to students and alumni, but others are open to the public, including a new exhibit in the Pew Fine Arts Center Gallery that uses art and artifacts to tell 150 years of College history. The gallery is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
On Friday, the Grove City College Alumni Association presents Jack Kennedy Memorial Alumni Achievement and David Rathburn Distinguished Service awards to six notable alumni during a ceremony at 7 p.m. in Harbison Chapel. It will be livestreamed at gcc.edu/livestream.
The 100th anniversary Homecoming Parade will start moving at noon on Saturday, winding its way from campus along Pine, South Broad, and East Main streets to the main College entrance. The parade, with color commentary, will be livestreamed at gcc.edu/livestream.
At 5:15 p.m. Saturday, the action shifts to Thorn Field, where new Homecoming royalty will be crowned at a pre-game show that will also feature the winners of the parade float competition and special recognition for new members of the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame and alumni award winners.
Kickoff for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference contest between the Wolverines and the Bisons of Bethany College is set for 6 p.m. Touring Choir alumni will sing the National Anthem before the “white-out” game and the Grove City College Wolverine Marching Band will put on the half-time show.
To see the complete Homecoming schedule, visit alumni.gcc.edu.
Grove City College held its first official Homecoming on Nov. 6, 1926, during an era when colleges across the country were establishing the tradition around a fall football weekend. In earlier years, the College welcomed alumni back to campus for a fall “sodbuster,” which featured dinners and dance where old friends met up and mingled with students.
Over the years since, new traditions were added and Homecoming developed into the event we know today. The first parade through campus was in 1931 and in 1949 the first Homecoming queen was crowned. In 2005, a Homecoming king was added to the royal court.