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Six accomplished alumni were celebrated Oct. 24 as part of Homecoming 2009 on the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ campus. The honored grads included Dr. William Herbert ’68, Deborah Yow-Bowden ’74, Rev. Dr. Walstein Snyder ’45, Audrey Seagraves ’02, Stephanie Newbold ’01 and Walter "Cam" Tims ’00.

Online registration for Homecoming is now closed. Alumni can register at Homecoming check-in in the Commuter Lounge of Moseley Center on Friday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., and on Saturday from 8 – 11:30 a.m. Homecoming festivities include the Young Alumni Party, Phoenix Phest, Phoenix football, class and affinity group reunions, Golden Alumni luncheon, campus tours and much more. See you there, and wear your maroon!

Reflecting on their experience at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ and their careers since leaving campus, alumni from the Watson Scholarship Program met for a Homecoming reception in the Multicultural Center on Oct. 23, a gathering that included some of the original class of scholars now celebrating their fifth reunion.

President Leo M. Lambert gave special credit to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's community partners Oct. 19 when he received the inaugural Higher Education Civic Engagement Award from The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ received the award for cultivating a campus culture that recognizes its responsibility as the member of a larger community.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ athletics is asking fans to support head football coach Pete Lembo in the 2009 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award competition. The online voting Web site is open through Dec. 2. Read this note for details...

Young Kim dropped small lights from the rafters of a vacant office near downtown Grand Rapids to illuminate the dozens of salt and clay portraits he created on the ground below, but when his work fell short in the public voting of a Michigan art contest billed as “the largest in the world,” fans of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ assistant professor turned to Twitter – and their efforts proved the power of social media.

Khaled Hosseini, the celebrated author of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s 2009-2010 Common Reading selection, comes to campus Oct. 13 for a moderated discussion during Fall Convocation. Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns traces the volatile events of Afghanistan's most recent decades as told through the eyes of two women whose lives are thrust together by war.