Saturday, Oct. 26, Milligan alumni came back to their old stomping grounds for homecoming. The reunions brought together current students and graduates from as far back as the graduating class of 1969.
During the homecoming reunions, some graduating classes had select places around campus to reunite with their classmates over a meal. However, the chance to reconnect was also offered all weekend during homecoming events such as the parade and the soccer game tailgate.
The school, of course, looks different to the alumni than it once did. Some of those changes include additional buildings and majors, TVs in the cafeteria and, most recently, a name change to the school. Nevertheless, the Milligan experience for the graduated students still remains a positive memory.
Three members of the class of 2004, Meggan (Musaus) Nave, Stresa (White) Callaway, and Katie Anderson, shared some of their experiences from their time at Milligan.
Nave and Callaway both participated in social affairs and on the Bekan committee, a committee that organized mission trips for students. Nave became president of the social affairs club during her junior and senior years. Anderson was in student government as a junior class representative and then class treasurer her senior year. She also started the Milligan recycling committee.
The trio also spoke of activities that they did for fun. Nave told a story of students locking themselves into Seeger chapel to watch movies and eat popcorn.
Anderson also recounted sliding down the roundabout stairs in the chapel in her sleeping bag “It was like I was sledding,” Callaway said. “We also used to climb on the roofs of different buildings for fun,” Callaway said.
When asked about some of the changes they have seen on campus, televisions in the cafeteria and the presence of social media were among the differences. “We sat at big community tables in the cafeteria, and it was so much fun,” Nave said.
“I would have been a professional college student,” Nave said. “I would have stayed here forever.” This type of perspective of Milligan is what brings alums back year after year.
Headline photo: Milligan’s 2019 homecoming parade. Photo from the Milligan Twitter page.