The first alumni weekend event at Kent State will be held June 6.

The events that Friday include golfing, canoeing, a downtown tour and a free outdoor concert, while on Saturday, alumni will be welcomed to Alumni College, where they will be taught about health from professionals and other alumni.

Kellie Mayle, assistant director of alumni education and regional programming, said they wanted to try something new for the alumni this year by making the event a whole weekend.

“This year, we decided to make it into a whole alumni weekend rather than just one day like in the past,” she said. “We wanted to give alumni the chance to come back and see all of the changes to the downtown area and the campus. It’s going to be a great way for them to socialize and meet people they haven’t met before as well.”

Assistant director of outreach Joy Wesoloski said the weekend gives returning alumni a chance to reminisce.

“The whole goal of the weekend is to give the alumni a chance to come back and feel nostalgic,” she said. “Friday is more of a social day where they can maybe meet people they’ve never met in the past, and Saturday is more of a learning day where they will learn a lot of valuable knowledge.”

Wesoloski said they’ve planned alumni weekend this way to attract more people.

“Our hope is to reach out to as many alumni as possible,” she said. “In the previous years at Alumni College, we’ve had around 100 alumni come back with us. But I think now, with the social event as well, we might even have more. There’s also going to be a lot of free drinks, food and a lot of gifts throughout the day, so I think they’ll really enjoy that.”

Mayle said she wants people to enjoy themselves and still feel welcome at Kent State.

“It was a way to bring people back, and we wanted to do something to interest them,” she said. “We do homecoming in the fall, but I think this gives them more time to tour the school and meet other alums, rather then being on a strict schedule. If you drive past the library and see that giant sign, it’s a sense of comfort and knowing that you actually do belong here.

“It’s all about coming back to where you belong.”    

Contact Justin Graci at [email protected].