Listen HereBy: Leah Alsept
Everyone at the University has an oiler story to tell of how they came to the University of Findlay and this weekend the university is celebrating that. Homecoming and Family Weekend at Findlay runs Oct. 5 through 7, and the theme this year is “Where your story began”.
At the University of Findlay, all Oilers have a story to tell. Students, professors, parents, alumni- anyone and everyone has a story that they can share and are welcome to do so during the Homecoming festivities. Home is where the heart is, and Findlay has a lot of heart.
Hannah Caram, a freshman in the pre-veterinarian college, remembered where her story started at UF. Caram visited the campus, and it just clicked. It was similar to her hometown, Ashland, and it felt right for her here at Findlay.
“You know when you go somewhere and you connect with the campus,” Caram said. “That’s how it was.
“You’re picking your family,” Caram said. Something that has really helped her experience is the clubs on campus. Caram is especially fond of United, a gay-straight alliance club on campus.
“The fact that there is United on campus makes me feel Findlay is a safe place for everyone,” said Caram.
Makenzie Wimer, a senior at UF and the President of United, is a ways away from her hometown in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and said she considers Findlay home because there are a “million different families,”. During her freshman year, the University of Findlay welcomed her in the marching band program. She moved in early, and within a few days she had found a family already.
A professor at the University of Findlay and the chair of the communications department, Dr. Diana Montague has been here for over 30 years. She came to Findlay in 1986, just finishing up her masters at Urbana, accepting a job offer for a teaching position. The job position needed the person to be able to teach at the University, be an advisor of the newspaper, and be willing to teach in the prison program. Dr. Montague says what makes Findlay home for her is that it is a welcoming place, “Clean, comfortable, and a safe community.”
The President of UF, Dr. Katherine Fell, got her start at Findlay eight years ago, she was the Vice President of Advancement and an English professor for 25 years at Centenary University in Louisiana. After doing a presidential search she found Findlay and after visiting campus, meeting people, her and her husband knew they would love it there.
“Well, the people are warm, caring, smart, confident, the faculty and staff focus on the students. The students are hard-working and seeking a meaningful life,” Fell said. “It feels like home whenever we open our home to students and the community and they become our friends, when they feel at home in our presidential home, we feel at home.”
Homecoming events are going on throughout the weekend. Friday Oct. 5 has the Class of 1968 Reunion from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mazza Museum, fireworks at 9:15 p.m. on Davis Street, and the College of Pharmacy “Pharmal” from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn. Saturday starts with a 5K race starting at 6:15 a.m. and then the big homecoming football game matching up the Oilers vs. Hillsdale at 3 p.m. at Donnell stadium. Sunday there is a worship service held at the Winebrenner Theological Seminary at 10 a.m. and then “Funday Sunday” starts at 1:30 p.m., a Homecoming themed event with refreshments, art stations, music, and special guests at the Mazza Museum.
