FHSU Homecoming 2021

When my husband and I attended Fort Hays State University, we scheduled all of our classes in the morning so that we could work 30 hours a week--afternoons, late Thursday evenings, and all day Saturday.  We watched the Homecoming Parade through the Duckwall and J.C. Penny plate glass windows.  This year we rode in the parade!

Because the recipients of the 2020 Alumni Achievement Award were honored virtually, we were invited to participate in the festivities for the 2021 recipients at Homecoming, including the parade.  What fun, and what support from the people who lined the street, despite the rain.  Mother Nature must be a FHSU fan, since the rain stopped just as the parade began.  I waved and smiled so much that my face hurt, and people waved back, even the children I disappointed by failing to remember to buy candy to throw.  I even got a hand bump from someone who ran out to tell me he was going to buy my book.

We were kept busy for three days, with more high lights than I can share, but among them was the ribbon cutting for the new Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success, a state of the art building located next to the Union, with a connecting walkway on the second level.

Those of us whose college days go back a few decades know that changes on campus are not just the new buildings.  The book stores we remember from our youth have changed with students using the internet to buy their books, and the former book store in the FHSU Union is now a wonderful shop filled with clothing and other collectibles.  

However, for one afternoon during Homecoming it was once again a place to buy books, as they hosted "Prairie Bachelor" for a book signing!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to buy a book or just to say "hi."  There are still some books there available for purchase, and I signed some book plates in case you would like one for your book.

Those of you who are FHSUers, whether as graduates or as spouses, parents, or 'adoption by choice,' already know that once a Tiger, always a Tiger, even if you live far away and return to campus in retirement.  FHSU continues to grow and change, but the Tiger Pact that appears as you enter the new Fischli-Wills Center makes clear the goals the University strives to instill.