During the weekend of Oct. 22, Yellow Jackets past and present gathered at the Baldwin Wallace University campus for the annual Bold & Gold homecoming event, which welcomed alumni, current students, families and community members to celebrate their school pride.   

Madeline Wallace, director of alumni engagement, said the weekend’s events emphasized what it means to be part of the BW community.   

“Our goal for the Bold & Gold Homecoming Festival was to provide an opportunity for alumni and the BW community to come back to campus and experience the YJ4L spirit during this day, celebrating what makes BW extraordinary,” Wallace said.     

Festivities encompassed several long-standing Baldwin Wallace traditions, including the annual homecoming parade, nomination of the homecoming court and a football game against Otterbein University.   

Also featured was a new event called Rewind Reunion, held for alumni of the 1980s and 1990s.  

“This was an opportunity for this era of alumni to rewind, reconnect and reengage with BW.”  Wallace said. “We had 130 alumni in attendance representing the graduating classes of 1980-2000.”    

Several group celebrations occurred over the weekend, including the Black Cultural Center’s celebration of life, which commemorated two BW alumni who have recently passed, according to 2015 graduate Armand Rivers, who helped organize the commemoration.  

“Friday, we held ‘YJ4L: A Celebration of Life Celebrating the lives of Jordan Alexandria Daniels and Will Pearson’,” Rivers told The Exponent via email. “Jordan (Class of 2017) and Will (Class of 2004) tragically lost their lives this year, and we wanted to assemble alumni to commemorate them.”  

The Black Cultural Center also held new meet-and-greet events before and after to encourage alumni engagement on campus and continue to create a community within the campus.   

“The overall purpose of the events was to reconnect alumni not only with each other but [also] with BW students,” Rivers said. “To be transparent, I believe BW can improve in their engagement of alumni and have made it a priority in their annual plan. As an active alumnus, I have taken on the responsibility to engage Black alumni to come back and assist current students in any way possible.”  

An open house of the newly renovated North Hall was also featured in this year’s activities. Residence Life invited the Jacket community to visit the modernized transformation of North Hall.   

“We held the event in North because we wanted to show off our newly renovated building. In the past, we have held it in Heritage, where our office used to be located,” said Bob Beyers, senior director of residence life. “We had a great time, and people really seemed to enjoy walking through the building, talking about their experiences as students.”   

Sandra McCord, a 2021 graduate, also found her way back onto campus to experience the new parts of campus, visit old friends and stay connected after graduation.   

“I decided to go back to campus mostly to participate in the alumni band activities, but I also wanted to see what had changed,” McCord said. “As an alum, it is important to stay connected to the BW community. Homecoming was a great excuse to get everyone together and reengage with the community and the friendships I had made.”