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Homecoming: It Just Gets Sweeter With Time
They may not have graduated in the same decade, but alumni from the ’60s, ’80s, and 2000s are equally excited to come home for what’s expected to be an EPIC Homecoming!
In just under two weeks, the campus of Clark Atlanta University will be overflowing with alumni from near and far returning to their alma mater to reconnect, get energized, and have some fun. For many, homecoming—coming home—is an annual event akin to other special recurring moments in our personal lives, like birthdays and anniversaries.
Jean Lewis (Clark College ’65) says, “Homecoming means coming back to where it was when I was at a very pivotal point in my life. I was the first female president of the Clark College student body. I also came to Clark without finishing the twelfth grade.”
Lewis, who came to Clark directly from the eleventh grade, recalls being devastated, crying because she had to leave her high school classmates and miss her senior prom. But her grades earned her a scholarship, the only path to college, and her mother seized the opportunity.
Things soon turned around. About a month later, the tears had stopped, and the biology major was fully ensconced in life at Clark. “I got all involved with people, and I never looked back!” she says.
Now, she reflects, “Coming home—homecoming—is seeing my classmates of Clark. It’s a time of reflection. And it’s important to come home and see how Clark is growing.” She adds, “Homecoming reinvests us in Clark and energizes us. It gives us a sense of urgency to pull our young people up. All of us need to donate what we can and go back home and recruit for the college. If we don’t tell the stories, if we don’t know what’s going on, the generations to come won’t believe it happened.”
Similarly, Craig Simmons (Clark College ’82), a retired Atlanta Fire Department captain, says homecoming is about rekindling friendships built years ago. This year, in particular, he looks forward to celebrating his 45th anniversary as a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
“We’re gathering at my house to fellowship and hang out—bring the wives together, too,” he says. “We did it a couple of years ago, and we decided that’s going to be our anniversary tradition.”
Craig, who has not missed a homecoming since 1985, agrees that with homecoming fun comes the responsibility to support the university. “We have a golf tournament that benefits the Dr. Gideon K. Mincey Scholarship Fund (in memory of our dean of pledgees) for medical student scholarships. Homecoming for us is play, but it’s still work.”
Chris Clarke (Clark Atlanta University ’09), a business marketing graduate who now runs a digital media agency and has been curating homecoming events since 2010, also sees the work behind the celebration. “A few of my classmates and I spend a good portion of the year organizing events, giving back our time, talent, and resources. I really look forward to the alumni community enjoying what we’ve put together. I’m working, generally, but the reward is being able to see everybody enjoy it.”
The Cleveland, Ohio, native who now calls Atlanta home adds that homecoming is a time for everyone to think about giving back. “We’re forever indebted to the experience Clark Atlanta gave us, and I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to fully pay that back. But the beauty is in making the effort.” He continues, “If you don’t have the financial capacity, you have time, talent, and effort that you can reinvest.”
This year, 2020 graduate Hannah Allen will celebrate five years as an alumna with her class and is eager to begin conversations about how they can collectively contribute to the university. She also looks forward to one simple, but meaningful, tradition—taking her class photo.
“I’m sure there was a call for a photo previously, but I don’t remember a strategic effort to get everyone together,” she says. Having a memento is important to her because, like Alumna Lewis, she believes in the value of history. “It’s almost like a confirmation of existence. If you’re fortunate enough to have an old yearbook, you can see yourself in 2016, 2017, 2018—and now in 2025. It’s our stamp in the history books—proof that we were there, that we made it through. We’re all still here.”
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