News

Lee University’s Homecoming 2014 will feature nine department breakfasts on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 9 a.m.

Patti Cawood, director of Alumni Relations, said that the department breakfasts began last year to provide a way for alumni to reengage with the faculty and the alumni of the department from which they had graduated.

Past and present faculty and staff are invited to attend, and last year, over 500 alumni participated in the inaugural department breakfasts.

Each department hosts a guest speaker, and a multitude of hot breakfast items are served. In addition, each department recognizes a distinguished alumnus with an award presented at the breakfast.

“This is a great opportunity to reconnect with faculty who made a difference,” said Cawood. “Alumni can catch up with professors and meet other alumni who have the same academic and professional interests.”

The breakfasts are a networking opportunity as well as an occasion for the chair or dean of each department to provide a brief update on the current state and development of each department.

“The homecoming breakfast last year was a wonderful opportunity for faculty to reconnect face-to-face with so many of our former students,” said Jean Eledge, chair of the department of Language and Literature. “I saw the faculty and alumni conversations and the ‘catching up’ continue in the room long past the end time of the event that morning. Knowing how it all turns out for our students is one of our deep rewards as faculty.”

Jean Betters, an alumni from the Communication Arts Department, attended her department’s breakfast last year and said, “This event is a great way for alumni to have a more personal experience at Homecoming, especially for the type of student I was—a non-traditional student unable to participate very much socially while attending Lee due to my various family responsibilities.”

Alumni who wish to attend are asked to register at www.leehomecoming.com. The cost is $5 for alumni, and each alumni may bring one guest at no cost.