This week we will celebrate Homecoming. Due to the pandemic, this year’s festivities will be different than prior years. However, we have modified our array of Homecoming activities to allow our university community to interact with health and safety precautions in place.

Homecoming activities in which you may be interested in participating include:

• Rockstar, a student musical talent competition, is tonight at 7 p.m. The event will be livestreamed.
• MoState Live, a student skit competition, is Thursday at 7 p.m. The event will be livestreamed.
• The coronation of this year’s Homecoming king and queen is 1 p.m. Saturday at Plaster Stadium rather than during the football game to reduce the size of the crowd.
• Bears and Lady Bears basketball scrimmages will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hammons Student Center. The number of attendees will be limited.
• The Bears football game against the University of Central Arkansas is Saturday at 7 p.m. at Plaster Stadium. You can purchase tickets online. If you would like to attend the game, you should plan to purchase tickets as soon as possible because the number of attendees will be limited to facilitate social distancing.
• On Sunday we will host two commencement ceremonies for spring and summer 2020 graduates. The number of graduates and guests will be limited.

We canceled several of our traditional Homecoming events to protect our community against COVID-19. We will not have a parade this year. We will also not have Bearfest Village on campus. Any pre-game gatherings in campus parking lots will be limited to 20 people or fewer.

Unfortunately, we will also not have a Wall of Fame induction ceremony. We have tentatively postponed that ceremony to Homecoming 2021.

We were able to continue other traditions with modifications. For example, the Class of 1970 reunion celebration will be virtual, and The Golden Bears annual gathering will be a webinar.

Masks and social distancing will be required at all Homecoming events.

You can find information about Homecoming activities organized by Student Activities Council and activities organized by the Alumni Association online.

Big news for MCHHS

Earlier this month the Missouri State University Foundation announced that it received a seven-figure gift from Ann Kampeter. In honor of that gift, this week I will recommend that the Board of Governors rename the Professional Building the Ann Kampeter Health Sciences Hall.

Ann is an alumnus who spent many hours in the Professional Building when she was a student. Thanks to her gift, the building will undergo extensive renovations, including:

• A state-of-the-art student access and advisement center.
• Updates to the Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic.
• Additional meeting and study spaces.

I am excited about this gift and the future of the McQueary College of Health and Human Services. The work we do changes student lives. It is inspiring when those students become alumni who give back to their alma mater.

End the semester strong

I hope each of you took advantage of the break last Thursday and Friday to get some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Please join me in giving a special thanks to our custodians and other workers that cleaned the campus and performed essential services on those days. We couldn’t provide a safe learning environment for our students without your hard work.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!