Northwestern to host Raider Days Homecoming and Parents Weekend

Northwestern College will celebrate Raider Days, the college’s annual Homecoming and Parents Weekend, Sept. 28–29, with reunions, celebratory banquets, and traditions such as the Red Raider Road Race and Morning on the Green carnival as well as Red Raider athletic events.

At 10:05 Friday morning, chapel will feature Air Force Lt. Col. JoAnna Jackson Scherer, a 2002 alumna who is an emergency medicine physician in the White House Medical Unit. Scherer’s visit will help set the stage for the dedication of Northwestern’s new DeWitt Family Science Center at 4 p.m.; the dedication will be followed by building tours. Northwestern nursing alumni are invited to a 2:30 p.m. reunion in the Ramaker Center before the dedication.

Friday evening beginning at 5 p.m., Northwestern will host its Celebration Banquet. All Northwestern College supporters are invited to attend the banquet, which will include a showcase of student accomplishments and musical and dramatic entertainment. Cost for the banquet is $15; reservations can be made with event coordinator Aletha Beeson, 712-707-7134 or events@nwciowa.edu. (Select donors to the college will be notified ahead of time and receive complimentary tickets at the door.)

Friday’s activities also include Red Raider volleyball at 7:30 and children’s theatre production “Junie B. Jones is not a Crook” at 7 p.m. (There is also a showing at 4 p.m. Saturday.) Tickets for either performance are free for alumni and can be reserved at nwciowa.edu/tickets starting Sept. 18. Day-of-show tickets will also be available at the door.

Raider Days events open to everyone on Saturday, Sept. 29, include the 25th annual Red Raider Road Race at 9 a.m. Visit nwciowa.edu/raider-road-race for registration details.

From 10 a.m. to noon, enjoy Morning on the Green in the center of campus. The carnival will include games and prizes; proceeds support student clubs and organizations. Also at 10, students’ parents and members of the reunion classes of 1968 and 1978 can check in at the Ramaker Center and receive a schedule for the day.

Saturday’s activities also include a number of affinity reunions:

• At 8:15 a.m., members of the 2003 football team are invited to join current team members in the Bultman Center for their team meeting and game-day breakfast.
• At 8:30 a.m., softball alumni are having breakfast at Trinity Reformed Church, Orange City.
• A cappella Choir reunion events begin at 8:45 a.m. in DeWitt Music Hall. Alumni will rehearse with current students, sing the national anthem at the football game, and perform during the Raider Days concert at 7 p.m. Visit nwciowa.edu/RaidersSing for details.
• At 9 a.m., biology and chemistry alumni are invited to a reunion in the new DeWitt Family Science Center. Also at 9, reunions for math, sociology and graduate school alumni are being held in the Vogel Community Room of the DeWitt Learning Commons.
• Accounting, business and economics alumni are gathering in the Ramaker Center at 10 a.m.

A tailgate picnic lunch will be served on the campus green from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for kids ages 6 to 10; children five and under eat free. Space for the reunion classes of ’68 and ’78 as well as the 2003 football team will be reserved under the tailgate tent.

Raider Days’ Saturday celebration will also include the Hall of Fame Luncheon honoring seven former Red Raider athletes and an evening banquet to celebrate the 2018 distinguished alumni: Bryan and Nancy Den Hartog, Saint Paul, Minn.; Warren Langstraat, Afton, Minn.; and Linda Van Roekel, Urbandale, Iowa.

The Red Raider football team will kick off against the Doane Tigers at 1:30 p.m. Students’ parents can get into the game for free with their student’s ID. At 5 p.m. the volleyball team will take on Hastings College.

The Northwestern College music department will present a free concert at 7 p.m. in Christ Chapel, followed by a reception for A cappella Choir alumni and the parents of students involved in music at Northwestern.

All alumni and friends of Northwestern as well as students’ family members are invited to Raider Days. For more information, visit nwciowa.edu/RaiderDays, or contact the Raider Days event staff at 712-707-7134 or events@nwciowa.edu.