By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
A sea of green and gold flooded the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center Friday afternoon, marking the Class of 1974 “Golden Grads” Homecoming reunion.
The Golden Grad reunion, hosted each year by the Baylor Alumni Office in conjunction with individual alumni committees, celebrates alumni who graduated from Baylor 50 years ago. This milestone is commemorated with a distinctive golden diploma that alumni can pick up at the event.
Alli McBrayer, alumni engagement program manager, explained the logistics of planning such a large-scale class reunion. She said planning usually starts around Christmas.
“We start with the class representatives: we reach out first to the [class] president, and they usually have a suggestion of who they want to add to the [alumni] committee,” McBrayer said.
For each class reunion, student government officers from the graduating class volunteer themselves or others to help plan the event, according to McBrayer.
“The alumni engagement office works with that group of volunteers to contact all the class members and encourage them to register and come to the event,” McBrayer said.
From there, the volunteer committee works hand in hand with the alumni engagement office, providing ideas for the big event.
“They give us insight into what they’d like to see as far as a slideshow or old photos,” McBrayer said. “Then we take care of the logistics, [like] ordering, catering, getting decorations and stuff like that.”
According to McBrayer, this relationship and collaboration is what makes the reunion so special.
“It’s a lot of interaction between our alumni team and the reunion committee,” McBrayer said. “Throughout those months we get to know each other really well, and then we get to have a beautiful event.”
Golden Grads are immediately greeted by Hurd staff and ushered into the lobby, where they check in and pick up their name tag and golden diploma. In between catching up with their former classmates, graduates also have the opportunity to hit the photo booth and get pictures with their golden diploma.
Alan and Steve Dillard, twin brothers and Golden Grads, reminisced on their alma mater and their favorite Baylor Homecoming traditions.
“I wish I could come back and start over; it’s so great,” Steve Dillard said. “The university has just had so many improvements.”
Both the Dillards’ favorite homecoming tradition was the parade, which they both plan on attending this year on Saturday morning.
“The game was always fun, but you know, it was always a win-lose situation, so the parade was a win-win all the way around,” Alan Dillard said.
Soon, the brothers were joined by their two long-time friends and fraternity brothers John Wicker and Kirby Warnock. The group recounts their good times in Nu Alpha Tau Epsilon at Baylor.
“It was a short-lived fraternity, NATE, back in the ’60s and ’70s,” Wicker said. “Our float in the parade was a kazoo marching band.”
The group agreed that some of their best times at Baylor were with their fraternity brothers, especially during homecoming.
“We actually did win Sing one year and did Pigskin Revue,” Wicker said. “The other years we lost badly and took our money and had a big party.”
The excitement of the reunion was not lost on the group, which continued to find old friends and classmates over lunch in the Hurd Ballroom. Baylor President Linda Livingstone was also in attendance, giving graduates the opportunity to see their alma mater’s new leadership.
Closing the event with remarks from the volunteer committee and student government officers, graduates also watched a slideshow with old yearbook pictures and snapshots of classic Baylor events like Sing, Pigskin, Diadeloso and more.
“I’m proud to say I went to Baylor,” Steve Dillard said. “Your [Baylor] diploma really does mean something.”
