Laura Williams and Mike Johnson making floats

Homecoming 2000: Back to the Future, Erskine Through the Decades

Erskine College students are in a time machine of sorts this week, leaping from the mafia world of the Roaring '20s one night, to drinking coke floats from the 1950s the next night, to a lava lamp lit disco party, all part of Homecoming 2000’s theme, "Back to the Future, Erskine Through the Decades."

"It’s been a good week, with each class sponsoring a night that focuses on a particular decade," said Brooke Clinton, Erskine Student Activities Director. "We’ve seen our students dressed in all kinds of styles, and we are looking forward to seeing what kind of disco fever takes hold tonight at the dance in the hangar."

It’s all been a build-up to the weekend’s homecoming festivities, which begins Friday evening with a cookout behind Robinson Dormitory, and a 7 p.m. co-ed intramural football game.

Fleet-O-Rama begins at 9 p.m. on the field behind Robinson, when classes will gather to build floats for Saturday’s homecoming parade. There will also be games and a fireworks display scheduled for 10 p.m., with music sponsored by the Erskine Entertainment Board.

Saturday, the homecoming parade will begin at noon, and students will have the choice of a buffet-style meal in the dining hall, or an SGA-sponsored barbecue, tailgate-style, at the intramural field.

Erskine will host Piedmont in a men’s soccer game at 2 p.m., and the homecoming queen and her court will be announced at halftime.

Erskine is also expecting about 200 alumni on campus for Saturday’s events, and Alumni Director David Moore said homecoming is a time for graduates to come back to campus, relive memories, and support the student body and the athletic program.

"Homecoming appeals to a lot of our younger alumni, and it is an opportunity for them to see their friends who are graduates, and their friends who are still students," Moore said.

This will be Moore’s first homecoming since taking over as alumni director in the spring, and he said he looks forward to meeting as many of the graduates on campus this weekend as he can.

"I want to let them know that their alumni association is working hard for them," Moore said.

Moore said he enjoys the atmosphere that surrounds homecoming at Erskine, and said that future homecoming plans may include combining the weekend with a young alumni weekend celebration.

A highlight of the weekend for alumni will be the induction of three former student-athletes in the Flying Fleet Athletic Hall of Fame.

Inductees include Charles "Bruiser" Jordan, Class of 1992, in basketball; Kathryn Whitmire, Class of 1990, in soccer; and Wayne McKinney, Class of 1970, in baseball.

"These are our first two inductees from the 1990s," said Erskine Athletic Director Chip Sherer. "This banquet and our hall of fame is a reflection of the quality student-athletes Erskine has had over the years."

Sherer said there are now 107 members in Erskine’s Flying Fleet Hall of Fame.

Coke and ice cream... a timeless favorite!