Michael Dukes, Director of Development and Alumni at Belhaven University, has directed Belhaven’s Homecoming for four years. He speaks with Inside Belhaven about “Back to Belhaven,” Homecoming 2010:

Q: What are the main events of Belhaven’s Homecoming Weekend?

A: There are what I would consider three pinnacle events:

      One is on Friday night, the Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, where 4-7 of that year’s athletic standouts are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Coaches, families, and former teammates will come back for that event.

      The second of these events is the Alumni Awards Luncheon. This is an opportunity to acknowledge alumni specifically for what they have done in their chosen fields since leaving Belhaven. This is generally a meaningful time for those individuals recognized by their alma mater.

      The third event is the football game. You have to keep in mind that for decade upon decade Belhaven didn’t have football. A number of alumni are used to homecoming being in mid-to-late November and centered around basketball. But the way Belhaven Homecoming has developed with the addition of football, it’s become what you traditionally think of for a Southern homecoming – everybody charging up and going to the big game.

Q: Are there any new aspects or events this year?

A: The newest aspect is that homecoming is a month earlier this year. A lot of colleges and universities do October homecoming, and most high schools do. This will be an interesting experiment.

      Also, we will host parents of current Belhaven students during the weekend. They will have a special continental breakfast with Dr. Parrott on Saturday. We hope this will become a unique event that lasts for years to come.

      Lastly, this is only our second year for the Basketball Mini-camp. Coach Kelsey and his staff have very successful summer camps, and this will be the boiled-down version of one of those; alumni can chat while their kids are involved in a fun activity.

Q: In a sentence, what is Belhaven’s goal for Homecoming weekend?

A: The goal for Homecoming is always to be welcoming and accommodating to all Belhaven alumni and friends.

      I don’t want to say, “If you’re part of this class, Homecoming’s only for you this year.” Because of this, we’ve dropped trying to come up with a new theme every year. Three years ago I decided Homecoming’s going to be “Back to Belhaven” every year. We want to be inclusive of ALL alumni. While there may not be a large group of people who are from your class or even your era, there will still be plenty of things you can do.

      “Back to Belhaven” is the first Friday and Saturday of October. Come reconnect with classmates and campus and be a part of your school’s celebration!

Check out “Jake on the Street, Episode 6,” and join Admissions Counselor Jake Donald as he meets new freshman and transfer students.

      A mouse who walked into a factory might identify with a recently arrived freshman. He certainly would know how I felt in August 2006, entering Wells Hall through an obscure side entrance, walking amidst the bustle of Move-in Day. Four years later I have the new perspective of a Belhaven University staff member, and a monkey from a rainforest canopy could listen understandingly if I told him of a school year’s beginning. Watching the life of the forest below and hearing its sounds, he would know something of the view of my fellow Belhaven staff members and me, who watch the campus awaken.

      In mid-August of 2006 I arrived at Belhaven for Welcome Week. I entered Wells and bumped and sifted my way through my new peers and their parents and approached the registration table, where I was met by a host of RAs. In a most friendly manner they probed into the details of my trip, my various interests during high school, the details of my upbringing, and other such issues as I tottered back and forth beneath the weight of my bags and boxes. It was a few months, due I suppose to the flurry of the radical transition into college life, before I knew which one of them was Josh, which one was 6′3″, which was the bearded one, and what “RA” actually stood for.

      In my sophomore year I was as an RA myself, and I was informed that Wells Hall indeed has only three floors, not the ten or so I had counted in those early freshman months, and in my new position, I was given a role in the oversight and management of the building’s residents. In addition to the obstacle of my deficiency in the knowledge of the building’s layout, trying to exercise authority in a hall in which many of the residents were three to four times my size daunted me. And as name memorization was not one of my natural gifts, offending my new residents through misnomers was a constant threat to my already unstable authority. Yet not only did I survive that first year, but I even befriended most of my residents and decided to keep my RA position, receiving a fresh resident shipment at the start of my junior year.

      In my fourth year I left my home in Macon, Georgia, at the beginning of August and returned early to Belhaven. I was a Peer Leader, a member of Belhaven’s front line assigned to receive the freshmen harvest, gather them into groups, and move them into rooms where through name games and the warmth of a friendly atmosphere, we might see their true personalities burst like kernels of popcorn from their shells, which in my group I accomplished primarily through overwhelming the newcomers with a wave of optimistic enthusiasm.
Those promises of happiness and success for the coming year of which I assured the new students came true, at least for me, and the following May I crossed the stage in cap and gown and shook hands with the President.

      I received a job in the Communication Department at Belhaven, and I arrived back at the school in mid-July, a time of year I had not experienced before in Jackson. In other Southern cities, the heat blows in like a swarm of locusts, and people bear it or fight it with cold Cokes and A/C until it moves on. In Jackson the heat comes like Noah’s flood, bursting up from the deep and falling from above, and it settles until it sits and stifles us, cracks the roads and turns them red. Out of the heat, I was guided to the shelter of my new basement office, where in conditioned air through a window I can watch others swim about.

      The summer dormancy of campus is not of lifelessness, as, when a student, I thought it to be, but rather of preparation; for over the next few days, the students will gather like flocks of migrating birds, and their chatter and frenzied movement will fill the campus. The RAs will probe,and personalities will burst from their shells: A new season begins.

      Alex Freel is the Staff Writer for the Belhaven University Communication Department and manages Inside Belhaven. If you have suggestions for the blog, email Alex at afreel@belhaven.edu.

Did you have friends and family that couldn’t be at commencement? Want to watch the ceremony again? Watch the video of the entire commencement service and share the link with others. Congratulations, graduates!

A video of the full ceremony of the May 2010 Jackson campus can be found here.

In case you missed the ceremony, here’s a slideshow of some photos from the event. Congratulations to the class of 2010!

Click the image for the video.

There’s a new Jake on the Street out! Join Jake Donald, Admission Counselor, as he hits the street to talk with students about their experiences at Belhaven.

Jake on the Street – Episode 5

Belhaven University’s Spring Break was March 15-19.   There are always exiting, unique spring break stories to hear about. Here are a few…

Name: Jamie Thompson

Classification: Senior

Major: Dance (BFA)

Where did you go for spring break?  Atlanta, GA

What did you do?  “I auditioned for Dallas Black Dance Theatre Summer Intensive Professional Workshop. I was accepted with FULL scholarship to their program.

Did any other B.U. students accompany you? Yes, Donavan Davis who is also a Belhaven dancer and was also accepted into their program.”

Name: Nicole Betson

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Biology

Where did you go for Spring Break? Memphis, TN

What did you do? “ I went to the Rising 2010. It was an amazing!  Lecrae, who is a Christian rap artist, was there. A year ago I thought Christian rap was too secular and was just not entertaining for me. Nevertheless, Lecrae made me changed my whole perspective on Christian rap. The content was based on the gospel and right on the point. Well-done Lecrae! It was the best concert and revival ever! I also went to Alabama, which was a great experience as well. The REAL HIGHLIGHT of my spring break was my parents surprising me by visiting me here in Jackson, all the way from Belize! It was the best spring break away from home. Vive la Vida!

Did any other B.U. students accompany you?  Some students from Jackson State and Belhaven RUF

Name: Hannah L. Johnson

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Dance

Where did you go for spring break? Home, which is Houston, TX

What did you do? “I did homework, had a chance to spend time with a good friend, and visited the Houston Fine Arts Museum.”

Name: Bliss Hatcliff

Classification: Freshman

Major: Undeclared

Where did you go for Spring Break?  I stayed here in Jackson, MS, which is my hometown.

What did you do? “ I hung out with family, caught up on some sleep, and ate my mother’s wonderful home cooking. My mom and I went shopping and also put some puzzles together throughout the week. I also ended up watching movies with some of my friends from the dorm.”

Did any B.U. students accompany you? My sister Blakeney came home as well.

Name: Gautier Troch

Classification; Junior

Major: Sports Administration

Where did you go? I stayed here in Jackson, MS.

What did you do?  I slept, which was awesome.  I went to the reservoir, watched a ton of movies, and ran every day.

Did any B.U. students accompany you? Alissa Johnson, Guilherme Brandao, Esther Chang

Name: Alissa Johnson

Classification: Senior

Major: Biblical Studies

Where did you go for spring break? Destin, FL and here in Jackson, MS

What did you do? “ Me and some of my friends went Florida and it was a lot of fun. We spent lots of time on the beach, in the water and watching movies in our condo.

Did any B.U. student accompany you?  Evy Baehr, Celeste Scott, Stefan Fernandez, Gautier Troch, and Madison Childs

Name: Ricardo Bolton

Classification: Senior

Major: Psychology

Where did you go for spring break? I stayed here in Jackson, MS

What did you do? “ I helped with the youth ministry outreach for my church and Jackson.”

There’s a new Jake on the Street out! Join Jake Donald, Admission Counselor, as he hits the street to talk with students about their experiences at Belhaven.

Jake on the Street – Episode 4

The following post is contributed by Kelli Joy, our communications intern. Her assignment: interview Eileen Allen, Campus Operations’ quiet administrative assistant with an eye for capturing the beauty around her. Since it’s the people that make Belhaven such a wonderful place, we’ve chosen to highlight Mrs. Allen and a couple of her photos here.

Eileen Allen, Administrative Assistant for Campus Operations

When asked to describe Belhaven University’s campus in three words, Mrs. Eileen Allen explains, “You can describe it in one—Beautiful!” Since 2006, Mrs. Allen has served as the Administrative Assistant in Campus Operations here at Belhaven. She is the beautiful red-haired lady that sits in the glass office upon entering the computer lab.

The beauty of our campus is her motivation for snapping shots of the university grounds. Mrs. Eileen admitted, “I am sure students see me walking around taking pictures, since I do it all the time. I always keep my camera handy; you never know when you will have the opportunity to capture art.”

Belhaven Campus by Eileen Allen

Mrs. Eileen was born here in Jackson and has lived in several cities throughout the state. She grew up in a home that valued art: “Since my mother is an artist and an art teacher, I have been exposed to art all my life. I personally love anything dealing with art, from photography to picture framing, and music as well.” Eileen opened an arts and crafts store from 1986-1990 in Brandon, Miss., where she offered “all types of art classes and sold every type of art supply that you could imagine.”

Gillespie Commons by Eileen Allen

She plans to dedicate more time and energy to her love of art and photography whenever she retires. When asked to define or explain art in her mind, she referenced her favorite quote: “Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is obvious from Eileen’s campus photographs that she loves capturing beauty and creating art. Thank you for sharing with us, Eileen!

Would you like fries with that? You might think twice if their ample calorie count is staring you in the face.

Last year, the Belhaven Dining Commons (run by MMI), launched a “Healthy Initiative” program to help students make informed decisions about their meals. Along with changing all frying oil to 0-trans fat oil, the staff has added Nutritional Information cards to the mix, complete with the average calorie count in each entree. They also offer a sugar free dessert and ice cream each day.

So what’s the verdict? Do you think knowing the nutritional value of your meal options changes the way you choose your food?