Dordt University is the latest private college in Iowa to cancel what is often the largest weekend gathering on a college campus — the annual parents weekend and homecoming for alumni.
Dordt University in Sioux Center calls its annual homecoming “Defender Days” and this year’s weekend has been scaled back, due to the pandemic. While school administrators say regular events, including a music festival, theater production, and athletic games, will go on, the events will not be open to the public. Instead, student-athletes, musicians, and performers will receive limited tickets, which they may distribute to their friends and family.
Coe, Grinnell, Northwestern, Simpson, Waldorf, and Wartburg have all canceled campus homecoming events for alumni. Central, Cornell, and Morningside plan to host “virtual” gatherings for alumni this fall.
(By Mark Buss, KSOU, Sioux Center and Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)