The celebration will commence at Grambling State University as the 2023 Homecoming Week begins this Sunday. With the theme, “Tiger Records: The Capital of Culture, activities will run from Oct. 8 – 15 with a plethora of events for students, alumni, and supporters alike.
It all begins Sunday with a 6 p.m. Gospel Explosion Concert at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Fred Hammond. Admission is free to GSU students with a valid ID and $25 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased at link.gram.edu/HCgospelexplosion.
Monday and Tuesday festivities will include student events before the celebrations start ramping up at 1 p.m. Wednesday with a Career Closet ribbon-cutting ceremony on the second floor of the Favrot Student Union.
Student activities will continue Wednesday afternoon and will be followed by a panel discussion entitled, “A Candid Conversation About Career Opportunities.” Presented by the Center for Career and Professional Development, the event will begin at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Betty E. Smith Nursing Building. 70th Miss Grambling State Madison C. Johnson will serve as moderator to guest panelists that include Jennifer Brooms from Weaver Financial, Annette Douglas from Entergy, Tony Magaro from SwRI, and Dr. Quintrella Cahee with the Central Intelligence Agency. To register to attend the free event, visit link.gram.edu/candidconvo.
Thursday’s events will begin with the 55th annual Lonnie B. Smith, Jr. Career Fair which will be held from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Assembly Center that will give more than 60 companies an opportunity to recruit current and former students. Hosted by The Center for Career and Professional Development, the Career Fair is open to Grambling State students and alumni from all majors and programs.
Alumni planning on attending should register at link.gram.edu/careerfair. Students wishing to register for the Career Fair should go online to https://gram.joinhandshake.com
At 7 p.m. Thursday, the annual GSU Homecoming Comedy Show will be held at the Assembly Center and will feature Navv Greene, Money Bagg Mafia, and Justin Whitehead. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with GSU students getting in free of charge with a valid student ID. Tickets for the show will cost $30 and can be purchased online at link.gram.edu/HC23ComedyShow.
Friday’s festivities begin with the Fred D. Hearn Memorial Golf Classic benefiting GSU’s GAP Scholarship Fund. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with tee time set for 9 a.m. at Trail’s End Golf Course in Arcadia, Louisiana.
Pre-registration for the two-person scramble will cost $100 with on-site registration costing $120. Hole sponsorships are available for $150. To register to play or to sponsor a hole, visit link.gram.edu/golfclassic.
At 8:30 a.m. Friday, The Division of University Advancement and Innovation will present a “President’s Town Hall” in the auditorium of the T.L. James Building. Moderated by Charles Talbert, operations manager at KGRM, this is a unique opportunity for the audience to voice opinions and hear about the latest initiatives and updates from President Rick Gallot. To register to attend the Town Hall, visit link.gram.edu/townhall.
Then at 11:30 a.m. Friday, the Center for Career and Professional Development will present its Distinguished 10 Ceremony in the Black and Gold Room of the Favrot Student Union. General admission tickets are available for $25. To purchase tickets, visit link.gram.edu/d10event.
Following the ceremony, the Grambling University Foundation in Partnership with The HBCU Experience will present a book signing for “The HBCU Experience Grambling State Edition” in the Black and Gold Room of the Favrot Student Union at 2 p.m.
That book features 44 former students talking about their experiences and knowledge gained from the years they spent at GSU. To purchase tickets for the book signing, go online to link.gram.edu/booksigning.
Grambling’s 2023 Homecoming Concert presented by the Favrot Student Union Board will feature Dru Hill and Nardo Wick along with Subtweet Shawn and T99zy at 7 p.m. in the Hobdy Assembly Center.
Hosted by Steve Brown, doors will open at 5:30 p.m. GSU students can attend the event for free with a student ID while tickets will cost $50 each for the general public. To purchase tickets, visit link.gram.edu/HC23Concert.
Friday’s events will conclude at 9 p.m. at the Intramural Center with an Alumni Reunion Party presented by the Grambling University Foundation in partnership with the Grambling University National Alumni Association. The theme of the Reunion Party is “Celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop” and will feature DJ Kayenne. To purchase tickets, which will cost $20 each, visit link.gram.edu/alumparty.
Saturday’s events will begin at 9 a.m. with a Homecoming parade down Main Street followed by kickoff of the Homecoming game against Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium. Tickets can be purchased at www.gsutigers.com.
Then at 7 p.m. Saturday, the annual Homecoming Step Show will be held inside the Hobdy Assembly Center, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. To purchase tickets for the Step Show,— students can attend for free with a student ID while general admission tickets will cost $25 — visit link.gram.edu/stepshow to purchase.
The final event for Saturday will conclude with the Beyond Breakfast Experience at 9 p.m. Presented by the Grambling University Foundation in partnership with the Grambling University National Alumni Association, tickets are $50/each and can be purchased via link.gram.edu/breakfast.
As always, GSU will have one final post-Homecoming event starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, as the annual campuswide “Big Event” cleanup will be held to close out the weekend.
The schedule of events can also be sourced at www.gram.edu/homecoming.