OTTERBURNE, MB – On Saturday, September 11th, to help kick off the academic year, we welcomed alumni on the Otterburne campus for a homecoming. They joined our current students in a day jam packed with fun activities. The campus was abuzz with excitement and high energy. It all started before our home opener games with an aviation flyover of our campus.
Then, on our newly groomed outdoor soccer fields, President Anderson led a group of students in a “I believe that we will win” pep talk and cheer. And it did, indeed, turn out to be a winning day. Both our women’s and men’s soccer teams played to victory, defeating their opponents – the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).
The provathletics Instagram page simply stated, “Today was a good day!” They recorded the scores for the games (Providence Pilots versus CMU Blazers) as: Prov Women’s Soccer wins 5-0. And Prov Men’s Soccer wins 4-0.
Throughout the afternoon, alumni were invited to join campus tours and they were given the opportunity to see firsthand some of our new additions and renovations including Muriel Taylor Hall, the Welcome Centre, and the Buller School of Business.
At 5:00 pm, a community barbeque was held for our entire Providence community. The day ended with an outdoor worship concert featuring Kari & Sean Quigley (Bold as Lions) in the Henry Schellenberg Memorial Garden. Though it turned out to be a cool and overcast evening, everybody left with a warm reminder in their hearts about how special Providence continues to be in the lives of those who attend (and those who have attended) our university college and seminary.
“It was great to see alumni of all different years back on campus, cheering, smiling, laughing, and reconnecting with friends. One alumni couple emailed: ‘We sure did enjoy homecoming last Saturday. The soccer games were fun, the BBQ was great, and we plan to come again next year,” shared Grace Sandulak, our Alumni and Church Relations Coordinator. “Our department hopes to do this again next year and make it a yearly tradition that our alumni can look forward to and set their calendars by.”
