Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
STAFF WRITER
The Eastern New Mexico University’s 2016 homecoming festivities were a prime opportunity for many alumni of different backgrounds to come together with their fellow Greyhounds, according to attendees.
Staff photo: Matthew Asher
Kim Osborne tosses a bag while playing cornhole as Shirlee Seaton looks on during Saturday afternoon’s tailgate time at Eastern New Mexico’s Greyhound stadium.
Jeff Gartz, who graduated in 1972 with his bachelor’s degree in business administration, noted that he had come to Portales with a group of college friends in order to reconnect.
“There’s about 20 of us from the old days. We’re all Kappa Sigma (fraternity) alumni and all from the ‘60s and early ‘70s, and we’ve been getting together to support this university, raise money at the alumni golf tournament every year, and so we’ve stayed in touch,” Gartz said. “Coming back here and seeing people that you haven’t seen in a long time, it’s good. Being involved with the university after you graduate; it just feels right.”
George Garro also graduated in 1972 with a a business administration degree and came back to ENMU in order to see friends he made when he was a student; however, his intentions soon changed.
“That was the reason they got me to come back to begin with, but now it’s more to see the progress of the university, the changes that have taken place, and also, my son goes here,” he said. “I think it’s a good excuse for everybody to get together, and I think that there’s always some sort of a feel that’s special about homecoming. I’s nice to come back, because you realize it’s a little bit more special.”
Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy, a graduate from 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, emphasized the importance of alumni remembering the university that helped shape who they are now.
“We’re always drawn back. When I come back to school, I get to see old faces. I think in this day, when we’re particularly so divisive in the country, and we have this election coming up, I think it’s ever more important that we look to coming together and looking to our roots. That’s what made us strong and makes us who we are,” she said.
At the ENMU Foundation’s 41st annual awards breakfast Saturday morning in the Campus Union Building Ballroom, 1972 graduate Marty Rowley, who accepted an Outstanding Alumni award, said he observed the integral role that ENMU has played in his life.
“It’s always been a very pivotal part of our life, a very important part of our life, and I’ve always been very proud to say that I’m from Portales, New Mexico, and that Eastern New Mexico University is my alma mater,” he said.