Washburn held it’s first ever Bow Tie Bash after the football game on Saturday, at 5:30 p.m., bringing many people together for the grand finale of homecoming week.

The band The Bop Daddies performed in the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center while BaliRoot played in the Washburn Room. Couples danced all night in celebration of the school. There was plenty of food and laughs to go around as alumni who hadn’t seen each other in years reunited.

President Jerry Farley was among the many excited people in attendance.

“Today is a fun day; it’s been a fun weekend and it’s been a fun several years,” Farley said. “We’ve had many spectacular events, but none of them compare to what you’ve done yesterday and what you’ve done today.”

In his speech, Farley commended alumni for their dedication to the school. 

“All of that is a result of you, each one of you in here, because you decided to come and make new friendships and see people you haven’t seen in a while and celebrate your memories,” Farley said. “Celebrate the things that you recall about this institution. My bet is that many of you had a life changing experience when you came to Washburn.”

Farley continued by expressing his desire to not only celebrate old traditions, but to create new ones.

“We are celebrating some of the traditions from the past. Last night we had a bonfire,” Farley said. “We haven’t had a bonfire celebration on this campus for a couple of decades. Last night was fun. We had the band out there, we had the cheer squad, we had the dancers, we had the football team and we had a lot of students that came out for that event. That’s a tradition I think we ought to reestablish, why don’t we do that every year?”

There are many dedications from this year’s homecoming that will live on such as the new Ichabod statue on the west side of Morgan Hall. The statue currently sits on a new bench that will more than likely be the site of many photo ops.

The night ended with discussions amongst alumni and current students alike. They discussed how much they loved coming back and love attending this university. The evening concluded with Farley addressing the crowd fondly and thanking them for their school spirit. Immediately following was a surprise fireworks show.

“You have seen people this weekend, you have seen people tonight that you haven’t seen for a while,” concluded Farley. “Those relationships don’t deteriorate, those relationships only grow. We want students to have great memories of this institution, things that you will cherish forever.”