The October weather was perfect for a gathering outside our campus’s Hoop House. Friends and families came to visit and enjoy fresh cookies, conversation, and memories. Students had the chance to converse with their peers and pick their way through the fall harvest, staff caught up with old friends over cider under the fall leaves, and alums got a chance to read through the Hoop House highlights from the past few years. It was an afternoon of laughter and new connections.

As Kalamazoo was buzzing with alums returning to town for Homecoming, the Hoop House welcomed back some familiar faces, joining together caretakers of the Hoop House from years past and present. The idea of having an on-campus hoop house was first voiced in 2016, and that idea culminated in an official proposal in 2017 through a Senior Integrated Project, a dream started by K students who would graduate before they saw it built. The Hoop House itself came to life from the hands of many students on September 21st of 2018, and the Hoop House Grand Opening was held in October of the same year. This Homecoming, alums and current students alike celebrated the determination and effort that multiple years of students put into this community space as well as thank the staff and faculty that funded and supported the process.