Indiana Wesleyan University hosted a luncheon for the classes of 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1975 of Marion College last Friday as part of the homecoming weekend festivities.
Jaclyn Gidley, the Director of Alumni and Church Relations, stated, “Part of my role is to help with homecoming, and this luncheon is what my colleague and I run, so this is our 50th reunion luncheon where we celebrate the classes that are celebrating milestones for their 50, 55, 60, and 65 as proud alumni of Marion college at the time.”
Gidley said to put on an event like this takes a village.
“Joel Cantor is the administrative assistant for our team. Alexis Podgers, Paige Howell, and Seline Morgan are our three student workers who make this possible,” Gidley said. “We send out save the dates months in advance, collect their stories, and promote homecoming as far as 10 months out.”
Gidley also said the group celebrated during the luncheon played a big role in the school’s history.
“This group of alumni that helped start and keep Marion College alive, so it’s been great to have them back on campus and hear their stories,” Gidley said.
Jim Vermilya, class of 1965, said during his time on campus, the school was really small.
“I think we had 4 to 500 students, and we knew most everybody pretty well. It was a fun environment,” Vermilya said. “All the sports were intramural, so we didn’t travel to play against other teams.”
Vermilya was a member of the Marion College quartet and received a scholarship for singing with his friends. Vermilya said being a part of the quartet was just a part of the education.
“We all got involved in ministry later on in our adult years. We got to travel to Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, and Illinois,” Vermilya said. “We had a great time traveling in the summers from camp to camp every weekend.”
Vermilya also said that the quartet was the one of the ways they could pay for school.
“We would be traveling and not get back until 3:30 in the morning, then go to a 7:50 [class] the next day,” Vermilya said. “But that’s how we paid our way through school.”
Chase Dowdy and several other students revived the IWU quartet. The group was invited to sing at the luncheon.
“We’ve been trying to get a quartet started for the past few years, but this is the first technical quartet,” Dowdy said.
