By Joan C. McKinney, director, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Homecoming 2022 at Campbellsville University celebrated milestones for the Tiger Marching Band, Fighting Tiger Football Team and the Homecoming Car Show.
Fighting Tiger Football, which debuted in 1987, celebrated its 35th anniversary. The Tiger Marching Band, which took the field in 1992, celebrated its 30th anniversary, and the Homecoming Car Show, which made its first appearance in 1992, also celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Maroon Medley was this year’s Homecoming theme.
“Seeing everyone’s smiling faces and enjoying all the festivities makes all the preparation and planning worth it,” Ashley Fox, director of alumni relations said.
“It was a great day today,” Stan McKinney, former chair of the mass communication department and associate professor of journalism, said. “The car show attracted 59 entries featuring cars and trucks of all years. It was a great a great day to celebrate 30 years.”
McKinney said, “A student saw Randy Bricken’s Model A 1931 pickup, and the engine amazed him. He said Henry Ford was alive when it was built, and I told him Ford might have touched it. He was so amazed.”
Before the Fighting Tiger Football game, Dr. David McCullough, the first director of the Tiger Marching Band, conducted the 2022 Tiger Marching Band and a group of Tiger Marching Band alumni. Former field commanders of the band were grand marshals of the annual Homecoming parade.
The Faulkner Eagles, however, spoiled Homecoming for the Fighting Tiger Football Team, winning 49-17.
Dr. Joseph Hopkins, president of Campbellsville University, and his wife, First Lady Suzanne Hopkins, celebrated their first Homecoming at Campbellsville University, attending numerous alumni events.
The Hopkinses rode in the parade in Al Hardin’s 1955 red Ford Fairlane convertible with their Scottish terrier, Winston. Hopkins also crowned his first Homecoming queen, Brooke Anne Buckner, a senior criminal justice and psychology major from Louisville, Ky., who represented Psi Chi, the Psychology Honors Program.
First runner-up for Homecoming Queen was Hannah Kendall, a senior business accounting major from Benton, Ky., representing Residence Life. Bailey Pedigo, a senior 5-9 math education and P-12 health and physical education major from Glasgow, Ky., was second runner-up. Priya Latchayya of Camerata Picena, Italy, was freshman attendant.
At the Class of 1962 reunion dinner, Hopkins said the university is continually giving every student an exceptional education in a Christ-centered community as it did in the earlier years.
He said the university has students from 92 countries out of the 195 in the world with 65 countries being represented on the main campus.
“This is a small part of the world, and we want our students to be the salt and light of the world,” he said.
He said over 11,000 students attend Campbellsville University, regional education centers, educational sites and online programs, compared to an enrollment of 275 in 1953.
“We are doing great things around the world,” Hopkins said. “We are thrilled to be part of what you started,” he told those attending the dinner.
At the annual Golden Heritage Luncheon, honoring those who graduated from Campbellsville 50 years ago and earlier, Hopkins said God was moving in incredible ways at Campbellsville University. He said the university’s mission is to reach every deserving student.
Hopkins said, “Campbellsville University is blessed as many small private Christian universities are having a time of struggles.”
He said the university is always thinking how it can reach that student with the education they deserve.
“We are breaking down barriers and walls. We are reaching students in so many ways, and we want to be encouragers in life,” he said.
At the annual Homecoming Alumni Reception, Hopkins said, “We are trying to reach every deserving student so we can prepare them to be the salt and light of the world,” he said.
David and Sue Hayes, 1970 and 1969 alumni, respectively, were named Distinguished Alumni at the annual Homecoming Alumni Reception. Hayes was chief financial officer in 1978 and later chief executive officer of Taylor County Hospital.
Mrs. Hayes worked in education in Marion and Taylor counties and worked closely with various departments of Campbellsville University including serving as an adjunct instructor for students doing student teaching. Since retiring, she has served the university as supervisor for many student teachers.
Honorary Alumni were Allen and Ann Case, who are big supporters of the university’s Bridge to Success Program that offers free education for foster children. Case thanked Campbellsville University and said he and his wife pray for the university for giving foster children a chance in life. “We are proud to be a part of the university,” he said.
Allen Case has served as minister of music at several churches including serving 39 years as minister of music at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky. After retiring from there in 2010, he was hired the next morning at Cecilia Baptist Church for part-time music ministry and served there 9 ½ years until his second retirement.
Ann Case also worked in music and was an educator. She became the church pianist at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church at age 15. She has also taught English.
Hopkins told of two alumni Paula Blaydes and Dr. Doug Strader, 1964 and 1962 alumni, respectively, who reconnected after their marriages of 56 and 58 years ended in death of their spouses. They married in July 2022 after six decades of not seeing each other.
“Their lives are evidence of the mission of Campbellsville University,” he said.
Four people were inducted into the Campbellsville University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Beauford Sanders, head baseball coach at Campbellsville University since 1990, is the active all-time wins leader in the Commonwealth of Kentucky with 985 wins at Campbellsville University. In his career he has amounted 1,253 wins. He is still the all-time wins leader at North Greenville Junior College with 268.
Zach Flake is the first men’s wrestling alumnus inducted into the Campbellsville University Athletics Hall of Fame. He was the first individual NAIA National Champion for Tiger Wrestling in the 2006-07 season in the 141 lbs. weight class. He finished with a 20-2 record during that sophomore season and won in a 7-6 decision over Brad Cooper from University of the Cumberlands in the championship bout.
Bailey Dillender, a 2012 graduate of Campbellsville University, is the first Lady Tiger softball player to be inducted into the Campbellsville University Hall of Fame. Dillender, a Lexington, Ky. native, played under head coach Shannon Wathen from 2009 until 2012. She was the first Lady Tiger to repeat as Mid-South Conference Player of the Year (2010 and 2011). As a freshman, she helped lead the way for the program’s fourth Mid-South Conference Regular Season Championship. That Lady Tigers team would finish the season with a record of 41-7-1 (20-1-1 in conference play).
Dillender made a huge impact within the program and remains in the Top 10 in multiple statistical categories.
Christi Thomas McGuire, a 1997 graduate of Campbellsville University, was also inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. McGuire was a four-year player under legendary coach Donna Wise from 1993-1997. McGuire wore no. 41 in her tenure with the Lady Tigers. At the time of her induction, she ranks seventh among all Lady Tiger Basketball players with a career field goal percentage of 53.1%. McGuire is the only Lady Tiger in program history to never lose a single conference contest.
During her senior season in 1997, McGuire was named the WBCA Robin Roberts Award Winner. In that same 1997 season, she was honored as an All-KIAC and All Mid-South Conference performer.
The International Student Association was the winner of the float competition for the Homecoming Parade. They won $300. Second place was Residence Life, and Online Education won third place.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with an enrollment of nearly 12,000 students. The university offers over 100 programs of study including doctoral, masters, bachelors, associate and certification programs. The website for complete information iswww.campbellsville.edu.
