Past Grace College Presidents Dr. Homer A. Kent (’76-’86); Dr. John J. Davis (’86-’93); Dr. Ronald E. Manahan (’94–’13) will join current Grace President Dr. Bill Katip in re-dedicating the iconic Class of 1978 campus sign at 6:45 pm on Saturday, November 2 in Westminster Hall.
The combined dessert reception and special rededication ceremony will begin immediately following the class reunion dinners that evening for those who would like to attend – also in Westminster Hall.
Given that this year’s class reunion banquets coincide with the inauguration of Grace’s new president, Dr. Katip, the Class of ’78 asked the Alumni Association to include time in the Homecoming schedule when all alumni and friends can share in this special recognition ceremony of Grace’s new president while thanking the College’s past leaders as well.
In May, 1978, the Class of ‘78 gifted Grace with a beautiful campus entrance sign in memory of Reverend Samuel Iradell Horney, Sr., an active member of Grace’s Board of Trustees and a Grace Brethren pastor at that time. The handsome red-brick marquee, lettered with ‘GRACE’ in old English script, was given as a perpetual statement of the schools’ heritage proclaiming the testimony and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and bearing the schools’ motto – “To Know Christ and to Make Him Known.”
Initially located on the main campus lawn off Wooster Road, the marquee was relocated to its present site at the apex of King’s Highway and Wooster Road sometime after 1998 following a period of campus renovations. The marquee itself underwent renovation this past summer, incorporating the current institutional brand and adding beautifully illuminated rock garden-style landscaping.
The Class of ‘78, with other alumni and friends, will present Grace with a new commemorative pedestal tablet bearing an inscription honoring Dr. Bill Katip to be displayed near the existing marquee along with newly mounted, notable-mention plaques for all of the schools’ past presidents.
All Grace alumni and friends are invited to attend this very special ceremony. For further information, please contact Tammy Denlinger, Director of Alumni Relations, at 574-372-5100 ext. 6129 or denlintl@grace.edu.