With crisp air and peak fall foliage, a quintessential autumn weekend welcomed over 1,000 alumni, families, and friends back to campus for Garnet Weekend 2025, held Oct. 24–25. From open houses, tours, and panels to reunions and celebrations, visitors enjoyed a lively two-day schedule. This year also marked a historic first for Swarthmore, as football alumni, fans, and supporters returned to campus for a special Football Reunion honoring the legacy of the Swarthmore football program. Perennial favorites such as the Garnet Tailgate and the President’s Address rounded out a joyful homecoming and family weekend.
Festivities kicked off Friday with FetterFest, celebrating 50 years of the Elizabeth Pollard Fetter Chamber Music Program, and continued with performances throughout the weekend. Attendees also toured the College’s new geoexchange plant, gaining a firsthand look at how Swarthmore is moving toward its ambitious energy goals.
On Friday evening, the College inducted the twelfth class into the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony in the Lang Performing Arts Center. The Garnet spirit carried into the night as women’s volleyball earned a decisive victory over McDaniel College. Saturday’s athletic highlights included a 4–0 women’s soccer win over Gettysburg (securing an opening-round bye in the upcoming conference tournament), a men’s soccer draw, and a field hockey victory over Washington College. That afternoon, former Garnet athletes also took the field (and court) for spirited alumni games in lacrosse and volleyball.
On Saturday morning, Carr Everbach, the Isaiah V. Williamson Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, hosted a special interactive class for visiting families, exploring how geoexchange systems use underground rocks for heat storage, drawing warmth in the winter and returning it in the summer.
Leslie Abbey ’90 delivered this year’s Thomas B. McCabe Lecture, "Building Scaffolding: A Journey in Social Entrepreneurship." Reflecting on her career, Abbey shared lessons learned from building organizations designed to strengthen the vital “scaffolding,” as she describes it, that helps individuals and communities thrive.
Affinity, volunteer, and alumni groups also gathered throughout the weekend, including the Swarthmore Black Alumni Network (SBAN), Swarthmore Family Ambassadors, Garnet Club Advancement Council (GCAC), Vertigo-go alumni, the 1864 Society, and the James A. Michener Legacy Circle. The newly formed Football Reunion Committee created a particularly meaningful schedule of events to mark the historic occasion.
With thoughtful programming and phenomenal fall weather, Garnet Weekend 2025 offered the Swarthmore community abundant opportunities to celebrate, connect, learn, and gather, making it a truly memorable weekend on campus.
