Alumni, students interact at Tent City

Joan Graham, 82, of Evansville, Ind., has been a graduate of ISU for 60 years, and yet still comes back for Homecoming nearly every year, even though she doesn't know quite as many alumni as she used to.

"We know so many people, but so many of them are dead," said Graham, who ate lunch in the ISU Alumni Association tent with her husband Marion "Tex," Graham, a 1947 graduate of ISU.

More than 60 tents were set up for Tent City, which was organized by the Alumni Association and gave alumni and students the opportunity to mingle, eat and play games before the Homecoming football game.

Liz Tuttle, associate director of Alumni Affairs, said her office sends out a newspaper to the alumni with information about Homecoming, including ticket information for the picnic lunch and the game.

Joan Graham's cousin, Beecher Cromwell, is the namesake for Cromwell Hall, she said.

Tex Graham was a football and baseball player during his stint at ISU.

"I would have graduated in '44 but World War II came along," he said.

Their two sons also graduated from ISU.

The College of Education had a tent set up, and the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association had coloring pages for children to work on.

"We did have a few kids stop by," said Lindsay Kessel, a senior speech language pathology major.

Greg Ulm, who has three degrees from ISU, claims to be the last living associate director of the old ISU laboratory school, which is the building being renovated as the new College of Education.

"I met my wife here [at ISU]," Ulm said.

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice built a jail cell for Tent City, and charged people $5 to have their pictures taken while wearing prisoner apparel.

The money will go to charity, said Anne Casci, a junior criminology and criminal justice major and police officer at the mock jail.

"We [Lambda Alpha Epsilon] adopt a family for Christmas [for charity]," said Joe Stump, a junior criminology and criminal justice major and a police officer at the mock jail.

It was the second year for the jail, said Meryle Pettiford, a junior criminology and criminal justice major and prisoner at the mock jail.

Fraternities, sororities, religious organizations, as well as other colleges and organizations of ISU had tents and activities set up Saturday.

( Lana Schrock is a sophomore speech language pathology major. She can be reached at sascamed@isugw.indstate.edu.)