Author: David Heidelburg

By Carter Kennon

Homecoming Weekend 2024 at Defiance College involved many events, but the most anticipated one happened to be the football game, where the Yellow Jackets took on the Manchester Spartans. At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5, the game began, but before that, alumni and students gathered together for a tailgate. The alumni, who were in town for Homecoming, provided food and drinks for everyone at George Smart Center. The road surrounding the campus was closed for the event.

The game was the most packed this reporter has ever seen from a Defiance College home game, and it was an exciting mixture of students and alumni who came back to support the Yellow Jackets. The first half of the game was interesting, and by the time halftime happened, DC was in the lead. Throughout the game whenever timeouts or quarters ended, the cheerleaders threw shirts, or mini footballs to win free pizza. Excited, fans jumped up and down just for a free pizza. Everyone at the game was having fun, and enjoying the game and all of the fun activities that happened throughout the game. It was definitely an atmosphere you would want to experience as a player and a spectator.

In addition to the game, Hall of Fame inductions occurred during halftime. At the ceremony, they honored six former Yellow Jackets: Terernce Seikel, Kirk Seemann, Fran Wahrman, Anthony Pettaway, Emili King, and Craig Rutter. This ceremony was super cool as we got to see people who used to play sports at our school and who accomplished amazing achievements get recognized and inducted into our Hall of Fame at Defiance. The ceremony at halftime further invigorated the Yellow Jackets and the atmosphere surrounding the game was electric. Students and alumni alike all cheered for their Yellow Jackets, who brought home a 35- 3 win against Manchester, capping off an amazing Homecoming weekend.

By Emma Linn

The famous author of Maid and Class, Stephanie Land, came to speak to the first-year class on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. The event was held in the Schomburg Auditorium, where Land and Lisa Crumit-Hancock sat together on the stage. The freshman just finished reading her book Class, which is the sequel to her first book, Maid. Class was about Land’s journey as a single, lower-class mother who was also a student at the University of Montana.

The book highlighted how hard it is for people who are a part of the lower class to get help from the government. In one of the chapters, Land was cut off from food stamps because she could not work enough hours to qualify. This forced her to find a new way to pay for food for herself and her daughter Emilia. In addition to needing governmental benefits, Land also discussed her battles with child support, one she finally ended when she won the court case which raised her child support from her ex.

Along with the struggles of everyday life, Land also talked about her student life. She often struggled with her decision to go to school and earn her English degree. Land frequently faced harsh comments about her choices, such as attending school to earn her degree. Land talked to the students about the rude comments, how they made her feel, how she dealt with them, and finally, how she proved to those people that they were wrong. The author also wanted to prove to Emilia that she could achieve whatever she wanted, no matter her social status.

During the discussion, Land also talked about the next project that she was working on. She was the most excited about her next project because she could write how she wanted to with her ideas. Land said the next project will be a series of different essays combined into one writing. Her next project is scheduled to be released sometime next year. Defiance College and the first-year class wanted to thank Stephanie Land for coming to speak with them on Wednesday. The students enjoyed hosting the author and hearing her input on the other questions she was asked.