GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Maybe the best thing about Homecoming is right there in the name.
You come home.
Home to familiar faces. Home to old friends and teammates. Home to stories that somehow get a little better with every telling. Home to laugh about what happened 10, 20, 30 or even 50 years ago — and occasionally debate exactly how much of the story is actually true.
And for a few days each fall at Aquinas College, generations separated by years and decades find themselves together again with one thing in common.
They're Saints.
You Come Home
"Homecoming is really about coming home to Aquinas — seeing people you haven't seen in a while, renewing friendships and remembering the experiences that brought all of us together here," Sister Mary Ann Barrett, O.P., said.
On Friday morning of Aquinas College's 2026 Homecoming Weekend, coming home meant grabbing the golf clubs.
The 18th annual Peter M. Wege Golf Outing brought alumni, friends, supporters, coaches, staff and current Saints together for a day that included plenty of golf, even more storytelling and a reminder that the Aquinas experience doesn't necessarily end when someone receives a diploma or plays a final game.
"The Wege Golf Outing is such a wonderful part of that," Sister Mary Ann continued. "It brings together people who care deeply about Aquinas, gives old friends another opportunity to reconnect and, most importantly, supports the College and our students. That's what makes this week and these Aquinas traditions so special."
This year's outing marked a new chapter for one of the College's longstanding traditions. Aquinas Athletics and the Advancement Office joined forces for a reimagined Peter M. Wege Golf Outing, moving the event into Homecoming Weekend and creating another opportunity to bring the Aquinas community together while directly supporting today's students.
For Vice President of Advancement Scott Travis, that partnership represents both the purpose of the outing and the larger responsibility of carrying Aquinas forward.
"The Peter M. Wege Golf Outing is about more than fundraising," Travis said. "While it supports scholarships, it is really about relationships and bringing people together and building the community that will help carry the College and our students forward."
The response to the reimagined outing offered an encouraging early indication that the new approach was reaching a broader audience.
Aquinas sold out the 2026 Peter M. Wege Golf Outing with 27 teams, a 50% increase from the 18 teams that participated a year ago and two more than the organizers' goal of 25.
Final financial totals are still being calculated, but the increased participation carried significance of its own. In the first year of moving the outing to Homecoming Weekend and combining the efforts of Advancement and Athletics, the event increased its visibility and introduced a new group of supporters to the Peter M. Wege tradition.
All proceeds from the outing directly support Aquinas students through the Saints Athletic Fund and Scholarship & Support Fund.
And while Friday provided an opportunity to support the Saints of today, it also honored the legacy of a man who helped shape Aquinas for generations.
Doing All the Good You Can
Before the first tee shot was struck, Athletic Director Damon Bouwkamp stepped forward to present the 2026 Peter M. Wege Award to Rick Heuvelman '79, a former Aquinas baseball player under legendary coach Terry "Bo" Bocian and longtime member of the Aquinas College Board of Trustees.
There was only one small problem.
Heuvelman had learned he was receiving it about five minutes earlier.
"As for receiving the 2026 Peter M. Wege Award, I'm not someone who enjoys being the focal point, so I'm glad they only told me about five minutes beforehand," Heuvelman said. "The guys I was golfing with told me it was pretty cool, and, well, it was. It was incredibly nice to be thought of in that way, and I was truly honored."
For Heuvelman, the honor also brought the day back to the philosophy of the man whose name it carries.
"Peter Wege challenged us to 'do all the good you can, for all the people you can, for as long as you can,'" Heuvelman said, "and I think that spirit is a big part of what this weekend is all about."
Nearly five decades after playing baseball for Coach Bo from 1977-79, Heuvelman was again surrounded by fellow Saints, sharing the kind of memories that have kept him connected to Aquinas.
"The Wege Golf Outing and Homecoming are always special because they give us a chance to gather with fellow Saints and people who love Aquinas — to laugh, share stories, reminisce and remember why this place means so much to so many of us," Heuvelman said.
Travis sees that continued commitment as part of Wege's living legacy — the belief that generosity should strengthen communities and create opportunities for others.
On Friday, however, some of the best evidence of that legacy wasn't found on a fundraising report.
It was standing beside a golf hole.
Forty Years Apart. Still Saints.
Some of the most meaningful connections Friday happened away from the scorecards.
Student-athletes representing a number of Aquinas programs were stationed throughout the outing, serving as ambassadors of thankfulness to the alumni, friends and supporters whose generosity directly impacts their Aquinas experience. Cheer, Dance and Women's Lacrosse made up much of that student-athlete presence, with Saints from other programs joining them throughout the day.
Catherine Hutchins, CFRE, Aquinas Director of Annual Giving & Stewardship and one of the outing's co-event coordinators, particularly remembered a group of freshmen who arrived to work one of the holes.
They were shy.
They were a little nervous.
That didn't last long.
By the end of the outing, the young Saints came bouncing back into the clubhouse, talking about how much they enjoyed meeting people and already excited about continuing those relationships.
The freshmen had just experienced something difficult to put on a balance sheet. They met people who graduated from Aquinas decades before them — and discovered those people still cared about their experience and their success.
For Hutchins, that moment captured the community she has experienced throughout her time at Aquinas.
"In my 20 years of working events like this, I've never seen a community like this," Hutchins said. "I think it has a lot to do with the Dominican heritage that informs and uplifts everything we do. This community is grounded in a thriving, living tradition that celebrates what we've built together and is committed to ensuring it continues long into the future."
Somewhere between those freshmen and alumni returning decades later stood another generation of Saint.
Aquinas Sports Information Director Kennadie Minerich earned her bachelor's degree from Aquinas in 2024, completed her master's in 2026 and is now a full-time member of the College staff.
This Homecoming looked different from that side of the experience.
"Homecoming has always been special to me, but it feels different now," Minerich said. "To experience the Wege Golf Outing as an Aquinas alumna and now as a full-time member of the College staff, I realize how much this place has become part of who I am. I really do feel like I'm embedded in Aquinas for life."
Spending time with alumni and hearing their stories reinforced for Minerich that she wasn't alone. What begins as the place where someone goes to college can gradually become a community that remains part of their life.
And amid all that meaning, Minerich pointed out something else about Friday.
It was simply fun.
"We were having so much fun, laughing, reconnecting and enjoying being together that you can almost forget how much good comes out of this event and how many people it ultimately impacts," Minerich said. "That combination — having a great time with people who love Aquinas while doing something that gives back to a place we all care so much about — is pretty special."
There was plenty of fun on the scorecards, too.
The foursome of Greg Alksnis '71, Mike Debri, Dr. Adam Wolfe and Derek Roe captured the team competition, while Duane Ambrose earned longest-drive honors, Patty Jansen claimed closest-to-the-pin honors and Bouwkamp apparently proved Athletic Directors occasionally have time to work on their short games by winning the longest-putt competition.
But the scorecards told only a small part of Friday's story.
And That Was Just Friday Morning
The Peter M. Wege Golf Outing was only the opening act of what became a whirlwind celebration of Aquinas — its history, traditions, students and people.
Hours after the final putts dropped, Homecoming moved from the golf course to Coach Bo Court for the 2026 Coach Terry Bocian Aquinas Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony.
Former teammates reunited. Players returned to their coaches. Current student-athletes shared a room with the Saints whose accomplishments helped build the programs they now represent.
Then came Saturday.
Homecoming activities spread throughout campus while Aquinas Athletics supplied a full slate of competition. Men's and women's soccer welcomed Homecoming crowds to Aquinas Athletic Field, nationally ranked women's volleyball took Coach Bo Court and the annual presentation of the Top Saint added another longstanding Aquinas tradition to a weekend already overflowing with them.
Different venues.
Different generations.
Different reasons for being there.
The common denominator didn't change.
Aquinas — and the people who love it.
Bouwkamp has experienced that relationship from several sides — first as an Aquinas student, then as an alumnus and now as the College's Athletic Director.
"Celebrating Homecoming at Aquinas has become a staple in the life cycle of our students, graduates, staff and faculty," Bouwkamp said. "It is a privilege to play a part in welcoming so many familiar faces to the Peter M. Wege Golf Outing, our Coach Bo Hall of Fame celebration and Saturday Homecoming events."
Bouwkamp said moving the Wege Golf Outing to Homecoming Weekend helped set the tone for everything that followed, while the partnership between Athletics and Advancement gave the event an opportunity to directly impact today's students.
Former Aquinas basketball standout Cory Branch '87 offered another reminder of why people keep coming back. For Branch, reconnecting with alumni and current staff is something he looks forward to each year, particularly hearing stories about Aquinas Athletics from 40 and 50 years ago.
"So many legends," Branch said. "Never to be forgotten. Go Saints."
Someday, They'll Come Home, Too
The stories told Friday weren't only about where Aquinas has been.
They were also about who comes next.
Deputy Athletic Director and Wege Golf Outing co-event coordinator Connor Leppink hopes today's student-athletes recognize that what they are experiencing now can remain with them long after their playing careers end.
"I hope they understand that they're part of something much bigger than the four or five years they compete here," Leppink said. "The relationships they're building, the teammates they have and the experiences they're sharing are things they can carry with them for the rest of their lives."
Then Leppink looked further down the road.
"Hopefully, 10, 20 or 30 years from now, they're the ones coming back for Homecoming and the Wege Golf Outing, reconnecting with their teammates and supporting the next generation of Saints," he said. "That's how you continue to build a strong Aquinas community."
Maybe some of those freshmen who nervously arrived to work a golf hole Friday morning will be among them.
Maybe someday they'll be the ones telling the stories.
Maybe they'll meet a young Saint who has only begun to understand the community they've joined and tell them about teammates, coaches, professors, victories, losses, friendships and memories from decades earlier.
And maybe they'll understand what so many of the people surrounding them during the 2026 Peter M. Wege Golf Outing already know.
You can graduate from Aquinas.
You can play your last game.
You can leave campus and build a life somewhere else.
But every once in a while, you get the chance to come home.
It's a great day to be a Saint!
