PUTTING THE “HOME” IN HOMECOMING

Alumni fondly remember their time at FHSU

Roy and Carolyn (LeClair) Blackwood were enthusiastic about making it to this year’s Fort Hays State University Homecoming activities, since both the 1970 and 1971 classes were going to be honored. The couple, both graduates of 1970, were looking forward to their 50th class reunion and induction into the university’s Half Century Club last year. Unfortunately, the in-person 2020 Homecoming activities were canceled because of the pandemic.

The Blackwoods made the 1,000- mile, two-day trip to Hays and took it all in.

“We wanted to enjoy all aspects of Homecoming and Octoberfest. We wanted to enjoy Hays as well as the university,” Carolyn said. “We wanted to experience the warmth of old and new friendships.”

The Blackwoods grew up in north central Kansas – Roy in Belleville and Carolyn in Mankato. After their FHSU graduation, the couple moved to Boulder, Colo., before eventually making their home in Hammond, La. While they had not made it back for Homecoming until this year, they made the most of it.

“We spent a lot of time reminiscing,” Blackwood said. “Memories would pop up that had been buried over time. We enjoyed sitting on a bench in the quad and visualizing the chapters of our college years.”

She said they particularly enjoyed seeing the transformation of so many old buildings, including the amazing expansion of the art department – the new Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design was completed in 2019 – and the repurposing of Sheridan Hall to the state-of-the-art Beach/ Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

Sheridan was home to Tiger basketball games before Gross Memorial Coliseum was built and opened in 1973. Sheridan, one of the oldest buildings on campus, was completely renovated in 1991.

Sherry Chaffin, who has fond memories of cheering on the Tigers in Sheridan’s “snake pit,” said she could talk for hours about her alma mater.

“We can’t say enough good things about Fort Hays State,” she said. “We loved being involved then, and we still do.”

“It was an amazing place, so many down-to-earth people,” added Chaffin, who was a student employee in the Department of Education. “The professors really cared about their students and wanted them to succeed. And they still do today.”

Fort Hays State made such an impact on the Chaffins that they wanted to ensure future students would have a similar experience. That’s a major reason the Chaffins, who live in Hays, decided to increase their giving this year and chose to concentrate on something near and dear to them – athletics. They became Difference Makers, the top echelon of donors to FHSU Athletics.

“Fort Hays State has provided us with so many great opportunities,” Chaffin said. “Fort Hays State – and Hays – has given us a great life.”

Lon Pishny from Garden City, a 1971 graduate, agreed.

“Fort Hays State is a great university, and it means a lot to our family,” he said. “We’ve been blessed to stay connected with the university since we graduated.”

The oldest in a family of four siblings, Pishny came to Fort Hays State from tiny Waterville in northeast Kansas, about 45 miles north of Manhattan – home of Kansas State University.

“I thought K-State was too close to home and too big,” Pishny said. “I had an aunt who lived in Hays, and when I came to visit Fort Hays State, I was so impressed with the quad and the limestone buildings.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Pishny met his wife, Janyth, at FHSU. Lon graduated in 1971 and Janyth, the following year.

Pishny worked as FHSU’s Sports Information Director and at the FHSU Endowment (now FHSU Foundation) in the ’70s before working in the financial services field for 40- plus years. The Pishnys have lived in Garden City since 1981. Nonetheless, they are frequent attendees at many Fort Hays State events.

Both their children are FHSU alumni as well, and the Pishnys are diligent about attending Homecoming most years.

“We’re in Hays so often that people ask if we have moved to Hays,” Pishny said. “We sure were glad we could attend Homecoming this year. It was great reconnecting with people we hadn’t seen in a very long time.”

Although she is one of the last of her class of 1960 who still regularly attends FHSU events, Virginia Johnson makes it a point to attend the Half Century Club luncheon at Homecoming.

Johnson, who was inducted into that club 11 years ago, will turn 95 in December but talks about her college days like it was yesterday. Her husband, Arris – a retired professor in the Department of Education – was unable to attend Homecoming, so his wife represented them both.

Johnson and her husband met at FHSU in 1946 and eventually returned to make their home in Hays. Arris turned 100 in November, and the couple will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary in January 2022.

Both music majors, the Johnsons attended many musical productions and athletic events over the years. This year, Virginia Johnson thoroughly enjoyed the ribbon-cutting for the new Fishcli-Wills Center for Student Success, which she called “magnificent.”

Chaffin agreed. She said she had been preparing for the weekend for a long time, paging through old yearbooks. Homecoming weekend reinforced her love for her alma mater.

“When friends come to town, we like to drive around town, and we love to show them all the improvements on campus,” Chaffin said. “It’s a beautiful campus, it’s a great university, and we’re proud to be Fort Hays State graduates.”