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This story originally ran here on Oct. 22, 2016.
By Zach Vance, JCP reporter
Theresa Garbe, director of Milligan College alumni relations, began Friday evening’s Sesquicentennial Gala by describing it as one of the largest events she’d ever seen on the Christian college’s campus.
Hundreds of alumni, students, faculty and staff filled Steve Lacey Fieldhouse for a formal dinner and award ceremony to begin a homecoming week of celebration.
Alumni traveled from all over the United States to celebrate their alma mater and witness Milligan’s 150-year history told through story and songs.
Carolyn Kustanbauter, a graduate of 1973 with a major in business education, said she was excited to be back to a place she considered “home.”
“I just fell in love with the college, like everything the school stands for, everything they do, the help they give individual students, which I needed partly along the way,” said Kustanbauter, who now teaches at Harford Community College in Bel AIr, Maryland.
“I wouldn’t have missed this. This is an amazing celebration to an organization that deserves all the attention and credit it can get. An awful lot of us are successful today because we got our start here in Christian education.”
Kustanbauter was a member of the Restoration Crew, a group of 20 to 30 alumni, alumni parents and friends of Milligan who volunteered one week each summer from 1999 to 2008 performing various clean up and renovation projects on the college’s campus.
Former Milligan first lady Clarinda Jeanes was the founder of the Restoration Crew and was honored during the gala with the “Spirit of Milligan” award.
Lee Magness and Patricia Phillips Magness, both from the class of 1969, earned the Distinguished Alumni Award for their time as students and professors on Milligan’s campus.
“The contribution we may have made to life here is vastly outweighed for all that Milligan has given to us: A great education, a great place to minister, great friends and, of course, each other,” Lee Magness told the crowd during his acceptance speech.
The evening began with a ornate dinner and dessert. Student Colton Fenner provided the dinner music with gentle tunes throughout the evening.
Gary Richardson narrated the Milligan’s 150-year history from its early days as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute to its current status while the college’s Women’s Chorale, Heard Mentality, Heritage and the Mountain Mission School Choir sang music of different time periods in between.
The sesquicentennial events will continue on Saturday with the Milligan Buffalo 5K/2.5K Walk hosted by the Associated Ladies for Milligan at 8 a.m. A photography exhibition will open at 11 a.m. in the Milligan Art Gallery in Derthick Hall, and the annual homecoming parade will run down Blowers Boulevard at 2 p.m., and lead into the festival on Derthick lawn from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Email Zach Vance at zvance@johnsoncitypress.com. Follow Zach Vance on Twitter at @ZachVanceJCP. Like him on Facebook.com/ZachVanceJCP