UNC Asheville will hold its Homecoming 2007 celebration February 16-18. Special events range from the annual homecoming parade and basketball games to art exhibitions and music concerts.

A number of Homecoming events are open to the public. Events are free unless otherwise indicated. They are as follows:

** February 16 -- The 10th annual UNC Asheville homecoming parade will roll along University Heights at 1 p.m., beginning and ending outside the Justice Center. A pep rally will follow outside the Justice Center. Viewers along the parade route are encouraged to show their UNC Asheville spirit by wearing their Bulldog gear.

**February 17 -- UNC Asheville will host a dialogue between community leaders and community members at a daylong conference on “The State of Black Asheville” from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith University Union Alumni Hall. Sessions on education, health care, law enforcement and housing will be lead by local experts. The event is free and open to the public and includes a complementary lunch. Space is limited and registration is required. For more information or to register, call UNC Asheville’s Political Science Department at 828/251-6634.

** February 17 – Bulldog fans will join together to tailgate before the homecoming games from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the Justice Center. A basketball doubleheader gets underway at 2 p.m. when the women’s basketball team takes on Winthrop at the Justice Center. At 4:30 p.m., the men’s basketball team will face off against Radford. Tickets are $8 reserved, $6 general admission and $3 for alumni and children ages 12 and younger for both games.

** February 17 – The annual UNC Asheville Alumni Art Exhibition reception will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Highsmith University Union Gallery. Work by more than 30 UNC Asheville alumni artists from the classes of 1972-2006 will be on view.

** February 17 – Over the past two years, some 50 faculty, staff, alumni and community members have worked together for nearly 15,000 hours to recreate a large-scale reproduction of Raphael’s famous painting “School of Athens.” Under the direction of UNC Asheville Art Professor S. Tucker Cooke, the mural was recently complete and installed in the Highsmith University Union Café. A gala celebration and will be held at 7 p.m. in the café.

** February 17 – A special tribute to UNC Asheville art professor and renowned painter S. Tucker Cooke will be held at 7:30 p.m. in University Gallery, first floor of Owen Hall. Cooke, the longest serving member of the UNC Asheville faculty, is set to retire at the end of the semester. A retrospective of his work is on view in the gallery.

** February 18 – Noted African American poet A. Van Jordan will give a reading at 3 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Jordan, an award-winning poet, received his master’s degree from the Warren Wilson College Program for Writers. He is the author of two books of poetry, “Rise” and “M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A.”

** February 18 – UNC Asheville’s Big Band and Vocal Jazz Ensemble will take the Lipinsky Auditorium stage at 4 p.m. Directed by UNC Asheville professors David Wilken and Melodie Galloway, the student groups will perform jazz hits made famous by Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and others.

For more information about homecoming events, call UNC Asheville’s Alumni Office at 828/251-6512 or click on www.unca.edu/homecoming.