2021 2021: UMass Dartmouth community celebrates Blue & Gold Weekend

Students, families, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community celebrate on campus

On October 8 and 9, more than a thousand members of the UMass Dartmouth community including hundreds of alumni celebrated Corsair pride on campus during Blue & Gold Weekend.

The annual homecoming weekend began with a surprise announcement Thursday evening after the Leduc Center for Civic Engagement’s Civic Leadership Awards Ceremony. UMass Dartmouth announced a $1M gift from Robert and Jeanne Leduc to continue their support of the Leduc Center for Civic Engagement. This latest donation follows $1M given by Robert and Jeanne Leduc in 2012 to name the Robert and Jeanne Leduc Center for Civic Engagement. The gift will support three new programs that focus on the needs of the region while creating learning opportunities for UMass Dartmouth students.

The University’s commitment to service continued Friday with UMassD Engage: A morning of service. Members of the UMassD community spent the morning volunteering at local community organizations and on campus.

Friday night featured the 33rd Annual Corsair Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The UMassD Department of Athletics and Recreation enshrined Kevin Cutler '16 (track & field,) Trod Harold Jr. '10 (football), Thomas Monahan '20 (men's tennis), Colleen Moriarty '13 (women's basketball), Mike Owens '12 (ice hockey), and the 1988 softball team into the Corsair Athletics Hall of Fame. Later in the night, hundreds of students and alumni participated in the Back2Life Dance Party that transformed campus into a huge outdoor dance club experience with DJs, performers, and a spectacular light show.

The Quad was the place to be on Saturday morning.

The Blue & Gold Festival brought together students and their families as well as alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the SouthCoast community for a day of entertainment, food, and fun. The festival featured Arnie and his local mascot friends including Pat Patriot, ax throwing, a bouncy house, and a petting zoo with pony rides.

The action moved down to Cressy Field in the afternoon to watch the UMassD Football team take on Mass. Maritime. As the teams warmed up, alumni gathered at the Corsair Beer Garden outside Cressy Field for reunions and lawn games before filling the stands. After Chancellor Fuller officiated the ceremonial coin flip, the Corsairs gave the UMassD crowd a homecoming worthy performance with a 26-10 win. With the win, UMassD stays perfect at home with a 3-0 record at Cressy Field. The weekend also featured two other home athletic competitions. The Men’s Soccer team tied Keene State drew nil-nil while Field Hockey won 3-2 over Framingham State. At halftime, the Corsair community honored field hockey alum Robin Dziedzic Drew ’07, who was inducted into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame in 2020.

Blue & Gold Weekend was full of UMassD pride across campus, and everyone at the university can’t wait to see you next year!

View the Facebook Gallery for more photos from Blue & Gold Weekend 2021.