Follow the yellow umbrellas home
As the primary focus of Homecoming, every November alumni come together to celebrate what made Lee their home, and the university family gathers under familiar yellow umbrellas. While alumni understand the significance of this covering, current students may not.
According to Mary Mathis-Dickerson, associate professor of art, these umbrellas are a symbol of the covering Lee alumni offer to current students.
“Most of the time when you're attending a university, you're going around and not thinking of all the people that went before you. We have alums that pray for students at Lee. We have alums that donate money regularly to make our experience here better. Having a visual [and] symbolic presence of them, we thought an umbrella was good for that,” Dickerson said.
The unity amongst alum is represented by these umbrellas – even down to the color choice.
“We considered multiple colors, but thought going with all yellow would have better visual impact,” Dickerson said.
Dr. Phil Cook, university president, discussed how Dr. Jerome Hammond, former vice president for university relations and behavioral and social sciences faculty member, created the idea of having a symbolic representation for Homecoming.
“Dr. Hammond wanted to have a representation of a way we could show our students that our alumni care. When storms come, what does one do? You grab an umbrella,” Cook said.”It's such a striking visual representation. It stands out, and it reminds our students that our alumni have us covered financially, spiritually, and historically. This place changed their lives, and they want our current students to know it can do the same for you.”
As an alum and staff member, Cook feels a part of the covering everyday more than ever before.
“There are a lot of us who are Lee alums who've given our lives to this place. I was away for a few years, but now the umbrella reminds me of why I came back and why I'm doing this work now,” Cook said.
Carmen Lastoria, director of alumni and donor relations, shares insight into how the department supports and strengthens connections within the alumni community.
“As the Alumni Relations Director, we are charged with connecting with our alumni and making them feel engaged and part of what's going on at Lee University even after they graduate,” Lastoria said.
Keeping alumni informed is not the only thing Lee aspires to do, but also encourages alumni to give continuously, so future flames can succeed, too.
“One of our main responsibilities is to help raise money and fundraise for the school. We count on our alums to give and donate back after they've been successful, after the Lord has blessed them, and in a place where they have a capacity to give back,” Lastoria said.
To bridge that message in a creative way, the department launched the Yellow Umbrella project — a symbol designed to connect alumni with Lee’s mission and future students.
The plan for introducing the umbrellas was to keep them up for four years, then take them down for the next four, so the class that first saw them as freshmen would see them again at graduation, Hammond said. That’s exactly what happened.
“We didn't tell anybody the next step,” Hammond said. “When we went to make the umbrella presentation for the first time, all the graduates gasped and erupted into applause. They wanted one and that's when we knew we had done it.”
The yellow umbrellas will always hold special meaning at Lee for both current students and alumni. Visit the Sharp-Davis Pedestrian Mall this weekend to catch a glimpse of the legacy.
