The Bishops Are Back
Join Ohio Wesleyan for Homecoming and Other September 2025 Public Events
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University, including its Richard M. Ross Art Museum, announced its September 2025 public events today. Unless otherwise noted, admission is free.
8 p.m. Sept. 5, 12, 19, and 26 – Friday night skywatches, at Perkins Observatory, 3199 Columbus Pike (U.S. 23), Delaware. Content varies based on weather conditions, but may include a planetarium show, observatory tours, and stargazing with the 32-inch Schottland Telescope. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 on the day of the event and at the door. Reserve tickets by calling (740) 363-1257. Learn more at owu.edu/Perkins.
Sept. 18 – Fall 2025 OWU Connection Conference
This daylong event celebrates Ohio Wesleyan's signature experience, the OWU Connection, which helps students to Think Big (complete undergraduate research), Do Good (participate in community-engaged learning, including student leadership), Go Global (complete off-campus study), or Get Real (explore their future careers through meaningful internships and externships). Admission is free. As events are finalized, they will be added to the conference webpage at owu.edu/ConnectionConference.
- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Student presentations, panels, and peer-to-peer discussions, in locations throughout the Ohio Wesleyan campus.
- Noon to 2 p.m. – Black Wall Street, in the atrium of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Guests are invited to learn, network, and shop from local BIPOC-owned businesses and OWU BIPOC student-entrepreneurs promoting their ventures. Black Wall Street is inspired by the legacy of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street. This OWU event is in partnership with The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship; Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at OWU; and OWU Connection.
- 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. – Patricia Belt Conrades Summer Scholarship and Research Symposium, in the atrium of Schimmel/Conrades Science Center, 90 S. Henry St., Delaware. The annual symposium features poster presentations from Ohio Wesleyan students who participated in OWU's 10-week Summer Scholarship and Research Program or who conducted summer research at other institutions nationwide. The students will explain their original research and answer questions.
8 p.m. Sept. 18 – Guest artist recital featuring Stanzi Vaubel, cello, of the New York Arts Program, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/PerformingArts.
Sept. 19-20 – OWU Homecoming and Family Weekend: Ohio Wesleyan will host its 2025 Homecoming and Family Weekend on Sept. 19-20, and the community is invited to join in these public celebrations. Learn more about Homecoming and Family Weekend at owu.edu/homecoming, more about OWU Performing Arts at owu.edu/PerformingArts, and more about Battling Bishop athletics atbattlingbishops.com.
- 7 p.m. Sept. 19 – OWU vs. Hanover women's soccer game, at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex, 249 Park Ave., Delaware. Game tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. Admission is free for Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid university ID and for children under 12 for homecoming and all regular-season games.
- 8 p.m. Sept. 19 – Guest performing group featuring the NOVA (Northwest Ohio Vocal Arts) Ensemble, in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Admission is free.
- 11 a.m. Sept. 20 – OWU vs. Otterbein volleyball game, Branch Rickey Arena, 105 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Admission is free.
- 4 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Sept. 20 – Parade of Bishops – Show your Ohio Wesleyan pride and join the walking parade from the JAYwalk fountain to Selby Stadium, led by the Battling Bishop football team, the Marching Bishops, the OWU cheerleaders, and the Battling Bishop himself. (Meet at the fountain in front of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.)
- 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 20 – Battling Bishop Tailgate – Enjoy lunch and get fired up before the Ohio Wesleyan Homecoming football game. The Marching Bishops and OWU cheerleaders will be on hand for the festivities. Food trucks will have items for purchase outside Selby Stadium, 45 S. Henry St., Delaware.
- 6 p.m. Sept. 20 – OWU vs. Wittenberg football game: The halftime celebration includes recognizing the 2025 "W" Association Hall of Fame inductees. Game tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. Admission is free for Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid university ID and for children under 12 for homecoming and all regular-season games.
4:30 p.m. Sept. 24 – Claire Everhart, OWU Class of 2010, presents "The Case for Foreign Aid," in the Milligan Room inside Slocum Hall, 75 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Everhart is a political partner with the Truman National Security Project, which works to "unite bold thinkers as a community of change, solving challenges and building a strong, safe future." Everhart's presentation is the 2025 Corinne Lyman Lecture. Lyman, a retired OWU professor of politics and government, created Ohio Wesleyan's International Studies Program and chaired it until retiring in 1999. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/InternationalStudies.
3 p.m. Sept. 28 – Ohio Wesleyan faculty recital featuring Youmee Kim, piano, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/PerformingArts.
7 p.m. Sept. 29 – Brooks Simpson, the ASU Foundation Professor of History from Arizona State University, presents "Thunder in the Valley: Grant, Sheridan, and Hayes Triumph in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864." Simpson, Ph.D., will speak in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Simpson studies American political and military history as well as the American presidency, specializing in the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction. His presentation is the 2025 Richard W. Smith Lecture in Civil War History. Admission is free. Smith, who taught at Ohio Wesleyan for 36 years, passed away on July 1, 2025, at age 101. He will be remembered during a memorial service at 2 p.m. Sept. 28 in the Benes Rooms. Learn more about Smith and the lecture series at owu.edu/history.
Richard M. Ross Art Museum
Aug. 19-Sept. 28 – Three art exhibitions celebrating Ohio Wesleyan's New York Arts Program, which enables college students to spend a semester living and interning in the city that never sleeps. The exhibitions will include an artist reception and performance from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 18.
- "Costumes for Survival" by Emilie Clark, MFA, showcases a wearable, living sculptural project that anticipates a future in which all we need is carried on our backs. Clark is executive director of the New York Arts Program (NYAP) and a Big Apple artist working in drawing, painting, installation, and writing. Learn more at www.emilieclark.com.
- "Threads" by Skip Brea, MFA, creator of "Threads," is a meditation on how we remember, how we tell stories, and how the past lingers as a living, shifting constellation of images, gestures, and meaning. Brea is a member of the NYAP faculty and director of its Studio Residency Program. Brea is a new media/interdisciplinary artist whose videos, graphics, animations, and installations examine tech consumerism and data management among the masses. Learn more at skipbrea.com.
- "New York State of Mind: A Celebration of the New York Arts Program" commemorates the 50-year-old OWU-administered program through images from the Ross Art Museum's permanent collection, which now includes nearly 3,000 works.
Art and the Environment Talk Series
The Ross Art Museum, in collaboration with the OWU Department of Environment & Sustainability, will host a series of talks this year on the intersection of art and the environment. The series will include artists, activists, and scholars and their efforts to change the world around them for the better.
- 6:30 p.m. Sept. 2 – Brian Harnetty, a Columbus-based interdisciplinary sound artist, composer, and author, presents "Sound, Listening, and Our Environment." Harnetty's installation works center on contextualizing sound around place, listening, and social engagement with a strong focus on his ties to Appalachian Ohio.
- 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 – Celeste Malvar-Stewart, a Columbus-based fiber artist and fashion designer, presents "Fashion and Sustainability." Malvar-Stewart has worked as an independent sustainable and ethical fashion designer for over 25 years. She partners with local fiber farmers to source materials for her line of women's clothing and accessories, and considers environmental impact at all stages of a piece's life cycle.
Children and Family Events
- 2-3 p.m. Aug. 24 – Kids Sunshine Photography, a free program for children of all ages to make their own cyanotype, or photos developed using the power of sunshine! Rain date is Aug. 31.
- 2-4 p.m. Sept. 14 – Kids Recycled Bird Feeders, a free program for children of all ages to make and decorate a bird feeder from recycled materials and to learn why recycling is important through stories. Bring a clean milk jug or orange juice carton, or use one of ours!
During the academic year, Ohio Wesleyan's Richard M. Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware, is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is handicap-accessible and admission is always free. Call (740) 368-3606 or visit owu.edu/Ross or www.facebook.com/RossArtMuseum for more information.
All Ohio Wesleyan public event information is subject to change. For the latest updates, visit owu.edu/calendar. For more Battling Bishop athletics events, visit battlingbishops.com.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.