Lorna Morris
Lorna Morris
The Spelhouse Tailgate Many Call Home
The Spelhouse Tailgate Many Call Home
At SpelHouse, Homecoming weekend means one thing: tailgate. It is where the campus comes alive, old friends reunite, current students celebrate and the legacy of two HBCUs fills the air with pride.
Each year, thousands of Spelman and Morehouse students, alumni and families return to the AUC for a weekend that is part block party, part reunion and all tradition. The SpelHouse tailgate has become the centerpiece of Homecoming, a place where generations come together to eat, dance and remember what makes this community special.
The energy hits early. Music blares from tents, the smell of barbecue drifts through the air, and every inch of the campus buzzes with laughter, Black pride and nostalgia.
For many, like William Robinson, Morehouse College Class of 1978, it is not just a celebration. It is a homecoming in every sense of the word.
“I have been away for quite some time,” Robinson said. “A guy called me and said that we were celebrating the 50-year anniversary of our line, Alpha. He asked me to come, and then strangely, two weeks later, he died. I had to come back.”
He paused, reflecting on the moment, with tears filling his eyes.
“That was an act of love when these people called me 50 years later to come back,” he said. “I cried, I cried, I cried. It was very emotional because I quit, I didn’t finish the pledge, and they still called me and invited me anyway.”
For Robinson, returning to the tailgate brought everything full circle: brotherhood, memory and the spirit of Homecoming.
That same pride continues with students like Jayson Faulkner, a senior biology major and presidential intern for Morehouse College President Dr. F. DuBois Bowman. For Faulkner, Homecoming serves as both a celebration and a reflection of what Morehouse represents.
“I don’t know any other institution in this world that is for the embetterment of Black men,” Faulkner said. “I’ve done everything I needed to do here. I feel very accomplished, and I have no regrets.”
That sense of pride in purpose extends beyond the classroom, and it is on full display at the SpelHouse tailgate.
For RJ Jackson, a 2025 Morehouse College graduate who served as Student Government Association (SGA) president, the weekend represents both a homecoming and a continuation of that brotherhood.
“It literally is in the name, you’re coming home,” Jackson said. “This is a space where you can come and simply be. There’s nothing like this on earth.”
As a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Jackson said the energy of the weekend reminds him why community matters.
“Of course I’ve got my real family, but I’ve got my SpelHouse family too,” he said. “I haven’t stopped smiling since I’ve been on campus.”
For Jackson, the tailgate bridges generations as a visible reminder that the brotherhood built at Morehouse only grows stronger over time.
“I think Morehouse is the first brotherhood, and then your Greek brotherhood is like that second brotherhood too,” Jackson said.
From current students to those who walked the same paths decades earlier, Ada Johnson, a Spelman College 2010 graduate and a proud SpelHouse legacy, said returning to the tailgate still feels like coming home.
“I have been on an emotional high since May when I walked back through the Alumni Arch,” Johnson said. “Given all that’s happening in the world around us, coming back home healed me in ways that I did not imagine.”
She said being surrounded by familiar faces and the shared spirit of Spelman and Morehouse reminds her why this tradition endures.
“When I come back and I see Black excellence on the highest pedestal, there’s nothing you can tell me,” Johnson said. “It is who we are as a family.”
Current Spelman student Blair Martin, a senior English major, member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Spelman Blueprint, said Homecoming feels especially meaningful this year.
“I’m feeling really emotional and sentimental,” Martin said. “My first Homecoming was in 2022, which was the first full week of programming since COVID.”
Martin said the crowd may be large, but it is the sense of connection that makes it feel intimate.
“Yeah, it’s a ton of people, but it’s really just a bunch of different iterations and generations of small communities that have made the conscious decision to stick together and stay committed to each other and the love that they have,” Martin said. “I think it adds an additional layer of community and of love.”
The tents come down, the music stops and the campus quiets, but one thing never changes for the SpelHouse community— the tailgate will always be home.
At SpelHouse, Homecoming weekend means one thing: tailgate. It is where the campus comes alive, old friends reunite, current students celebrate and the legacy of two HBCUs fills the air with pride.
Each year, thousands of Spelman and Morehouse students, alumni and families return to the AUC for a weekend that is part block party, part reunion and all tradition. The SpelHouse tailgate has become the centerpiece of Homecoming, a place where generations come together to eat, dance and remember what makes this community special.
The energy hits early. Music blares from tents, the smell of barbecue drifts through the air, and every inch of the campus buzzes with laughter, Black pride and nostalgia.
For many, like William Robinson, Morehouse College Class of 1978, it is not just a celebration. It is a homecoming in every sense of the word.
“I have been away for quite some time,” Robinson said. “A guy called me and said that we were celebrating the 50-year anniversary of our line, Alpha. He asked me to come, and then strangely, two weeks later, he died. I had to come back.”
He paused, reflecting on the moment, with tears filling his eyes.
“That was an act of love when these people called me 50 years later to come back,” he said. “I cried, I cried, I cried. It was very emotional because I quit, I didn’t finish the pledge, and they still called me and invited me anyway.”
For Robinson, returning to the tailgate brought everything full circle: brotherhood, memory and the spirit of Homecoming.
That same pride continues with students like Jayson Faulkner, a senior biology major and presidential intern for Morehouse College President Dr. F. DuBois Bowman. For Faulkner, Homecoming serves as both a celebration and a reflection of what Morehouse represents.
“I don’t know any other institution in this world that is for the embetterment of Black men,” Faulkner said. “I’ve done everything I needed to do here. I feel very accomplished, and I have no regrets.”
That sense of pride in purpose extends beyond the classroom, and it is on full display at the SpelHouse tailgate.
For RJ Jackson, a 2025 Morehouse College graduate who served as Student Government Association (SGA) president, the weekend represents both a homecoming and a continuation of that brotherhood.
“It literally is in the name, you’re coming home,” Jackson said. “This is a space where you can come and simply be. There’s nothing like this on earth.”
As a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Jackson said the energy of the weekend reminds him why community matters.
“Of course I’ve got my real family, but I’ve got my SpelHouse family too,” he said. “I haven’t stopped smiling since I’ve been on campus.”
For Jackson, the tailgate bridges generations as a visible reminder that the brotherhood built at Morehouse only grows stronger over time.
“I think Morehouse is the first brotherhood, and then your Greek brotherhood is like that second brotherhood too,” Jackson said.
From current students to those who walked the same paths decades earlier, Ada Johnson, a Spelman College 2010 graduate and a proud SpelHouse legacy, said returning to the tailgate still feels like coming home.
“I have been on an emotional high since May when I walked back through the Alumni Arch,” Johnson said. “Given all that’s happening in the world around us, coming back home healed me in ways that I did not imagine.”
She said being surrounded by familiar faces and the shared spirit of Spelman and Morehouse reminds her why this tradition endures.
“When I come back and I see Black excellence on the highest pedestal, there’s nothing you can tell me,” Johnson said. “It is who we are as a family.”
Current Spelman student Blair Martin, a senior English major, member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Spelman Blueprint, said Homecoming feels especially meaningful this year.
“I’m feeling really emotional and sentimental,” Martin said. “My first Homecoming was in 2022, which was the first full week of programming since COVID.”
Martin said the crowd may be large, but it is the sense of connection that makes it feel intimate.
“Yeah, it’s a ton of people, but it’s really just a bunch of different iterations and generations of small communities that have made the conscious decision to stick together and stay committed to each other and the love that they have,” Martin said. “I think it adds an additional layer of community and of love.”
The tents come down, the music stops and the campus quiets, but one thing never changes for the SpelHouse community— the tailgate will always be home.