Cornell University alumni will revisit their alma mater the weekend of Sept. 20-22 for Homecoming 1996, the university's annual fall celebration featuring educational, athletic and social events for all members of the Cornell community.

Highlights will include, naturally, Saturday's Big Red football game -- this year against the Princeton Tigers, the current Ivy League champions; kickoff is Sept. 21 at noon in Schoellkopf Field. At the all-alumni pregame rally and tailgate party, alumni can meet President Hunter Rawlings and Elizabeth Trapnell Rawlings, Athletic Director Charlie Moore '51 and the 1996 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees; festivities begin at 10 a.m. in the Lynah Rink parking lot tent.

Also preceding the game will be the Class of 2000 tailgate party, hosted by alumni from the classes of '60 and '90, as part of the Cornell Association of Class Officers' "Welcoming the Future" program; it starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Lower Kite Hill parking lot.

Alumni also can attend three post-game celebrations: the young alumni post-game party (in the Lynah Rink parking lot tent); the all-alumni post-game celebration (in the Hall of Fame Room); and the Big Red Barn post-game celebration and buffet. All begin immediately following the game.

Other Homecoming highlights include, on Friday:

• Open classes ranging from The American City to Environmental Law;
• Career forums sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Johnson Graduate School of Management;
• The second annual Homecoming book signing, with local authors Lisa Cowden and Kip Wilcox, and their cookbook Sweetness & Light: A Book of Desserts and free food samples from the book; economics Professor Robert Frank, with his best-selling The Winner-Take-All Society: Why the Few at the Top Get So Much More Than the Rest of Us; MFA graduate Edward Hardy, with Geyser Life: A Novel; and Lecturer Marcelle Lapow Toor, with The Desktop Designer's Illustration Handbook; book signings are from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Cornell Campus Store; and
• "Greening the Concrete Jungle," the Audrey Harkness O'Connor lecture by Judith D. Zuk, president and chief executive officer of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 7:30 p.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall; sponsored by Cornell Plantations.

And, on Saturday:

• "International Agriculture: The Past, Present and Future Role of Cornellians, Cornell and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences," panel discussion with Barber Conable, chair of the World Bank's Environment Committee and former New York congressman and president of the World Bank; Uma Lele, adviser to the vice president for environmentally sustainable development at the World Bank; and distinguished Cornell faculty; 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium.
• Presentation of the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awards, Saturday evening at the Statler Hotel. The 1996 recipients are Esther Schiff Bondareff '37, Richard W. Brown '49, Fred J. Eydt '52, Margaret Gaffney Graf, J.D.'73, Eli Manchester '52, B.ME. '53, and Ernest L. Stern '56. All will be recognized for their outstanding service to Cornell through long-term volunteer activities in a variety of Cornell alumni organizations.
• "As Time Goes By," a piano jazz concert by faculty members David Borden and Edward Murray in Barnes Hall, at 8:15 p.m.
• A Glee Club fall concert in Sage Chapel, also at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are $5, $6 at the door.

Throughout the weekend, alumni will have many opportunities to get reacquainted with campus, in guided walking tours of the general campus and of such sites as the McGraw Tower chimes, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Center for Theatre Arts, Botanic Gardens and Carl A. Kroch Library, and even a "virtual" tour of Cornell on the Internet.

And, on both evenings, the Cornell Department of Theatre, Film and Dance will present performances of "Tartuffe" in the Proscenium Theatre of the Center for Theatre Arts at 8 p.m.

Homecoming will conclude on Sunday with an 11 a.m. service in Sage Chapel featuring guest speaker Dean Robert Giannini of Christ Cathedral Church in Indianapolis.

People are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance for Saturday's all-alumni pre-game rally and tailgate party from the Office of Alumni Affairs (607) 255-2390, and for the football game from the athletics ticket office at (607) 255-7333. Reservations are also appreciated, though not necessary, for the Big Red Barn post-game buffet; call (607) 255-5555.

"We encourage alumni of all ages and disciplines to return to Cornell for Homecoming 1996," said Margaret M. Gallo '81, director of reunion and alumni programs in the Office of Alumni Affairs. "It's a time to reconnect with your alma mater -- the campus, the faculty, the current student body and, most importantly, each other."

For more information about Homecoming 1996, call the Office of Alumni Affairs at (607) 255-7085.