Mo’ Sol and its energetic lead singer cranked up the intensity early in Sweet Briar’s Homecoming 2008 night of dinner and dancing on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 27.

Rhythm and blues gave way to pounding dance beats as a fair-sized crowd of roast beef-, pasta- and shrimp-stuffed revelers ditched lines at the buffet stations and hit the floor in time for the Electric Slide. Onlookers snapped pictures of the synchronized line dancers sliding left and right, to and fro. Ms. Monique, the Atlanta-based band’s singer, brought her hands together over her head, belting, “Say yeah! Say oh, yeah!”

This Homecoming – the fourth since the College expanded its annual Founders’ Day and Alumnae Council meetings to a community-wide weekend event – carried more meaning than usual. It was the last one as president for Elisabeth Showalter Muhlenfeld, who will retire in June after 13 years of service. The College is celebrating 2008-09 as her legacy year.

After a day of sports contests, lectures and ceremonies, students, alumnae, staff and faculty gathered in Prothro Commons and under tents in the courtyard to mark the occasion. Although persistent rains cancelled plans for a surprise fireworks display, spirits were high and the mood lively when SBC board member Dick Leslie went to the microphone.

The crowd cheered loudly when he began talking about our “beloved president since 1996,” then quieted as he spoke of Muhlenfeld’s numerous accomplishments as the College’s leader. He cited the engineering program, new construction on the Fitness and Athletics Center and the acquisition of Tusculum among other initiatives as hallmarks of her presidency.

Student Government Association president Sarah Hall ’09 spoke on behalf of the student body. She thanked Muhlenfeld for being a model to them, always displaying qualities such as tact, courage and a sense of welcome. Where else but Sweet Briar would a college president “ride down Boathouse Road in a large papier-mâché shoe,” Hall said, before concluding with a heartfelt message: “We will never forget you.”

Jennifer Crossland, Class of 1986 and president of the Alumnae Association board, also had words of thanks for Muhlenfeld, who she said has traveled widely and worked hard for the association. Crossland noted that Homecoming came into being at Sweet Briar during Muhlenfeld’s tenure, and she, too, remarked on the president’s lighter side.

“The vision that you’ve given us is going to be your legacy,” she said. “You work hard, but we know that you have fun with what you do.”

Muhlenfeld stood quietly while the others spoke, flanked by her husband, Laurin A. Wollan Jr., and three of her four children – daughters Allison and Ann and her son David and his wife, Leah – who had come to share the occasion. They and her grandchildren Alec, Lukas, Lola and Oliver had spent much of the event-filled day with her.

Showing no wear from her rainy ride in a giant pink shoe, cheering on cardboard boat racers or chasing down her towheaded grandson at a hockey game, Muhlenfeld stepped to the microphone and deflected credit to where she said it belongs.

“Everything that Dick and Sarah and Jennifer said is my legacy, that is actually not true,” she said. “It’s faculty and staff and students, who every year get more creative than the preceding year.”

Moments later, Ms. Monique, resplendent in a sleek red dress she’d changed into for the band’s second set, was back on stage and the dance floor was packed again.