From one generation to the next: Quaker families at Homecoming

Every year like clockwork, alumni flock back to campus to cheer on Penn during Homecoming. For some, the weekend is also a time to pass on Penn traditions to the next generation of Quakers in the family.

Before Penn's football team took on Harvard on Saturday, families gathered on College Green to listen to performances by different musical groups, eat food, and catch up with old friends.

College sophomore Stacy Gerchick said her favorite part of Homecoming was experiencing the festivities with her father, 1985 College graduate Kenneth Gerchick.

Kenneth said they were both looking forward to going to the Penn-Harvard game and "experiencing some of the traditions together.”

Another Penn family enjoying Homecoming were the Beggs, who gathered at the beer stand outside Van Pelt Library.

1990 College graduate Michael Begg, who played football at Penn, said he liked returning to campus to meet with fellow alumni. "It's a feeling of community and validation in you and all your future endeavors,” he said.

Michael's brother Bill met his wife, 1991 College graduate Leah Begg, while visiting him at Penn. 

"We're a big family of traditions. I love sharing it with my daughter and my brother-in-law and the rest of my family,” she said.

Leah's daughter Erin received her undergraduate degree from the Nursing school in 2016 and has stayed on as a graduate student. She said Homecoming is an opportunity for all the Beggs to reunite.

The Tashman family is also all about Penn: Both parents attended Penn, and two of their children are current students.

Father Matthew Tashman is a 1989 Wharton and 1992 Law graduate and mother Amy Tashman graduated from the undergraduate Nursing school in 1989 and the graduate Nursing school in 1993.  

“It’s all about showing our kids why we are so proud to be Penn graduates," Amy said. "We're still friends with people we went to college with and hopefully they'll have those friendships too.”

Their children, College senior Adam Tashman and Engineering freshman Jessica Tashman, have been coming to Penn events for 10 or 15 years — long before they were students.

“I had my birthday party at the [Penn] basketball games multiple times!” Jessica said.