More than 3,000 people from the Harker community arrived at the upper school campus on Saturday for this year’s Harker Day, enjoying games, food and student performances as well as cheering on Harker athletics teams, all while anticipating the evening Homecoming football game.
The games set up in the quad and auxiliary gym proved popular with patrons early on, as they tried their hands at a variety of carnival and arcade games. Pugs brought to the event by Tiny Paws Pug Rescue were also a considerable draw, and Eagles fans cheered throughout the day for girls volleyball and boys and girls water polo. A special intersquad tennis match between Harker’s boys and girls tennis teams was added this year, taking place at the newly opened tennis courts at the transitional kindergarten campus. Harker transportation staff worked hard to get attendees to and from the lower and upper school campuses for the event, transporting nearly 2,000 passengers.
“I really like how everything is organized,” said senior Jennifer Liu. “I think it took a lot of logistics to get there and I’m just really happy to see a lot of little kids having fun.”
At lunchtime, people packed the Patil Theater for the annual lunchtime shows featuring performers from all of Harker’s campuses, with some key guest appearances by faculty and administrators. This year’s show took on a fairy tale theme, as grade 4’s Picnic Players guided audiences on a journey to restore magic to the world of Athenaeum.
During the day, the alumni area was visited regularly by Harker graduates, who gathered to meet with old friends and reunite with their former teachers. “We really enjoy connecting with our ‘05 classmates and reminiscing about our time at Harker,” said Shaun Mohan ’05, who attended with this wife and son. “The events are really well-done and enjoyable for the whole family!”
Late in the afternoon at the Harker Athletic Center, alums Sylvia Carle ’06, Gautam Krishnamurthi ’11 and beloved U.S. history teacher and basketball coach John Near (1953-2009) were inducted into the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame. Carle and Krishnamurthi were respectively honored by longtime Harker coaches Theresa “Smitty” Smith and Karriem “Coach K” Stinson, and Casey Near ’06, daughter of John Near, made a special appearance to speak about her late father and his early advocacy for girls and women in sports.
Pre-Homecoming game activities included traditions such as the third-place game between the Classes of 2029 and 2030 in this year’s tug-of-war (in which the frosh emerged triumphant), a performance by the junior cheerleaders and the Eaglets fly-by. Five members of the Class of 1976–Cindy DeAngelo, Brent Koch, Tommy Moala, Marcus Sharei and Joy Aliason Younes–were also honored and presented with special diplomas to commemorate their 50th year as Harker alums.
They were among four other classes of Harker alums – in addition to 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021 – who celebrated at this year’s Alumni Reunion Weekend. Mina Lee ’06, who was also in attendance that weekend, said she enjoyed “reliving high school memories while walking through campus and being touched and moved by the passage of time.”
Following the Harker Choir’s renditions of “The Harker School Song” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Harker’s football Eagles charged through the gauntlet of spirit to take the field for the opening quarter. Opponents Hillbrook School held the lead at halftime, during which the crowd saw exciting performances by the Harker Dance Company and cheer squad. In the finals of the tug-of-war, the Class of 2027 made a dramatic comeback (“Returning back nine yards against the juniors,” noted senior Nicholas Knauer) to take this year’s championship. Halftime concluded with the crowning of seniors Nicole Dean and Cameron Jones as the 2026 Homecoming Royals.
Harker returned invigorated in the second half and scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to cut Hillbrook’s 18-point lead to just four in dramatic fashion. The Eagles ultimately fell short, losing to Hillbrook 18-14.
