The Road
Every Golden Bull took a different way out of Charlotte. Homecoming is the week the road runs back the other direction.
No Place Like Smith: Follow the Golden Road — Johnson C. Smith University Homecoming 2026
One road. One weekend. Every Golden Bull home. Seven days on the Golden Road — the parade, the yard, and the Bulls back at Irwin Belk.
October 10–17, 2026Charlotte, N.C.
Kickoff vs. Lincoln (Pa.) Lions · Saturday, October 17, 2026
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Follow the Golden RoadNo Place Like SmithGolden BullsHomecoming 2026Charlotte, N.C.Beatties Ford Road
Start Here
Which Way Are You Coming?
Alumni
Find Your Year
Milestone classes every five years, the Golden Class at fifty.
Golden Class · 50 Years
1976
Fifty years out. The Golden Class of 1976 comes home.
Silver Class · 25 Years
2001
Twenty-five years out. The Silver Class of 2001.
What’s your class year?
The 2026 Theme
There’s no place
like Smith
Homecoming follows the Golden Road home — down Beatties Ford, past the clock tower, onto the yard where it all started. Tradition, pride and Golden Bull spirit, all pointed in one direction.
The House
Biddle Hall has stood on this hill since 1883. Its clock tower is the landmark you look for when you know you're close.
The Gold
Blue and gold on Beatties Ford Road, from the parade route to the yard. You'll hear us before you see us.
A Century of Queens
One Hundred
Miss Johnson C. Smiths
It began in 1927 with a name printed in the yearbook beside a football game. This October, the hundredth crown. All one hundred reigns, the coronation that switched from British pageantry to Swahili, and the years the record still can’t account for.
No. 1
1927–28
Valinda Wagner
No. 100
2026–27
Jaivyn Beauford
2025 – 26
Jaiden Isome Does It Four Years Running
2026 – 27
The Hundredth: Jaivyn Beauford
From the Inez Moore Parker Archives, Johnson C. Smith University.
Beyond Homecoming
There’s More Than a Weekend
Homecoming is the front door. The University is what’s behind it — since 1867, and still going.
Everything else about the University lives at jcsu.edu.
Go to JCSU.eduStay Connected
Join the Stampede
The rest of the week drops soon. Be first to get the full schedule, ticket drops and parade details — and get a text the moment anything moves on game day.
#NoPlaceLikeSmith · #GoldenRoad · #JCSUHomecoming
Right Now
Live From the Yard
Straight from the University’s accounts. Post yours under #NoPlaceLikeSmith and you might end up here.
Student Life
The yard as it happens — step show, Yardfest, the residence halls.