Even after the passing of nearly a hundred years, students and alumni still seem to enjoy the Homecoming tradition. Homecoming has been around since the mid-19th century. In all that time, the events have remained basically the same: a banquet, a sporting event, a parade and the crowning of a Homecoming queen and sometimes a king.
These events have remained classic and are still bringing alumni back to their alma mater and entertaining students.
“Last year we fed around three 300 people at our alumni luncheon,” Advancement Director Tracey Duncan said. “This year we are expecting between four and five hundred.”
That is a large amount of alumni to be returning to Homecoming here at Tech and only accounts for the members who attended the luncheon. However, do the students feel the same way about Homecoming as alumni?
“Homecoming is a great tradition,” Tech student Allyson Witt said, “especially on college campuses where many may feel lost in the crowd. Events like Homecoming bring people together, students and alumni, to feel at one with their peers and their school.”
Standard Homecoming events are effective, but some schools have started going the extra mile to celebrate. One growing trend is to host a major concert on campus during Homecoming.
Last year, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted a concert featuring major hip-hop artist Jeremih, and other schools are doing the same.
This is a method used to attract more alumni and their families, especially their children who may be considering attending the University.
Some campus organizations are scheduling alumni reunions based on Homecoming this year at Tech. For example, Phi Mu Fraternity will be hosting their alumni banquet in conjunction with the schedule of Homecoming.
This gives the organization the opportunity to attract more past members to return because they can attend more events during their visit.
These efforts, combined with good old-fashioned tailgating and football, seem to make the alumni pour back to their universities. Modern events like concerts get the students involved.
The expected number of alumni illustrates that Homecoming is not an outdated practice. It shows that this age-old tradition has withstood the test of time.
