Spring Break
The Daily OrangeReturn to the Hill: Homecoming, reunion dominate weekend on campus
By Paul Stanley
Posted: 10/11/07, 4:17 AM EST Section: News
The first Homecoming at Syracuse University was in 1930 when the Orangemen football team faced the University of Pittsburgh. Now, 77 years later, the Homecoming tradition continues - but with a twist.
Homecoming 2007 is in full swing with the theme, "'Cuse Loves the '90's." And for the first time, Homecoming and reunion weekends will combine into one. More than 2,000 alumni will return to campus this weekend to rekindle old friendships and enjoy the festivities with current SU students.
"Reunion has traditionally been either the first or second weekend in June," said Alumni Association President Wally Bobkiewicz. "People come back to campus and they remember campus with students, and we've been having reunions for years in June with no students."
The issue had been discussed with frustration for the past few years, but it wasn't until this spring that the Alumni Association voted to move forward with the combination of reunion and Homecoming in the fall.
Organizers believe celebrating reunion and Homecoming simultaneously will have many benefits for both alumni and students.
"I think it's great for alums to come back and see the campus when there's so much happening," said Ellen King, executive director of on-campus programs in the Office of Alumni Relations. "They can see the new buildings being constructed, sit in on any academic events that they want or attend cultural events that are happening.
"For students, I think it's great that they can see the older alumni coming back," King said. "Students have the opportunity to interact with the alums and attend events with them so that they can get a bit of the university's history which I think is important."
For students in greek life, it is a chance to meet brothers or sisters from years past.
"As part of a fraternity, I'm really looking forward to having old fraternity brothers come back to visit," said senior Mike Curtis, a policy studies and economics major. "We're holding a barbeque on Saturday and it will be nice to see and hang with fraternity brothers from back in the 1950s and even before."
Homecoming 2007 is in full swing with the theme, "'Cuse Loves the '90's." And for the first time, Homecoming and reunion weekends will combine into one. More than 2,000 alumni will return to campus this weekend to rekindle old friendships and enjoy the festivities with current SU students.
"Reunion has traditionally been either the first or second weekend in June," said Alumni Association President Wally Bobkiewicz. "People come back to campus and they remember campus with students, and we've been having reunions for years in June with no students."
The issue had been discussed with frustration for the past few years, but it wasn't until this spring that the Alumni Association voted to move forward with the combination of reunion and Homecoming in the fall.
Organizers believe celebrating reunion and Homecoming simultaneously will have many benefits for both alumni and students.
"I think it's great for alums to come back and see the campus when there's so much happening," said Ellen King, executive director of on-campus programs in the Office of Alumni Relations. "They can see the new buildings being constructed, sit in on any academic events that they want or attend cultural events that are happening.
"For students, I think it's great that they can see the older alumni coming back," King said. "Students have the opportunity to interact with the alums and attend events with them so that they can get a bit of the university's history which I think is important."
For students in greek life, it is a chance to meet brothers or sisters from years past.
"As part of a fraternity, I'm really looking forward to having old fraternity brothers come back to visit," said senior Mike Curtis, a policy studies and economics major. "We're holding a barbeque on Saturday and it will be nice to see and hang with fraternity brothers from back in the 1950s and even before."
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