What is “Homecoming”?

What is “Homecoming”?

Homecoming is a very American tradition on college campuses. It is a term that refers to a specific weekend when the school’s alumni are invited to come back “home” for special events and activities. Note: Alumni means people who have graduated from that school – so when you leave Muncie with your degree in hand, you will be a Ball State University Alum (singular of alumni – we usually use this word in its plural form: alumni). 

Campuses all across the nation celebrate homecoming festivities throughout the fall season. Each school usually has something unique to their own school culture as well as typical traditions.

Some of the typical traditions include a parade, a queen and king court, tailgating and a football game. We have all of these things, too, at Ball State. We also have a few one-of-a-kind traditions such as the BEDRACE. 

Another tradition is to decorate the school with school colors and an enthusiastic competition between colleges, departments, dorms, and more. Have you been to the IEI this past week? If so, you have certainly seen us working to decorate according to this year's theme: Play Your Cards Right. On Friday university judges went around to all the departments that participated in this year's competition to take pictures and notes. Did we win??? Stop by the IEI this week to find out. And check back here later for pictures of our really cool decorations. 

This week I’m going to post information about homecomings in general and about ours at Ball State in particular. Keep posted! What you learn here will help you spot the various activities on campus and will make it more interesting and fun for you.

Today I’m giving you the schedule of events at Ball State the week

Monday 10/8

6pm:       Tour of theMcKinley Strip

7-10 pm:   Homecoming Village Martin Street from Riverside Ave to University Ave.

Wednesday 10/10

9am – 3 pm:      Blood Drive Puris Hall

3pm:     Stop,  Drop, and Dash Charity Run

Thursday 10/11

9pm:    Air Jam at Emens Auditorium

Friday 10/12

10am:     Bed Race on Riverside Ave

Saturday 10/13

10am:    Parade begins at Central High School and goes through downtown Muncie

3pm:  Football game against Western Michigan              

And if you want to learn more 

about homecoming traditions 

in the US, 

check out these articles:

4 UniqueHomecoming Traditions

When HomecomingGets Weird

10 Fun FactsAbout Homecoming

The History ofHomecoming