Organization of Homecoming will benefit campus

If all goes well, this year’s Homecoming festivities are sure to have more of an impact on our campus than ever before.

Homecoming, which will happen Oct. 23–26, is scheduled to dominate Carnegie Mellon’s campus with a weekend of football, alumni schmoozing, and enough chili to feed Pittsburgh. But different from years past is the commendable increase in organization and planning that has gone into this year’s celebration.

First, a Homecoming Committee of over 20 students has come together to create Homecoming events that are enticing for alumni and current students alike, as well as to promote the weekend’s events to the campus community. These students have been involved in coming up with new ways to attract students to Homecoming’s planned activities, attempting to draw first-years in early and convince older students that real change is occurring that will make Homecoming worth attending. Some of these events include a performance by Scotch ’n’ Soda, the Buggy Alumni Association’s kick-off celebration, and tours of different parts of the campus.

The “B There” stickers adorning campus are a new move to advertise the Oct. 24 Homecoming kick-off event, which will feature live bands and two famous Carnegie Mellon alumni. It’s another way the university is getting creative as a means of enticing Homecoming participation. But this kick-off event is more than food, fun, and music; it is part of the kick-off of Carnegie Mellon’s Capital Campaign, the university’s move to raise $1 billion dollars, essentially doubling its endowment.

While this latter move seems more administrative than festive, the university’s organization of this year’s Homecoming celebration will benefit the campus community as a whole. Usually known as just another weekend on our campus, noted merely by more plaid-tastic signs adorning the facade of Warner Hall, Homecoming will now infuse Carnegie Mellon with much-needed school spirit. We commend Alumni Relations and the Homecoming Committee, along with student government and numerous other participating groups on campus, for coming together to make Homecoming an exciting event for all members of the campus community, past and present.