Mary Hines from the classof 1951 has attended over20
Homecomings, but shedoesn’t necessarily comefor the spirited
paradesand bonfires.
Hines, a former member of the UAwomen’s tennis team, said she
has ulteri-or motives.
“I want to see if they look older than Ido, and fatter” she said
of her formerclassmates.
This weekend Hines will be one ofthousands of alumni, students,
and mem-bers of the community who will return tothe UA in the
spirit of Homecoming,which has been going strong for nearly
90years.
Just as Hines returns to the UA to seehow the faces of
classmates havechanged, other alumni return to see thechanging face
of their old stompinggrounds.
‘There were only two roads’Many of the changes made to the
UA
campus in the recent past might havebeen unimaginable to
students attendingthe UA years ago.
This will be the first time for manyalumni to enjoy the Student
UnionMemorial Center, completed in February.It is the largest
student union in the coun-try and boasts more retail and
diningspace than ever before.
The Integrated Learning Center, anoth-er recent addition,
supplies students withan underground computer hub connect-ing the
Mall to the Main Library.
Today ground will be broken for theAlumni Plaza and three
medical facilitiesin the Arizona Health Science Center,
con-struction projects that promise to changethe look of campus
even more.
George Genung, who graduated in1947, said that today’s campus is
a bitconfusing.
“I don’t recognize (the campus) all thetime,” he said.
Genung said that when he attendedthe UA, it was easy for him to
find hisway around campus.
“You knew where you were going andhow you got there,” he said.
“There wereonly two roads going in and out of campus.”
Genung was a member of the swimteam and played baseball and
basketballfor the UA. He is a Hall of Fame member,and his wife, who
he met at the UA, was
a letterwoman. Despite all the changes, Genung said
he does not feel ostracized. He has madeit a point to attend
nearly everyHomecoming since he graduated.
“It’s a privilege to come back and seesome of the fellas from
the ‘40s when Iwas pitching for McKale,” Genung said.
President Peter Likins said that olderWildcats returning to
campus have hadpositive things to say about the physicalchanges
such as the ILC and the unionbecause they understand the changes
arefor the students.
“Most of the changes we’re makingare student-focused,” said
Likins.
“There’s a student-centered quality to it.”
Student-centered celebrationHomecoming will also have a
student-
centered quality to it this year. Angie Ballard, program
director for
Homecoming, reunions and specialevents, said that the number of
studentorganizations hosting events this year isup from last
year.
For Greek Life and other large studentclubs, participation in
the parade hasbecome a Homecoming tradition.
Journalism and creative writing juniorMarc Viscardi, president
of the ChainGang Junior Honorary, said that the yel-
low school bus the club rides in throughthe parade has become a
symbol for thegroup and alumni.
“Alumni always remember the bus,”Viscardi said. “They come and
watch, andI’m sure they remember all the fun theyhad riding in the
parade in the past.”
Viscardi said that getting involved inHomecoming is important
for studentclubs and organizations.
“It’s nice to see people from ChainGang come back, it lets you
keep the tra-dition alive,” he said.
Peter Wand, ASUA spirit director, said
Friday, November 7, 2003 ARIZONA DAILY WILDCATSR2
Friday� UA Campus ArboretumCampus Tree Tours.1 p.m. — 4 p.m.
Join Arboretum staff for a one-hour walking tour of trees
aroundcampus. Groups meet at thememorial fountain on the westside
of Old Main. Wear comfort-able shoes.
�ASUA Open House at theASUA offices in the StudentUnion Memorial
Center.2 p.m. — 4 p.m. The campus community will begiven the
opportunity to meet andinteract with current ASUA mem-bers and ASUA
alumni.The event is open to anyone.
�Groundbreaking for threemajor medical facilities.4 p.m. — 5:30
p.m.
North Warren Avenue and EastMabel Street, south of theArizona
Health Sciences Center.Groundbreaking for the Roy P.Drachman Hall,
the Institute forBiomedical Science andBiotechnology and the
MedicalResearch building.
�Alumni PlazaGroundbreaking4:30 p.m. UA Mall just south
ofAdministration building.
�Sports Hall of Fame InductionCeremony5 p.m. — 6:30 p.m. Jim
Click Hall of Champions —The 28th class of the UA SportsHall of
Fame will be introducedduring this champagne reception.
Tickets are $15 per person
�Bear Down Bash5:30 p.m. — 8 p.m.Grand Ballroom of the
StudentUnion Memorial Center.Cocktail hour, dinner, drinks,
andsilent auction as well as the presen-tation of Homecoming
royalty.Purchase tickets online
athttps://seare.dakotacom.net/alum-ni/hc03/bdbash.htm or
contactCheryl Andrews at 621-9024.
�Bonfire Pep Rally8 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.West side of Old
Main.Alumni, students, cheerleaders andcoaches root the Wildcats on
to vic-tory. Homecoming Royalty will becrowned.
�“Idol Jam” concert 9 p.m. Centennial Hall.
American Idols Kimberley Lockeand Carmen Rasmusen willappear, as
well as the bandsChomsky and Magna Fi .Free for students with
CatCards.
Saturday�“Be leaner, Livelier, LiveLonger” 11 a.m. — Noon UofA
Bookstore.Phillip J. Goscienski, M.D., shareshis observations on
how to stopthe epidemic of obesity, diabetes,heart disease and
more.Event is free and open to thepublic.
�Junior Scientist Kids Day11 a.m. — 4 p.m. SaturdayScience
Engineering Library.Science activities for kids. Free and open to
the public.
�Tents on the Mall11a.m. — 4 p.m.UA students and alumni can
walkon the Mall and participate inactivities and entertainment
fromcampus organizations.
�Homecoming Parade1 p.m.— 2 p.m.Over 100 entries will circle
theMall heading west from NorthCampbell Avenue and circlingOld
Main.
�UA Wildcats vs. WashingtonHuskies4 p.m.Arizona Stadium.To
purchase tickets, contact theMcKale ticket office at
621-CATS,between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
— Compiled by Elizabeth Thompson
Calendar of Events
BRAND NEW ‘U’More studentsinvolved inHomecoming
RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily WildcatStudents involved in the
Homecoming court as well as Bobcat members spent the early
afternoon Tuesday playing in the mud. The mud pit was one of
manyactivities organized to celebrate Homecoming.
By Elizabeth ThompsonCONTRIBUTING WRITER
See HOMECOMING/SR3
Alumni return to a
Homecoming just wouldn’t beHomecoming without thecolorful parade
that snakesthrough campus each year,and campus clubs have been
working overtime to make this year’sparade entries the best they
can be.
The parade, which hits the streets at 1p.m. tomorrow, will
follow in the footstepsof Homecoming parades past, as 25
floatsbuilt by various alumni and studentorganizations circle the
UA Mall alongwith classic entries like the “Pride ofArizona”
marching band and a collectionof smiling VIPs, including
Homecomingroyalty and President Peter Likins.
The 35 members of the Chain GangJunior Honorary will also roll
through thestreets as they have for years, waving outof the windows
of their traditional yellowschool bus.
But not everyone in this year’s paradehas participated
before.
A few clubs, like the Student AlumniAssociation, Alpha Kappa Psi
business fra-ternity and JUNTOS, the student advisorycouncil for
Chicano/Hispanic StudentAffairs, will make their parade debuts
thisyear, said Kristen Wolf, parade co-chairand member of Bobcats
Senior Honorary,the organization that coordinatesHomecoming
activities.
Dane Sutherland, president of theStudent Alumni Association,
said SAAdecided to build a float this year becauseseniors in the
club wanted to make theirlast Homecoming as students memorable.
Sutherland, a marketing senior, saidworking on the float has
been an exercisein team-building for the organization andsaid it
will definitely become a new SAAtradition.
Although Sutherland said the float’sdesign is a secret, he said
it sticks to thisyear’s Homecoming theme of “paint thetown red and
blue.”
“I can tell you that it’ll be lookinggood,” Sutherland said.
While everyone in the parade is
expected to stick to the “painting thetown,” theme, some
organizations hope toconvey more than just Wildcat spirit withtheir
entries.
Members of JUNTOS and the HispanicAlumni Council joined together
this yearwith a goal to design and build a multi-cultural
Homecoming float, said VeronicaMartinez, chair of JUNTOS.
“It’s important to show diversitybecause it’s an important
issue, especiallyat the University of Arizona,” saidMartinez, a
political science senior. “We’rerepresenting everyone with our
float.”
JUNTOS is the umbrella organizationfor eight multi-cultural
fraternities, sorori-ties and clubs on campus, all of whichcame
together to build this year’s floatalong with the Hispanic
AlumniAssociation, Martinez said.
“We’ve never done anything like this,”she said. “It’s a huge
collaboration.”
Martinez said she and her peershave been working on the
designand construction of the float sincelast spring, enlisting the
help of a volun-teer paper-machete expert, costumedesigner and
carpenter in hopes of makingtheir entry stand out in
tomorrow’sparade.
“We’ve put in a lot of work,” Martinezsaid as she helped with
the finishingtouches on Tuesday night. “I’m impressed,and I’m very
proud.”
Covered from bumper to bumper inshimmering red, blue and silver,
the floatfeatures a rotating red and blue “A” abovea series of four
paper-machete masks, rep-resenting African-American, Asian,
NativeAmerican and indigenous Mexican cultures.
Costumes will also have a multi-cultur-al flair, and students
who ride on the floatwill don outfits ranging from cowboyattire to
mambo dancer costumes,Martinez said.
A multi-cultural Wilbur the Wildcatlook-alike will also join the
group.
Oscar Lujan, executive director for theHispanic Alumni
Association, said he wasglad so many people from so many differ-ent
organizations came together to create
the float.“It was really cool. It was a good expe-
rience because we were all workingtogether for a common cause,”
he said.
Lujan said the Hispanic AlumniAssociation and JUNTOS havetalked
about entering a float for atleast two years, and said he’s glad
theyfinally took the plunge.
“It’s the beginning of a lot of things,” hesaid. “It instills a
sense of pride. It showsanything’s possible if you group
together.”
Lujan said he’s hoping for first place intomorrow’s parade.
The club that wins first place for itsentry will win $200. The
second placeentry will get $100 and third place will get$50, Wolf
said.
Judges will also give out a “WildcatSpirit Award” plaque as well
as a plaquefor “most entertaining” entry.
The parade begins at 1 p.m. tomorrowat East Second Street and
North CampbellAvenue, and it will make its main stretcharound the
UA Mall.
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Friday, November 7, 2003 SR3
Homecomingparade floats
through campusBy Alexis Blue
STAFF WRITER
that it is the students who areinvolved around campus whokeep
Homecoming alive.
“The more students areinvolved, the more they want tocome back,”
Wand said.
Although student involve-ment in Homecoming has beenhigh, some
say they have seen adrop in attendance.
Craig Lowden, a 2000 gradu-ate in charge of Homecomingevents for
the Kappa Sigma fra-ternity, said that the levels ofparticipation
among alumni usu-ally fluctuates, but that the fra-ternity has seen
an overalldecrease in recent years.
“We usually have a goodchunk of people,” Lowden said.“Those
numbers can fluctuate alittle, with the down-turningeconomy. Bad
football hurts alittle bit.”
For some students, an interestin Homecoming can seemreserved
primarily for thoseonly involved in greek life,sports or large
student clubs.
Lindsay Keefer, a retailingand consumer sciences junior,said
that she is one of the stu-
dents who feels no connection tothe Homecoming tradition.
“I didn’t even know it wasHomecoming week until yester-day,”
Keefer said.
Phillip Fung, an undeclaredfreshman, said he didn’t know itwas
Homecoming week either
until he saw the activity on theMall.
Homecoming history Not only does the UA Mall
have a different look now, butHomecoming traditions havealso
undergone changes since
they first began in 1914, whenthe UA became the first school
inthe west to hold a Homecoming.
Held on Thanksgiving Day in1914, the first Homecominggame was
played on a field adja-cent to the UA Main Gate atNorth Park
Avenue, where theArizona State Museum now sits.About 1,500
spectators arethought to have attended, watch-ing from cars and
horse-drawnbuggies parked along the side-lines.
Students at the UA todaymight have a hard time picturingsuch a
low-key scene, asHomecoming now includes afootball game attended by
morethan 40,000 people in ArizonaStadium.
In 1947, students saw thedawn of one of UA’s most popu-lar
Homecoming traditions,when sophomore Ruth Tackettwas elected to be
the firstHomecoming queen.
Homecoming kings were notelected until 1983, and the tradi-tion
of crowning royalty duringthe bonfire pep rally on theFriday night
before the game didnot become a tradition until1988.
This year, students voted forHomecoming royalty for the
firsttime online.
The Homecoming parade,which started in 1929,
featuredstudent-built floats that weredriven around the newly
builtstadium track.
In the late 1940s the parademoved downtown where mem-bers of the
community lined thestreets to catch a glimpse of theHomecoming
queen and thestream of intricately constructedfloats.
The parade moved back to theMall in the mid 1970s and todayit is
considered to be the largestHomecoming parade in thenation, in
length and number ofparticipants.
Though parade routes havevaried over the past few yearsdue to
construction, this year’sroute will begin on NorthCampbell Avenue
and proceeddown the Mall toward Old Main,where it will circle back
around.
Despite all the changes, thespirit of returning alumniremains
high.
Norma Don, who graduatedin 1955, said after she left the UAshe
wanted to preserve her close-ness to the university.
“I enjoy being a part of theUA,” Don said. “I feel like Inever
actually left.”
MELISSA HALTERMAN/Arizona Daily WildcatLisa Corella, a sophomore
majoring in biology and Spanish, helps psychology sophomore
SonyaMorris onto the Homecoming float for JUNTOS Tuesday night. The
eight-member organization JUNTOS worked for three months creating
their float for tomorrow’s parade.
Raja Thiru/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Pre-education sophomore Herman Lee participates in the hot dog
eatingcompetition held on the Mall Thursday afternoon. The
competition was partof the Club Olympics, organized by ASUA.
HOMECOMING:Continued from page SR2
