Homecoming returns after 6-year hiatus

Hidden beneath first-rate dining halls and a chart-topping
applicant pool lies a UCLA tradition that used to be the largest in
the country ““ a tradition that many students today
don’t even know about.

Homecoming is back after a six-year hiatus, and a float-building
competition and parade will compliment the already existing
pre-game rally.

The Student Alumni Association is planning the homecoming events
and hoping to raise Bruin spirit and connect students and alumni to
their alma mater.

“We want to start to create in future Bruins a class
identity and really connect alumni back to their graduation
years,” said SAA adviser Robyn Goldberg.

The events will kick off on Oct. 25 with a Village Street Fest
in Westwood prior to the “Wild Wild Westwood”-themed
float and marching parade. A rally will immediately follow to get
students geared up for the Stanford game the next day.

The Homecoming tradition began in 1927 and ran until the late
’60s when students became more politically active and less
interested in school events.

The tradition was revived in the late ’70s but died out
again in 1996 because of a decline in participation by groups who
felt they couldn’t compete against the greek system.

While it may take current students some time to jump back into
the tradition, alumni still remember what made homecoming special
to them.

“Homecoming was the thing to do,” said SAA advisor
Russell Heskin, class of 1996. “It was a great way to just
celebrate being a Bruin.”

Homecoming used to include an entire week’s worth of
activities which ranged from relay races and tug-of-war to canned
food sculpture contests in Westwood Plaza.

Even though these events are not included in this year’s
festivities, SAA is hoping to rebuild student enthusiasm one step
at a time.

“It may take a couple years until students realize the
grandeur of such an old tradition, but it will definitely get
there,” Kaplan said. “It’s just hard to think of
it as a 50-year-old tradition when this is the first time
you’ve heard of it.”

With publicity for the events already circulating, students are
learning that there is history behind the festivities.

“I’ve heard that it used to be really big
here,” said second-year history and political science student
Margaret Coblentz. “People are just going to have to see that
it is something really fun and something they want to participate
in and get excited for year after year.”

Parents’ weekend and a variety of alumni activities are
also scheduled that weekend. The SAA hopes that moving all of the
events into one weekend will create more unity than staggering them
throughout the year.

On Sunday there will be a Founder’s Day Luncheon in Pauley
Pavilion, followed by campus tours and faculty lectures.

The day will culminate with a cocktail party with dinner and
dancing under tents at Royce quad.

“This is an opportunity for people to reconnect back to
campus,” Goldberg said. “It’s a chance for alumni
to see how campus is now and to compare it to when they were here
and to celebrate the fact that they did that 10 to 15 years
ago.”