By Alysa Teichman The Daily Northwestern
It’s mid-October. Baseball playoffs and midterm exams are in full swing, and so is Homecoming Week at Northwestern.
After last year’s Homecoming events drew “unsatisfactory” attendance, according to this year’s chair, Amber Jones, the 2006 committee has been brainstorming since last spring to come up with ways to bolster school spirit for Saturday’s game against Michigan State University.
“Quite honestly, I am going to say that I didn’t go to all the events last year,” Jones said. “But this year we have amazing events and publicity.”
The Medill junior said the committee started its brainstorming in a rut – coming up with only mundane events. But after a while, it thought of ideas that would get students more involved. The activities this year will be Hollywood themed, and one of the highlights of the week will be an appearance by Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert, Communication ’86, on Friday at the Homecoming Parade.
“I encouraged my board to push the envelope and do things we had never done before,” Jones said.
The week kicked off with a philanthropy event Sunday sponsored by Suitcase Party, NCDC, Oasis and Campus Kitchens where students volunteered at various organizations. Jones could not give exact numbers on the event but said participation at the philanthropy was low. She said she remains optimistic about the events later this week.
“It can be hard to get people excited for philanthropy,” Jones said, attributing low numbers to bad weather that soaked advertising flyers.
The Homecoming Committee created a fresh lineup of events for the week, and Jones said a two-hour campus-wide water balloon fight Thursday on the Lakefill should be among the more creative and exciting events .
Students can also attend a free Homecoming Dance on Thursday at the Best Western hotel, 1501 Sherman Ave. The first 50 students to arrive will receive free dessert.
The group created a new sub-committee on the executive board, “Purple Craze,” responsible for encouraging school spirit through activities every day of the week. It will organize and judge a costume contest that will have a different Hollywood-related theme every day.
“We wanted something that would be more memorable,” said SESP senior Rachel Bitman, this year’s Purple Craze chairwoman. “We have definitely stepped things up a notch this year.” Bitman said she wanted to foster school spirit by bringing her work to students.
She helped coordinate the decoration of windows on many Evanston businesses and oversaw Norris’ transformation into Hollywood.
Another strategy the Homecoming executive board used to boost school spirit was to partner with other organizations on campus for some of the events.
L.A. Fitness sponsored Monday’s event, “NU Dance with Stars,” where students learned how to salsa dance from professionals and munched on food from Chipotle. Also on Monday, the Homecoming Committee partnered with Dance Marathon and had a date auction.
In other events later this week, the Homecoming Committee will join with Northwestern Class Alliance, Sigma Phi Epsilon, A&O Productions and Interfraternity Council.
“This is what school is all about,” Jones said. “It’s all about bringing the students together and having these memorable occasions.”
Reach Alysa Teichman at [email protected].
Homecoming 2006 CalendarAfter an “unsatisfactory” turnout at last year’s Homecoming events, this year’s planning committee hopes to spice up the celebration with new events and activities.
Tuesday, Oct. 175 to 6 p.m.”Gone in 60 Seconds” cake-eating contestWhere: The Rock Cost: Free8 to 10 p.m.”NU Star Search” talent showWhere: McCormick Auditorium, NorrisCost: Free
Wednesday, Oct. 1811 a.m. to 2 p.m.Bake SaleWhere: The Rock7 to 9 p.m.Viewing of “Friday Night Lights”Where: Harris Hall, Room 107Cost: Free
Thursday, Oct. 19NoonCampus-wide Water Balloon BattleWhere: the Lakefill Cost: Free9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.Homecoming DanceWhere: Best Western, 1501 Sherman Ave.Cost: Free with WildCARD
Friday, Oct. 207 p.m.Pep RallyWhere: Cahn AuditoriumCost: Free tickets available at Norris Box Office8 p.m.Homecoming Parade, featuring Stephen ColbertWhere: Starts at corner of Sheridan Road and Chicago Avenue
Saturday, Oct. 2110 a.m.Walk to Ryan Field honoring Randy WalkerWhere: Starts at Long Field11 p.m.Football game vs. Michigan StateWhere: Ryan Field
More events can be found online at groups.northwestern.edu/homecoming.
