Homecoming is a tradition that Wilkes University hosts every year for alumni to come back to visit the campus and current students to come together to show their colonel pride. Thursday night kicks off the weekend of festivities with a Pep Rally on the Greenway featuring the Wilkes University Dance Team’s first performance of the year. Then Friday night is the time to get out your dancing shoes to shred the dance floor with your friends for the yearly homecoming dance, hosted by Student Government, for all students to attend. Saturday will be when the alumni and future alum come together to root on our football team as they will be taking on Farleigh Dickenson University at 1 p.m.

There will be pre-game entertainment for all attending the Alumni Tent, including another performance by the Wilkes Dance Team. During half time the class of 1991 will be welcomed back onto the football field, to represent the successful alumni of Wilkes University. LeRoy Coleman, class of 1991, will be attending the weekend festivities and is most looking forward to being with his old roommates and daughter, Haley Coleman, who is a future alum. Another halftime event, and my personal favorite, will be the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen. Senior, Jenna Graziano is a contestant for 2016 Homecoming Queen which has her hype for the weekend. “I feel honored that I was voted by my peers to be on homecoming court!” she said.

And the potential King Woodley Ausgustine feels that. “Being on homecoming court is something special; it’s not every day you get the opportunity to run for Homecoming King,” he said. If you are not a big football fan, all are welcome to participate in the third annual George Ralston Golf Classic with proceeds benefiting the Osterhout Library’s children’s programs. Post-game and tournament includes a Bar Crawl for the alumni, hosted by the Alumni Committee, to show off Wilkes-Barre’s most current version of night life. Even though she won’t be attending the Bar Crawl, Junior Madison Scarfaro says that she is “pumped for all of the events on campus and for the football game.”

As a whole, it seems that with Wilkes being such a small campus, and very family oriented. There should be more activity during the week leading up to homecoming to show pride throughout the university. At my previous school, there was an event every day leading up to the homecoming game that gave students the opportunity to win gift cards to surrounding restaurants and the bookstore. I feel like Wilkes has the resources to really embrace this campus event and have students be more involved with the school’s activities. Instead of thinking about what they will be partaking in later in the night. In all, make sure to embrace the events that the school prepares for your enjoyment, you’re paying for them with your tuition dollars so might as well put them to good use!