One of the most challenging Homecomings in recent memory is this weekend when the No. 6-ranked DU hockey team hosts defending champions, No. 1 Boston College, as the highlight of a two-day Homecoming event that should bring several hundred parents and alumni to campus.

Friday, the puck will drop at 7:37 p.m. in Magness Arena and will be preceded by a Pioneer Pregame hosted by the DU Programming Board (DUPB) at the south entrance of the Ritchie Center in the new student courtyard area. There will be lawn activities, a beer garden, spirit tent and food provided by D.U.G.S. (DU Grilling Society). The pregame is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

On Saturday, there will be a Homecoming Parade consisting of several dozen floats manned by fraternities, sororities and numerous student organizations.

Director of Campus Activities, Carl Johnson, was voted grand marshall in the nomination process last week and will lead the parade throughout the University Park neighborhood.

The parade begins at 3 p.m. and police will put up barricades blocking the streets from midday. This year’s theme is “All that glitters is crimson and gold.”

The parade starts near the Ritchie Center at Buchtel and University boulevards and continues two blocks east to Columbine Street, where it passes New Fraternity Row, then crosses Evans Avenue to pass the Buchtel Bungalow, home of Chancellor Robert E. Coombe. The parade will turn west on Warren Avenue and continue south on Josephine Street along Sorority Row to Iliff Avenue. At Iliff, it turns right to cross University Boulevard and passes the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Olin Hall and Johnson McFarlane dormitories to High Street, where it continues back to the Ritchie Center.

The highlight of Saturday’s hockey game that begins at 7:07 p.m. is the naming of Homecoming royalty between periods. Voting is for Homecoming royalty is open until midnight tomorrow.

The nominees for Homecoming queen are Erin Bleakley, Carrie Gamper, Grace Kittle, Alex Suppan, and Julia Wood. Nominees for Homecoming king are Ross Cato, Larson Davick, Jim Francescon, Felipe Viyera and Christopher Volkman.

Students can vote for Homecoming king and queen through WebCentral under the ‘Surveys’ tab.