Against the picturesque backdrop of autumn in Denver, this year’s University of Denver’s Homecoming Week from Oct. 17-22 boasted a successful revival of student traditions following two years of pandemic complexities.
With activities for students, staff, families, alum and neighboring communities, Homecoming Week had something for everyone. Starting on Monday, students could tie-dye a variety of DU gear including scrunchies, tote bags and socks. For their participation, 50 students received tickets for either the Friday or Saturday hockey games.
Tuesday was the annual “Campus-Wide Capture the Flag” tradition. While marketed as a “passive” event for students, competitive participants could search for 10 hidden flags across campus to earn a ticket and concession voucher for one of the weekend hockey games.
The warm fall weather on Wednesday set the scene for a sundae social which returned after a covid-induced hiatus due to social distancing requirements. Shifting to more community-centric events on Thursday, the John C. Livingston Lecture in World History featured DU Assistant Professor of media, film, & journalism studies, Kareem El Damanhoury, who spoke on the weaponization of media visuals by authoritarian states and extremists. Later in the evening, the Homecoming Drive-in Movie showed “Top Gun: Maverick,” picked by students via Instagram polling earlier in the quarter.
Friday and Saturday were family and food-focused with the DUPB Friday Block Party, followed by the revamped HocktoberFESTival on Saturday afternoon. As the bookend to a packed week of events, the DU Hockey Team raised its 2021-22 championship banner in Magness Arena prior to playing Providence College on Saturday.
While an annual event, this year’s Homecoming centered around inclusive traditions to bridge the community together after two years of pandemic complications. Explained by Associate Director of Student Engagement, Jessie Stellini, this year’s Planning Committee imagined a Homecoming week aligned with broad community interests. Starting with ‘Countdown to Homecoming’ events, activities earlier in the week were purposefully student-geared to build up excitement about Homecoming.
As the week progressed, more events were oriented around broader DU community groups such as graduate students, athletes, alumni and staff. Ending Homecoming Weekend with the featured events such as the Crimson Classic 5K and HocktoberFESTival were planned with the goal of uniting the DU community across interests, affiliation groups and ages.
The new planning process still paid homage to Homecoming traditions such as ‘Campus-Wide Capture the Flag’ and ‘Sundaes on Wednesday.’ HocktoberFESTival, a DU tradition for at least seven years, had a unique spin to it in this year’s iteration.
“This year we really wanted to focus on the ‘festival’ atmosphere, highlighting some of the amazing departments, student organizations, and opportunities here at DU as well as featuring some great alumni-owned businesses in Denver [which] really weaves together the fabric of our community more than in the past,” said Stellini.
This new planning process paid off as students were visibly more invested in Homecoming week than in prior years. Attending the tie-dye event on Monday, senior criminology major River Thomas was visibly thrilled for the week as she dyed her tote bag in celebratory Crimson and Gold coloring.
“I’m definitely excited about homecoming week. The events seem fun and I love going to the hockey games, and the banner raising this weekend will be a highlight of my college career,” Thomas said.
The undercurrent of student excitement on campus has not gone unnoticed by the planning committee. For Stellini, the shift in student involvement marks a promising start to future celebrations and strengthened DU community connections.
“I hope that when our current students become alumni, they have good Homecoming memories that bring them back to connect with DU for years to come,” she said.
