Homecoming has been a tradition at the UA for over 100 years and also takes place at hundreds of other colleges around the country, but many high schools have also adopted this tradition.
When comparing the two celebrations, there are many more differences than there are similarities, leaving some UA students nostalgic for their high school homecomings.
For students involved in Greek Life on campus and for alumni returning for the festivities, college homecoming can be an exciting weekend full of special events and reunions with old friends, but the majority of the student body aren’t in a fraternity or sorority and are obviously not alumni yet.
“I don’t really do anything for college homecoming,” said Max Faridian, a computer science sophomore.
Faridian isn’t planning on attending the two main events of the weekend—the parade and the football game—so, as for a significant portion of the student body, this weekend won’t be anything too out of the ordinary for him.
“I liked high school homecoming more because the whole school got into it,” Faridian said.
Faridian attended Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona, and his school was one of many that stretched its homecoming celebrations into a full week of school spirit.
According to Faridian, Red Mountain High School would have themed days during the week before the football game, and each day students would come dressed for America day, college day and more.
After building up hype throughout the week, Friday and Saturday would be the days of the homecoming football game and school dance.
This tradition of a high school holding a spirit week that concludes with homecoming festivities isn’t unique to Faridian’s high school, either.
Karen Ayala-Miranda, a sophomore studying speech, language and hearing sciences, attended Pinnacle High School in Phoenix and also participated in similar activities during the high school homecoming season.
“It was a week where you could do fun things, which is a nice change,” Ayala-Miranda said.
She and Faridian both said that the UA could do more to involve the rest of the student body in Homecoming festivities, rather than focusing primarily on Greek Life and a few select clubs and organizations.
Across the street from the southwest corner of campus is Tucson High Magnet School, and it celebrates throughout the week of its homecoming as well.
According to the school’s student council website, its 2014 homecoming week included theme days such as Western Wednesday and Pajama Day Friday. It also had days during which each class was split up into different themes. For example, there was Decades Day, when each dressed up as a different decade from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Faridian suggested that the organizers of UA Homecoming incorporate the themed traditions so popular among high schools during the week leading up to the Homecoming game.
He also said hosting more inclusive festivities would give the whole student body a chance to participate. These new celebrations would be a relatively simple addition to the schedule of events, giving everyone, both Greek Life and non-Greek Life students, another festivity to get excited about.
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