Abigail Derkson/ Winonan
Homecoming week was a time to welcome back alumni, celebrate the university and, for some students, to drink excessively.
From daily activities to house parties and to the football game on Saturday, students found various ways to celebrate. Coronation of the homecoming king and queen Jake Stanz and Sara Vincent kicked off Monday, Oct. 20 and the football game against Sioux Falls ended the festivities Saturday, Oct. 25.
As many students, faculty and community members know, the festivities did not end when the football game ended. Many students have celebrated past homecomings by drinking a lot of alcohol and partying on the weekend.
For Maddie Loomis this was not the case.
A sophomore and special education major, Loomis praised the homecoming activities that took place during the week. Her homecoming last year, she said, was low-key in comparison to this year.
As a freshman, Loomis remembered “a timid homecoming” where she did not participate in much besides attending the football game and unsuccessfully participating in the Medallion hunt. As a sophomore, Loomis felt that there was more for students to do. This year Loomis enjoyed the new daily homecoming activities, especially the spin magic put on by UPAC.
“I know more people and have more to look forward to,” Loomis said. “I love that there’s a fun thing going on all week long.”
Loomis also thought students showed great school spirit.
“I feel like homecoming is the one week where you have to be happy about everything,” she said, “because there’s so much going on. It’s fun. It’s hard work for those who have to run stuff, but it’s fun for the rest of us.”
For some students, the after-homecoming festivities were more exciting than what happened during the week.
A senior, who wished to remain anonymous, was excited for both the homecoming activities and the drinking festivities. It was her last homecoming and her most fun one, she said. As a freshman she only attended the football game and the parade, because she did not know there was anything else to participate in.
Since then her experience changed. As a senior, she felt “homecoming is a time to have fun and just let loose.”
For this student, letting loose meant drinking a lot.
“If I didn’t have obligations,” the student said, “I would be so drunk that I’d wake up every morning drunk from the night before.”
The student believed some students had the mentality of “I’m going to drink as much as possible and have as much fun as possible.”
According to the student, this can only happen one other time: on someone’s 21st birthday.
“Homecoming is definitely an excuse that students use to go hardcore and make stupid choices,” the student said. “When you’re drinking you aren’t thinking of the consequences, and the morning after you’re like ‘I should not have done that.’”
The student was aware of the stigma often connected to homecoming weekend.
“I wish I knew where the stigma came from,” she said. “Why is homecoming associated with drinking? It’s sad because homecoming should be associated with school spirit and current students meeting up with alumni.”
Still, many partied off campus.
“Homecoming is going to be crazy downtown,” the student said before the weekend started. “There are going to be so many people, and it’s going to be so much fun. Downtown is going to be packed, house parties are going to be all over the place, and there are going to be a lot of cops and security.”
The student felt if she were a resident of the community and not a student, she would dread homecoming week because of the way some students behave.
Not everyone enjoyed the drinking and partying that often occurred on the Friday and Saturday of homecoming week.
For senior Libby Thiss, a math education major, homecoming did not mean what it should have meant.
“Homecoming was supposed to be about alumni coming back to schools and celebrating their alma mater,” Thiss said. “It’s an excuse for students to go out and say they are celebrating their school. They’re certainly celebrating. It’s more about the party aspect than celebrating the school in itself.”
As a freshman, Thiss remembered some less exciting moments during homecoming.
When she was a freshman, Thiss lived in Lourdes Hall on the second floor. She never locked her door because she lived in an alcove in the hall that people rarely went toward. Thiss remembered waking up around 2 a.m. to a young male taking off his shoes and trying to get into her bed. He was so intoxicated that he thought her room was his room, which was actually on the third floor of Maria Hall, not the second floor of Lourdes Hall.
Thiss never felt the need to go out on homecoming in previous years. While she planned on celebrating this homecoming, which was her last one and “the grand hurrah,” she said. There was never a part of me that felt like I was being left out if she did not participate in the drinking activities.
As she prepared curry and watched Netflix, she said, “This is my homecoming.”
For this homecoming, Thiss planned to celebrate on Friday and spend her Saturday with wine, sewing and “The West Wing” on Netflix at home. She was happy with that.
