This year’s Western University homecoming theme is “All Roads Lead Home.”
Thousands are expected to attend the more than 50 events taking place on Western’s campus this weekend.
“Homecoming is that time when we open up the gates and welcome alumni back to campus,” said Trista Walker, executive director of alumni relations at Western University. “While they’re welcome home all weekends of the year, this is the one where we can really, as a university, roll out that proverbial purple carpet and make sure there are many things awaiting them once they get here.”
While homecoming for many current students and recent graduates has been at the end of September, many alumni remember something different.
“Alumni will actually traditionally remember homecoming to be deeper into October,” said Walker.
“We actually put a list of all the past dates on the website because many historians were bringing this fact to light. Many Alumni are traditionalists and they wanted that fact to be well known,” she said.
The festivities include academic lectures, discussion panels and tours, as well as a hockey and football game Saturday, where the Western Mustangs will take on the University of Ottawa GGs. Other than those events, Walker says there’s a special focus on those celebrating a reunion year.
“Those folks could be celebrating a five-, 10-, 15-year reunion, but we’re also welcoming back people that have celebrated 50 plus years since they graduated from Western, and we have special events just for them, such as our Golden Anniversary dinner,” she said.
Issues surrounding homecoming have been a sensitive topic in the city.
Last month, to spite the university’s decision to move homecoming to later in the semester for the second year in a row, roughly 11,000 people attended unsanctioned fake homecoming events on Broughdale Avenue, leading to nearly 1,000 police warnings, 60 charges, and 37 trips to the hospital.
“As much as we try to, with the assistance of the university, put the messaging out that these types of events are unsafe, a lot of the ownership for this and the change that needs to be brought about rests with the students.”
Policing costs for fake homecoming came in at $55,000
Longworth says if you’re going to have a party, have a party, but he says to do so in a safe and respectful way.
The Western Mustangs football team plays Saturday at 1 p.m. at TD Stadium. The alumni tailgate runs from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
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