Student organizations big and small took center stage Tuesday evening at the annual Homecoming event , Airbands.  The event, which took place in a packed Eisenhower Auditorium, ran from 7-9pm.  The crowd loved the event’s surprise guest host, Bronne from the Real World: Cancun.  He entertained the crowd between the acts and also created some excitement by throwing Homecoming t-shirts into the crowd. 

Performances kept the audience entertained the whole with song choices ranging from childhood movies such as Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast, to TV show classics like Sesame Street and Fresh Prince of Bel Aire.  Performers added to their performances with elaborate costumes and props to go along with their chosen theme. 

The event ran smoothly with the exception of one small hiccup; during ATLAS  Thon’s performance featuring boy bands and pop stars the sound system failed and the music cut out.  There was some confusion at first, but then in true Penn State fashion, the crowd picked up where the music left off and ATLAS finished their dance to the audience singing their songs. 

There were ten stars of the evening that shone especially bright, the members of the 2009 Homecoming Court.  They dazzled the crowd throughout the evening with humorous skits in-between organizations performances, and in a Homecoming first, the court also performed their own dance as part of Airbands.

Although, everyone put on an entertaining performance, only two groups could go home with the title of the 2009 Airbands Champions.  Lion Ambassadors won for Best Independent Organization as they traveled through time, giving the audience a glimpse of Penn State history through song and dance.  As for the Best Greek performance, that went to Theta Chi Omega and Phi Sigma Rho with their own musical rendition of the “Toy Story.” 

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On Tuesday, the HUB was decorated with a “Past to Present” theme honoring Penn State’s Homecoming tradition, dating back to when the school’s colors were pink and black.  On the first level of the HUB, where Homecoming merchandise and Homecoming Court tables were set up, the floor traveled back in time and was decorated with pink and black streamers, paw prints, and pictures showing what Penn State student life was like at the time.  As you traveled down the stairs to the ground level, a huge balloon display hung above student’s head reading “Past to Present”.  As students reached the bottom of the steps, they were greeted with free popcorn, music, and pictures of recent Penn State events and pop culture figures, some of which who have visited campus over the past few years. The theme for the floor was everything blue and white, with streamers and balloons decorating the walls.  Throughout the event, which took place from 10AM TO 4PM, various clubs performed on stage and the Homecoming Court made appearances, even putting on a fashion show to show off the Homecoming merchandise that was being sold upstairs.  Whether students were eating lunch at the tables or passing through the HUB on their way to class, they couldn’t ignore the Penn State pride being displayed for Homecoming Week 2009!

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On Monday, at East Halls a celebration was held from 4-8 p.m. for all freshmen.  It was an event that was attempting to acquaint all new students to the Penn State Homecoming tradition.  The Homecoming court made an appearance and got introduced to all students.  Entertaining bios were read off describing the involvement of each candidate while students considered who is vote worthy.  A lot of them also talked with the freshmen to give them a better idea of who they were as a person and why they should be chosen for the Homecoming court. 

The dynamic brothers of Alpha Kappa Psi stepped danced at the event, along with a performance by the Orchesis dance company.  Smooth moves put on by these parties helped to catch the eye of passerby, and make students stop and pay attention to the event.  Voting booths were open during the entire time so someone could vote at any given moment.  Along with easy access to voting, there was free food given out as an incentive for students to stop by.  A wide variety of Insomnia cookies were served and this helped put a smile on the faces of many voters.

 This event helped to spark interest in Homecoming for a lot of students, and increased the voter turnout because of easy access to voting booths.  The East Halls commons was decorated with glittering posters of the themes of various Homecoming floats.  This was good because it allowed the students to see the ideas behind each float, and understand all the work certain organizations put into all of this.  Overall, the celebration turned out to be a great success!  Many students left with a better understanding of Homecoming tradition and what it really means to a Penn Stater.

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It is well known that Penn State has one of the richest senses of tradition in the world. Just like this past weekend’s Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (more commonly known as Arts Fest), Homecoming is a celebration that ignites the passion and glory of Old State in all of its alumni, students, and fans. As we have just passed the 100 days till Homecoming mark, I felt as though we needed a reminder as to why we are celebrating such a great tradition.

The tradition for alumni to return to Penn State was started shortly after the Civil War in July of 1869. At that time, Penn State was known as the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and a new event called “Harvest Home” was established. The celebration was a bit different than it is today; complete with candles and lectures on agriculture (could you imagine if we did that today?) In 1869 almost 100 people arrived to celebrate, and like most Penn State traditions Harvest Home began to flourish. One year later over 2,000 came back to honor Penn State.

Penn State’s first Homecoming football game was played on October 9th, 1920 against Ivy League School Dartmouth. The Lions won 14-7, making head coach Hugo Bezdeck proud of the Nittany Lions. The tradition was then set in stone; we were on our way to an outstanding homecoming experience. Today, more than 130 years later, thousands of alumni and fans that come back to State College to celebrate, and it would be hard to imagine Homecoming without them.

Each year, a team of students works hard for their peers to make Homecoming the best it can possibly be. They work all through the Spring, Summer, and Fall to create the best experience possible, simply because they have such a love for their school and its rich tradition. The next few weeks, we will be thanking those people and learning more about what they are doing for us as well as what new things they are planning for Homecoming this year. As for now, get excited for a few of the upcoming events.

TailGreat
Saturday, August 30^th
9am-kickoff
Bryce Jordan Center

Homecoming Night Out
Thursday, September 18^th
8pm-close
Café 210

Homecoming Day of Service
Sunday, September 21^st
10am
Alumni Hall

For a list of more events, check out http://homecoming.psu.edu/calendar.php

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