So tell me about homecoming

[Shalmanese]

Inspired by the thread on High School Proms (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=394001), this is my first year in an American College and Homecoming Week was just this weekend. What is it? What are the customs? What should I do for it next year?

[myskepticsight]

I go to a big state school with a decent football team.

Homecoming consists of all the fraternities and sororities participating and getting others to participate in a big blood drive. They also have to make a parade float and put on little themed skits at their houses, and students and members of the community come out the night before the game and watch.

Then on the game day, alumni, fans, and students come out and usually tailgate starting early in the morning. Then there is the parade. Then our football team plays its rival, Kansas.

It's pretty much just a drunken display of school spirit. The name comes from the alumni "coming home" to support their alma mater. There is always a huge party at our alumni center on Homecoming.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homecoming) has a non-cited article about it.

[Shalmanese]

Rallies

Many schools hold a rally during Homecoming week, often one or more nights before the game. The events vary, but may include skits, games, introduction of the homecoming court (and coronation of the King and Queen if that is the school's tradition), and comments from the football players and/or coach about the upcoming game.

At some schools, the Homecoming rally ends with a bonfire (in which old wood structures, the rival school's memorabilia and other items are burned in a controlled fire.)


Ooohhh... So THATS why there are always bonfires in American High School movies. I had just always assumed you guys really liked to burn shit.

[El Perro Fumando]

Often, the return of alumni to their alma mater coincides with the return of the football team after a decent stretch of away games. (This is the meaning of homecoming that I was taught as a child.)

Either way, it's an excuse to gather with old friends and cheer for the school's team just like in old times. Some of my oldest memories are when I went with my parents to the University of Maryland homecoming (I even lost my first two teeth at homecoming '89) and playing in the parking lots with my "cousins" while my mom and dad hung out with their fraternity brothers and sorority sisters.

For next year, find people who you like that happen to have a tailgate planned. There's nothing like a hot dog cooked over a camping stove while someone has a tiny tv hooked into their car's power supply to watch the games that are already happening while you wait for your game to start.