Ohio University has events planned all weekend for students, alumni and their families.
Now that Athens is bleeding green at almost every corner, Ohio University students and alumni are ready for Homecoming Weekend.
With the Homecoming game approaching, OU offers countless activities for students to participate in.
On Saturday, Ohio will take on Miami at 2 p.m. in Peden Stadium for the Homecoming game.
Because it’s the Homecoming game and Ohio is playing its rival Miami, the football game is expected to almost sell out Peden, which holds 24,000 people, according to Brian Heilmeier, assistant director for campus programs.
Beyond the football game, however, OU has an abundance of activities for students and alumni who have traveled back to Athens.
Before the Homecoming parade starts Saturday morning at 10 a.m., alumni can gather in the Front Room for coffee at 9:30 a.m. and the tailgate for OU students begins at 11:30 a.m. and goes on until the football game starts at 2 p.m., Heilmeier said.
The parade itself is planned to begin on Union Street and make its way to Court Street and then down to Park Place, Heilmeier said.
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The route will make a turn onto President Street before meeting up with Court Street to avoid the construction on West Union Street because of last November’s fire, according to a previous Post report.
“My favorite part of Homecoming is the parade,” Heilmeier said. “I think it does a really good job of connecting the university to the community of Athens, as well as drawing in alumni and their families.”
Heilmeier also mentioned there is no way to track how many alumni come to campus for Homecoming Weekend, because some register with the university and some do not. But, overall Heilmeier said, Homecoming is one of the most popular weekends for alumni to return to Athens.
During the week leading up to the Homecoming game, students were able to vote for a Homecoming King and Queen.
“I get to crown the King and the Queen,” Jenny Hall-Jones, interim vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students, said.
Hall-Jones, who is an OU graduate, has never had the opportunity to crown the Homecoming King and Queen before, but will share her first experience with Jennifer Neubauer, the assistant vice president for alumni relations.
When looking at the costs for the Homecoming festivities as a whole, Heilmeier said there are “so many parts to Homecoming” to be able to pinpoint an exact dollar amount.
According to a previous Post report, the Division of Student Affairs spends roughly $40,000 on Homecoming, and the spending has hovered at about that amount for the last few years.
Sydney Stapleton, a senior studying anthropology, and Victoria Carballo, a junior studying history, are two friends who plan to make the most of Homecoming Weekend.
Stapleton said the two are going to “Kegs and Eggs” Saturday morning before watching the parade.
“I am really excited to go to the game between OU and Miami as well as hit up the bars after the game,” Carballo said.
Megan Henry contributed to this report.
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