By Javier Valdes
Assistant News Editor
Homecoming at CSU Bakersfield is more than just dances, Homecoming courts and sports.
It’s an invitation for alumni to return to their alma mater and join CSUB in a week’s worth of spirit, while engaging current students in a celebration of the CSUB campus.
Assistant Director for Campus Programming Emily Poole explained what Homecoming is, for students that are unfamiliar with homecoming week and what it means for CSUB.
“Homecoming is a week of activities where we engage our campus community, celebrate different activities…and invite our alumni and our campus community back to the campus to share in the celebration of their alma mater,” said Poole.
Homecoming at CSUB is different from the typical high school homecoming where schools surround their festivities around a school football game, which typically includes floats and a school rally.
CSUB does keep many of essential Homecoming week traditions such as spirit days, a Homecoming court, a Homecoming dance that follows the big game, and of course the alumni.
CSUB’s Alumni Association is in charge or reaching out to CSUB alumni and invites them back to the campus to participate in the activities scheduled for the week.
CSUB’s Campus Programming office is also working with other departments on campus to invite back other past alumni.
“This year we are doing a special partnership with athletics,” said Poole. “They’re inviting all of the athletes who graduated in the fives, so 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015…we are inviting them back to the campus and we are going to have some special programming with them.”
Another way that the CSUB campus and the collaborating Homecoming committee is reaching out to alumni is by having a Rising Runner ceremony where one person from each school on campus who has graduated within the last 10 years is nominated by a faculty member and invited back and recognized as a “Rising Runner.”
“A Rising Runner is someone who is doing great things in the community, somebody who has excelled in their career or personally,” said Poole.
This year’s Homecoming theme is “It’s good to be home.”
The theme was created with the aim to have alumni come home to CSUB.
“CSUB is for a lot of students, a home away from home,” said Poole. “They spend a lot of time here on campus, maybe just as much as they spend at home. So, ‘it’s good to be home’ is our statement saying come back, and it’s good to be back at CSUB.”
Something that is new and convenient for CSUB students is that for the first time students can vote for their Homecoming court online via the RunnerSync application.
Although paper voting will still be available at the Student Union, the opportunity to be able to vote from home and instead of coming to the Student Union is expected to be more convenient for students, expressed Poole.
In addition to the activities happening throughout Homecoming week, there are designated spirit days for both CSUB and Antelope Valley campus. CSUB’s spirit days will be all day from Feb. 25-26.
Campus Programming Coordinator Hilda Nieblas explained the role of the spirit scouts that will be going around campus for spirit days.
“We try to foster student spirit by having campus spirit days,” said Nieblas. “We will go around with a cart searching for students wearing blue, gold, or anything CSUB, and we will give you a foam finger, or other different prizes.”
The Homecoming court will consist of 28 candidates who will be competing for the positions of maid and squire for freshmen, duchess and duke for sophomores, princess and prince for juniors and queen and king for seniors. The Homecoming court candidate announcement, where the two finalists for king and queen and the Homecoming court winners will be revealed, will take place on Thursday Feb. 25.
The Homecoming king and queen will be crowned at the Homecoming CSUB men’s basketball game vs. Grand Canyon University, on Saturday Feb. 27.
The game will be followed by an “Alice in Wonderland” themed dance at the DoubleTree Hotel, located at 3100 Camino Del Rio Ct. Tickets cost $10 for students and $15 for guests.
The homecoming week festivities have been put together by the homecoming committee, in collaboration between different departments at CSUB.
“The best events that we have on campus are events that are collaborations,” said Nieblas. “And homecoming is a huge collaboration between many different departments on campus.”
