Plans are in motion for an overhaul of next fall’s Homecoming week.
According to Student Body President Kyle Malinowski, the goal of Homecoming is to spur school spirit.
“One thing we are doing a little differently this year is to get all the groups involved in one room together at a meeting,” he said. “If this is going to be a Bradley Homecoming, then it needs to be a Bradley effort.”
Malinowski said the student end of the project has been very productive.
“We want to create a homecoming like Welcome Week, where there are staple activities that people can look forward to,” he said. “We want something that’s not just a greek thing or a residence hall thing. We want student body events.”
Malinowski said another hopeful change to the Homecoming setup will be more noticeable decorations.
“There shouldn’t just be decorations,” he said. “If it’s homecoming, the campus should practically be painted red. There should be red banners and red ribbons everywhere.”
Malinowski said the toughest challenge is getting the student body interested in Homecoming.
“We have to figure out ways to communicate with the student body and get them involved,” he said. “We also face challenges like the weather and timing. Next year’s challenge is that Homecoming is the week after fall break, but we’re going to try to decorate the school in red so that when students come back it really makes an impact.”
Freshman industrial engineering major Anna Jennings said she thought this year’s Homecoming was disappointing.
“I didn’t go to many activities because I didn’t really know what was planned,” she said. “I didn’t think anything was very memorable. I think Welcome Week was more fun, and it involved all the students a lot more.”
Director of Student Activities Michelle Whited said there are plenty of ideas prepared, but they are very different from years in the past.
“One thing that will change next year is that there won’t be a theme, like the Fiesta de Bradley,” she said. “The theme will be Homecoming, and that way we won’t have to make the activities fit a theme.”
Whited said some of the activities on the agenda maybe be a barbeque on the quad, a graffiti competition and a campus-wide effort to break a world record.
“We want to get students and alums together and have one big event,” she said. “We want to grow school spirit.”
Whited and Malinowski both said they think that in order to have a memorable Homecoming, students have to be willing to show some support.
“Homecoming is a great week for the students to give back to Bradley rather than Bradley giving to the students,” Malinowski said. “I’m not going to come back to Bradley as an alum because of the buildings. Students come back because of the people they met and the experiences they had.”
He said in order for Homecoming to be the unforgettable event students are hoping for, they need to participate and show their pride.
“We want Homecoming to be something students remember, and hopefully draws them back to the school,” Malinowski said. “But Homecoming is not going to improve unless the student body makes a commitment to make it better.”