Inspired by Americana and Route 66, the theme for Wayne State’s 2023 Homecoming is “Pit Stop in Wayne”.
The Spirit and Traditions Council is hosting a variety of events throughout the week, some of which have already taken place, while others will be occurring during the next few days.
The Coronation and Pep Rally for homecoming will take place on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Atrium.
The events for Friday, Oct. 6, include traffic cone decorating, Greek Olympics and a Wayne State volleyball game against Bemidji State at 6 p.m. The traffic cone decorating will take place in the Bluestem Room of the Student Center from 4 to 6 p.m., and Greek Olympics will be at 5 p.m. in the Willow Bowl.
The homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. will travel from 1st Street to the Willow Bowl. The football game will be at 1 p.m. that Saturday, and the Wildcats will go head to toe with Minnesota Duluth. Another Wayne State volleyball game, this time against Minnesota Crookston, will begin at 4 p.m.
On Monday, Spirit and Traditions hosted a “Campus Feud” in Ramsey Theatre, where students were invited to participate in a game show inspired by Family Feud. On Tuesday, students were given the opportunity to stop by the Student Center for “Make Your Own Trucker Hat”. The movie “Cars” played at the Planetarium on Wednesday in Carhartt Science Building.
Ivy Bogle, Student Activities Coordinator and advisor for Spirits and Traditions, started working for WSC in August. After quickly being thrown into the homecoming planning once she took the job position, Bogle has been taking everything in as it comes and enjoying all of the planning.
“It’s kind of funny to walk into a tradition as someone that’s never been apart of the tradition,” Bogle said. “It’s been a really good opportunity to form connections with people in the area and what matters to them.”
Erin Zulkoski, director of the Spirits and Traditions, has been on the council for 1.5 years. She particularly oversees anything involving Homecoming Royalty and all of the traditional events, such as the banner painting and parade.
“For homecoming court, I plan all of the interviews and sit in on them,” Zulkoski said. While Zulkoski enjoys the work she does, it comes with its own unique challenges, such as waiting for responses when planning events. Overall, it’s challenging to get students to come to the events Spirits and Traditions host.
“When it comes to planning the parade, I have to wait for everyone to submit their response before I can actually make the line up of the parade,” Zulkoski said. “Personally, I think that’s the most difficult part.”
Whatever challenges may come their way, Zulkoski always has something to look forward to at the end of the day during homecoming planning: picking out the crowns for the king and queen.
“I really enjoy getting to pick out stuff for the homecoming court,” Zulkoski said. “Like the crowns.”
