By: Tian Yang <[email protected]>

As Homecoming approaches this Friday, House finishes the last of its preparations for its first ever Alumni Tent during the Homecoming game. Speaker of the House David Joest said the tent will serve as a gesture of hospitality for the returning alumni during the Homecoming game.

“It gives them a place to congregate and have fun before and through halftime,” he said.

While in previous years the Senate has overseen alumni activities during Homecoming, none of its efforts have been as big as the Alumni Tent planned for Friday. According to Andrew Chernoff, House Cabinet member and senior, in the past years the organized activities for the alumni were reserved to a hospitality room in the stadium during the game. This year House, with the help of the Senate, wants to make the event as big as possible.

The activities inside the tent will include a meet-and-greet for the returning alumni and various games for alumni with children. There will also be a sign-in sheet with the graduation year for alumni to see who else from their class has come. Food and drinks will also be provided. Chernoff said it’s important to make the alumni feel welcome because Homecoming is just as much about them as it is about the students.

House sponsor Kathleen Overbeck echoed this sentiment. She said, “We tend to forget that Homecoming is about the alumni coming back, since it is about what students do.”

Although House doesn’t have an estimate of how many people will show up, Overbeck said they are hoping for a good turn out. She said that because this is the first year the Alumni Tent has been publicized, it may take a few years to establish, but it’s worth the effort.

Despite this, Chernoff has high hopes for the tent. “Hopefully it’s a start of a tradition,” he said.