Fall 2012

Getting Started

Come back for a Cytennial Homecoming celebration

Iowa State’s centennial Homecoming celebration is upon us.

For more than a year, Iowa State has been gearing up for this exciting milestone. Soon after last year’s Homecoming, a university/community committee was formed to bring together people representing a wide variety of campus and Ames interests. The meetings have been lively; no idea was judged to be too outrageous to help celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Homecoming. A butter Cy? Why not? (If it’s good enough for cows, it’s good enough for Cy.) Carnival rides for the kids? Sunday morning pancakes? An expanded pep rally? Let’s do it!

In the end, some of our ideas flew; others flopped. But believe me, there will be plenty for you to do when you come back to Iowa State on Oct. 26-27.

Central to every Homecoming celebration are student activities. Homecoming Central Committee has been active for decades, and this year is no exception. The 2012 committee, led by students Alicia Snyder and Morgan Foldes, has added special activities for the centennial celebration and put a new spin on a few old favorites.

To learn more about the history of this momentous event, senior journalism student Kayla Schantz of Washington, Iowa, spent months in the University Archives and sifting through our own collection of Bomb yearbooks. (Kayla was an intern in our alumni communications office last year.) Some of what she learned about Homecomings of yore was fairly routine. Much of it was colorful, and some of it was downright funny.

“We collected mounds of lumber, nails, bolts, gears, and chicken wire and transformed them by means of detailed diagrams into creatures that waved, squealed, wobbled, or wailed,” said one 1950s lawn display participant in the Bomb.

About the now-defunct pajama relay, the Bomb reported: “Checked, plaid, polkadot, and striped pajamas flashed the grandstand. The girls laugh and the men swear at the
pajama relays.”

Read more about what she found in the story that begins on page 10 and even more on our website: www.isualum.org/homecoming2012.

One thing that I think is especially cool about this year’s Homecoming is the level of community involvement. Much of it is behind the scenes, such as the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau purchasing banners to line University Boulevard. Some of it will be obvious when you return to Ames, such as the Main Street decorations, pancake breakfast, and special discounts around town. This Ames community is totally rallying around this special Iowa State event.

Lots of reunions are being planned for Homecoming; Homecoming Central Committee, Alumni Band, Football Letterwinners, and the Catt Center are just a few. If you would like to get together with your residence floor, intramural team, or academic buddies, contact Katie Lickteig in our office (kbruxvoo@iastate.edu). If it’s a Greek organization you’d like to get together, contact Jenn Plagman-Galvin (jpgalvin@iastate.edu), director of Greek affairs in the dean of students office. Groups are welcome to gather
at the Alumni Center on Friday night of Homecoming to take in all the festivities.

To see some of the activities the campus and community have planned for you, take a look at the schedule on page 19. But events will continue to be added after our magazine deadline has passed, so check our website often: www.isualum.org/homecoming2012.

And then don’t forget to COME BACK, for crying out loud! 

About the Writer | Carole Gieseke is the editor of VISIONS

Fall 2012

COVER STORY:

A Cytennial Homecoming celebration

FEATURES:

Motherland
How high can he fly?

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Homecoming Honors & Awards

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VISIONS

Editor: Carole Gieseke
Associate Editor: Kate Bruns
Photography: Jim Heemstra
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Web Design: Kate Bruns
Editorial Assistant: Karen Good

VISIONS magazine is published in January, April, July, and September for members of the Iowa State University Alumni Association, Copyright 2012 by the ISU Alumni Association, Jeffery W. Johnson, president and publisher. Send letters, inquiries, and updates to cgieseke@iastate.edu.