CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will celebrate its 94th annual Homecoming with a week of events from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31.
The week’s activities will include a kickoff celebration at Hessel Park in Champaign, a parade, and a lunch on the Quad featuring athletes and the Homecoming court. This year’s slogan is “Undeniably Illini.”
Event highlights:
Oct. 24 (Sunday)
Homecoming kickoff celebration, noon to 2 p.m at Hessel Park. This family-oriented event includes musical performances, the Marching Illini drum line, and fan competitions for prizes. Free food will be served to the first 500 people.
Illini Stride Homecoming 5k Run/Walk, 11 a.m. at Hessel Park. Register online at www.uiaa.org/urbana or on-site at 10 a.m. Fees are $10 prior to race and $15 the day of the race.
Oct. 25 (Monday)
Homecoming Volunteer Project, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Quad. Volunteers from a wide range of student organizations will make a mural representing cultural diversity on campus.
Oct. 26 (Tuesday)
Lunch on the Quad, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost: $5 per person or swipe of residence hall meal card. Event will feature live entertainment, U. of I. officials, athletes and the introduction of the Homecoming court.
Oct. 27 (Wednesday)
Build for Habitat for Humanity, all day between Everitt Laboratory and Engineering Hall. A shed will be built for the organization’s Homecoming float and later shipped to aHabitat site.
Illini Soccer vs. St. Louis at the Illini Soccer field at 7 p.m.
Oct. 29 (Friday)
Homecoming parade, 6-8 p.m. The parade starts at Sixth Street and Taft Drive in Champaign and travels through Campustown , turning South on Mathews Drive and ending at the Quad.
Homecoming pep rally, immediately following the parade on the Quad. Event features campus groups, U. of I. football players and a fireworks finale.
IUB Homecoming variety show, immediately following pep rally in Foellinger Auditorium. Student performers vie for prizes in several different categories. Cost: $5.
Oct. 30 (Saturday)
Illinois vs. Iowa football game, Memorial Stadium. Cost: $35 for main balcony tickets, $17 for horseshoe tickets. For tickets, call toll-free 866-ILLINI-1 or visit www.fightingillini.com.
IUB African-American Homecoming event, Foellinger Auditorium.
IUB African-American Homecoming dance, 10 p.m., Illini Union I Rooms. Tickets available at Illini Union Ticket Central or Assembly Hall.
Four distinguished alumni will return to campus as participants in Homecoming weekend. The Illini Comeback guests will meet with students from their colleges, discuss their professional experiences since leaving the U. of I., and participate in the parade and pep rally.
The guests:
• Mary Frances Fagan, College of Communications, 1976
Director of American Airlines’ public relations activities for Chicago, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., Fagan is a public relations specialist and former broadcast journalist. She has served as assistant press secretary to former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, as Springfield-based bureau chief for WUIS-FM and Illinois public radio stations, and as a reporter and news anchor for several radio and television stations.
• Bridget Later Lamont, library and information sciences, 1972
Member of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and vice chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences, Lamont began her career in 1972 working in the Champaign Public Library, which led her eventually to the directorship of the Illinois State Library.
• John David Mooney, College of Fine and Applied Arts, 1965
Internationally recognized for his large-scale, public sculptures, Mooney has created major sculptures and installations in Australia, Croatia, England, Italy and Malta. His most recent work, “Miami Wave,” will be installed at the Miami International Airport this spring.
• Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1968
Director of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, Whitehurst established the What Works Clearinghouse and initiated programs of research to answer pressing policy issues. He has served as U.S. assistant secretary for educational research, a professor of psychology and pediatrics, and chairman of the department of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
