CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Homecoming Week 2014 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will take place Oct. 18 (Saturday) through Oct. 26 (Sunday).
The week begins with iHelp, an annual volunteer project that asks U. of I. students and alumni to work together in the name of Alma Mater. Volunteers pledge their service time online and are asked to send photos and videos of their activities.
A new Homecoming activity this year is a 5K run on Oct. 19, which starts at 8 a.m. at the U. of I. Arboretum. Sponsored by Greeks Supporting Homecoming, the Illini Union Board and Student Alumni Ambassadors, proceeds from the race will support the U. of I's Emergency Dean Fund.
The Homecoming Parade, set for 6 p.m. Oct. 24, begins at Sixth Street and Taft Drive, travels through Campustown, turns south on Mathews Avenue and ends at the Quad. This year's parade grand marshal is Kendall Gill, former Fighting Illini and NBA basketball star.
The Homecoming football game is (Saturday) Oct. 25 beginning at 11 a.m. against the University of Minnesota.
Descriptions of other special Homecoming events, like the Oct. 20 Lunch on the Quad and the Oct. 21 Mr. and Ms. U. of I. Pageant, can be found online.
One of the highlights of Homecoming Week is the acknowledgment of Illini Comeback guests, a group of distinguished alumni invited by the Alumni Association.
This year's Illini Comeback guests:
• Suheily Natal Davis, a 2004 broadcast journalism graduate, has been recognized twice as a "Rising Star" in the legal profession by Super Lawyers Magazine. She is on the global labor and employment team of McDonald's Corp., and has served on the board of directors for the Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago and the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois.
• James E. Schlueter, a 1980 print journalism graduate, serves on the College of Media's volunteer leadership board and Leadership Council, and has created the Schlueter Family Endowed Fund for Internships in Journalism. He is a former writer for the Daily Illini and currently serves as the director of technology communications at Boeing's Commercial Airplane Group in Chicago.
• Der-Tsai Lee, who in 1976 earned his master's degree and in 1978 earned a doctorate in computer science, is an accomplished computer scientist and president of National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan. In 1998, Lee became a distinguished research fellow with the Institute of Information Science. His research interests include the design and analysis of algorithms, software security digital libraries and bioinformatics.
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