CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2013 Homecoming week at the University of Illinois will take place Oct. 18 (Friday) through Oct. 26 (Saturday).
The week kicks off with iHelp, an annual volunteer project that asks U. of I. students and alumni to work together in the name of Alma Mater. The program was created in 2006 by the Student Alumni Ambassadors. Volunteers are asked to pledge their service time online and to send photos and videos of their activities. This year's iHelp will be from 3-6 p.m. Oct. 18.
Other activities - including a pumpkin carving contest, a barbecue and bags tournament, and the pep rally and homecoming parade - are described online.
Every year, the Alumni Association invites a group of distinguished alumni to Homecoming. This year's Illini Comeback guests:
Jeffrey D. Breslow, a 1965 graduate in industrial design, is the former president and CEO of Big Monster Toys, one of the world's largest independent toy design studios. Now a sculptor, Breslow has created a granite and steel sculpture in honor of his mentor, Edward Zagorski, a professor emeritus of industrial design. The sculpture will be dedicated on campus Oct. 26.
Col. Michael S. McBride, a 1984 graduate in political science, is a 27-year-veteran of the U.S. Army infantry. He was in the Army ROTC program at the U. of I. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq and has received the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster and the Bronze Star. Since retiring in 2011, McBride is working on a master's degree in education at the U. of I.
Tonise Paul, the president and CEO of Energy BBDO and a director of BBDO Worldwide, earned a bachelor's degree in 1979 and a master's degree in 1980, both in advertising. Winner of numerous honors, including Advertising Woman of the Year, given by the Women's Advertising Club of Chicago, Paul serves on the James Webb Young executive board in the U. of I. College of Media, as well as on the boards of a number of business organizations.
The winner of the Lou Liay Spirit Award is Edwin C. Lennox III, who earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1990, a master's in general engineering in 1992 and a master's in electrical engineering in 1997. The award recognizes extraordinary loyalty, commitment, dedication and service to the Alumni Association and related groups. Lennox has served as chairman of the Alumni Association's Campus Alumni Advisory Board as well as the president of the Chicago Illini Club.
The grand marshal of the homecoming parade will be Judi Ford Nash, of Geneseo, Ill. She won the Miss America pageant in 1969 and graduated from the U. of I. College of Applied Health Sciences in 1973.
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