Annual Homecoming week to emphasize community service

In the spirit of tradition and giving back to the community, students will step up during this year’s Homecoming week to help those in need and make campus a more beautiful place for all.

Students will celebrate throughout the week leading up to the Badgers vs. Spartans Homecoming football game on Oct. 27, with time-honored traditions like “Yell Like Hell” and newer favorites, such as the air band competition and trivia night.

Alumni and the Madison community are invited to join in the festivities on Friday, Oct. 26, as the traditional UW Homecoming Parade winds through downtown Madison at 6 p.m. To find out about street closures and detours, click here.

Mollie Mockert, a fourth grader at Madison’s John Muir Elementary School, won this year’s annual Homecoming coloring contest and will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.

Homecoming events are organized by the UW Homecoming Committee, a student-run organization sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA). The 40-member committee plans this week of events for students, alumni and the Madison community.

“A special part of this year’s Homecoming is to see how students and alumni are showing their Badger spirit, while also thoughtfully giving back to their community and environment,” said Paula Bonner, WAA president and CEO, who earned her master’s degree at the UW in 1978.

Students kicked off Homecoming week on Sunday, Oct. 21, as teams and volunteers clean up green spaces on campus. Registration will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the WAA office at 650 N. Lake St.

In what the UW Homecoming Committee looks forward to becoming an annual tradition, students will also give back to those in need in southern Wisconsin during donation drives throughout the week for shoes, gently used clothes, and school supplies.

Students and members of the greater Madison community are also invited to donate to the Homecoming Food Drive, benefiting the Community Action Coalition (CAC) for South Central Wisconsin. Donation sites will be at Memorial Union, Union South, Madison Fresh Market, and Qdoba locations on State Street and North Park Street, where donations will earn complimentary chips and queso.

Members of the second class of the On Wisconsin Society will appear at student competition events as judges and moderators. The society honors high-achieving undergraduate students for the impacts they have made on the campus community. They will also be recognized on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Homecoming football game at Camp Randall.

Students will find more information about UW Homecoming week at uwhomecoming.com.

Students and alumni are invited to share their Homecoming experience through social media, on Twitter using hashtag #uwhc, and at uwalumni.com. Alumni will find more information about weekend activities at uwalumni.com/homecoming.