Homecoming nostalgia and traditions endure
n a dignified office, Chancellor Robert Hemenway sat perceptively and eagerly responded to my questions.
Hemenway, with a twinkle of recollection is his eye, painted a picture of strong tradition, good football and high spirits as he recalled last year's homecoming.
"KU is a place of strong traditions; homecoming is one of the strongest of these traditions. It really means something at KU," Hemenway said. "Other schools have homecoming, and they don't necessarily have that many people come back to campus. At KU, it really is a time when the University connects with itself every year."
It's amazing to think that just last year Hemenway looked forward to homecoming through the eyes of a freshman. Spoken with the wisdom of the ages, Hemenway encourages new students to enjoy homecoming — to observe and appreciate the living traditions placed before them.
"Above all, talk to some of the older ones who are returning to campus. Ask them about their experiences at KU," Hemenway said.
And that's what I did. Tape recorder in hand, I searched for history. Students spoke of freezing temperatures, football games and the homecoming parade.
Laura Vrache, Tulsa, Okla., junior, worked on a prize-winning float her freshman year. She had the opportunity to put the float together and to see it come alive. Other students' memories included memories of past homecoming games and waving the wheat.
Hemenway's insistence that University traditions still are alive was justified with every student I spoke to.
As we look toward the homecoming activities, bear in mind that
all students are coming home. As Hemenway meets alumni at the Chancellor's Club reception and watches the parade, students breathe in the past and live the present. The younger generation will remind the older of a time when their future was before them, and KU stood waiting ... just as it does for us.
The exchange of energy being passed to us from those who have been where we are now will enable us to do the same for those to come. One day we will look back, and the baby-faced students of the future will remind us of how we are now. We will be the carriers of loyalty, spirit and pride. As voices of tradition, we will return and live the traditions we learned.
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A Rock Chalk Welcome to students, families, faculty and SAA alumni for
Homecoming '96.
We will strive to transmit this, our beloved University, not only, not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.
October 17,1996 The Hill
Homecoming
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