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Homecoming
Finding the meaning and origins of 'homecoming' is like solving a mystery
SEARCHING FOR THE ORIGINS OF COLLEGE homecomings in Watson Library can be both frustrating and strange.
The card catalog sends the searcher to the dungeon of Watson's stacks where the antique books are kept. The one book that seems to promise facts on the traditions of homecoming instead tells wild tales of werewolves and witchcraft.
Even the committee that developed the first homecoming program at KU have forgotten why the custom was adopted here.
In 1911, the University of Illinois apparently was the first school in the Midwest to adopt the tradition, and KU soon followed.
The first homecoming on record at the University was held Nov. 23, 1912. The Jayhawks defeated the University of Missouri 12-3.
University Archives reveal that the celebration grew out of the "big football game," that in the past was played against KU's fiercest rivals, the universities of Missouri and Nebraska. About this time, other universities throughout the nation
began to tack the homecoming title onto their biggest football games of the year.
Although some KU students and faculty know what homecoming is, the origin of the annual celebration seems shrouded in mystery.
Nobody seems to know exactly where the tradition comes from. The topic of homecoming can't even be found in an encyclopedia, much less the library. One might expect to find homecoming listed in the World Book Encyclopedia between the 'Lord Home' and 'Home Economics' entries, but it is not. The Random House Dictionary defines homecoming as an annual event held by a university for visiting alumni.
Not all KU students and faculty know the origin of homecoming, but everyone seems to have an idea on its meaning and purpose. So what is homecoming all about? Everyone seems to have a very similar question.
Herbert Hungerford, a member of KU's entomology department faculty during the 1930s and '40s, thought homecoming was important, so he revived the tradition
home·com·ing
n. 1.A return home. 2.In some colleges, an annual celebration for visiting alumni.
The American Heritage Dictionary
at KU after its brief one-year lapse during World War I. Hungerford said he believed that homecoming was about football and reunions.
"To this game were invited all the old timers among the athletes and other alumni," Hungerford had said in a published interview.
Some KU students today feel as Hungerford did—that homecoming is about reuniting with alumni and celebrating traditions.
"It's a chance for alumni and friends to re-experience their college years and for students to create memories for the future," said Amy Ross, Wichita senior.
E. H. Lindley, who was KU's chancellor from 1921 to 1939, had the same feeling. In 1935, Lindley wrote in The University of Kansas Newsletter that homecoming was a special time for alumni and friends to gather at the University.
Not everyone at the University takes homecoming's meaning seriously or even cares where the idea came from.
"I think Homecoming is about school spirit, meeting new people, and most importantly, taking a break in the middle of the semester," said Molly Meschke, Garden City sophomore.
—BY BRANDY CHEWNING
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Homecoming
Hill October 11,1995