Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 7, 2004 9:25:31 GMT -5
N.C. A&T Homecoming honors traditions, unites generations
10-7-04
By Jim Schlosser, Staff Writer
News & Record
Bring on the social psychologists. Let them explain the phenomenon that begins today -- Homecoming at N.C. A&T.
While many schools have abandoned parades as too much trouble, N.C. A&T’s Homecoming parade draws thousands to streets bordering the campus. This year’s will feature 139 entries. (Matthew Brown/©News & Record)
Other homecomings pale compared to A&T's. With due respect to Ringling Brothers, A&T now touts its event as "The Greatest Homecoming on Earth," an attraction so colossal the Greensboro Coliseum must be utilized for some events.
While making sure Homecoming stays in tune with the times, the university clings to some old traditions.
'Aggie Pride!' - List of homecoming events at Go Triad
Other schools long ago abandoned Homecoming parades as too much trouble and the selection of a Homecoming queen and court as too sexist.
Progress comes with pricetag
Not at A&T. Its parade on Saturday draws thousands to streets bordering the campus. This year will feature 139 entries, including floats students have worked on for months. Carl Baker, director of the Student Union and co-chair of the Homecoming committee, said he was still getting calls Wednesday from people wanting to enter the parade.
With apologies to no one, A&T, with great fanfare, still chooses a queen. This year's selection, Latiera Streeter, will be crowned tonight in Corbett Sports Center.
Sometime in the 1970s, people began declaring about Homecoming, "It just can't get any bigger and better than this." Those words get repeated every year.
Starting today, more than 40,000 alumni and non-alumni will begin arriving for four days in Aggieland. About 8,000 hotel rooms in the area are booked.
The white community used to view A&T's Homecoming as an event reserved for the African American community and paid little attention to it, especially during the segregation era when Homecoming activities were confined to Greensboro's predominantly black east side.
Homecoming remains an event attended mostly by African Americans, but merchants, restaurateurs and innkeepers of all races now eagerly embrace it for 12 million reasons. That's the latest dollar amount the university and the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau use to measure the jolt Homecoming gives the local economy.
"People are still calling for rooms and game tickets," says Harriet Davis, director of alumni relations at the university. "We are telling them they are all gone. They say, 'I'll be there anyway.' "
Vendors also keep calling. Davis says 33 vendors, who hawk souvenirs and clothes with the licensed Aggie logo, have been approved for business at the Sheraton Four Seasons, official hotel for Homecoming.
Dozens of other vendors will be selling food and other items in the War Memorial Stadium parking lot Friday afternoon and Saturday.
The secret to A&T's Homecoming may be its broad appeal.
"It's a community thing. It's more than A&T," says Mable Scott, vice chancellor for university relations.
Students who attend ACC schools and others attend A&T's Homecoming. Thousands who never went to college dress up in Aggie blue and gold for Homecoming.
They are drawn to A&T for the same reasons of pride that rank-and-file Catholics feel for Notre Dame, even if most have never been anywhere near South Bend, Ind.
Since its founding in 1891, A&T has ranked among the largest historically black universities in the South. African Americans identified with the school, mainly through its sports teams.
Other historically black universities also boast of spectacular homecomings, but A&T people say none comes close to theirs.
"It's bigger than life," Scott says.
She says Tom Joyner, host of ABC Radio's syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, visited Homecoming a few years ago and left proclaiming it the best he has attended.
Enthusiasm for extravaganzas often wanes with subsequent generations. What parents found exciting, their children find boring.
Not so with A&T's Homecoming. It unites generations who otherwise may have little in common.
Davis remembers as a little girl making the long trip each fall with her family from coastal Southport to Greensboro for homecoming.
Davis' father graduated from A&T in 1951. She found Homecoming as exciting as he did.
Her daughter graduated from A&T a few years ago and is now in graduate school at Howard University. She's en route today to -- where else? -- Greensboro for Homecoming.
"She acts like it's a major holiday," Davis says.
Who knows? Someday it might be.
The great thing about Davis' job is that Homecoming never ends. Come next week, she and the Homecoming committee will critique the 2004 event and start planning for 2005. They'll search for that something extra that can be added.
"We are always looking for something new," Davis says, "so alumni can keep on saying every year, 'It doesn't get any better than this.' ''
10-7-04
By Jim Schlosser, Staff Writer
News & Record
Bring on the social psychologists. Let them explain the phenomenon that begins today -- Homecoming at N.C. A&T.
While many schools have abandoned parades as too much trouble, N.C. A&T’s Homecoming parade draws thousands to streets bordering the campus. This year’s will feature 139 entries. (Matthew Brown/©News & Record)
Other homecomings pale compared to A&T's. With due respect to Ringling Brothers, A&T now touts its event as "The Greatest Homecoming on Earth," an attraction so colossal the Greensboro Coliseum must be utilized for some events.
While making sure Homecoming stays in tune with the times, the university clings to some old traditions.
'Aggie Pride!' - List of homecoming events at Go Triad
Other schools long ago abandoned Homecoming parades as too much trouble and the selection of a Homecoming queen and court as too sexist.
Progress comes with pricetag
Not at A&T. Its parade on Saturday draws thousands to streets bordering the campus. This year will feature 139 entries, including floats students have worked on for months. Carl Baker, director of the Student Union and co-chair of the Homecoming committee, said he was still getting calls Wednesday from people wanting to enter the parade.
With apologies to no one, A&T, with great fanfare, still chooses a queen. This year's selection, Latiera Streeter, will be crowned tonight in Corbett Sports Center.
Sometime in the 1970s, people began declaring about Homecoming, "It just can't get any bigger and better than this." Those words get repeated every year.
Starting today, more than 40,000 alumni and non-alumni will begin arriving for four days in Aggieland. About 8,000 hotel rooms in the area are booked.
The white community used to view A&T's Homecoming as an event reserved for the African American community and paid little attention to it, especially during the segregation era when Homecoming activities were confined to Greensboro's predominantly black east side.
Homecoming remains an event attended mostly by African Americans, but merchants, restaurateurs and innkeepers of all races now eagerly embrace it for 12 million reasons. That's the latest dollar amount the university and the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau use to measure the jolt Homecoming gives the local economy.
"People are still calling for rooms and game tickets," says Harriet Davis, director of alumni relations at the university. "We are telling them they are all gone. They say, 'I'll be there anyway.' "
Vendors also keep calling. Davis says 33 vendors, who hawk souvenirs and clothes with the licensed Aggie logo, have been approved for business at the Sheraton Four Seasons, official hotel for Homecoming.
Dozens of other vendors will be selling food and other items in the War Memorial Stadium parking lot Friday afternoon and Saturday.
The secret to A&T's Homecoming may be its broad appeal.
"It's a community thing. It's more than A&T," says Mable Scott, vice chancellor for university relations.
Students who attend ACC schools and others attend A&T's Homecoming. Thousands who never went to college dress up in Aggie blue and gold for Homecoming.
They are drawn to A&T for the same reasons of pride that rank-and-file Catholics feel for Notre Dame, even if most have never been anywhere near South Bend, Ind.
Since its founding in 1891, A&T has ranked among the largest historically black universities in the South. African Americans identified with the school, mainly through its sports teams.
Other historically black universities also boast of spectacular homecomings, but A&T people say none comes close to theirs.
"It's bigger than life," Scott says.
She says Tom Joyner, host of ABC Radio's syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, visited Homecoming a few years ago and left proclaiming it the best he has attended.
Enthusiasm for extravaganzas often wanes with subsequent generations. What parents found exciting, their children find boring.
Not so with A&T's Homecoming. It unites generations who otherwise may have little in common.
Davis remembers as a little girl making the long trip each fall with her family from coastal Southport to Greensboro for homecoming.
Davis' father graduated from A&T in 1951. She found Homecoming as exciting as he did.
Her daughter graduated from A&T a few years ago and is now in graduate school at Howard University. She's en route today to -- where else? -- Greensboro for Homecoming.
"She acts like it's a major holiday," Davis says.
Who knows? Someday it might be.
The great thing about Davis' job is that Homecoming never ends. Come next week, she and the Homecoming committee will critique the 2004 event and start planning for 2005. They'll search for that something extra that can be added.
"We are always looking for something new," Davis says, "so alumni can keep on saying every year, 'It doesn't get any better than this.' ''
