By CONRAD SCOVILLE
At Dartmouth, Homecoming is a tradition-filled weekend for students, alumni and the greater Hanover community. Other Ivy League schools, however, take a significantly different approach to their Homecoming celebrations, favoring tailgating and student performances over bonfires.
Brown University's annual Homecoming game-related celebrations are not very extensive, according to Renee Bolden, administrative assistant of Alumni events at Brown.
Bolden said the Homecoming events are centered around the game itself, while Brown has separate Fall Weekend celebrations for alumni, which are not fully incorporated with Homecoming.
Homecoming events at Brown tend to lack widespread student involvement, according to Cassie Rogg, a senior at Brown.
"It's pretty significant for all the frats and the athletic teams, but otherwise students don't really hear about it," she said.
The Alumni Association at Brown makes tickets to the Homecoming game available for alumni but only student leaders are invited to a handful of Fall Weekend events. Bolden said alumni and students, however, do not otherwise participate in a joint event -- as Dartmouth students and alumni do at the bonfire. Brown's events nevertheless see a significant alumni turnout, with 250 to 300 alumni returning for its Fall Weekend festivities.
Princeton University's Homecoming game alternates between Harvard University and Yale University, Elizabeth Greenberg, assistant director of regional affairs for the Princeton Alumni Association, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. This year's game, against Harvard, will be played on October 25.
Alumni and students at Princeton come together before the game in the gym for a large lunch event, Greenberg said, with as many as 1,000 alumni and family members in attendance. Countless others also tailgate around the stadium.
The Harvard-Yale game takes a prominent position on the Harvard sports calendar, but there is no official Homecoming celebration, according to Kurt Svoboda, athletic communications director at Harvard.
Homecoming at the University of Pennsylvania is seen as a large student and alumni occasion, as several events are planned around the weekend, according to the Penn Alumni Association web site, including a gala, concerts and a charity walk/run.
Penn first-year student Ryan Brush acknowledged that the weekend, scheduled from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, may not be as widely known among all incoming students as are similar events at Dartmouth, but the weekend still has a large student and alumni following.
In comparison to other schools in the Ivy League, Cornell University's Homecoming celebrations bear the most resemblance to Dartmouth's Homecoming weekend, Cynthia Golos, alumni officer at Cornell, said.
Homecoming is the second largest weekend for Cornell alumni to return to campus, Golos said, after the university's Alumni Reunion weekend. Many visitors attend events such as student a capella concerts or go to local hotspots in the town of Ithaca, she added.
Their weekend also involves a long tradition of tailgating, with more than 400 alumni taking part in a free tailgate set up before the Homecoming football game, she said, in addition to individual classes of alumni hosting their own tailgating parties during the weekend.
"Tailgating is a huge tradition," Golos said. "It's a great time for the Cornell community to come together."
