The most alive you’ll ever see Langston’s campus is during Homecoming. Family, friends and Alumni come from all over the country to reunite with the community and enjoy a weekend of football, music, events and good food. Traditionally, Homecoming weekend is supposed to highlight the Alumni and community from the past, but fortunately for current students, on campus events usually begin the week before the Saturday Homecoming game.
I’m going to warn you, people do tend to go all out with new hairstyles, clothes and accessories for Homecoming week. That being said, there is absolutely no pressure to buy a whole new wardrobe just for one week. Wear what is most comfortable to you and makes you feel your best. But on the other hand, if you want to dress up and make custom little outfits and bags and all that, don’t feel nervous, there will be plenty of people doing the exact same thing. Afterall, Homecoming is supposed to be about celebrating the community and meeting new people, so just be yourself and have fun.
Homecoming week is planned by the Student Life Administration and the Student Government Association’s Activities Board. Typically, administration will help plan the more traditional events that take place annually, while the activities board will decide the rest of the events and activities they want to do for that year. The activities coordinator does have to stick to a strict budget decided by the head administrators, the budget allows for anywhere between 1-3 events everyday leading up to Saturday’s game.
As I mentioned before, Langston does have a few Homecoming traditions that you should expect to take place every year. The first of those being the Gospel concert. To kickstart homecoming week, the Sunday before the school week begins, there is always a large Gospel concert held in the I.W. Young auditorium. This is a free concert open to everyone to attend, but this isn’t the only concert that happens during the week. Although it’s not free, there will be a Homecoming headlining artist that will perform on campus during the middle of the week. Students are asked to pay a small ticket fee to cover costs such as stage set up, lights and speaker equipment. Then after the homecoming game, there will be another free concert happening at the Tailgate right outside the stadium. No tickets or wristbands are necessary.
Other traditional events include the Greek step show. This event highlights all of the Divine9 organizations on campus as they compete against one another with individual step dance routines. This is one of the most popular events of the week so make sure you get your tickets early as seats will fill up fast. Lastly, there is always the alumni brunch the Sunday after the Homecoming game. Brunch is often seen as a last hurrah and place to see friends and family one last time before people start to head home. Again, you might want to get there a little early because there will be a lot of people there and the wait for food will get increasingly longer as the afternoon goes by.
The rest of the week’s events are determined by the activities coordinator, so there’s going to be different activities being held almost every year. Some of the events they’ve held in the past include, a fashion show, block party, campus wide water fight, white t-shirt party, karaoke night, escape rooms, cook outs, field day party’s, etc…
The events leading up to Saturday are always fun to check out, but the real fun begins on Homecoming day. Usually the game won’t start until anywhere between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., but there will be plenty to do while you wait for kickoff. Early that morning, there will be a parade that starts over by the Langston City Post Office and goes through the south side of campus. The parade will highlight people, students, family and organizations that love and support the school. For example, you’ll have the officers of each Student organization and official clubs, Greek and University pageant winners, local secondary school dance teams and bands, as well as all of Langston’s Band members, dance teams and cheerleaders. Normally, you’ll see people wake up early to go to the parade, then head back home for a bit to finish getting ready for the day before heading out to the tailgate.
In regards to the tailgate, people will often camp out the night before to claim their spot in the parking lot in front of the football stadium. That parking lot is where the main part of the tailgate always is. Also in the surrounding area, there will be food trucks, as well as dessert and drink trucks parked outside the tennis courts behind the Multipurpose building. You can find things like, lemonades, specialty drinks, mini cakes, soul food, barbeque, common concessions, and more from the food trucks and stands alongside the tailgate. Besides food, there is always pop-ups and small business stands set up on the tennis courts. Usually after around 10 a.m. people selling items such as custom Langston University merch, vintage clothing, collectors’ items, waist beads, hats, accessories, and baked goods will start to set up shop. Although most people will have card reader apps or utilize Venmo, Cashapp or Zelle, it is still a good idea to carry around some cash.
Despite whether you are the biggest football fan or not, the Homecoming game is always fun to watch even if it’s just for a little bit. Langston’s football team always puts up a good fight when it comes to the Homecoming game. Some could argue that it’s usually the best game play you’ll see from the team all year as adrenaline is running just as high as the headcount in that Stadium come kickoff. Speaking of headcount, this is probably the most packed out you will ever see the stadium besides graduation. Remember that thousands of people come out on Saturday, so if you want a seat to watch the game, you might want to enter the stadium within the two hours before the game. If you can’t, don’t be surprised if the only places you can get in are the tunnel entrances or the bleacher rows at the very top of the stadium.
The part that everybody looks forward to is the Homecoming halftime show. It goes without saying that Langston University’s band is one of the best in the state. Homecoming is one of their biggest showings of the year, so they tend to show off a bit. But it’s not only the band, it’s also the drum majors, the dance teams and the cheerleaders are all giving the performance of the year. And then when all that is said and done there is the alumni soul train. Toward the end of the show, you’ll see lines of former drum majors, dance team members and cheerleaders all make their way down the length of the stadium. With the current team members leading them off, all of the alumni participants show off the skills they’ve retained from all these years.
Ultimately, Homecoming is supposed to relieve some stress and allow you to have fun with your friends and loved ones. But please do not neglect your school responsibilities. The school week doesn’t stop just because it’s Homecoming, so make sure you’re taking care of business so you can have a care-free time while enjoying the events taking place. Most importantly, have fun, be safe and Go Lions!
Sasha Ndisabiye
Sasha Ndisabiye is a 2024 graduate of Langston University with a degree in broadcast journalism. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief of The Gazette.
