We’ve got spirit! Yes, we do!

Or do we?

With no official mascot, a not-so-successful football team with an often depleted student fan section to accompany it, and a campus community divided on multiple major campus-related issues this year, it seems we don’t. The University is missing some key essentials for creating a unified, spirited environment for this year’s Homecoming.  

And if you ask us, that’s a problem. We are a flagship institution. We are a member of the Big Ten. We have over 100 years of Homecoming history. We are the Fighting Illini, and we should be loud and proud about it. 

As such, we would like to recognize some aspects of Homecoming that the campus community ought to acknowledge and celebrate this week to encourage some of that pride and pep.

Return of alumni

As current students at the University, we think of campus as our stomping grounds. We know where all the best food venues are, we know which buses take us where, we know the difference between “Senior Land,” “Frat Park” and the “Six Pack,” and we all still cannot fully navigate our way around the Armory. However, our college home now has been home to thousands and thousands of students before us, many of which return this week to pay tribute to our Alma Mater. And just like Alma, we must welcome them back with open arms and show them that we are maintaining the University’s high standard of students. While campus town has changed quite a bit over the years, the success and integrity of students has not, and not only should we hold as much excitement and enthusiasm for our school as those before us have, but we need to demonstrate that to our returning alumni. 

Sport your orange and blue

Nothing screams “Illinois” quite like the loud shade of orange that permeates the campus on any major game day. It’s a certain shade of orange that can only be indicative of our University, and, as such, we should most definitely take advantage of wearing this color around Champaign-Urbana, where it’s accepted and understood. This is not to downplay our regal shade of blue, but there is just something about that orange that makes a statement. This week, there are two Homecoming events that provide just the right outlet to sport your University-themed T-shirts and other Illini gear. Tomorrow is appropriately titled Spirit Day, where students are encouraged to “show [their] Illini spirit,” and it is also Wear Orange Wednesday. Naturally, students can kill two birds with one stone tomorrow by donning their Illinois orange and blue to show just how much they love this campus. 

Watch Some Illini Football

Let’s face it, the gridiron prospects do not look rosy for the Orange and Blue this season. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun — head to Memorial Stadium and enjoy the game anyway. Illini Football is more than a game. It’s about singing “Hail to the Orange” at halftime, participating in those quirky, but fun, stadium cheers, and forking out the dough to pay for game day hot dogs, pretzels and fake cheese. The game is about sticking through it all with the rest of Illini nation through thick and thin. It’s about getting there early to tailgate with your friends. It’s about making memories and showing your support for the University —  matters that outlast the trivial score of any one game. We love football and we love the Fighting Illini, so let’s prove it — preferably by filling up the Block I student section, please.

Aside from these more obvious ways to demonstrate school pride and spirit, Homecoming week consists of an abundance of other activities for the campus community. These include celebrations among different colleges, several award banquets honoring alumni, the Illini Block Party, Homecoming Parade, a pep rally and more fun than we can list in a single sentence. Ultimately, this is the week when the University can really show its true colors — and we mean that both literally and figuratively. 

Despite any divisions or disagreements that have occurred on campus this year, or the fact that we may often get frustrated with the football scoreboard, or even the fact that we still don’t have a mascot, Homecoming is a time of unity. We are one community, and we should act like it. As for our returning alumni, to rephrase Alma: To thy happy children of the past, those of the present send greetings.