Rescheduling School Spirit: CSU’s Homecoming Parade Moves to Friday

Colorado State University’s homecoming parade will march in a new direction tomorrow, both figuratively and literally, in an effort to get more students involved.

With student participation at a continual decline, organizers decided it was time to take action.

Matt Helmer, director of CSU events, said the steering committee took a more strategic approach in planning the annual event. He said the group started evaluating where overlaps in events existed and where improvements could be made.

“The parade is an area that was certainly noticed,” Helmer said. “CSU’s participation was drastically dropping. It was getting to the point of being nonexistent.”

In addition, the parade had lingered on for the better part of two and a half hours in recent years. The route was shortened and instead of going around the campus, now cuts straight through—something Helmer said automatically strengthens the connection to the university.

The biggest change though, is that the parade will be on Friday night instead of Saturday morning.

“You often hear what’s wrong without having someone tell you how to make it right,” Helmer said. “We’ve heard for years that it was too early on Saturday morning. It was competing with the race, tailgating and RamTown.”

Moving the parade to Friday night was an idea proposed by CSU students. Before this year, the parade was averaging about 10 or fewer CSU student entries. This year, that has spiked to 27. Some guidelines were tightened and the total number of entries was limited to shorten the length of time to 90 minutes. Last year, there were about 160 total entries. This year there will be about 80.

“This was the first step in a long-term vision of the celebration, and I think it’s a positive step,” Helmer said.

But like all first steps, the move is likely to be a little wobbly at first. Though the parade has a long tradition of being a community event, some longtime community members were greatly impacted by the change. Poudre School District, which has collaborated on the parade with CSU and the city of Fort Collins since 1994, will not have the same participation as in the past. There are only seven entries from PSD, but last year there were more than 30.

“It’s always been a good opportunity for kids to work with teachers and parent groups to build floats,” said Sandi Martin, PSD athletic coordinator. “It’s been a fun and exciting time for them. I’m sure there is disappointment. They can not participate. I’m disappointed, but my disappointment is for the kids.”

Martin said the new day significantly hinders the district’s ability to participate for many reasons. First of all, transportation becomes an issue, she said. Because the parade starts at 5 p.m., school buses are unable to transport kids to the parade. Another issue is that groups need to be at the staging area at least an hour and a half before the parade starts, and most schools do not get out until 3 or 3:30 p.m. On top of that, PSD has several other conflicting events on Friday night including a football game between Rocky Mountain High School and Poudre High School, which was scheduled a year in advance. This means the high school marching bands will not be participating in the parade.

“Unfortunately, the bands are not participating, and we are very sad about that,” Helmer said. “Some can’t because of football commitments that night and others chose not to. I’m hopeful given more time to plan, they will be able to participate in future years.”

Helmer said making the move has been a balancing act and that there is more work to be done. He said he is looking forward to debriefing after the event, and looking at how to make it even better next year.

Jennifer Macias, president of CSU’s Multicultural Greek Council and a second year grad student, said having the parade on Fridays makes it a little more challenging for students who have classes until 3 or 4 p.m., but she understands why the university changed it.

This will be the second year the Multicultural Greek Council will participate in the parade. Instead of building a traditional float, the group is doing a fashion show. Each of the seven organizations of the Multicultural Greek Council will design outfits using only recyclable items.

“The reason is we didn’t want to do a float with a big trailer where the only way to pull it is a big car,” Macias said. “We are going with the theme of ‘go green’ and are walking and riding bikes.”

Kimmer Tennant, co-president of CSU’s Student Alumni Connection, said she’s heard from other students that having the parade on Friday frees up more time for other events on Saturday.

“We are increasing the time of homecoming, by adding a Friday night event,” she said. “We can space events out instead of having them back to back.”

Tennant said for her group, the move makes it possible for them to participate in float building. In the past, SAC hosted a pancake breakfast for alumni on Saturday morning before the parade. Though she will miss the pancake breakfast, building a float will become a new tradition for her organization. She said the group is still discussing the option of having a pancake breakfast at another time.

“It’s important that we have a parade,” Kimmer said. “It’s a tradition and we want to make sure these traditions continue, and we help out every way we can.”

Homecoming Schedule Thursday, Oct. 9 Volleyball game—CSU vs. TCU 7 p.m. at Moby Arena. Admission is free for students with a student ID (at the door). General admission is $5. Friday, Oct. 10 Bike to Class and Work Day Friday is bike to class and work day. Stop by the Lory Student Center Plaza for coffee and donuts starting at 8 p.m. Homecoming Parade 5-6:30 p.m. The parade starts at the intersection of Howes Street and Mountain Avenue. It continues through the heart of campus with the theme: “It is Easy Being Green.” Homecoming Festival 6:30 - 9 p.m. at University and Meridian avenues. The Homecoming Pep Rally will feature Head Coach Steve Fairchild and members of the team, and will be followed by music, games, food and more. The celebration will wrap up with the annual bonfire, fireworks show and the lighting of the “A”. Saturday, Oct. 11 Homecoming 5K Race 8-9:15 a.m., starting at the CSU Oval. Race is open to all families, alumni and community members. A Kid’s Run will follow. Late registration by 5 p.m. on Oct. 10 is $25. Race Day registration is $30. Ram Town 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Hughes Stadium. Located just south of the team tunnel entrance, RamTown opens three hours prior to kickoff. Enjoy inflatable games, amusements, and free entertainment. CSU Alumni Association Homecoming & Family Weekend Tailgate 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Hughes Stadium. Enjoy a traditional tailgate with visits by Cam the Ram, CSU pep band and cheer squads. Cost is $10 per person/CSU Alumni Association members; $15 per person/CSUAA non-members. Registration is required. Homecoming Football Game 1:30 p.m. at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. The Rams face off against Mountain West Conference foe TCU. Tickets are available through the Department of Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800/491-RAMS or online at CSURams.com. Sunday, Oct. 12 Hike to the "A" 9 a.m. - noon, meet at Hughes Stadium. The easy trail hike is about 2.5 miles round-trip. RAMFAM Association Meeting 10 a.m.-noon in room 224-2006 of the Lory Student Center. All parents and families of current CSU students are members of the RAMFAM Association, and are invited to join the discussion focused on supporting students, their families, and Colorado State. Volleyball game – CSU vs. New Mexico 1 p.m. at Moby Arena. Special ticket package includes game ticket, a beverage and a hot dog or pretzel at the game. ($5 per person.) Tickets are available through the Department of Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800/491-RAMS or online at CSURams.com. For a complete schedule of events and registration information, visit http://homecoming.colostate.edu.