Nutter Center | Photograph: Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
After many years of celebration and unity between present students and alumni, Wright State University’s Homecoming transitions from the fall season to the brisk winter.
What is Homecoming?
Each fall season, WSU’s Homecoming invites all alumni back to campus to connect and celebrate with current students, according to WSU associate athletic director Brandon Hays.
“It’s an opportunity to invite alumni back to campus and improve relationships, or build relationships, with our alumni and is also an opportunity for our students to celebrate school spirit,” director of the Student Union and campus recreation Eric Corbitt said.
Homecoming allows students to get involved on campus and connect with others through various events while simultaneously supporting the university and its sports.
The change to winter
Homecoming centers around a series of sporting events in order to heighten participation and bring anyone connected to WSU together; according to Corbitt, Homecoming used to be centered around basketball, though since the early 2000s, there had been a focus on the university’s soccer programs.
“We weren’t getting a ton of participation, and over the years, it evolved. I think the pandemic gave us an opportunity to relook at it,” Corbitt said.
Due to the lack of participation, a few departments and organizations came together to pitch the idea of switching the favored event to the winter season to be centered around the university’s popular basketball games.
“It was led by alumni and athletics, but there were several other groups involved, all the way from marketing and communications on campus, student engagement, there were so many groups at the table,” Hays said.
According to Hays, basketball is the highest attended sport for WSU’s home games, so the move to winter made sense, regardless of its challenges.
The associate director clarified that Homecoming will be held Jan. 23 through Jan. 28, the latter of which includes a men’s basketball game against Green Bay at 7 p.m. in the Nutter Center.
According to WSU senior and involvement mentor of Student Involvement and Leadership Chauncey Collins, due to the weather, many of the events may likely be held indoors.
Other than the games in the Nutter Center, most events during the week of Homecoming will be held on the academic core of campus, such as the Student Union, according to Corbitt.
“There’s really nothing we did in the fall that we couldn’t do in January, even though it’s winter. So, it’s an opportunity to kind of reframe it again, try something new and really highlight our biggest sport,” Corbitt said.
Anyone can participate, and all students, organizations, faculty and staff are encouraged to get involved in the events and attend the basketball games.
For more Homecoming information and ticket purchasing options, visit the WSU Homecoming webpage.
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