The Homecoming game, the banquets, Homecoming court — these are all small parts of a special alumni weekend at Cal Poly: Homecoming weekend.
Alumni reconnect with their roots
“As a college town with a location away from metropolitan areas, Homecoming is a very important opportunity for our alumni who do not live locally to come back to San Luis Obispo and relive college memories on-campus and in town,” Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman said. “As a campus, we want to engage those individuals and their families and welcome them back with open arms.”
Alumni can choose any weekend to come back to campus and reconnect with Cal Poly. However, Homecoming weekend is a popular choice.
“[Homecoming] is the weekend that is specifically devoted to them,” Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey said.
From Thursday to Sunday, alumni will be able to visit the Farmers’ Market, stop by the new Cal Poly Alumni Welcome Center, watch the Homecoming football game and even attend a brunch with
President Armstrong.
Uniting faculty, students and alumni
Not only is this weekend a unique opportunity for alumni to reconnect with Cal Poly, Homecoming weekend is an opportunity for current students to become more engaged with their university.
“[Students are able] to participate and attend events they otherwise may not, engage with our alumni, and enjoy a spirited and vibrant campus celebrating all it means to be a Mustang,” Oberhelman said.
Rekindling the relationships
“Former student athletes come back to campus and we get to catch up and hear updates on their lives, and connect on our common interest, in this case: athletics. Homecoming is more than the football game, it is a week-long festival that I hope invigorates the Mustang spirit in all of us,” Oberhelman said.
Homecoming holds incredible meaning, not only within the lives of alumni and students, but within Cal Poly’s own faculty. Oberhelman went further to describe his own homecoming experience at Cal Poly, illustrating how it has allowed him to reconnect with old friends over the years.