Culture | October 19th, 2018

Homecoming Edition: Why is Homecoming Always so Early?

By: Journey Staff

“Isn’t homecoming kind of early this year?” a buzzing question that always seems to find its way into conversation for the first few months of the school year.

Each year students make the same claim that homecoming is getting earlier and earlier, but taking a look at the facts, in actuality the date has remained in roughly the same timespan for the past ten years.

A closer look: A breakdown of the dates of homecoming over the last decade.

Though few students have really taken the time to question who calls the shots on the date of homecoming, the answer may surprise some (spoiler: it’s not up anyone in SGA, the Royal Court or even the University President).

The decision making process comes solely from Florida A&M University’s football schedule and how it aligns with the MEAC Conference. Ultimately, the decision on when homecoming will take place comes down to a select group involved with football and activity planning.

“Homecoming is a collaborative effort in terms of date,”  said FAMU Associate Director of Collegiate Athletics, Kelvin Rosier. “Traditionally it’s between the first week of october and the third week of october. Depending on our schedule it’s conference games and conference sets our schedules.”

Homecoming being in the first week of October this year seemed abruptly placed since school had only been in session for five weeks. But, the main concern for most students was getting outfits and tickets for all the events. It’s true that the ‘pop out prep’ is truly the most laborious part of the whole week.

Nevertheless, students, alumni and locals come out in large numbers to celebrate homecoming week and attend the football game. No matter the date or how early in the school year homecoming is Rattlers continue to showcase their FAMU pride.

“There’s a lot of excitement and it shows in our our season tickets and our attendants,” Rosier added. “The investment were making in the facilities give our team and our coaches an opportunity to showcase division one facilities. And have an opportunity to compete at the highest level and be successful

Infographic & Words by Aiyana Ishmael