Golden Hawks everywhere have spent all year looking forward to this upcoming weekend’s Homecoming and Wilfrid Laurier University’s Students’ Union is no exception.
The Students’ Union and university administration have been meeting for months in order to plan out communications leading up to and including Homecoming weekend to ensure that both parties have a say in the messages being broadcasted to students.
“Homecoming is one heck of a weekend and I know it’s going to be enjoyed by all, but of course there’s also safety precautions we want to take,” said Students’ Union president, Tyler Van Herzele.
“Essentially, we’ve just been working closely with the university, getting ready and aligning those messages [sic] and making sure we’re actually saying the right things and things that are really useful to students.”
These messages include emails sent from school administration over the course of the week leading up to Homecoming weekend, as well as those displayed on television screens around campus and the information on the SAFEHawk app. Laurier’s Special Constable Services were also in the Concourse on Tuesday to promote safety and provide information to students. In addition to electronic messages being sent to students, there will be groups out on the streets around Ezra knocking on doors and speaking with residents about the planned activities and safety concerns.
Homecoming activities begin Friday evening, with the Lazaridis School Alumni Awards and the Golden Hawks Hall of Fame Dinner. Saturday begins with the annual free pancake breakfast in the Quad, followed by the tailgate party and then the football game, this year played against the University of Waterloo Warriors.
As always, there will be alumni activities running throughout the weekend, including this year a special retirement celebration for Fred Nichols.
While the emphasis of the messages students will be receiving in the coming days is largely on news, the purpose of Homecoming nevertheless remains to be a uniting and exciting celebration for future, present and past Golden Hawks.
“It is a weekend of celebration whether you’ve graduated last year or 30 years ago or if you’re in your first year in your undergrad, there’s something for you at Homecoming,” said Van Herzele.
“I just hope everyone enjoys it and spends that time with their Golden Hawk family.”
*With files from Kaitlyn Severin