By Cameron McCollum | Photo Editor
Homecoming is a Baylor tradition that has been celebrated since 1909 with colorful floats, crackling bonfires, school spirit, overdue reunions and memories that remind us why we call Baylor home. It is a Baylor family favorite with many events for everyone to cherish. However, only when we lose student status and return to Baylor as a genuine homecoming can we understand how meaningful this everlasting tradition is.
On my first Baylor Homecoming, I was a part of the Baylor Golden Wave Band drumline, so I was up at 6 a.m. ready to march off with my team. My sophomore year came, and I wasn’t a part of the drumline anymore. That year, I got to experience the homecoming parade on the sidelines with families cheering and debating which float most deserved to win. My junior year homecoming came and my family couldn’t make it, but I got to spend the entirety of that season with my best friends. I am now entering my last homecoming and am so grateful for these past three years.
Homecoming was invented to bring back alumni to their alma mater and show school spirit, revive rivalries and reunite old friends.
The quickest way to hype up school spirit is through a little game of ball, which some call old-fashioned American College Football. Universities have deep-rooted rivalries, and competitive football causes fans to feel rejuvenated with all of the memories they’ve made at previous games.
In 2021 I was able to watch an undefeated at-home football team, a field surge against OU, a Big 12 championship and a Sugar Bowl win all while being in front of the endzone. Win or lose, I will never forget those memories and always will be a Baylor fan as I walk toward alumnus status.
Every homecoming matters. Whether it is your first Baylor Homecoming, your second, third or even 20th, we can gain more precious moments here in the place we spent years calling home. Even when new traditions are formed, we can always appreciate looking back at past homecomings with fondness, and these memories grow more dear the older we become.
One of Baylor’s more unique homecoming traditions is our Ten at Ten: A Mass Meeting Experience where freshmen are told the story of Baylor’s Immortal 10 and a presentation of the eternal flame in their honor takes place. The Immortal 10 are Baylor students who died tragically in a bus accident more than 90 years ago. Their legacy is reignited during homecoming weekend and illuminates the rest of Baylor’s traditions.
The story of the Immortal 10 being passed down from generation to generation shows how the Baylor community honors the past. As Baylor students, we are instilled with honoring the legacy of others while teaching us to honor our current legacies.
Throughout my freshmen year, I ended up changing majors one or two times and even debated transferring. It was Baylor traditions that made me feel like I belonged. Seeing my friend’s float shine after all the hours they put into it, seeing families’ smiles shine with the warmth of the bonfire, watching performers sing my favorite songs and experiencing everyone’s work come together into this celebration makes me happy to have an alma mater.
