On Thursday Oct. 13, Elizabethtown College kicked off celebrations for the Homecoming and Family Weekend. After a day of events ranging from art exhibits to escape rooms, comedian Jay Black had a show in the KAV. Black is a world-renown standup comedian, having performed across nearly 1,000 college campuses around the country. 

“The show was pretty good,” sophomore biology major Faith Sheppard said. “I think it was a great way to kick off the Homecoming weekend.”

On Friday, the “Out on Campus: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism at Pennsylvania Colleges & Universities” exhibition was open to the public and is a way to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month. At 7 p.m., there was a Mad Cow Improv Homecoming and Family Weekend show. The event was held in front of a packed KAV and invited past Mad Cow Improv alumni to come and join the final part of the show. Mad Cow Improv has always been a hallmark of major campus events, and this show was no different. The group indeed delivered on its promise to get the Homecoming Weekend kicked off “on the right foot and have you laughing ‘til it hurts!”

Sophomore political science major and Mad Cow Improv performer Nick Wiley said, “I was honored to help kick off this year’s celebrations for Homecoming.” This is one of Wiley’s first Mad Cow Improv shows, but he said the crowd’s energy helped ease his nerves. 

“Everyone was so active and reacted positively to our jokes,” Wiley said. “ I think it is great that we were able to welcome Mad Cow Improv alumni and have them play a part of the show.”

Later that night, spoken artist Kyla Jenée Lacey held the first-ever event in the Jay Lounge, which is located in the Annenberg in the Baugher Student Center. Lacey is a third-person bio composer, and her work has gotten tens of millions of views. Lacey has also performed spoken word at more than 300 colleges across the nation. Lacey has been a finalist in the largest regional poetry slam no less than five times, and she has been nominated as Campus Activities Magazine Female Performer of the Year. She has also garnered attention from several Grammy-winning artists and poets, being viewed more than 50 million times. 

Lacey spoke about the state of race and racism today. “We learned your French. We learned your English, your Dutch, your Spanish, your Portuguese. you learned our nothing, you called us stupid. that’s white privilege / and I’m sure it probably hurts for you to hear those two words kind of like gunshots and explosions from those commission to protect you whisking past your ears / what is white privilege?” was one of her closing slam poems, speaking about white privilege and the history of white supremacy.

“It was a very emotional event, and you can feel that everyone was quite affected by the event,” junior psychology major Cierra Kunkle said. “It was the perfect event to help showcase the new Jay Lounge to the community.”

Kunkle also pointed to the difference in the space to other events she had attended. “This is a perfect spot for events like these,” Kunkle said. “It is a perfect combination of quiet and comfortable. I look forward to attending more events like these in the Jay Lounge.”

Friday was also the day dedicated for finalizing float building, for the Homecoming parade, which started at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The theme was through the decades, with different clubs and departments on campus participating in building their very own float. The parade goes through Hickory Lane, Willow Street, Spruce Street and ends at College Avenue. This was the 27th consecutive year for the parade, and the winners of the float, the Honors program, were announced at the 4 p.m. women’s soccer game. 

“This was the first year that NAACP were able to be a part of this Etown tradition, and we were very proud of the float we were able to come up with,” senior legal studies major and NAACP Club President Jalen Belgrave said. “There were a lot of good floats out there, and I was impressed by the work and effort everyone put into creating their floats.”

After the parade, everyone was invited to the Homecoming Fair, which started at noon in the Academic Quad. Different clubs, departments and local vendors gathered to sell their merchandise, food and collectibles. Everyone had a good time out in the sun with dogs everywhere. 

“This is much better than last year when we had to be in Thompson Gym because of the rain,” Gender-Sexuality Alliance Treasurer Zoe Enterline said. “We were able to sell a good amount of shirts and stickers and then walk around to help support other clubs.”

After the fair, the Etown community was invited to attend the 11th Annual Homecoming M.V.P. Spectacular, where the Distinguished Graduate of the Last Decade was announced. Melica, Vocalign and Phalanx each had two performances and ended it with a shared performance. During the midpoint intermission, Executive Director of College Engagement Mark Clapper announced that Niko Antonellos ‘13 was awarded the Distinguished Graduate of the Last Decade Award. Antonellos gave a speech about how his roots at Etown helped him grow as a person and succeed in his career. 

“This is usually my favorite time of the year,” sophomore secondary education major Grace Diehl said. “The M.V.P. Homecoming show is when all the different musical clubs on campus get together and showcase their talents. I think it’s a great showing of community.”

For a list of campus events that happened over Homecoming, visit this link: Homecoming and Family Weekend Schedule of Events (etown.edu)