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Photo

In this 1967 file photo, “Yell Leader” Harry Gunter helps “Song Girl” Lynn Switzer practice for the Homecoming rally.

Hidden beneath first-rate dining halls and a chart-topping applicant pool lies a UCLA tradition that used to be the largest in the country – a tradition that many students today don’t even know about.

Homecoming is back after a six-year hiatus, and a float-building competition and parade will compliment the already existing pre-game rally.

The Student Alumni Association is planning the homecoming events and hoping to raise Bruin spirit and connect students and alumni to their alma mater.

“We want to start to create in future Bruins a class identity and really connect alumni back to their graduation years,” said SAA adviser Robyn Goldberg.

The events will kick off on Oct. 25 with a Village Street Fest in Westwood prior to the “Wild Wild Westwood”-themed float and marching parade. A rally will immediately follow to get students geared up for the Stanford game the next day.

The Homecoming tradition began in 1927 and ran until the late ’60s when students became more politically active and less interested in school events.

The tradition was revived in the late ’70s but died out again in 1996 because of a decline in participation by groups who felt they couldn’t compete against the greek system.

While it may take current students some time to jump back into the tradition, alumni still remember what made homecoming special to them.

“Homecoming was the thing to do,” said SAA advisor Russell Heskin, class of 1996. “It was a great way to just celebrate being a Bruin.”

Homecoming used to include an entire week’s worth of activities which ranged from relay races and tug-of-war to canned food sculpture contests in Westwood Plaza.

Even though these events are not included in this year’s festivities, SAA is hoping to rebuild student enthusiasm one step at a time.

“It may take a couple years until students realize the grandeur of such an old tradition, but it will definitely get there,” Kaplan said. “It’s just hard to think of it as a 50-year-old tradition when this is the first time you’ve heard of it.”

With publicity for the events already circulating, students are learning that there is history behind the festivities.

“I’ve heard that it used to be really big here,” said second-year history and political science student Margaret Coblentz. “People are just going to have to see that it is something really fun and something they want to participate in and get excited for year after year.”

Parents’ weekend and a variety of alumni activities are also scheduled that weekend. The SAA hopes that moving all of the events into one weekend will create more unity than staggering them throughout the year.

On Sunday there will be a Founder’s Day Luncheon in Pauley Pavilion, followed by campus tours and faculty lectures.

The day will culminate with a cocktail party with dinner and dancing under tents at Royce quad.

“This is an opportunity for people to reconnect back to campus,” Goldberg said. “It’s a chance for alumni to see how campus is now and to compare it to when they were here and to celebrate the fact that they did that 10 to 15 years ago.”