University of Wisconsin-Madison community members, student organizations, alumni and local companies joined together for an evening of celebration and togetherness at Friday’s annual Homecoming Parade.
Although homecoming only spans a week, UW-Madison’s 20-member Homecoming Committee devotes more than five months to ensuring its success each year.
“We really begin our homecoming process the spring before it occurs,” Director of Homecoming Marketing & Communications Hadley Giesser said. “We work through the summer, and then in our last month and a half on campus, we really hit the ground running.”
To prepare for homecoming, the committee works on everything from logistics and publicity to ensuring their events will be accessible. To meet these goals, members of the Wisconsin Union, like Communications Specialist Madeleine Carr, support the committee.
“There are few opportunities for students to have full leadership like they do with the Wisconsin Homecoming Committee,” Carr said. “I just love the opportunity to make it happen… and help them make their goals achievable.”
The parade in particular, Carr said, is a time to connect to the Badger community off-campus.
“UW is so unique in the fact that the campus overlaps with the city, and this parade is a celebration of that meeting where folks that have maybe no connection to the university other than being in Madison still feel that connection to being a Badger,” Carr said.
New this year, the Homecoming Committee set a homecoming theme, agreeing on “There’s no place like home.”
“[It] obviously plays a little bit on the timing of Wicked,” Giesser explained, “but also it's just the idea that once you come to Madison, whether it’s for one year or four years, even if you’re the child of a Badger, you’re really part of that community forever.”
As the theme suggests, the Homecoming Parade’s audience included Badger fans of all ages and backgrounds. Among the crowd was Emily Eagon and her toddler daughter, Burdie. Eagon and her husband both attended UW-Madison, where they first met in Chadbourne Residence Hall. They moved back to Madison a few years ago and adore showing their kids around, teaching them the Badger spirit and always pointing out Chadbourne.
Burdie Eagon, dressed head to toe in red and white, told The Daily Cardinal she was there “because we love the Badgers,” and exclaimed, “this is my first time ever at the parade.”
In the parade itself, more than 80 different groups marched down W. Gilman and State Street, ranging from student organizations like the marching band, dance team and several club sports to Madison groups like PBS Wisconsin, Pipes and Drums Madison and local first responders.
Notably, the outdoor adventure club Wisconsin Hoofers rode on a float with a tent and a fake campfire. The Red Cross Club walked with a member dressed as a giant blood drop, which they affectionately named ‘Bloody.’ And Target even made an appearance with a giant float shaped like a beatbox reading “On, Wisconsin” and their mascot, Bullseye, dancing around.
Recognizable by their red and white striped rugby shirts, the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) is another long-time participant in the parade. WASB’s motto of connecting Badgers, past, present and future particularly aligns with the parade’s spirit, WASB President Simon Brown said.
“[The parade] reminds you of why you’re out doing the things that you do, because you get to see the community that Wisconsin has,” he said. “[Seeing] all the little kids coming in their Badger [gear] that are absolutely adorable, and their parents who are like, ‘this is what I did in college, and I want you to experience the same thing’ is just incredible.”
By the time the parade participants reached Alumni Park, the ending spot of the parade, they had seen smiling children holding bags full of parade candy and waving red, glowing pom poms alongside students and adults alike, celebrating what it means to be a Badger.
“Truly, if you want to be a Badger, come along with the Wisconsin Homecoming Committee,” Carr said, “because they’re where the Badger spirit is at, and they keep it going throughout the year.”
