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11 October 2002
uwRyan.com This website is meant to provide value to UW student by delivering information. It will also supplement the column that I write for Imprint by providing extra information on some of the topics about which I will write in addition to the text of each column. Please provide feedback on what I write as well as give me suggestions of topics to cover. You can send e-mail to me to ryan[at]uwryan[dot]com. |
Resurrecting homecomingThere’s no place like home, no place like Waterloo
People often lament the indifference of UW students to their school as people ironically and similarly do at other schools. The connection and feeling students have with their school benefits the school through contributions to the community and a positive vibe on campus. This in turn can strengthen the connection by attracting more and better students. The students of yesterday are today's alumni and an alumni-school connection also benefits the school. The connection that UW alumni have with their school benefits us in many ways. First, the alumni connection can translate into future donations. If they feel good about UW they will want it to succeed and will be more likely to contribute funds. Last year alumni donations constituted more than 47 per cent of the $22 million of contributions to UW in 2000 and 2001. For the same reasons, but, in other ways, alumni can help the university by hiring co-op students, helping recruit students and telling others that they, as fine people, are from the University of Waterloo. Through these mechanisms homecoming contributes to UW's success as a university. So we can therefore further our school's success by, among other things, contributing to the success of homecoming. Attendance at homecoming declined since a high of 734 registered alumni in attendance in 1994 to a lower number in 1998. One issue that people suggest could increase participation in homecoming is changing the main event to a football game. Football is a common homecoming sports event. Every one out of the nine other OUA schools that compete in football combines a football game with their homecoming activities. Carleton University, which does not compete in football, is the only other Ontario university that has a basketball tournament as part of its homecoming, the House-Laughton Hoops Classic tournament. UW changed the homecoming major sports event in 1985 from a football game to the Naismith Classic, a basketball tournament. The tournament is superior in terms of planning since UW schedules the tournament instead of the OUA for football games. As well it is easier to control the environment in the PAC than the weather in the outdoors. The Office of Alumni Affairs is trying to make homecoming more successful through cross campus partnerships, promotion and events. Alumni affairs is working with different parts of campus to put on events. Athletics runs the Naismith, student groups help with promotions and other organizations plan events as well. To spread the word they sent e-mail newsletters to 4,800 alumni, printed 3,600 pamphlets and set up a new Web site with 67 separate pages. Alumni can also ask alumni affairs to set up reunions during the year or cross-promoted with homecoming. This year during homecoming they are running six reunions including Feds staff, the 25th anniversary of swim team championships, West D/West E 1987 and engineering 2002. They want to make sure that undergraduates know homecoming is for them too, not just for yesterday's students. Students can come out, have fun, network and gain perspective on their school careers. Alyson Woloshyn from alumni affairs said "As far as registrations to date for homecoming 2002 the total numbers stand at 127 -- that is counting each event individually. It's climbing every day and I am hoping that it will spike up very soon but we shall see." She said that preregistration numbers are less than expected but higher than they were last year. We have yet to see what impact the changes will have. Homecoming is not vital to our success as a university, but it can help. |