MSU Homecoming 2019 is next weekend, October 25th and 26th. In this episode of our monthly program, Engaging the Community, MSU president Clif Smart talks about the community events surrounding Homecoming and what makes this year different.
Smart began by saying for students, homecoming begins the weekend before the game and includes a long list of activities built around having fun and school pride. The community events get underway on Friday, October 25.
"And so we'll celebrate inducting six members into our wall of fame at four o'clock. There's a Miranda Lambert concert at JQH Arena that evening. And then on Saturday, you know, it begins with the parade," he said.
There's a men's and women's basketball scrimmage on Saturday morning. BearFest Village opens shortly after that for tailgating, then the football game kicks off at 2:00 PM.
"And then, 'It's On,'" Smart said, referring to the major, surprise event MSU has promoted for months.
The event, "It's On," has been described as "epic" and "transformative," and MSU announced earlier this week that actor John Goodman, who is a graduate of the university, will be at the event.
Doors at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts will open at 5:30 on Saturday, October 26 for the special announcement. The announcement will be followed by a celebration in the heart of campus.
"It's going to be fun and it's gonna be a big party," Smart said.
There will be music and theatrical performances, a food truck area and fireworks, he said.
"And it's just gonna be a fun time for people that are connected to the university, alums, and friends and students and employees to all get together and think about the future of the university," Smart said.
He declined to go into more specific detail on the nature of the announcement, but said it will be live streamed for people who cannot physically attend.
"I think we do homecoming really well. And over the last seven or eight years, with tailgating moving on to campus, the whole Saturday football experience on campus has just grown. And so on any given Saturday where we're playing a home game, there likely to be 8,000 to 10,000 people here for for several hours interacting with each other," he said.
"Connecting to the big, public, local university just makes our community better. We drive things that happen here and we want everybody, whether you're our grad or not, to be on campus a week from Saturday," Smart said.
You can see a complete list of the 2019 MSU Homecoming activities here.