UC Homecoming: a Party with a Mission

Yes, families will gather for the annual parade and carnival, part of UC's Homecoming 2003.  Fans will cheer UC football, and old friends will meet over meals.  At the same time, this year's celebrations promote community bonds and provide more student scholarships.

The list of Homecoming events planned for the weekend of Oct. 24-26 finds everything that you’d expect – the Great Bearcat Run and Cat Walk for the athletically inclined, the parade of Homecoming floats, a carnival as well as the UC vs. Army football game. 

Also included is the unexpected – a Friday night “Sleep-Out for the Homeless,” a “Walk as One” sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), scholarships to support students, and on the fun side, an “Army Adventure Obstacle Course.” 

Among the more unusual highlights of the weekend’s events, which run from Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 26, are the:

• Sleep-Out for the Homeless, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., Friday, Oct. 24, on UC’s Sigma Sigma Commons.  Sponsored by both campus and community groups like Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, UC’s African American Alumni Association, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Drop-Inn Center Shelter House, the event really doesn’t entail much sleeping – rather food, games and a collection of funds, non-perishable food items and clothing for the homeless.

• Walk as One, 10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Oct. 25, Yeatman’s Cove.  Sponsored by UC and the NCCJ, the six-mile walk is billed as a “Journey for Justice” to promote an ending to bias and bigotry.

• The Homecoming Parade, noon, Saturday, Oct. 25.  The parade will start at the corner of Calhoun Street and Clifton Avenue, travel north on Clifton and turn right onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.  What’s different is that this year, the student groups designing the floats are also vying for scholarships.  The creativity competition has each group going for a total of $10,000 in scholarships donated by UC and Fifth Third Bank.  Three scholarships will be given -- $5,000, $3,500 and $1,500.  Grand Marshal for the parade is UC’s new president, Dr. Nancy Zimpher.

• Army Adventure Obstacle Course, 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, Campus Green.  Because this year’s football foe is the U.S. Army team, fans can get into the spirit with this event, which includes a climbing wall, a bungee run and other sports-related challenges.

The theme for this year’s Homecoming is “Bearcats are Forever,” and other events planned for the celebration weekend are:

• Great Bearcat Run and Cat Walk, 11:45 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 25.  The run starts at the corner of Calhoun Street and Clifton Avenue (at UC’s Law School).  About 200 participants are expected to run their way through campus.  They’ll be raising scholarships for students.

• Homecoming Carnival, 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, UC’s McMicken Lawn.  Food, games, prizes, jugglers, clowns and face painters are part of the fun.

• Cattitude on the Commons, 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, UC’s Sigma Sigma Commons.  It’s a giant pre-game tailgate party with the UC Marching Band, cheerleaders, dance team and more.

• UC vs. Army football game, 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, Nippert Stadium.

For a complete listing of the dozens of Homecoming 2003 events, go to www.homecoming.uc.edu or call UC’s Alumni Affairs Office at 513-556-4344.