While some students will wake up to tailgate on Saturday at 10 a.m., the alumni and current members of the Greek community will gather to celebrate the final Homecoming their houses will see.
The houses are to be demolished starting this summer as part of the Greek Housing Project. The new houses for the Greek chapters are planned to be finished by fall 2016.
“We are going to be having a big house-closing ceremony in old fraternity row this Saturday,” said Dan Phillips, president of Interfraternity Council. “Every fraternity is encouraged to have their alumni come to this event. We’re thinking there’s going to be a really … big turn out, and I think it’s going to be awesome.”
There will be a series of people speaking at the ceremony, including University President Mary Ellen Mazey and Vice President of Student Affairs Jill Carr, said Casey Swick, president of the Panhellenic Council.
Also speaking will be alumni from each of the four councils about their respective councils, and what it meant to live on campus in a greek house, Swick said.
“Then there will be a ceremonial moment … where each of the chapters that are currently housed will get a key … that will be engraved with their letters,” she said. “They will be called up in alphabetical order to turn in their key as sort of signifying the closing of the houses.”
Andrew Hayes, vice president of Administration and Scholarship for IFC, was chosen to represent the Interfraternity Council and will speak at the ceremony.
After the speakers are done and the chapters give their keys, “they will be fashioned into something for display,” Hayes said.
“It’s a cool way for us to remember,” he said. “But prior to the speaking, there will be music playing and pictures on display for everyone to look at. It will be a great way for alumni to connect and see old pictures of the houses.”
Alumni who have never come back before are coming back for this event, Phillips said.
“There’s a lot of emotion attached to these houses,” he said. “I know we aren’t seeing the houses get torn down right now but it’s that last farewell that I think a lot of people are looking for. It’s a good chance for all the alumni that have lived in the house to see it one last time.”
After the ceremony is finished, the chapters will separate and they will do different things with their alumni for homecoming.
Emma Heitmeyer, vice-president of public relations and internal affairs for Panhellenic Council, said her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, will host a brunch for the alumni.
“Every year we have a brunch for our alumni before the game,” Heitmeyer said. “Our cook has been our cook at our house for over 20 years so every year she cooks the brunch and she stays then to visit with the alumni and they love it.”
Swick is excited about the upcoming ceremony and homecoming.
“Homecoming is something we always look forward to … it’s that lifetime piece,” Swick said. “So getting to see that in action and hear about what our chapters were like years and years before we joined … it’s always really inspiring.”
