School Spirit Embraced at Kean’s Homecoming

By Annalise Knudson

Bright sunshine was the forecast for Kean University’s Homecoming last weekend, which was perfect for students who waited all semester for the two days to arrive.

Kean’s Homecoming 2014 was named “All Roads Lead to Kean,” and was held on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Kean Alumni Stadium.

The events began on Friday, Oct. 24 with a pep rally from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Harwood Arena. DJ Wallah hosted the rally and prizes were given to the student with the most school spirit.

Kean’s teams were cheered on and supported by students as they entered the arena. Kean’s Greek Life of sororities and fraternities participated in the pep rally events as well.

The Greek Alumni Reunion was held in the STEM building at 8 p.m. later that evening.

Saturday started out with the Nathan Weiss Memorial Cougar Color 5K Run at 8 a.m. Kean hosted many events available for students, faculty, and alumni. A student tailgate, carnival games, bouncy houses for children, and street fair food were available in the Bruce Hall and Visitor Lots.

Students showed their school spirit by dressing in Kean attire while the football team prepared for their big homecoming game against SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m. With games and food available to all who attended, the day was spent cheering for the playing teams and enjoying the fun, although Kean lost with a score of 21-14.

Kean’s Homecoming King and Queen were announced during the game’s half time, with Felix Osorio as king and Kayla-Simone McKelvey as queen.

Each person who registered to attend homecoming received five complimentary food tickets and 10 game tickets given by the Alumni Association.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be as much fun as it was,” said sophomore Ashley Solla.

Kean Xpedition set up prizes for students to win and announced the randomized winners during halftime. Students had to register to win at the Kean Xpedition table at Harwood Arena from 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The grand prize consisted of a $400 Barnes & Noble gift card, a reserved parking spot on campus, a brand new Macbook Pro and free tuition for one semester.

Along with other homecoming activities, the Liberty Hall Museum hosted their annual pumpkin patch on Saturday at 10 a.m., as well as their ghost tours that were held at 7 and 9 p.m.

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