This has been an especially hard season for Auburn football. Before the game this past weekend, the Tigers were holding on to a 4-5 record, with three of those losses away from Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Being away from home is always tough, but it makes it an even tougher loss.

This past weekend the Auburn Tigers welcomed the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to their home turf. And Auburn fans welcomed the Tigers back with a homecoming celebration.

After being away for several weeks, homecoming is a time for past and present students, family and friends to come back to the Plains and revive the Auburn spirit.

“It’s good to be back at Auburn this weekend,” said Steven Sprinkle, an Auburn football fan. “It’s a special time. The team’s been away for about three weeks now, so it’s great to be back. We’re excited to share it with them [the team].”

The first known homecoming game can be traced back to 1909 at Baylor University. However, several universities still try to claim that they were the first to establish the homecoming tradition.

Homecoming is an annual tradition usually built around a banquet or a football game. It tends to be a weeklong celebration to welcome athletic players, alumni and fans back after an extended absence.

Auburn University’s national leadership honor society, Omicron Delta Kappa, hosts a variety of events leading up to the big homecoming game.

This year ODK sponsored the 80th annual Cake Race. The Cake Race is one of Auburn’s oldest traditions. It takes place every year on the Wednesday before the homecoming weekend.

ODK also sponsors the homecoming float competition. Greek and other campus organizations spend numerous hours during the week perfecting hand crafted floats to be put on display on campus. The organizations present their floats Friday morning to be judged. The winners are announced the next day at the homecoming game.

Another important homecoming tradition is the Miss Homecoming halftime ceremony. Each year candidates campaign all week long to become Auburn’s next Miss Homecoming. Meredith Gaston took the crown this year with her platform supporting the AU Alert system.

Departments within the university also take this weekend as a time to reunite past and present students and professors. This year the Department of Communication and Journalism celebrated their third annual homecoming tailgate Saturday before the game. It was open for all journalism, public relations, communication, and RTVF students, new and old, as well as their spouses, relatives and friends.

Homecoming at Auburn has always been an important tradition. It allows old friends to meet again, and helps keep the Auburn pride growing.

“It’s great to be back and see all of our tailgating friends and folks that we haven’t seen in a couple weeks,” said Sprinkle. “Homecoming has always been special. It seems like there’s a special air about the atmosphere. People are excited to be back.”





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