Every year, alumni flood back to campus for Homecoming weekend. The Chronicle’s Annie Straneva spoke with visiting alumni, students and others about their thoughts on the annual Homecoming festivities this weekend.
“It’s always flabbergasting and wonderful to see how many people come back. People just can’t get enough of this place.” —President Richard Brodhead
"After a fifth stressful week of classes at Duke, Homecoming weekend was an opportunity to take a break from it all. From Oktoberfest to President Brodhead's Dance to epic frat parties to the Troy game, the University and its affiliated organizations certainly gave us a chance to do just that." —Hans Riess, first-year
"I’m with the DAA we kind of put this on and we had a great crowd. We couldn’t have asked for better weather." —Lisa Dilts, Trinity '83, senior director of Reunions and Special Events at Duke Alumni Association
"It has been so great seeing a lot of old friends from 2012 and 2013, but the best part has been eating at all my favorite Durham restaurants." —Sarah Omenitsch, Pratt '12
"Homecoming weekend is great for a plethora of reasons. First of all, it's a TFM. Secondly, alums come back for fun and tomfoolery. That's nice. Also, the dance is always a great opportunity to show off your dance moves to that girl you're crushing on." —Win Holt, sophomore
"I feel they should make it a bigger deal as a festive event. Increased publicity would get more people involved." —Hallie Aston, first-year
"Homecoming becomes more exciting the older you become because its more of your closer and closer friends coming back after having graduated. It was also a bonus to have the NC Pride festivities on the same weekend. The Gay Pride Parade is a great way for the Duke Community to come in contact with more of the general Durham community. Not to mention we need to do all we can to support human rights in any way possible." —Cara Peterson, junior
"I saw a bunch of alums! I liked that this weekend was so high energy with NC Pride going on and a bunch of events hosted by Duke and by different groups on campus. The only thing I would say is that at times there were so much going on that it made it difficult to do all the things you wanted to do." —Athelia Paulli, sophomore
"It was amazing to see such strong support and enthusiasm for the student performers. I thought the night was a great success in terms of catering to an audience that spanned over 50 years of alums and current students alike." —Forrest Etter, senior
"I thought homecoming went really well this year. The Oktoberfest event was fun, Duke football got a win and it was great to see the alumni. Couldn’t ask for much more." —Ben Shantz, senior
"I didn’t really know about all of the events of Homecoming. I happened to walk past Oktoberfest and thought it looked awesome and well planned. Next year I’d love to go to Dick’s Ball." —Kyra Noonan, first-year
"While being abroad in London is awesome and a once in lifetime experience I would never give up, it absolutely killed me inside knowing that I was missing out on seeing all the alums I'm so close with come back to campus. Without a doubt, the thing I missed most was the people." —Garrett Berk, junior
"Homecoming weekend was tons of fun. Dick’s Ball on Friday night is a great event then the football game on Saturday makes the weekend exciting." —Sean McCroskey, first-year
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