The city of Omaha glowed blue last week as has become tradition for Creighton’s annual homecoming that welcomes students, parents, faculty and alumni to celebrate the start of the new academic year. The Woodmen Tower, the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge, the Rasmussen Center, the Ryan Center and St. John’s Church were all bathed in a blue light thanks to collaboration between Alumni Relations and Planitomaha Inc.
The week’s festivities included Patio Painting, CU’s Got Talent, the JayWalk, the Homecoming Golf Cart Parade, the Getting Blue Block Party and, of course, the homecoming game, where men’s soccer saw a 4-1 victory over Seton Hall.
This year’s student-chosen theme was “Oh the Places Jays Go,” a theme fitting for alumni, current students and their families, said Kate Vasquez, Senior Program coordinator at Creighton.
“We wanted something that applied to all the audiences coming back, so with alumni it’s all the places they’ve gone, and for the families it’s ‘look at all the places your Bluejays could go,’ and then for students it’s ‘look at all the places you can go,’” said Vasquez.
More than 14 hundred alumni and guests were on campus for the events. Other highlights from the weekend included the groundbreaking for the new Creighton School of Dentistry, the 10-year anniversary of the Werner Institute and a president’s dinner where 10 alumni were given Merit Awards, two from the school of dentistry and one from each of Creighton’s undergraduate and professional schools.
“It’s really nice to get everyone together and have that energy on campus. I think that really, you know, makes for a really special weekend,” said Anna Scherr Nubel, Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations.
Planning for homecoming is a joint effort between students and the Parent Leadership Council, as well as Alumni Relations, according to Nubel.
Homecoming also includes a traditional homecoming court made up of senior Creighton students nominated by their peers. The selected students then undergo an interview process and are later voted on by the student population. This year’s Homecoming King and Queen were MJ Kirk and Sarah Huddleston, both seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“I was just excited because a lot of my friends were on the court with me and so it was just cool to get to experience everything with them and I think it also got me involved in everything,” said Huddleston,
“So I just I really enjoyed it a lot and it was obviously a huge honor to be nominated because I love Creighton and I’ve really appreciated so many aspects of my experience, so being nominated to me was just special because I love this place so much.”