I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but in the homecoming promotions there is no mention of a homecoming parade. Unfortunately this wasn't an oversight, there is no real parade this year! The alumni office was the only office that seemed to know anything about this and/or was willing to tell me about it, though they said they weren't the only ones involved in the decision. So what I learned is that the parade would conflict with the inauguration of the new library. There is also a marching band competition during homecoming weekend, which made finding bands difficult.

Instead, there is going to be a pseudo parade around the mall, including the knight on a horse, a dragon, the pep band and others. Personally, I'm very disappointed that the parade got nixed. I will congratulate someone for keeping this relatively quiet because most of the students I mention it to say, "There's no parade? Well, that's no good!" I also want to thank the alumni office for being willing to tell me what is going on (I hope I've gotten it all right), as well as whoever organized this pseudo parade because something is better than nothing. Finally, I would like to encourage anyone who had wanted to participate in the real parade to still participate and for anyone that has thoughts on this to contact the alumni office.

Sincerely,
Nathan Friesen
1999 graduate