By Logan Jones
Student Reporter
The week of Homecoming is, by far, Northwestern’s biggest events, aside from graduation, during the academic year. Rangers, both current and former, come out to show their love and passion for their school and all that it has to offer. Homecoming 2018 should be no different.
The theme for this year will be ‘Get Rowdy’ and will feature a wide arrangement of activities such as the Miss Cinderella Talent Show and Pageant on Thursday and Friday, and homecoming staples like the Homecoming Parade and Homecoming football game on Saturday.
NWOSU’s Director of Alumni Relations, John Allen, is more than excited for the upcoming week-long celebration.
“Homecoming is a time for alumni to come and reconnect,” said Allen, “We have so many events planned like the Alumni Bar-B-Que, the Fun Run and the Alumni Band performance.”
Allen also made it clear that the homecoming celebrations are not just for the NWOSU family.
“This is everyone’s homecoming,” said Allen, “People from all over the Northwestern Oklahoma area come out for it. You don’t even have to be a Northwestern student or alum to be a part of the culture and community.”
Allen himself isn’t a Northwestern alum. He went to school at Pitt State in Pittsburg, Kansas as well as worked at a few other schools before being offered a position at NWOSU. However, he remembers moments from his childhood where he and his family would drive down from Kansas to Alva during Northwestern’s homecoming week.
“Alva was our big city. It was where we went to go celebrate.” Said Allen.
One of the biggest events during homecoming is always the Homecoming Parade. This year, the parade marshal will be Dr.
David Bohlen. Bohlen was a former science professor at Northwestern for 27 years. After his teaching days, Bohlen continues to provide for the school and its students as he and his wife, Emily, would host church dinner for students at the First Christian Church, and in 2017, Bohlen and his wife were named fans of the year.
The other mainstay of Homecoming is, of course, the football game. This year, the Rangers will face off against the East Central University Tigers.
Kicker, Blake Humble, sees homecoming in a different perspective when compared to other games.“When preparing for homecoming, you naturally try harder during the week to be the best that you can possibly be because it’s typically our most packed game and you don’t want to mess up in front of all those people,” said Humble.
This will be Humble’s third Homecoming game at Northwestern. Over those years, Humble has experienced a different atmosphere during the big game.
“It’s always way louder and people usually have their family and friends there and they just don’t want to disappoint them,” said Humble, “For me, it’s the most fun game to play in during the regular season.”