ODU Celebrates Homecoming with Events, Basketball and N.E.R.D.
Friday, Nov. 14, marks the start of Old Dominion University's weeklong homecoming celebration. An annual tradition at ODU, homecoming is a fun-filled week of events for the entire Monarch community. This year's theme is "Lights, Camera, Action!" and, with the introduction of football in 2009, this will be the last year that ODU's homecoming is linked to the basketball season.
The celebration will begin Friday night with the Office of Intercultural Relations' Cultural Explosion event, "Evolution of Cultures: Then and Now," during which student organizations will perform skits or dance routines that demonstrate the evolution of their organization. The groups will compete for prizes of $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000. Radio personality "Shaggy" from Z104 will be the guest host.
The fun continues Saturday with a two-mile run/walk for charity to benefit the Central Baptist Church in Ghent, and on Sunday with powder puff football, a barbeque and a performance by the Ebony Impact Gospel Choir.
Monday night the Student Activities Council and the Senior Class Council will co-sponsor a comedy show featuring Alex Thomas, a comedian who has appeared in movies and television shows such as the "Jamie Foxx Show," "BET Comic View" and "Family Guy." The doors open at 7 p.m., and seating is limited. ODU students will have priority seating for the event, which due to adult content may not be suitable for all ages, and then guests/non-students will be allowed to enter.
Throughout the week the residence halls will compete in "Hoopla in the Lobby" by decorating their lobbies to reflect the "Lights, Camera, Action!" theme. The winning hall will be announced at the tailgate party on Friday. Similarly, student organizations will create banners by incorporating the theme on decorated bed sheets, which will be displayed in Webb Center throughout the week. Campus offices also are invited to partake in the challenge and show their ODU pride by decorating their offices around this year's theme.
Tara Wheeler, the reigning Miss Virginia 2008, will be the special guest host for the 8th annual King and Queen Pageant on Tuesday night. Nominees will compete in three categories: introduction, talent and question and answer. The student body will have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite candidate. The winners will be announced during halftime at Friday's Lady Monarchs vs. Virginia basketball game.
Wednesday will be a blast to the past with "Old School Day," when the attire of choice harkens back to the 1960s and '70s. In the evening, the residence halls will battle it out in a competitive step show, with the members of the winning group performing their act during Saturday's Monarchs vs. Alabama at Birmingham basketball game.
Thursday is "Celebrity Day," when members of the Monarch community are encouraged to impersonate their favorite celebrity and partake in "Paparazzi Pictures" from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Webb Center's South Mall. Environmentally conscious and socially minded students, faculty and staff are invited to support "Empty Bowls," a national movement that raises awareness about hunger and advocates for the support of agencies that seek to eliminate hunger in our local and global communities, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth Room, and at a daffodil planting on Monarch Way at 12:30 p.m.
Then the roof comes off the Ted for the homecoming concert, featuring Virginia's own N*E*R*D, an alternative rock, funk and alternative hip hop band formed in 2001, hosted by radio personality "Shaggy" from Z104. Advance tickets are $15 for students and $25 for the general public; at-the-door prices are $25 and $35, respectively.
A pregame tailgate/family weekend kickoff party will begin at 5:30 p.m. behind the Constant Center and includes the University Village Illumination at 6 p.m. Those who plan to attend should register online at http://studentaffairs.odu.edu/familyweekend, and plan to attend the Lady Monarchs vs. Virginia game at 7 p.m.
The homecoming festivities wrap up on Saturday with a Family Day breakfast; the homecoming parade, featuring the ODU Monarch Marching Band; an ODU football scrimmage; a basketball pregame tailgate; the ODU Monarchs vs. UAB game; and a free, formal homecoming dance for ODU students only. The parade will begin at noon on Elkhorn Avenue and proceed down 49th Street, continue along Monarch Way through University Village, and move down 43rd Street to end at the Powhatan football field.
Visit http://studentaffairs.odu.edu/homecoming/ for more information.
Event Schedule
Friday, Nov. 14
8 p.m. Constant Center. Cultural Explosion: "Evolution of Cultures: Then & Now"
Saturday, Nov. 15
11 a.m. Kaufman Mall, Spirit Run. (Check-in at 10 a.m.)
Sunday, Nov.16
12 p.m. Powhatan high school football field. Powder puff football tournament and barbecue
5 p.m. BAL 1012, Ebony Impact Choir gospel explosion
Monday, Nov. 17
8 p.m. North Cafeteria, Webb Center. Comedy show with Alex Thomas (doors open at 7 p.m.)
Tuesday, Nov. 18
7 p.m. North Cafeteria, Webb Center. Homecoming King & Queen Pageant (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Wednesday, Nov. 19
7 p.m. North Cafeteria, Webb Center. Battle of the Halls Step Show (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Thursday, Nov. 20
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Chesapeake/Portsmouth Room, Webb Center. Empty Bowls
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. South Mall, Webb Center. Paparazzi pictures
12:30 p.m. Monarch Way. Daffodil planting
8 p.m. Homecoming concert - N.E.R.D. (doors open at 7 p.m.)
Friday, Nov. 21
5:30 p.m. University Village behind the Constant Center. Tailgate party
6 p.m. University Village Illumination
7 p.m. Lady Monarchs vs. Virginia basketball game
Saturday, Nov. 22
10 a.m. Constant Center. Family Day breakfast
12 p.m. 49th - 43rd Streets. Homecoming parade
1:30 p.m. Powhatan Athletic Complex. Football scrimmage
2:30 p.m. University Village behind the Constant Center. Basketball tailgate
4 p.m. Constant Center. Monarchs vs. UAB basketball game
9 p.m. - 12 a.m. North Cafeteria, Webb Center. Homecoming Ball