While the football games, parades and crowning of homecoming king and queen remain… While the football games, parades and crowning of homecoming king and queen remain traditional parts of homecoming celebrations, schools like Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia University offer some different activities in their homecoming itineraries.

Such activities range from “air band” competitions and scavenger hunts to prestigious dinners and community service events.

“We try to provide a myriad [of activities] for people who aren’t into sports,” said Lee Patouillet, Associate Vice Chancellor for Pitt’s Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the Pitt Alumni Association.

“We are trying to provide something for everyone.”

Pitt’s Homecoming 2006, which began Wednesday and will end on Sunday, includes more than 50 events, such as the traditional football game, homecoming parade and the fireworks and laser show presented by the Pitt Program Council. Homecoming also includes Freshman Family Weekend.

While Pitt carries out events typical to any school’s homecoming, there are some activities on and off campus that are unique. This year’s Homecoming itinerary contains theater performances, open house tours of various schools, academic workshops, cruises and coffee shops.

A new activity, Pathway to Professions, a career networking event, brought Pitt alumni from all 50 states and overseas to Alumni Hall to help students in their future searches for internships and jobs.

Patouillet said because 80 percent of jobs come from networking, it has become a high priority to students and alumni. He said Pitt scheduled the event during homecoming to utilize the presence of alumni returning to their alma mater.

“The point is, nobody gets there alone,” he said. “As Panthers, we are all trying to leave our mark.”

According to Patouillet, Pitt has a total alumni base of 255,000 – enough people to fill Heinz Field three times – and about 34,000 students attending Pitt at all its campuses. He said that Homecoming provides an opportunity for the whole “Pitt family” to come together and celebrate.

Patouillet hopes that new activities like Pathway to Professions and Paint the Town Blue and Gold, Pitt’s Blue and Gold Society’s effort to leave panther paw prints on buildings around Oakland, become Homecoming traditions.

“We enjoy long-standing traditions and have the opportunity to build on new ones,” he said.

“Air band” competitions or elaborate lip synching competitions, have become a favorite part of both Penn State’s and WVU’s homecoming festivities. Both schools also strive to get their communities involved.

Janey Cink, Internal Communications Manager for News and Information Services at WVU, said homecoming at the university has both social and serious aspects, such as an annual blood drive.

“It brings out a huge crowd,” she said. “It’s not just WVU folks,” she said, emphasizing the event’s impact on the entire community of Morgantown.

Mark Poblete, overall chairman for Penn State Homecoming 2006, said Homecoming is considered to be one of the biggest campus-wide events of the year and begins weeks before Homecoming weekend.

It involves so much effort in fact, that planning for next year’s Homecoming will begin one week after this year’s Homecoming ends.

According to Poblete, a budget of about $85,000 makes Penn State Homecoming 2006 possible. With so much planning, Poblete assures that homecoming festivities highlight more than just the football game on Saturday that the Nitany Lions will play against Illinois.

One premier event of Penn State’s homecoming sends students to volunteer in communities outside of campus to extend the university’s mission of community service and outreach. This year, about 300 students volunteered.

“It’s an exciting time because you usually don’t see that much campus and community interaction any other time of the year,” he said.

Patouillet said no matter what the festivities, Homecoming represents the “life-long relationship” of a student and his alma mater.

“You are a student today, but you are going to be Pitt alumni for the rest of your life,” he said. “It’s all a continuum.”

Despite Pitt’s smaller campus, with an estimated 34,000 students at all five sites, Patouillet said that Pitt’s Alumni Association is favorable against “the Michigans,” “the Penn States” and other larger universities.

“There is just something special about this place,” he said.

Patouillet expects that about 50,000 people will participate in Pitt’s Homecoming this year in “one way or another.”

With all the homecoming festivities, Patouillet and his colleagues joke about their “Homecoming motto.” They say that everyone better “sleep fast” this weekend or they might miss something.