With a new semester underway, students reflected on their Homecoming weekend, which was the first in-person Homecoming for first-year and sophomore students.

At a packed stadium for Pitt’s Homecoming football game on Saturday, De’Jovia Davis and Ian Montelius won Spirit of Pitt awards. Davis said it was “surreal” and she “couldn't do anything but smile” after winning.

Back on campus, masked and fully vaccinated one year later, I am ready to see what a Pitt Homecoming might look like while we’re still stuck in a pandemic.

Homecoming court needs to be ungendered in order to give all students an opportunity to be royal and to feel properly represented by their school.

Homecoming this year is a reunion, symbolizing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Homecoming came a week early for Pittsburgh natives and former Panthers Bricen Garner and Therran Coleman, who both started for Western Michigan in a 44-41 upset win over their former school at Heinz Field last weekend.

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher spoke with TPN for about 30 minutes last Friday about the planning for the fall semester, running the University during the COVID-19 pandemic’s latest stage, the ongoing faculty unionization vote, off-campus health guidelines and more.

Alexis Zito, a senior mechanical engineering major, and Jonathan Perlman, a fifth-year mechanical engineering major, are this year’s Spirit of Pitt winners.v

One of the major events of homecoming is honoring Pitt alumni and recognizing their dedication to the University and the Pitt community. This is done through five different honors — the Roc Spirit Award, the Ivan and Mary Novick Award for Young Alumni Leadership, the Bill Baierl Distinguished Alumni Service Award, the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award and being named a Distinguished Alumni Fellow.

Homecoming looks different this year, since students and alumni cannot celebrate in person due to COVID-19 restrictions. Despite this, programming has not diminished, but only changed forms. With the lack of in-person events, both students and alumni must celebrate in other ways, such as showing their Pitt spirit by decorating their residence hall or home, participating in virtual events and utilizing social media.