The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / News / Tailgating, Abilene Zoo carnival highlight 2020 Homecoming plans
The Flames celebrate their president's pronouncement as homecoming queen. (Photo by David Mitchell)

Tailgating, Abilene Zoo carnival highlight 2020 Homecoming plans

September 24, 2020 by Dillon Daniel

Events for Homecoming have been scheduled amidst uncertainty caused by the ongoing pandemic.

The first event to kick off the Homecoming Weekend will be a praise day Chapel on Oct. 16.

“We are planning a Friday praise day for those on campus and virtually,” said April Young, officer of alumni and university relations. “We’re still working on finding a speaker but if you watched any of the prior chapels then it will be a similar experience.”

Jama Cadle, assistant director of alumni and university relations, said the Friday of Homecoming will feature a free-admission carnival people can register to attend.

“The carnival will be at the Abilene Zoo, with masks being required, and will be open to students, faculty and staff and their families,” said Cadle. We’ll have free food for the first 550 people.”

Cadle said those who attend will be able to do activities such as feeding the giraffes, riding the carousel and riding the train for free with room to social distance.

Due to COVID-19 regulations, Mandy Collum, senior officer of alumni and university relations, said that there has been numerous virtual events scheduled to allow the alumni to have a chance to connect.

Collum said that one event that will be virtual will be the annual homecoming parade.

“We will be having a ‘virtual parade.’ It won’t be any actual parade but a look back on previous ones in the past,” Collum said. “It will serve as a chance for alumni to catch themselves on video or even just a time of remembrance.”

Collum also said there will be virtual performances by musical talent from ACU.

“Along with the virtual parade, we will have a video of some of our musical talent on campus,” Collum said. “We’ll have the ACU a cappella choir perform a few songs and Nick Tatum’s groups performing a few songs.”

Other online events will include a performance by the theater department and an event hosted by the Maker Lab where students, faculty and staff and their families can create something in-person or where those off campus can order a take-home creation kit.

Many events will be in-person as well. Young and Cadle said that the tailgate is still planned.

“Things could change, but we do plan to have tailgating,” Cadle said. “Because we’re not doing in-person reunions this year we are going to celebrate the classes we would have celebrated next year along with next year’s classes.”

Cadle said food will also be catered for those at the tailgate.

“The food we would have served our alumni will be served to our students,” Cadle said. “The Shed [Market] is going to cater individually wrapped BBQ sandwiches. They will be first-come, first-served.”

Young said that on that day there will be invitation-only events for the nominees for Homecoming Queen.

“The event will be called ‘Homecoming Queens Tea,'” said Young. “It’ll be a time to celebrate our Homecoming court and will go into the football game where we’ll announce the whole court. Voting [for homecoming court] will be from Oct. 2-9.”

The Saturday events will close with the football game against West Texas A&M at 6 p.m.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News, Showcase

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

About Dillon Daniel

You are here: Home / News / Tailgating, Abilene Zoo carnival highlight 2020 Homecoming plans

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
2 Jun

The Optimist reached out to ACU Athletics, who provided the following statement.

Reply on Twitter 1929676060947632336 Retweet on Twitter 1929676060947632336 1 Like on Twitter 1929676060947632336 1 Twitter 1929676060947632336

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

12 months ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved