Shepherd University will welcome alumni and members of the community for its Homecoming game and celebration this weekend.

Rachel Meads, assistant director of the student center and homecoming organizer, said that the goal of this year’s homecoming committee was to increase school spirit overall and showcase all the contributions and achievements of Shepherd students.

The weekend’s activities will kick off with the Founder’s Day event and banner judging, as well as the homecoming dance this evening.

The Founder’s Day event, which will include a procession from one side of campus to the other, will feature speeches about Shepherd’s past, present and future by emeritus faculty, alumni, President Suzanne Shipley and Thomas Segar, the newly named vice president of Student Affairs.

As is tradition, student organizations have competed for the past week in various activities in hopes of being awarded the “spirit stick” at the football game Saturday.

According to Meads, the students have been working to build floats and banners in accordance to the year’s “Roadtrip across the United States” theme.

“It will be fun to see how that comes across in the parade,” she said.

Meads said the roadtrip theme ties to the idea of alumni returning to Shepherd for homecoming.

“We hope they’re taking a roadtrip back to see us,” she said.

Gina Miller, a member of Shepherd University Alumni Association Board, said she looks forward to returning to Shepherd for the game and alumni activities.

“I haven’t been back for a homecoming since 1984,” she said.

Miller, who is new the alumni board, left Shepherd in 1985 after being injured in a head-on car collision but returned to graduate in 2010.

Texie Roden, events coordinator for the alumni association, said that alumni events for this year will include the traditional alumni breakfast Saturday morning as well as the third annual post-game party, being hosted at its new location at the Shepherdstown Fire Hall.

Roden, who helped plan this year’s homecoming events along with Alumni Relations Director Alexis Reed, said that she continues to look forward to homecoming every year.

“It’s nice to see everyone come home and relive the memories they had at Shepherd,” she said.

Miller said she is most excited about meeting other alumni at the breakfast Saturday morning.

“You’re kind of like one big, happy family … You graduate, but you’re still a part of Shepherd,” she said.

Find a full schedule of homecoming events at wwww.shepherduniversty/safweb/homecoming.

To find more information about the Alumni Association or to join, visit shepcon nect.shepherd.edu.