The University of North Dakota celebrated Homecoming this past week, September 26th to October 1st. Packed with exciting events, Homecoming week proved a big hit for the university and the community at large. This year’s Homecoming consisted of a couple firsts, some classic traditions, and of course, a lot of fun.  

The Greek Council, a group of elected members from each Greek chapter on campus, hosted the first-ever Greek Carnival at UND on Tuesday, September 27th. Jordan Hufford of Gamma Phi Beta and Alec Johnson of Pi Kappa Alpha were present, along with other members of the Greek Council, to oversee the event. Hufford and Johnson informed me that the event was advertised in the local public-school newsletter and was created to cater to both the university and the community with the goal of raising funds for a good cause.

This year’s carnival was for the benefit of the Make a Wish Foundation and was a great success with each Greek chapter involved in the IFC and PHC participating. The carnival included a variety of food trucks, classic yard games, prizes, and music. Tickets were available for purchase to play the games, which were run by volunteers from each Greek chapter. The Greek Council hopes to continue to host the Greek Carnival during Homecoming Week for years to come with the goal of creating a new tradition.   

The festivities continued with the first ever downtown pep rally on Wednesday, September 28th, evening. The pep rally, a collaboration between UND and the Downtown Development Association or DDA, was a great success and proved to be an excellent way to fire up the community for the upcoming sporting events. The rally included a DJ as well as a variety of games such as cornhole, giant Jenga, and giant chess. The UND Hawk mascot was also present and taking pictures with fans. A couple tables filled with UND merch included pom poms, necklaces, stickers, and posters to help fire up the crowd and prepare to cheer on the athletes. Blue Weber, president and CEO of the DDA, told me that the event was intended to bring together members of the community and members of the university and to further the relationship between Grand Forks and UND. He stressed that you do not have to be affiliated with the university to be a part of the community and come to the events. 

The pep rally ran for about two hours, with a great performance from the UND marching band, visits from the football team and other UND athletic teams, and short speeches of encouragement for all the athletes that would be competing that week. Head Football Coach Bubba Schweigert, University President Andrew Armacost, DDA president Blue Weber, and Executive Vice President and CEO of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation DeAnna Carlson Zink all gave rallying speeches to get the community excited. UND Student Body President Faith Wahl and Vice President Morgan Mastrud were also present to announce the speakers and cheer on the UND athletes.  

The official Homecoming Parade took place on Saturday, October 1st around 9am proceeding from the Gorecki Alumni Center down University Ave. The party at the Football Tailgate Village at the Alerus Center followed the parade. Members of the UND community and the Grand Forks community at large attended to

celebrate and await the anticipated game. The football game kicked off at noon with UND facing off against Missouri state. The exciting game ended with a sweet victory for UND with a final score of 48-31. The Homecoming wins continued with UND men’s hockey winning a home exhibition game 5-1 against Manitoba later that day.  

UND’s 2022 Homecoming was an overall busy week filled with school spirit and exciting events that brought the UND community together with the Grand Forks community in a grand celebration to be remembered for years to come. 

Gabrielle Bossart is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].