![\"\"](\"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/10\/Homecoming-social-1024x512.png\")
Southern Arkansas University will celebrate its 2020 homecoming October 19-24, but it will look a bit different than years past.\u00a0 The University has tagged this year\u2019s festivities \u201cNot Your Average Homecoming\u201d because of the need to celebrate within the current COVID boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe obvious difference is there won\u2019t be a football game,\u201d said Steve Browning, director of athletics. \u201cWe\u2019ve won 12 straight homecoming games and 13 of our past 14. So to not have an opportunity to potentially add to that impressive streak is disappointing, but we are still excited to be able to celebrate homecoming. With all of the virtual events and interactions that the university has planned with students and alumni, it is definitely something to look forward to.\u201d
\nMost of the events planned for the week are virtual or require specific times for small group participation, but many of the Mulerider homecoming traditions will continue this year, just in a different format.<\/p>\n
The homecoming court will be announced later this week with the Homecoming Queen and King being crowned at a coronation event to be live-streamed on Thursday evening, October 22. Students will also be able to participate in street painting, a drive-in movie and the traditional Muleshoe Hunt.<\/p>\n
A full week of activities is also planned for SAU Alumni.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to homecoming each year because it brings so many alumni to campus,\u201d said Megan McCurdy, director of alumni relations. \u201cThis year is not your average homecoming. However, we have planned several fun events this year that our alumni can enjoy from home, since we cannot gather in person.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCurdy explained alumni can participate in the shoebox homecoming float competition, join a Facebook Live update with Dr. Berry, compete in a virtual trivia night as well as be a part of the annual Golden Rider Reunion, which honors SAU Alumni on the 50th anniversary of their graduation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Class of 1970 will be celebrated this year during a special Zoom gathering,\u201d McCurdy explained. \u201cI wish we could celebrate with our traditional brunch at the Alumni Center, but connecting this way will give us an opportunity to see fellow Muleriders who may not have been able to join us on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
In conjunction with homecoming week, SAU\u2019s Mulerider Club is hosting an invitational golf tournament, sponsored by Murphy USA. The event will be held Friday, October 23, at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado. SAU\u2019s rodeo will also take place during the homecoming festivities. It will be held October 22-24 at Story Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID has altered so much of what we have been able to do on campus this semester,\u201d said Dr. Trey Berry, SAU president. \u201cBut, we wanted to still be able to have homecoming with our students and alumni, so we have found different ways to celebrate. It is certainly not your average homecoming, but it will be one we all remember!\u201d<\/p>\n
For information on all of the events scheduled for SAU\u2019s Homecoming Week, visit https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/homecoming\/<\/a>. Please note that participation in most events will be virtual or under specific social-distancing guidelines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Southern Arkansas University will celebrate its 2020 homecoming October 19-24, but it will look a bit different than years past.\u00a0 The University has tagged this year\u2019s festivities \u201cNot Your Average Homecoming\u201d because of the need to celebrate within the current COVID boundaries. \u201cThe obvious difference is there won\u2019t be a football game,\u201d said Steve Browning,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":8445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,92,276,265,7753],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alumni","8":"category-athletics","9":"category-community-corner","10":"category-events","11":"category-homepage","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}