Mount Hood

The history of homecoming on Western’s campus from 1939 to 2019

Caity Healy | Managing Editor

Homecoming — it’s common to see U.S. schools celebrating it, but the history behind the festivities isn’t usually made explicitly clear. As it turns out, the etymology of the term is about as literal as it gets. 

According to Vice, homecoming “got its start on college campuses as a fall celebration of the first football game of the season, for which alumni would return to their alma maters.” While the first homecoming allegedly happened in 1911 at the University of Missouri, the tradition as we know it now didn’t hit Monmouth until nearly two decades later.

“The first recorded Homecoming was in 1939,” said the 1968 edition of The Grove, Western’s 1940–1941 yearbook. With that said, this is likely talking about the festivities we celebrate now. The first mention of a Homecoming football game came in the 1930 edition of The Norm, the 1911-1939 yearbook, which means homecoming began in 1929. On top of this, according to the 1979 edition of The Grove, “the tradition at Oregon College of Education dates back as far as the 1890s,” and also added that “after World War I Homecoming was changed from spring to fall, with an added emphasis on football.” 

In the likely inaugural 1929 Homecoming game, Oregon Normal School — the name of Western at the time — went head-to-head against Southern Oregon Normal School, and it ended in a score of 0-0. However, in our next Homecoming game against Eastern Oregon Normal School, ONS capped an undefeated season, 50-0 under the leadership of Coach Wolfe — the inspiration behind Western’s mascot. Since then, several traditions aside from the football game have graced Western’s campus; some stuck around for years, while others phased out. 

The year was 1951. For the first time, the idea of a “Homecoming Court” hit campus. Since then, it’s been an integral part of the festivities — the announcement of the court was even televised in 1966. How the royalty was presented, though, has changed over time. For several years, the court, wearing their full homecoming gear, was driven onto the field in convertibles. In 1987, when the theme was “The Great Pumpkin Homecoming,” the royalty was driven onto the field in orange Volkswagen bugs to look like pumpkins. On top of this, the royalty used to be assigned by halls — there would be a “Butler Princess,” a “Landers Princess,” and so on.

It’s been a theme in recent years to burn the “W” following the Power Puff game. However, this tradition is one that ages back to early days of Western. Although we burn the “W” now and usually a bonfire as well, back then, the goal was just to build a bonfire as big as they could. Competitions were held between different halls to see who could collect the most wood to keep the fire burning.

For years, students would also have tug-of-war competitions in the mud as part of the festivities of the bonfire. 

On top of these traditions, it’s clear to see how some have evolved. For years, each hall would participate in a “lawn display competition” to match the theme of the year — perhaps that’s how we have arrived at the current office decorating competition that occurs now. The rose planting that the Homecoming queen takes part in was a tradition started by Jessica Todd in the early days of Oregon Normal School. And the homecoming dance has always been around — though, in the ‘60s it was deemed the “All-American Ball,” and students also attended a “Grubby Dance” where they were asked to look filthy. 

Some traditions didn’t make it to 2019. For years, the school put on a homecoming concert, often with a talent show preceding it. They’d bring speakers to campus — in 1986 the speaker was Adam West, the original “Batman.” For several decades, a much-loved tradition existed: the noise parade. Students would decorate their cars and ride all through Monmouth, making as much noise as possible until they reached the bonfire, and in later years, until they reached either the powderpuff game or the football game. Then, before the games began, fireworks would go off in Western’s colors to signal the start. 

Homecoming has been around this campus for longer than a good number of the buildings. 

While some traditions didn’t last too long or simply disappeared, some became an essential part of the week’s celebration. And each year, new history is made as new traditions are created and revered.

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photos courtesy of WOU Archives

 

Western’s annual homecoming was full of “wild” delights with a Western-themed twist

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Homecoming is an important week-long community-building event at the heart of Western’s traditions. This year, the homecoming theme was “Wild, Wild Western.” Western began their “wild” festivities with the 3rd annual Homecoming Kickoff Carnival and Paint the Wolf event on Monday, Oct. 14, and ended with the Western football game against Central Washington, where homecoming royalty was crowned during halftime. Although Western eventually lost during overtime, students had many opportunities during the week prior to participate in and enjoy the homecoming festivities. Here are some highlights:

3rd Annual Homecoming Kickoff Carnival & Paint the Wolf celebration: Even though the air was a chilly 44 degrees on Monday Oct. 14, the sunshine filtering through the clouds brought groups of students to participate in the start of homecomings’s activities. The homecoming theme was blatant in the fair-like games — ring-toss and the high-striker — which drew students in. The free cotton candy put a smile on student’s faces and a few students were even brave enough to ride the bull (a mechanical one, of course).  Finally, the annual tradition of repainting the Western logo on Court street was a crowd favorite. 

 

chevron-right chevron-left

Paint the Town Red: On Tuesday, Oct. 15, participating businesses in Monmouth allowed students to decorate their windows with window paint fitting the “Wild, Wild Western” theme. Using mostly shades representative of the school’s colors, students grouped together to collaborate on their masterpieces, which included several Wolfie caricatures dressed in their Western-style best (literally). Yee-haw! PLUS team was announced as the winner of the contest on Tuesday, Oct. 22. 

 

Office Decorating Competition Judging: The office decorating competition was a hit among students and faculty alike and took place on Wednesday, Oct. 16, ending with three offices winning for different categories. According to an email from Student Engagement’s Coordinator of Organizations and Activities, Kelly Welch, Student Engagement won the “best overall” prize, but it was given to the 1st runner-up, the Accounting and Business Office, to avoid bias. The other two prizes were “best incorporation of Homecoming theme,” which went to the Criminal Justice Sciences office and the “best display of WOU spirit,” which went to the Heritage Hall front desk. 

 

Hoedown: Keeping up with the theme, on Thursday, Oct. 17, Western held the “Hoedown” dance in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center. Students donned primarily plaid flannels, bandanas and their best tattered jeans while they learned line-dancing choreography and enjoyed free popcorn. 

 

Bonfire Prep Rally: A personal favorite of many, the burning of the “W” took place on Friday, Oct. 18 during the Bonfire Prep Rally. Students gathered around to be awe-inspired by the flames and enjoy a sense of camaraderie while they discussed the upcoming football game hype. For more information on the Homecoming games’s results, check the sports section.

chevron-right chevron-left

Wolf Royalty Announcement: According to Western’s Homecoming page, “Homecoming Court and Wolf Royalty are traditions at Western Oregon University that recognize and honor outstanding student leaders who exemplify our values.” This year, there were five nominees for senior Homecoming court and out of those five, two were officially announced and crowned as Wolf Royalty during the Homecoming game’s halftime — students D-Dre Wright and Monica Cerda-Ortiz.

chevron-right chevron-left

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Caity Healy

Many of the renovations in Independence are a part of the Independence Vision 2040 Plan which is based around the community’s ideas and desires

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Western students may have noticed the increase in construction and development currently changing the landscape in Monmouth’s neighboring city of Independence. Some of the renovations include apartment complexes, a new youth center and the Independence Hotel, which was just opened to the public last Thursday, Oct. 10. Many of these renovations came to be because of the Independence 2020 Vision plan, a plan developed by both the local government and the community to revitalize downtown Independence. Now that these goals have been or are in the process of being accomplished, the Independence Department of Economic Development has set its sights on starting the next chapter — the Independence Vision 2040 Plan. 

“Independence is growing. The Oregonian back in May published a story that said we were the fourth fastest-growing city in Oregon since 2010,” said Independence’s Economic Development Director, Shawn Irvine. “The cities faster than us were Bend, Happy Valley and Wilsonville, so kind of cities you would expect, and then there’s Independence.” 

Irvine said this growth can be attributed to the fact that “we’ve done a lot in the past 10-20 years to revitalize the community and make it a place people want to be, and that appears to be working.” 

In fact, the Independence Vision 2040 Plan marks the third time that the Department of Economic Development has sought community input on future renovations. 

“As far back as 1996, folks were worried that Independence was going in the wrong direction, so they took a year and went out, got everybody involved and just said ‘what’s working and what’s not working’ and ‘where do you want Independence to be in 20 years and what do we have to do to get there?’”

In the ‘90s, Independence was known as a “blue-collar, rough-and-tumble town where everybody went to drink,” Irvine explained. “It’s funny, because as we evolve, we don’t want to lose that and become all hoity-toity.” At the same time, safety was a huge concern. Independence locals wanted their town to be “vibrant,” so they realized they had changes that needed to be made. 

Now, almost 30 years later and after around 560 surveys were completed, the Independence Vision 2040 Plan focuses on new concerns. 

“Folks still want the town oriented around the river, but they want more recreation around the river and more trails … we’re hearing more about … concerns about making sure that housing stays affordable, concerns about the people in our community who are less able to care for themselves … and increased interest in healthy living and lifestyles,” said Irvine, who also noted concerns for Independence’s characteristically young population.

Now, Irvine said, “I’m going to take it on the road and basically go to every local group and community organization and get in front of them to talk about this,” and asserted that, “it’s better to go out into the community and have the community tell the government what needs to happen, because then we can take our guidance and figure out how to implement that vision … and it makes it a whole lot easier to work with the community, to find partners, (and) to get people excited about it.”

For more information, visit http://www.independence2040.org/.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Independence’s Department of Economic Development 

Interested in broadening your horizons and making lasting connections? Consider the Conversation Partner Program.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

How does one form community when they are on a foreign campus miles away from home? The conversation partners program at Western seeks to provide a solution by connecting international and domestic students together. 

Currently, the international students of Western represent approximately 2.5% of the campus community. For their first term living at Western, they are automatically enrolled in the conversation partner’s program. Director of International Student Academic Support and Linguistics Professor, Dr. Troyer, described the program as, “a wealth of information for international students.”

It works like this: domestic students either volunteer independently or participate as a part of certain classes to become partners with an international student or two. Students are paired together based on their schedules and interests and once paired, they meet on a weekly basis to discuss anything of particular relevance, from music taste to language-learning skills to events happening on campus or in the surrounding valley. The goal, according to Dr. Troyer, “is cultural connection … broadening your worldview and connecting with people, finding out why they are here, what their motivation is.” 

The program was established in 2007 and was much smaller then, almost doubling in size since its conception. However, the international student population has dwindled. Dr. Troyer cited “economic changes (and) U.S policy and immigration issues” as reasons, even mentioning gun violence as a consideration. 

Despite this, Dr. Troyer asserts that the conversation partner program is still making positive changes in student’s lives, recalling one particular student who “had always lived in Oregon and towards the end of her freshman year had heard about the conversation partner program, signed up, and … completely changed her college and career trajectory … (she) went to China to teach … and is now working on her masters in TESOL at UofO.” 

On a smaller scale, Dr. Troyer remembers a time where he went to Sing Fey’s — a local downtown Chinese eatery — and observed “a table with four girls talking and laughing, and it turned out they had all met through conversation partners.” Troyer said, “That’s the kind of thing that makes it worthwhile.”

Students interested in signing up to be a conversation partner can do so by visiting wou.edu/westernhowl/ and clicking on the link for more information.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Western has a new mobile app letting students carry campus with them wherever they go; plans for a future more advanced app are underway

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Through the new MyWOU mobile app, Western’s students now have a way to carry campus with them wherever they go. As of now, approximately 1,200 students have downloaded the app, with 990 of them using the app through iOS and the rest through Android.

Director of University Computing Solutions Bill Kernan, and Web, Mobile and Systems Programmer Tony Manso are two of the people responsible for cultivating and modifying the app to give it that “Western look.”

“The idea actually started maybe 2 and a half years ago … Elucian, the provider of Banner, approached Western, Southern, Eastern and OIT and asked if we were interested in a mobile app and I said ‘we are,’” Kernan said.

MyWOU functions much like portal — students can find all of the information on portal built into the app but Kernan said, “the current portal isn’t responsive, so we are in the initial planning stages for portal 3.0 … MyWOU isn’t ever going to be a replacement for portal, but will hopefully work in a similar fashion.” 

However, unlike portal, MyWOU is customizable, more accessible for daily use and has a few unique features currently in development. 

One “cool feature is College Scheduler … (a) mobile app to do planning with. You can put your schedule in and then say ‘I want to take these types of classes’ and then it will fill it all out so you can use that when you apply for classes,” Kernan commented. That will be linked into the MyWOU app within the coming months. 

“We also have the campus map,” Manso added, “since it’s running on a mobile device, the device has GPS capability, so we could actually do things according to your location on campus, so as soon as somebody comes up with a reason to do that, we will probably have that functionality on the app.” This function could serve to give students information about events being held in different buildings on campus, or interesting fun facts about the art and architecture of Western. It’s like Pokemon Go, but for learning about the campus.

The biggest feature that has already been implemented, however, is notifications. 

“It’s really hard to get ahold of students because it seems like the current generation of traditional students that are in college don’t use email much anymore, they use social media more,” Kernan said, “we’re thinking this is one more communication tool to get information out to students in a timely manner, such as reminders that it’s time to see your advisors.”

However,  MyWOU is still in its early stages of development. 

“We’re hoping it can be a tool for success,” Kernan said, but “if students have feedback about the usability or additional functionality they’d like to see … we’ll take it to that subcommittee in UTAC and we can go from there.”

Manso concurred, “there’s a lot of possibilities … once the students get ahold of it, we need to learn from them, what they want to see it do and let them define it from there.”

For students interested in providing feedback, contact Tony Manso at monsot@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

The Government proposes amending current SNAP eligibility; Oregonians and students may feel the effects.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Under the Trump administration, the Food and Nutrition Service department — a subset of the U.S Department of Agriculture — proposed a revision of the categorical eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on July 24. The proposal called for stricter criteria when determining eligibility as well as a nationwide program consistency. It would eradicate “a loophole that allows states to make participants receiving minimal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits automatically eligible to participate in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” according to the USDA website, and is portrayed as a system that will heretofore ensure universal fairness. 

This proposal would have a particularly strong effect on Oregonians as Oregon is the fifth state with the highest number of SNAP recipients. In 2017, 16% of Oregon’s population was reported to be on food stamps; that accounts for 681,000 individuals, of which 55% of participants are in families with children, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’s website. Under the proposal, an estimated 35,000 families would be losing their benefits in the state of Oregon. 

This affects students at Western, too. Bilingual Advocate Outreach Coordinator and Supervisor of the Food Pantry, Lisette Servantes, as well as two of the Coordinators from the Food Pantry, Josh Salisbury and Rachel Bayly discussed food insecurity on campus and how this new proposal might affect Western’s students. 

The Food Pantry is a free resource dedicated to alleviating food insecurity on campus. 

Servantes stated, “food insecurity happens at every college and we see that need … some students are missing meals to pay for books or classes. We definitely don’t want that to happen.” Of Western’s student population, Bayly had mentioned that “monthly we average around 900 visits and 350 people … if you break it down to students specifically, about 60% of people coming in are students, so about 200 people per month.”  

However, Servantes also wanted to highlight some of the positive changes made within the Western community to address and provide assistance to those suffering from food insecurity including “a new student voucher program” where if “Western students come have a quick conversation with (her) just to assess their needs and determine if it’s more of a long-term or short-term solution that we need to find … (students) are able to get a $25 certificate to Waremart or WOU Dining.” In addition to that, there is a “new student criteria where if students go meet with the DHS representative … and state their specific intentions and career goals … that waives their student criteria, (making) it easier for students to get approved for SNAP benefits.”

As a parting thought, Salisbury commented, “In our country for college students, we expect them to sacrifice a lot to go to college in terms of time, money, and energy — you shouldn’t have to add your nutritional health to that list. I think that even if our country as a whole doesn’t support our college students as a whole that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to make a difference on our campus.” 

 

Food Pantry hours and information: wou.edu/foodpantry

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

“Zones” are a new parking strategy created by public safety in response to affordability concerns.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Many changes have been made to Western’s campus, including a new parking system that has left Western’s students with mixed opinions.

The director of Campus Public Safety, Rebecca Chiles, released an email on Sept. 17 which introduced Western students to a newly-established parking system. Under this new system, students will be required to buy parking permits as they have been in the past, except this time there is more than one permit option. The system is based around parking zones, with  “Zone 1” — zones with higher demand — or “Zone 2 — which are zones with lower demand — representing the type of permits that students can choose from. 

Students wanting to park in higher demand Zone 1 areas will pay $150 dollars for a resident permit, a considerably higher rate than those who prefer lower demand Zone 2 areas, with their permits costing half the price at $60. Non-resident permits for “Zone 1” will cost $125, with “Zone 2” permits remaining $60. New parking rules also include free parking between the hours of 6 pm-6am, making campus events more accessible for all students. 

The email cites affordability and community solidarity as reasons behind the change. Campus Public Safety was put in charge of parking just last year, according to Rebecca Chiles, who asserted that she was charged by President Fuller with coming up with a new strategy that would prioritize “affordability for our students.” 

After attending multiple conferences including a “parking and transportation summit at OSU in March” and “talking to other universities,” Chiles stated that they were forced to accept that Western was “in the dark ages” in terms of how they were executing parking. 

Regarding the process of approval for the now newly-implemented system, Chiles said that there is “a parking review committee… (with) students on that committee,” and that they “presented the whole entire concept to them with maps and zones and layouts … and it was unanimously accepted.” 

Despite approval from the committee, Chiles cited that there have been some “growing pains” and acknowledged that there has been some lashback from students, particularly regarding accessibility. To set matters to rest, Chiles admitted that, “maybe (she had) not done a good enough job talking about disabled parking,” and wanted to clarify that, “anyone who has a state-issued government placard … can buy the cheapest permit and be able to park in any of the zones on campus.”

Chiles also expressed some frustration that there is an overall lack of understanding of the system, despite the university’s and Campus Public Safety’s best efforts to keep students informed. 

“We added a new thing on Portal this year where, to get your permit, you have to click that you have read the rules and regulations,” said Chiles, who also mentioned a brochure attached to the permit with the same information that she says often gets ignored. “We wish people would educate themselves with the materials that we have provided for them.” 

The consequences of ignoring such information can be huge, Chiles stressed. “You can get a citation… if you get enough citations, your car can get booted.” However, Chiles also encouraged students to know their rights and “take part in the appeal process” should they “believe something (has) happened unfairly.”

In the future, Chiles divulges that she would like to see the use of pay-stations on campus. She believes they would be helpful in cutting down the time spent on getting “permits for every single visitor” in a large group, something that they have to do every day. 

For the full Q&A, visit wou.edu/westernhowl

 

To read the full parking rules and regulations, refer to https://wou.edu/safety/parking-services/parking-brochure/. 

To contact Parking Services, call 503-838-8267.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Caity Healy

Western Oregon University

Facebook   Instagram   X  YouTube

WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
345 Monmouth Ave. N.
Monmouth OR 97361

503-838-8000 | 1-877-877-1593

Tools

Campus Maps
Canvas
Find People
Portal
WOU Email
Technical Support

Resources

A-Z Index
Accessibility
Academic Calendar
Class Schedule
Jobs at WOU
News
Explore WOU
Partnerships
Student Services
Freedom of Expression

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

Accessibility    Public Records    Privacy    Student Consumer Information

WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.