What does Homecoming mean to you? Every Tufts student may answer this question a little differently, but to many of them, it means one gargantuan, untamed, weekend-long party.
As we all know, Homecoming represents the kick-off of the school year and the fall season of sports, as well as a way for all of the Tufts community to show their Jumbo pride.
This is done though the mingling of current students, faculty, alumni, family and friends at various athletic events, a cappella concerts, the awards ceremony, the campus parade, and the Tailgaters' Village.
While many people went to the Saturday afternoon football game itself, many also chose to spend their entire day tailgating for the game, never quite venturing into the actual stadium.
There was more inebriated debauchery on this one October afternoon at Tufts University than in scores of past weekends combined. An obscene number of intriguing people performed hilarious, and often "unthinkable," stunts at this affair: a 70-year-old man dressed up as a civil war hero, proclaimed to have been born in the mid-1800s as he pounded back a few beers. People boogied down and fell off strangers' car roofs, singing at the top of their lungs.
T-shirts were both handmade and special-ordered. Delicious sandwiches, scrumptious hotdogs, and mouth-watering Krispy Kreme donuts were in abundance (not to mention free!), and there was certainly no lack of alcoholic beverages of all types and varieties. It's not very often that one gets to cheer for the "awe-inspiring" Jumbos while simultaneously taking keg-stands alongside their parents, and the occasional "cool" grandparent.
According to enthusiastic sophomore Julia Avrutin, "tailgating for Homecoming was an exceptional experience that no one should ever abstain from, for any reason, whatsoever."
To best recap last weekend's Homecoming, the Daily asked students for their most memorable event of Tailgater's Village. About 75 percent of the individuals interviewed had no recollection of the day at all, but could say with great certainty that it was "FUN!"
Those who did remember a bit of the day, however, gave some eclectic and rather unforeseen responses.<$>
What was the most memorable event of Tailgaters' Village for you?
"My friend was walking around the tailgate with a headset on and its cord was attached to the inside of his underwear. So he pretty much spent all day talking to his [unmentionables]."
Valerie Chin
Junior
"I scored my first try [point] at my rugby game, and the tradition is that after you score you have to drink an entire beer out of a sweaty, worn, disgusting cleat, so I obviously did."
Joanna Xylas
Sophomore
"I saw some kid get sick into one of those free megaphone/cups they were giving out, and then he continued to keep drinking the rest of the beer out of it. It was a once in a lifetime experience."
Jeff Holzberg
Sophomore
Lindsay Firger/Tufts Daily
"I was told that I mooned a bunch of unsuspecting alumni under their tent ... let's just say they were shocked."
Max Lavet
Sophomore
Lindsay Firger/Tufts Daily
"I enjoyed the many many free perks from the lacrosse team."
Rachel Silver
Sophomore
