This year’s Orange Central Homecoming will be underscored by a renewed sense of pride, largely due to Syracuse University’s recent entrance into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Now that we’re a part of the ACC, we have seen a surge in excitement from both alumni and students,” said Cristina Swift, assistant director of alumni relations. “People have shown a lot of school spirit and passion and want to be here.”

Orange Central, which began on Monday and goes through Sunday, will feature a barbecue, lectures, carnival games, a pep rally and several other events. The weekend will be capped by SU’s Homecoming game against Clemson, according to the event’s website.

Compared to previous years, Orange Central 2013 has seen an increase in alumni registration, with more than 1,500 expected to attend, Swift said.

She said she thinks the most popular event among alumni will likely be the free lecture given by George Saunders, an English professor at SU whose 2013 convocation speech is going viral online. Saunders will speak about the creative process and his teaching, according to a SU News release on Monday.

Swift said it’s important for alumni to come back to campus for Orange Central so that they can see how student life has changed throughout the years and reconnect “with campus and with each other.” This same atmosphere of reconnecting extends to current students as well, she said.

“I think it’s an opportunity for everyone to come together and show that pride of being Orange and celebrating that,” Swift said. “It’s a chance for them to really show that they’re students of Syracuse University.”

Though Friday’s barbecue has sold out and the Clemson game will likely be full, Swift said that she wishes more students would attend the parade and pep rally, as they are “classic SU traditions.”

“Those are things that you’ll want to have memories of when you’re alumni,” Swift said. “Those are things that make you want to come back and see it or be part of it again.”

Bea Gonzalez, a co-chair of the event, said the campus already has a sense of pride, but that Orange Central represents another way for students and alumni to celebrate their “orangeness.”

She said she is most excited to attend all the activities and meet with all different sectors of the campus community, including the university’s accomplished alumni.

“The alumni network is strong and this is a way of making that network stronger,” said Gonzalez, who is also dean of SU’s University College.

Sakina Kader, president of Traditions Commission, which plans Orange Central events, said that Orange Central is synonymous with alumni weekend and Homecoming weekend. To emphasize the event’s carnival theme, the organization created ‘Cuse Carnival, which will include food, prizes and games for students to participate in, Kader said.

The organization also created the first-ever Orange Central dance party in Schine Underground, which she said will be led by a student disc jockey. Kader, who is also a senior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, said the Traditions Commission worked hard to create events it thought students might respond to and attend.

“It’s homecoming for the whole university, so I hope students will attend the events because it’s one of the most school-spirited weeks; alumni come back and the game against Clemson will definitely be one of our biggest,” Kader said.

Published on October 3, 2013 at 2:19 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu