Homecoming weekend will fall in October for 2014, the first time it’s been scheduled outside of November in four years.
The Faculty Senate announced last week that the dates of the festivities will be Oct. 17 and 18.
Bernard Mair, associate provost for undergraduate affairs, said the choice to move Homecoming weekend to October is a long-standing one. UF’s Faculty Senate made a request years ago that whenever possible, Homecoming would be held in October.
Mair said because November is rich in holidays, class schedules get broken up significantly, and professors are unable to teach their classes effectively.
“With holidays, students are always going home a day early, coming back a day late,” he said. “It really reduces the number of classes students attend, and November disappears quite quickly when three or four weeks have holidays.”
He said the reason Homecoming has been held in November for the past four years is that the SEC schedule didn’t provide enough home games during October.
With the addition of the University of Missouri to the conference, the game schedule has expanded enough to allow for the shift.
Students have voiced dissatisfaction with Homecoming’s November dates for a while now, he said.
Veterans Day coincided with Homecoming in 2012 and 2013, adding an extra day to the already three-day-long weekend.
Taking advantage of the extra time, some students chose to put Gainesville in their rear-view mirrors instead of sticking around for the festivities. Next weekend, for example, many Gators are planning to skip Growl to attend the Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando.
Uncontested by the holiday, Homecoming events in 2014 could see greater student attendance.
Megan Harmon, producer for 2013’s Gator Growl, wrote in an email the event’s date is chosen by the Faculty Senate, and the Growl team works around it.
Harmon said, to her knowledge, the month Homecoming is hosted in doesn’t have an effect on attendance by students or nonstudents.
Carlos Mijares, a 20-year-old UF environmental engineering transfer student, said he’s much more likely to go to Homecoming if it’s held in October.
He said he travels home the most in November because so many holidays are spread throughout the month.
“When there’s a choice between Homecoming and a four-day weekend at home, I’m pretty sure I’d rather go home,” Mijares said. “I have school spirit, but I’d rather spend Veterans Day weekend with my family and friends.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/30/2013 under the headline "Homecoming 2014 not four-day weekend"
