Each year an esteemed Homecoming committee is selected. Their job? Make Iowa State’s Homecoming an event to remember.

So far, so good. Homecoming is a favorite event for ISU students each year.

This year. Alicia Snyder and Megan Foldes have been selected as this year’s Homecoming general co-chairs.

The duo has been preparing for nearly a year. After being named as general co-chairs in November, the two began developing their own ideas for what they’d like to see at Homecoming 2012. 

Before being named the 2012 general co-chairs, Snyder and Foldes were both members of the 2011 Homecoming Committee. They enjoyed that so much that the decided to vie for the leadership role.

“When I first applied to be on the committee my freshman year, the idea of being able to plan such a huge event was appealing to me,” Foldes said.

“Homecoming was always so cool in high school so I thought at this level, only better things could happen,” Snyder added.

Both said they agreed that for them, it was also appealing to be able to do something for the community and to see the community come together, not just as Iowa State students but as the city of Ames as a whole.

After attending the first meeting, a transition meeting with former committee members, the first meeting to begin the official planning was held for the 2012 committee in Februrary.

“We’ve been planning ever since,” Snyder said.

This year’s Homecoming Committee is made up of 26 members. Within the committee, the group is divided into several sub-committees, including tournaments, lawn displays and this year the special Cytennial Celebration committee.

Snyder and Foldes said they came into the position with several ideas of how they’d like the Cytennial Celebration to go.

From there, Foldes said they would pass their ideas on to each subcommittee.

“Mostly we just passed on our ideas to the committees, so that they could twist and turn those ideas into their own.”

This year, Snyder said they really wanted to improve their public relations skills.

 “Last year our PR didn’t reach the levels it should have, so we just really wanted to utilize that this year,” Snyder said.

It seems their efforts have been successful. The Homecoming Committee has been selling Homecoming buttons at several events, including the Iowa State Fair and introductory events held at Iowa State.

“Our name’s definitely out there this year,” Snyder said.

Homecoming 2013 marks the 100Anniversary of Iowa State Homecomings. To celebrate, the committee and the alumni are calling this year’s celebration the Cytennial Celebration.

As an important milestone in the history of Iowa State Homecomings, new events and changes can be expected to be seen this year.

“There’s no way to pinpoint what’s new this year,” Foldes said.

However, students can expect to be able to get more ‘bang for their buck’ at the annual – and favorite – event, Food on Campus. This year, instead of getting 5 meals for $5, students and faculty can get 7 meals for $5.

In addition to this, the Friday night pep rally, which is usually held on Central Campus, is set to be held at the ISU Alumni Center.

Snyder and Foldes said this is because they really wanted to draw in a larger crowd.

“There’s no specific demographic for this event, we want everyone of all ages to attend,” Foldes said.

Working closely with the Alumni Center, Snyder and Foldes said really want to see members of the community and past alumni attending the event.

They also hope that after the event,  they hope that alumni will be drawn into Greekland to view the lawn displays and after that into Central Campus for the Pancake feed.

Because Homecoming is originally an event for the alumni, it’s important to get the alumni involved each year at Iowa State. That’s why the committee has worked so hard to make the alumni want to be involved.

With Homecoming week beginning to get underway, Foldes and Snyder are especially excited for the week’s events.

“[I’m most excited for] Saturday at the football game,” Foldes said. “That will be the moment I’ll look back at the week and go, ‘Wow, everything is done.’ I mean it’s a year worth of planning. I’m excited to see how it all goes.”

Snyder what she is most looking forward to is working with the other committee members. “[I’m excited for] the execution of all the events and seeing the committee members be proud of their accomplishments,” Snyder said. “I love seeing their faces when what they plan works out.”

Both Snyder and Foldes said that they want everyone across campus and Iowa State to know that this week is Homecoming week.

They also really want students to get the food on campus. They put the event on for the students, and the food is really cheap  – as well as delicious —  so there’s really no reason why a student shouldn’t want to attend.

The duo also recommends attending the event Friday night at the Alumni Center. It’s a great way to be a part of Iowa State’s Homecoming traditions, old and new, and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

If you’d like to be involved in the planning of Homecoming 2013, the committee will be accepting applications in the end of October.