Homecoming gets more attention in high school than it does in college, three ISU sophomores said.

Kayla Miller, a sophomore in meteorology from Panama, said ISU’s Homecoming is pretty meaningless compared to Harlan High School’s Homecoming.

“Homecoming in Harlan is a huge deal, and at ISU it’s pretty much just another game,” Miller said.

She said she thinks the visiting team may be part of the reason ISU Homecoming isn’t as big.

“Usually the Homecoming game in Harlan is our rival team followed by a big dance that everyone goes to,” Miller said. “Here students don’t go to the dance and it’s just another team that we play, not rivals like Iowa or Nebraska.”

Jimmy Askren, a sophomore in psychology from Chariton, said alumni get very involved with Homecoming in his hometown.

“Homecoming at Chariton is a big deal — everyone that graduated from there comes back,” Askren said.

Askren said ISU Homecoming is not a huge deal for students.

“Homecoming at ISU, for most students not greek, is just another game,” he said.

Askren said that alumni probably value Homecoming more than students do.

“A lot of alumni come back for the game at Iowa State,” he said.

Kellie Pashek, sophomore in Liberal Arts and Sciences – open option from Orient, said Homecoming doesn’t include students in the dorms and off-campus.

“I think that the football game is a huge deal, but not the activities during the week because they’re mostly just greeks,” she said.

Pashek said Orient’s Homecoming got all students involved in one aspect or another.

“Homecoming in Orient was a very big deal because everyone got involved with powder-puff football, tee-peeing, the game, decorating for the dance and the dance itself,” she said.

To make Homecoming a more celebrated event, Pashek had one suggestion.

“I think if the people in the dorms and off-campus got to be more involved, then it’d be a bigger deal,” Pashek said.

Pashek said that while Orient’s Homecoming was a big deal in high school, she doesn’t feel it’s that important to go back home for it after graduation.

She said she will be different with ISU Homecomings, however.

“Football games at Iowa State are really fun,” she said. “I’ll probably come back for Homecoming football games for a long, long time.”