Plainwell sophomore Jordan Rife, vice president of Trout’s hall council, said the Homecoming games and ultimate victory gave them a sense of community.

“It makes me really proud because Trout Hall is not an honors hall and we don’t have a (residential) college,” Rife said. “We made connections and friends through Homecoming.”

Trout had to put a lot of effort into getting prepared for the homecoming games, Rife said.

Trout prepared for the Homecoming events by training with mock Homecoming events in the hall, said Flint sophomore Quinton Williams.

“We hid a fake medallion in our hall,” Williams said. “We call it floor wars.”

Williams was the choreographer for the Rock Rally dance, and said in the past, Trout residents were not as organized.

“We tried to get as many people involved as we could,” said Midland sophomore Josh Finch. “We knew that with participation, we could do better at the events.”

Rife said as one of the main coordinators for Trout’s Homecoming committee, her strategies were to get involvement and positive attitudes.

“I was constantly posting on Facebook to go sign up for events or search for the medallion,” Rife said.

The Homecoming Week festivities included the Rock Rally, field games, medallion hunt, chalking, float building, the Amazing Race, the mystery event and trivia games.

“I’m really proud we had participation in every single event,” Rife said. “We had outstanding freshmen and sophomores that made it a big deal.”

Williams said although they were not able to come out on top for all of the Homecoming events, they kept their spirits high.

“Some of the events we didn’t do so hot in,” Rife said. “So I tried not to let people get discouraged.”

Finch said though competition is high throughout Homecoming Week, within north campus it is friendly.

“Personally, this is one of my favorite times of the year, I love Homecoming Week,” Finch said. “I love how much fun it can be, and as a hall, we strived to do our best, so we are excited about next year.”

Golden Ambassador Meredith Clark

Golden Ambassador Alan Jones

Alan Jones and Meredith Clark were named Golden Ambassadors after Friday night’s Rock Rally. The two were part of the top five male and top five female Homecoming ambassadors and were voted on by faculty and students starting Oct. 9.

Jones and Clark were linked by a mutual friend, but had never really interacted. They clicked right away, however, and spent the rest of the week hanging out. The two agreed they were thrilled to share the experience with each other.

“We have this connection and we really think we’ll stay friends,” Jones said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but we just understand each other. We’re like a Twizzler.”

Jones said Clark made things easier and more enjoyable.

Clark, a Clarkson native, was nominated by First Book, a national nonprofit organization she started at CMU. The organization promotes literacy for underprivileged children by giving them their first books.

First Book fundraises throughout the semester to provide books for two schools. She described the end result as a Christmas-morning feeling.

Clark has also been involved with Orchesis Dance Theatre since her sophomore year. She said she has been dancing since the age of three and finds a passion in every dance from ballet to hip-hop.

“I’ve had an overall positive experience here at CMU,” Clark said. “I came here as a Leadership Advancement Scholar and it has really been instrumental in my success as a student leader at CMU.”

Clark is also a lunch buddies mentor, Leadership Safari guide and is involved in the Alternative Breaks Program.

Lauren Johnson, Troy CMU alumna and close friend of Clark, said Clark is a good representation of the university and the award represents everything she strives for in life.

“Meredith is a well-rounded student with an extreme passion and drive for what she wants,” Johnson said. “She leads a good life and a lot of people can learn from her. (She’s) a perfect mix between a type A and type B personality.”

Jones was nominated by his fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. The Detroit native said his fraternity has been the outlet to many of his other involvements at CMU.

Keeping involved has been a key part of his experience. Jones is a leading member of Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates, a resident assistant in Herrig Hall, a participant of Leadership Camp and a member of Word Hammer.

Through his fraternity, he also became part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and is now the president.

“The people here at Central have been great, and it’s a good feeling to be able to represent everyone who has supported us every day,” Jones said. “It’s as if we are the face for all those who don’t get recognition.”

In his limited spare time, Jones enjoys Netflix movies and participating in intramural sports. He also enjoys adding to his collection of bow ties and bouncy balls.

John Ketchum, a Saginaw senior and close friend of Jones said he is excited for his friend and knows he can make an impact.

“Alan doesn’t think individually, but thinks about the student body as a whole,” Ketchum said. “Alan is the person out of our whole group of friends that we look (at) to get better. He is dedicated to everything he does.”

After chatting with old winners, Jones and Clark both see being Golden Ambassadors as something that never stops giving.

“You are always a Gold(en) Ambassador,” Clark said. “This is a life-long honor, and winning is not just for us, but it’s for everyone.”

The two agreed being a Golden Ambassador has been the most memorable part of college so far, and said they felt a sense of blessing, honor, appreciation and love.

The two agreed it is exciting to see people who make a difference on campus this year and know those people could be ambassadors next year.

Attendance was high for tailgate over the weekend as a large showing of former Chippewas helped to fill the lot space before the Homecoming game against Eastern Michigan University. Though the Chippewas may not have fared well against Eastern, the lot showed signs of hope instead of the usual sparse numbers of tailgaters.

Troy sophomore Kaitryn McGaffey said the lot looked more crowded than usual, because of the large alumni showing. McGaffey said she rarely attends the tailgate at Lot 63 and usually spends the time before the game at Main Street, a tradition started by many students after the tailgating policy change in 2009.

“The Homecoming tailgate was really fun this year,” McGaffey said. “I’ve only been to two other tailgates at the lot and it was definitely more crowded than it was last year.”

Rochester Hills senior Danny Featherstone spent the Homecoming tailgate in the alumni lot near Rose Pond with his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. Featherstone said the fraternity tried holding a tailgate in the student lot for the first home game of the year, but it resulted in disappointment.

“I understand restrictions need to be made to keep everyone safe, but they’ve taken it too far for students,” Featherstone said. “We’ve had a lot more fun in the alumni lot than in the student lot.”

Featherstone said because of the fence and police presence, many students, especially those under 21, feel intimidated to attend the Lot 63 tailgate.

“(The rules) scared everyone away that isn’t 21 because they assume that the cops are going to watch them like a hawk,” Featherstone said. “When there’s only a couple hundred people at the lot, (the police) can tell pretty easily who is 21 and who isn’t.”

But for some students, attending tailgate still isn’t worth their time, even on Homecoming Weekend.

Allen Park junior William Pfafflin only attended one tailgate this year and said he was disappointed with his decision. Pfafflin said the quantity of police and lack of students in attendance make it hard for students to enjoy themselves in the parking lot.

“We usually just end up going straight to the game,” Pfafflin said. “Police have been making it impossible for students to have fun, and none of my friends think it’s worth it to go anymore.”

McNeal, a 1979 Central Michigan University, participated in Homecoming events and was part of the 2011 Homecoming Parade.

With his deceased father in mind, he said he felt grateful to receive the honor.

“Oh, it’s incredible — it is. I would have never dreamed this,” McNeal said. “My father passed away a few years ago and graduated from here in ’59. He’s looking down on me and going, ‘Oh my gosh, that crazy guy is actually a Grand Marshal.’”

The Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament was started in 1974 by McNeal and 18 of his friends in Lowell. It has expanded to 75 cities, including annual tournaments on the CMU campus, with more than 200,000 players and 1.7 million spectators.

Assistant vice president for University Recreation, Stan Shingles said he enjoyed seeing McNeal as the Grand Marshal. Shingles, who met McNeal when Gus Macker tournaments were first getting started, said he believes McNeal was a great choice to represent the school.

“I think Scott embodies everything you want in a Grand Marshal,” Shingles said. “His enthusiasm and his love for CMU is what you want to see in every Homecoming Grand Marshal.”

McNeal said he did not know what to expect from the crowd at the Homecoming Parade.

“I was hoping that maybe there would be some crowd-surfing, but I didn’t see any of that,” McNeal said. “Other than that, I enjoyed the parade and was excited about it.”

He said he was not sure how to display his emotions while on his float.

“I was more trying to decide the best way — do I jump out and go run and hug people? I didn’t know, so I just kind of screamed at people,” McNeal said. “They probably thought I was a little weird.”

McNeal succeeds former Grand Marshals like former trustee and Merrill Lynch Senior Vice President John Kulhavi and Amy Roloff, star of “Little People, Big World.”

The brunch kicked off Homecoming Weekend Saturday morning. CMU hosts a 50 year class reunion annually.

Annie Sanders, assistant director of alumni relations, said CMU hosted summer reunions in the past. She said they wanted campus to be open for alumni to revisit.

“We got a lot of calls asking for it to be during homecoming weekend,” Sanders said. “It’s the best time to come back.”

Alumni Nancy Watkins didn’t come to the reunion for the Homecoming events. She said the school has changed significantly in the last 50 years.

“I just want to wander around campus,” Watkins said.

For some alumni, the reunion isn’t the first time they’ve been back. Alumni Donald and Evlon Wilson come to watch football games at least twice a year.

Donald said they are impressed with how much the school has grown since they graduated.

“There were only 2,200 people here when I first started,” Donald said. “You knew everybody.”

Evlon agreed things have changed with CMU’s expansion.

“You knew all the professors, you knew all the students,” she said.

After brunch, the alumni sat outside Powers Hall to watch the Homecoming Parade.

The reunion continued with the alumni village tailgate near Rose Ponds before the football game against Eastern Michigan University.

About 1,200 people gathered in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium to watch Tucker’s stand-up show.

Tucker danced onto the stage, accompanied by fog and flashing lights. He was applauded as he flaunted his Central Michigan University sweatshirt.

“I am in the middle of nowhere-land here (in Mount Pleasant),” Tucker said. “I was like, ‘Where the hell am I?’ I thought I was going to prison.”

The audience laughed at Tucker’s mocking description of Mount Pleasant. He also cracked jokes about CMU’s football loss against Eastern Michigan University, targeting the football players among the crowd.

Farmington Hills freshman Shafer Johnson said the show was everything he expected it to be.

“(The show) was really funny, especially when he started mocking (people) in the audience,” Johnson said. “London Brown was also really funny.”

Brown was the second opening act to Tucker’s show. He was discovered by Tucker and has been on tour with him since May.

Brown’s show involved dramatic body movement and he used the microphone in his jokes and dance moves. The audience laughed at his ballet-type performance as he described an airplane flight.

Comedian Terry Hodges was the other opening act. He emphasized the need for people to enjoy life.

“You just have to have some fun,” Hodges said. “But stay away from drugs and alcohol.”

Tucker joked about his recent troubles with the IRS and encouraged audience members to save their money. He also mentioned his recent speeding ticket and called police childish for waiting around for speeding cars.

As part of his ending act, Tucker did an impression of Michael Jackson, complete with singing a portion of Jackson’s “Why.”

Paul Barlow said he enjoyed hearing Tucker talk about Michael Jackson. The Mount Pleasant senior said he found it to be a well-rounded show.

“It’s more than just a show,” Barlow said. “Chris always has some advice within his shows. It’s always good to hear him.”

The two winners were announced after Friday night’s Rock Rally. Jones and Clark were part of the top five male and female Homecoming ambassadors and were voted on by faculty and students starting last Sunday.

Clark is a Clarkston senior nominated by First Book. Jones is a Detroit senior nominated by his fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi.

Sturgis resident and Central Michigan University alumnus Adam Simonson said he enjoyed bringing his children to a less rowdy tailgate.

“It’s really great to come back and watch our kids play with each other,” Simonson said. “It’s more responsible.”

The enforcement of several laws has changed the tailgating environment.

Alcohol is allowed in the parking lot, but not in the stadium. However, CMU does sell alcohol to private parties and some suites in the stadium.

Many of the men agreed back when they played football for CMU, the parking lot was full of drinking and partying.

“This used to be all students,” said New Hudson resident and alumnus Sam Lowe. “There was a lot of concern, so the police started clearing it out in ’99, but prior to that they didn’t care.”

The group of alumni and former football players stood together and took a picture in the parking lot. The men, accompanied by their families, were tailgating Saturday afternoon before the Homecoming game.

“We come every year for Homecoming, it’s a ritual,” said Simonson’s wife Emerlyn. “The guys used to play football together, now they get together and tailgate.”

Although several games were set up in the parking lot for the children, they played inside the cars instead to keep warm.

“Central’s tailgating is more family-friendly now and a little more low key,” Emerlyn said.

The men and women joked with one another as the children played around the table filled with hot dogs and cookies.

“The guys get together a month in advance and fix their schedules for this because they all live in different cities,” Emerlyn said.

Some mothers began huddling with their children in the car trying to keep warm as well.

“Hopefully my boys can play here like their dad did,” Emerlyn said. “He was a top 10 All-American.”

Music was flowing from speakers throughout the parking lot while students and families came together for Homecoming festivities.

“The game day environment is better than it was,” Emerlyn said. “For my kids, I’m happy with the way things are now.”

Although tailgating at CMU has changed over the years, some say the atmosphere still remains the same.

“It reminds me of when I was here,” Lowe’s wife Melissa said. “It will always be just as fun.”

About 200 participants were divided into 32 teams to build boats out of cardboard and duct tape. Those boats were raced by each team across the Rose Ponds in about six heats Saturday afternoon.

Brian DeJong, coordinator for the Cardboard Boat Race and mechanical engineering assistant professor, said he liked how much the students talked about how fun the race was.

“It’s one of the highlights of my fall,” DeJong said. “We have a bunch of good teams. It’s going to be real interesting with the wind and the cold. I think it’s going to be a good year.”

In the first heat, the team “Boats and Oars” had a first place time of 8:11. Team members Sean Erber, a Lexington sophomore, and Marcus Pattullo, a Mio sophomore, agreed the secret to the success of their boat, “Sailors and Scholars,” was many layers of cardboard and lots of caulk.

Another team,“Bros before Boats,” had a strategy for their boat, the “S.S. Don’t Sink,” to focus on the stability of their boat when they built it.

“We will definitely finish, but I don’t know how fast will be,” said Mount Pleasant freshman Matt Strandskov. “Hopefully, we really get up there.”

Several boats with creative names and designs raced and sank throughout the afternoon, including “That One Team,” “Rubber Duckies” and “Captain Morgan.”

The team with the fastest record time last year, ASME, participated with their boat named “Goliath,” said West Bloomfield senior David Quintal. ASME went from a 4:52 time last year to a 5:44 time this year.

The other two fastest boats were “Jenny” with a time of 5:52 and “Mock3” with a time of 6:21.

Of the runners at the Homecoming Miles for Medals 5K were Ohio graduate student and former Central Michigan University cross country and track runner Cory Arnold and Wixom senior Rachael Wessel.

“I was looking for ways to stay motivated to keep on running, and I thought this race would be a good race to do that,” said Arnold, who finished with a time of 15:28, the fastest time in the 5k. “This is my first time here, and I’m really impressed. Everybody’s here for a good cause.”

Dan Ekonen, manager of coaches education and volunteers for Special Olympics, was in charge of organizing the Miles for Medals 5K, and said he was pleased with the results.

“It turned out great. The weather was kind of a bummer, but a lot of people came out and braved it,” Ekonen said.

Along with medals given to the first and second prize winners, a new award for the 5K this year was for the most spirited participant, which went to Muskegon senior Jessi Boehme for completing the one-mile run/walk on crutches with a torn ACL.

“I want to move again because I just had surgery this past Tuesday,” Boehme said. “It’s spectacular.”

Wessel, who is one of 20 members of the running club in the 5K, finished with a time of 18:53, the fastest out of the women participating in the 5K.

“We haven’t always been doing this, but it’s something we decided to be a part of to contribute to the community,” Wessel said. “I think everyone did very well. We had a lot of personal records, and a lot of people were happy with their times.”

The 5K also had about 100 student volunteers organize the event. Among the volunteers were members of the CMU baseball and softball teams, including Mount Pleasant Senior Nate Theunissen, who said the volunteering was a great way for CMU baseball to give back their time.

“It’s a good opportunity to get involved with the community,” Theunissen said. “I wish the weather was a little bit warmer, but it’s great to have everything going on in the spirit of Homecoming.”