Brad Einstein sat in the same spot he always sits for lunch in the HUB-Robeson Center, but on Tuesday -- unlike other days -- he was entertained by an event he described as "pure unadulterated school spirit, baby."
The first ever Past to Present Celebration began at 10 a.m. in the HUB Tuesday and enticed students who were passing through with trivia and prizes, free food, word searches and more.
Einstein's (junior-theatre) regular lunch seat was situated next to the stage where the Homecoming's Past to Present Celebration held performances by a number of different groups.
Some of the performances on stage included the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon Morale Captains performing the 2008 line dance, members of the International Dance Ensemble showcasing Tahitian and belly dances and members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., performing step routines.
Entering the HUB from Pollock Road, students could catch a glimpse into the past and see how long Homecoming has been a tradition at Penn State. Large black bulletin boards, decorated with pink words displayed black-and-white photos of past Homecoming football games and players, the parade and floats pulled by horses.
On her way to class, Bridget O'Malley (junior-international politics) stopped to look at the pictures and said the display increased students' pride in their school.
"The pictures show students that Homecoming has been around for a long time, and it's really cool to see the old black-and-white pictures and get an idea what it used to be like," O'Malley said. "But it's really weird to see the floats being pulled by horses."
Members of the Homecoming Court stopped by the celebration between their classes to talk to students and encourage them to vote for Homecoming King and Queen. Life-size cutouts of the court members surrounded a table where students could use computers to cast their votes.
Court member John Sladewski (senior-human development and family studies) donned his Homecoming Court sash, which the members of the court are encouraged to wear this week, and said seeing his life-size cutout was "awkward but cool."
"I enjoy talking to students and promoting Homecoming because it's something I wish I was more involved in before this year," he said. "This event is about history and tradition, and any event that rallies students to get involved is important.
Black and pink balloons -- Penn State's original school colors -- turned into blue and white balloons as students descended the stairs to the ground floor of the HUB, which featured a stage where the performances were held and tables giving away free Insomnia Cookies. After each performance, members of the Homecoming university relations committee asked the audience trivia questions about Penn State and gave the students with the correct answer prizes such as gift cards to restaurants, Nittany Lion plaques and Blue Band CDs.
Because this year's Homecoming theme is "Inspired by Tradition," Megan Maczonis, Homecoming university relations overall chairwoman, said she would really like to see this event become another Penn State tradition.
"Hopefully every year this event will get a little bigger and eventually take over the HUB," Maczonis (junior-elementary education) said. "The event turned out great. Since this was the first year, it allowed us to get a wide variety of performers and see how students responded to the different activities both upstairs and downstairs."
