In addition to being honored at the Alumni Awards Evening on October 17, Alumnus of the Year Paul Candies (Class of ‘62), president of Otto Candies Industries, will reign as Grand Marshal over the Homecoming parade.

At the Alumni Awards Evening, Ken Kenelly (Class of ‘75), a State Farm Insurance agent from Baton Rouge, will receive the Distinguished Service Award, while Duane Donald (Class of ‘90), a Southeastern marketing instructor, will be presented with the L.E. Chandler Award, which recognizes service to Southeastern students. Kenelly and Donald are both former Southeastern athletes who have been instrumental in the success of Alumni Association and chapter activities. Both have served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

More than two dozen women who reigned over past Southeastern Homecomings will be fetted at a reunion luncheon and will ride in the Homecoming parade. The queens include 1946 Queen Jane McClendon Core and her daughter, 1970 Queen Susan Core Willie.

Southeastern’s three undefeated football teams – 1936, 1946 and 1954 – will be honored during pre-game activities in Strawberry Stadium. The honorees will include at least two members of the 1936 team, Walter “Winks” Vinyard of Ponchatoula and Lokey Faller of Hammond.

Southeastern’s Spirit of the Southland band is back on the march!. Led by director Trent Davis, it will be joined in the Homecoming parade by  bands from Hammond High School,  Ponchatoula High School, and Loranger High School and the U.S. Marine Corps band. In addition to the bands, the parade will include approximately 50 cars, floats and other units, making it the biggest Homecoming caravan ever.

The Students of the States and Southeastern band alumni are reuniting at Homecoming. The Students of the States, a popular Southeastern singing group during the 1960s and 1970s, will perform the Alma Mater and National Anthem at the Homecoming game, while the alumni musicians will join with the Spirit of the Southland band for pre-game and halftime entertainment.

Golden mum corsages are a Homecoming tradition! Order yours through the FE-Lions for $7 each. Place your order by Tuesday, Oct. 14 by calling the Alumni Center, 985-549-2150 or 1-800-SLUALUM or Veda Abene at 985-549-2301.

A special Homecoming Day activity area has been set aside for kids on Galloway Drive from noon to 3 p.m. Kids can follow a pathway of fun -- Who has the Courage to become a LION -- moving from station to station to jump in a space walk; get their face painted, paint mini-megaphones, make lion puppets, chip golf balls, meet clowns and Yogi the Bear, do a “lion’s roar” imitation, and get their picture taking with Roomie, Southeastern’s mascot.

Throughout Homecoming week, the College of Business and Technology will celebrate “Business and Technology Week.” The annual event brings dozens of business and industry leaders into classrooms to give Southeastern students as guest speakers and 

During Homecoming Week, Southeastern faculty will compete to create the best “Lion Lesson,” a classroom activity that both promotes their discipline and generates students’ excitement about Homecoming.

On Tuesday, October 14, faculty and student teams will flex their intellectual muscles in Phi Kappa Phi’s Homecoming Quiz Bowl. Faculty teams include the defending champions from the English Department, the “Gramminators,” who will be challenged by teams such as the Communication Department’s “Media Blitz,” Sims Memorial Library’s “Dewey-Decimators” and the Chemistry and Physics Department’s “Mental Layoffs.” Student teams include “School House Flock,” “The Rugby Bunch,” “The Manglers,” and “Duck & Cover.”

The Pennington Center will be open from 7 a.m.-noon for free fitness workouts: Step/Circuit/Jam, 9 a.m.; Yoga/pilates or spin, 10:15 a.m.; and Abs/Back, 11:45 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., the Recreational Sports and Wellness group fitness instructors will perform, including coordinator Pam Drury, who recently placed second in the Ms. Fitness Louisiana Competition.