So I’ve never actually been to a homecoming. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it in movies here or there, but then again, I could be confusing it with prom. Honestly, if I see dancing high school kids and a main character ready to simultaneously win the crown and convince a whole room full of kids to not be assholes, I’m not too concerned about the specifics. Prom, homecoming—I never understood the difference. But! This is exactly why I ended up doing some lengthy research (not really, like an hour tops) into homecoming because I knew nothing about it.
According to Vice, homecoming didn’t actually start in high school, but rather, college. Figures. There goes all those movies that love to center around high schoolers for some reason (give the college peeps a chance!)
The name can be taken pretty literally. To no surprise, it owes its origin to one of the most popular sports I’ve ever seen people intensively watch before—football. More specifically, the homecoming dance was a fall celebration to welcome players for returning back “home” for the first game of the season.
I guess the creators must have decided why the heck not. They’re coming home so what better way to say it than homecoming. Maybe not the most original but they weren’t wrong.
Multiple universities claim to be the reason why the dance even exists but there’s still debate about that. It could have been the University of Missouri in 1911 (I’ll admit, I didn’t know they actually thought about dances that long ago) or Baylor University in Texas dating back even further to 1909. It could have been either or none but the point is, it was made and as we can tell, it became pretty popular. Kudos to the creators, whoever they are.
1947 Homecoming Dance/University Archives
And now here we are with a crap load of high schools and colleges annually celebrating homecoming. Many take it very seriously, including ASU. Our school hosts a parade, a party, a walk, you name it.
Personally, I’ve never been to a homecoming and maybe I will one day but for now, I’m just happy to know I have more random facts up my sleeve. You never know when someone might need them. But seriously, have fun at home or come to the homecoming, whatever works for you! If you do go, I’m sure someone will be dying to know the history of homecoming because of course, everyone is always wondering about that. I know I was.