DeKALB – The Campus Activities Board hosted its Night at Holmes: Homecoming Edition event, which was just one of many events that took place during NIU’s 117th Homecoming Week.
The event took place from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday at the Holmes Student Center.
The event included laser tag, karaoke, mini golf, go-kart racing, bouncy castle boxing, table hockey and a boxing arcade machine. There were also various art activities, such as bracelet making, felt flag making and canvas painting. Snacks and prizes were also available.
Owen Musser, a sophomore electrical engineering major, was pleasantly surprised about the available events.
“I’ve done the boxing event and the go-karts. They’re pretty fun. I was really surprised when I saw that go-karts were on the itinerary. I didn’t really understand how they were gonna fit that in here, but it was fun,” Musser said.
The go-karts took place in the Duke Ellington Ballroom along with the inflatable bouncy castle boxing.
Victor Jaramillo, a sophomore industrial engineering major, explained what his experience on the go-karts was like.
“The go-karts are really fun. There were some minor hiccups with the go-karts where someone stopped because they pressed too hard on the brakes and got stuck. Besides that, it was a really fun time,” Jaramillo said.
Kyan Dupart, a junior political science major, watched alongside a crowd at the boxing machine.
“This is interesting. People here got some mean right hooks. I’ve been seeing them break the high score every single time,” Dupart said.
Smore’s N’ More Event:
After a week of celebration for NIU’s 117th Homecoming, students shared their experiences about the different homecoming events.
On Friday night, NIU hosted its S’mores N’more event at MLK Commons. The event hosted several activities like smore making, axe throwing, inflatable mini golf and Connect 3 basketball. There was also a dance floor with a DJ.
Tylo Blackburn, a senior sports management major, emphasized the importance of homecoming events on community building.
“It’s really cool to see the amount of students out this week at the events like the Night at Holmes and the Block Party despite the budget constraints,” Blackburn said. “Events like these are important for promoting student involvement.”
Despite the fun events throughout the week, Blackburn said he wished NIU would’ve promoted the events more.
“I feel the school could have done more to promote the events and worked with departments like the Latino Resource Center, Asian American Center and Center for Black Studies more,” Blackburn said.
Vyctoria Brooks, a psychology graduate student, provided her thoughts and how it was nice to connect with new people at these events.
KayLynn Nicholson, a senior psychology and sociology major, reminisced on the petting zoo from Homecoming 2023.
“It was really cool and I wished that it had returned, but I like this year’s homecoming week much more,” Nicholson said.“I’ve noticed more people this year and the weather is much better than last year.”
S’mores N’more was one of the many events students could participate in during homecoming weekend. NIU closed out the 117th Homecoming with the football game against the University of Toledo on Saturday, losing 13-6.
