Kegs-and-eggs starts at 5 a.m., and tailgating begins at noon – Homecoming weekend will undoubtedly be a time of much “celebrating,” but students should remember to enjoy the weekend festivities safely and responsibly.

Today kicks off the weekend in which alumni return to their alma mater for football and memories. They still have pride in NIU after so many years – maybe students should take a cue from them.

The last thing alumni want to see when they return to the school at which they spent so many great years is a bunch of buffoons throwing garbage, rushing the football field and screaming obscenities at the opposing team. Our alumni would like to think the students who followed them would have some class and care about the way their school looks in the eyes of other visitors.

And it doesn’t look good when every police officer in the area has another student pulled over for driving under the influence or another violation.

Local police will be out in large – massively large – numbers, looking for said buffoons doing something stupid. Homecoming is a great excuse to go out, let loose and shed some of the burdens brought on by recent midterms, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes a good time can go a little further than it should.

Many will wake up for class on Monday a little groggy and possibly not fully aware of all that went on this weekend. That may be part of the Homecoming tradition, but getting thrown in jail is not.

Students can have a great time, hang out with friends, have some drinks and scream until they can’t breathe anymore without letting things get out of hand. In fact, a great time should be the goal of the weekend, not simply passing out and forgetting the weekend ever existed.

After all, when one day you become one of those alumni, it would be be nice to be able to smile and say, “I remember my Homecomings … ”