Homecoming will never again take place in February, when it would coincide with the basketball season, said Executive Director of Alumni Relations Jay Glatz.

“Homecoming will always be in October from now on,” Glatz said.

He said October Homecoming allows for more outdoor activities, since it is usually too cold in February for such events.

According to Glatz, there will be an alumni weekend in February coinciding with what would have been the Homecoming basketball game in past years.

With this change, Glatz hopes to revitalize the campus attitude toward the event and about Bradley in general.

“At one time, all the fraternities and sororities prepared floats and house (decorations) and rehearsed shows,” Glatz said. “The whole community came to see the gathering. It was the magic of Homecoming.”

This year’s Homecoming also will signal the end of the Centennial Celebration, which began on Founder’s Day 1996.

To kick off Homecoming weekend, alumni and students are invited to watch the Bradley men’s soccer team take on Evansville today at 2 p.m. at Becker Park.

From 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., a “Bratfest picnic” will take place today on the Student Center Quad.

According to Glatz, between 250 and 300 people have signed up to attend, though he expects at least 400. The price is $4 for children and $8 for everyone else, including students.

Another eating opportunity is the chili supper at 5:30 p.m. at the Robertson Memorial Field House. Admission is $4, though students who purchase a homecoming T-shirt can eat for free.

The red-white basketball scrimmage will be at 6:30 p.m. in the fieldhouse. During halftime, the Homecoming king and queen will be crowned, and Congressman Ray LaHood is scheduled to make a special presentation. Admission is free.

Rounding out Friday’s activities will be the Club Centennial, taking place from 7 p.m. to midnight in the Student Center Ballroom.

The Club Centennial will be the first opportunity for alumni to gather, and students are welcome to attend. There will be a deejay playing music spanning a number of eras at the free event.

Throughout Saturday, special alumni college classes will be held on campus. The classes are similar to lectures and cover a wide range of topics from “Women of Bradley’s Past” to “Why Do Good People Do Bad Things?”

Also throughout the day will be tours of campus and downtown Peoria. Each takes about 90 minutes, with Peoria Historic Tours boarding in front of the Student Center on a first-come, first-serve basis. A fee of $3 is required for the Peoria tour.

From 10 to 11 a.m., Ed and Janet Kaizer will hold a free piano concert in Dingeldine Music Center.

Of special note to students is the closing of campus cafeterias during lunch. Instead, lunch will be served on Olin Quad, similar to the Founder’s Day dinner. For students using a meal plan, Bradley Quick Cards will be accepted.

After lunch, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., the Bradley Band will perform in Dingledine Music Center. Admission is free.

Following the performance, the Centennial alumni parade will start at 3 p.m. in front of the Global Communications Center, with participants assembled in order of the decade they graduated. According to Glatz, different student groups are sponsoring each decade of graduates, who will be assembled oldest to youngest.

The parade will begin at the GCC and wind through Duryea Place, Fredonia Avenue, Institute Place, Bradley Avenue, Elmwood Avenue, St. James Place, ending at Founder’s Circle.

Marchers will follow banners designating their graduating decade, and antique cars will carry the Homecoming king and queen during the parade. Students are welcome to take part in the parade and join in the procession.

“We want to give the alumni a chance to interact with students, to find out what Bradley is like in 1997,” Glatz said. “And the students can find out what it was like in 1967.”

After participants have marched along the parade route, Bradley will try to reestablish the tradition of “passing the torch” in Founder’s Circle.

“The President of the National Alumni Association, Cliff Hesselbacher (’49), will carry a torch through the alumni and hand it to All-School President Parris Wallace,” Glatz said.

The tradition symbolizes passing a torch of wisdom and spirit from alumni to students.

The procession will then move into Neumiller Lecture Hall, where alumni will speak about Bradley’s history and Wallace will comment on Bradley today.

Bradley will present its “Centennial Celebration Gala Performance” at 8:30 p.m. at the Peoria Civic Center Theater.

The event is a multimedia presentation highlighting Bradley’s history and the campus today. Scheduled to perform are pianists and faculty members Ed and Janet Kaizer, a faculty jazz ensemble, the BU chorale, the BU theatre department performing production numbers from “A Grand Night for Singing,” and past and present members of the speech team.

According to Vice President of University Relations Kathy Fuller, there also will be a video of the centennial fireworks display that took place at Bradley Hall Oct. 8.

“The master of ceremonies will be Bradley class of 1990 alumna Sarah Braun-Hayes,” Fuller said. “She is a professional actor, with roles on stages nationwide, television (‘Cosby Mysteries’) and on the movie screen (‘Sabrina,’ ‘Dead Presidents’).”

Tickets for the Gala Performance are being sold at the Hartmann Center for $2 for students, $5 for staff and $7 for the public. Tickets also will be sold at the Civic Center Theater before the performance for $7 for everyone.

A free shuttle to and from the Civic Center Theatre is available to students, with departures from the Student Center beginning at 7 p.m.

For those wanting to extend their night, a Centennial Celebration Dance will be at 9 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pere Marquette.

“Admission is free, and attendants of the Gala Performance can walk to the hotel once the show is over,” Fuller said.

The dance will continue until 1 a.m., and students who attend may take advantage of free shuttles leaving the Pere Marquette up until 12:30 a.m.

The Bradley men’s soccer team will play Southwest Missouri State at 1 p.m. in Becker Park, highlighting the day’s Homecoming activities. Admission is free.

Glatz said he wants to stress that students are encouraged to attend all Homecoming festivities.

“I hope the students come and have a good time,” he said. “We welcome students at all events.”

Free parking will be available at Meinen Field, Vonachen Stadium and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Lab, at the corner of University and Nebraska after 5 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.

Free shuttle services will be provided to and from campus. Also, continuous shuttle service will run Friday and Saturday between the Student Center and area hotels.

Anyone wishing to register and pick up tickets for certain events may do so at the information desk on the second floor of the Student Center during the designated times.