Kent State celebrates homecoming with parade, football

KENT − Kent State University celebrated homecoming weekend with it usual parade and activities on and off campus. Participants got lucky early in the day, as no rain fell on the parade.

Students and their families, along with alumni and area residents, lined East Main Street for the annual Homecoming Parade . More than 75 units marched from the Music and Speech building on the KSU campus, past Front Campus and into the downtown area.

A large crowd assembled near the Front Campus area near The Rock, where bleachers were set up and health screenings were offered. The KSU Undergraduate Student Government, celebrating its 100th anniversary, and the Kent State Ambassadors, celebrating their 40th anniversary, were the grand marshals.

A light rain fell on and off throughout the day, but there was no rain on the parade.

Tim and Monica Knight of Niles were there to cheer on their daughter, Jordan, a junior at Kent State who plays the sousaphone in the Kent State Band. The couple has been coming to the parade since their daughter enrolled at KSU.

"We come down here every couple of weeks since it's so close," he said.

After the parade, the crowd dispersed to a variety of activities on campus and off, including the Golden Flashes homecoming football game at Dix Stadium against Eastern Michigan. The game started at 3:30 p.m.

Fans gathered at Dix Stadium for tailgating before the big game.

Couples who met at Kent State were encouraged to celebrate their relationships, either during the tailgate party or virtually by submitting their stories online.

Reporter Diane Smith, who graduated from Kent State University in a Year That Shall Not Be Named, can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State celebrates homecoming with parade, football