Oops. A change in next year’s Big 12 Conference football schedule left the only home game in October during fall break.
Homecoming week, which is almost exclusively in October, has to culminate with a home football game. Therefore, one has to be moved, said Kevin Boatright, associate executive vice chancellor for University Relations.
“It would be impossible to hold homecoming week at the same time as the fall break,” Boatright said.
The reason is simple: no students.
Finding a solution is more complicated. The academic calendar for next year has already been set, making fall break difficult to reschedule. But moving homecoming may be just as much of a hassle.
There are three other possible dates – two in September and one in November – for homecoming, but each presents a fresh set of problems, Boatright said.
The first date, Sept. 20, does not give students enough time to prepare for the weeklong homecoming celebration, he said.
The second possibility, Sept. 27, falls during the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah.
The third, Nov. 8, may be too late in the year, said Dennis Rosen, chairman of the University’s calendar committee.
“Studies are much more serious. Grades are starting to be formed. Projects are due,” Rosen said.
A November homecoming also means an increased possibility of cold and wet weather, he said.
Boatright worked with Rosen and the calendar committee to draft a recommendation to move fall break a week later, from Oct. 16-19 to Oct. 23-26.
Changing the academic calendar ultimately requires the approval of the Board of Regents. Before that, the change must be approved by University Council and the administration.
In its Dec. 5 meeting, University Council voted against moving fall break to accommodate the Oct. 18, 2003, football game and homecoming.
Adam Obley, a student member of University Council, said that moving fall break would upset already scheduled test dates and advising periods.
“I can’t just subordinate the academic mission of the University to homecoming,” said Obley, Topeka senior and student senator.
While November is not an ideal time for homecoming, weather should not be a consideration, Obley said.
“There’s no point to trying to predict the weather in the state of Kansas,” he said.
University Council’s decision brings the calendar committee and the group in charge of scheduling homecoming back to square one, at least for now.
There is a possibility that University Council will reconsider its decision at its next meeting Jan. 30, Boatright said.
But if University Council doesn’t change its decision, moving fall break becomes a dead issue.
“There’s a need to move ahead and make the other decision, set the calendar and live with it,” he said.
Kit Brauer, a University Council member and student senator, said the University was being too narrow-minded in its idea of homecoming.
There’s no reason that homecoming must involve a football game, said Brauer, Denver junior. He suggested women’s soccer.
This fall, the women’s soccer team had four home games during October.
“KU could be the progressive leader in that department,” Brauer said.
“I think women’s soccer could draw the same amount of people to a game that football could.”
