The traditional Washburn University Homecoming Parade has returned after a one-year hiatus.
Eric Grospitch, the vice president for Student Life, explained that there was no Homecoming Parade in 2023 due to a lack of student interest expressed in discussions following the 2022 parade. Instead of a parade, a large Homecoming Tailgate was organized for 2023. However, the lack of a parade made it so students didn’t feel like they got the true Homecoming experience.
This has led to the Homecoming Parade returning for 2024 and it returned with greater involvement from the Topeka community than it has ever had before in its approximately 94-year history.
The community involvement included local politicians, the fire department and pet shelters, among many other things.
Taylor Romanchek, homecoming intern and senior mass media major, said that it was “really wonderful” to see so much involvement from the city of Topeka.
Romanchek recognized that Washburn has not always been acknowledged for its role as Topeka’s college, describing the University as a hidden gem. She said that the community involvement shows a connection to Washburn and she has greatly enjoyed and appreciated the outpouring of support.
Grospitch explained that there was a new parade route for this year’s parade.
The previous route started at lot seven and ended at 19th Street. He said that while this route started off very well in 2022, after MacVicar Avenue there was a clear drop-off of attendees. The 2024 route started again at lot seven, but turned back into campus with the hope of maintaining more consistent foot-traffic throughout.
A big detractor for the 2024 parade was the weather.
Grospitch said there were discussions about potentially postponing the parade due to weather, but the forecast only got worse throughout the day, so it went on at 10 o’clock the morning of Nov. 2. The cold rain resulted in a 50% decrease in anticipated attendance, according to Romanchek, but she understood the need for people to stay safe and avoid poor conditions.
Romanchek is still hopeful that the 2024 parade will provide momentum for future parades and parade participation.
She specifically believes that a threshold has been crossed with the involvement of the Topeka community that will have a long-lasting impact on the future.She is also hopeful that this will be the beginning of new traditions for Washburn and has been encouraged by multiple organizations already figuring out how they want to up their game for next year’s parade.
