2020 Homecoming from Home

For this year’s Homecoming, Dave Walsh—the “Voice of the Cowboys”—could be heard through speakers on computers, tablets and phones as he spoke about the history of Homecoming at the University of Wyoming. Alumni, friends and the campus community were treated to a virtual video celebration that included not only the history of Homecoming but a congratulations to the class of 1970 who were celebrating their 50th reunion, a sing-a-long to “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” and a recounting of favorite Homecoming memories. We celebrated Homecoming from home in 2020 from Oct. 10–17.

As UW leadership continually monitored the reopening of campus, there was a consensus that in-person alumni Homecoming traditions could not be held with the same integrity, quality and safety as past celebrations. We still felt it was important to host components of Homecoming virtually, as it is a time-honored tradition that many look forward to every year.

To kick off Homecoming, alumni could register to receive a 25 percent discount to the University Store. Alumni from the class of 1970, celebrating their 50th anniversary from UW, were offered a 50 percent discount. Alumni also had the opportunity to update their contact information and sign the virtual guestbook.

Our virtual offerings were wide-ranging. Downloadable content was made available on the Homecoming website that included pumpkin carving stencils, coloring pages, postcards, a crossword and word-find.

The UW Alumni Association partnered with Institutional Marketing to create a social media interactive toolkit that included Instagram GIF stickers and Facebook profile picture frames, as well as phone and Zoom backgrounds.

We continued our Golden Boot Competition, where any UW department or Laramie business could decorate its office to show its Cowboy spirit. The 2020 winners were the UW Trademark Licensing Office and UniWyo Federal Credit Union. They get the honor of proudly displaying the Golden Boot in their offices for the year.

In celebration of the class of 1970, alumni were able to fill out a memory form about what they have been up to since graduation, listen to songs from the ’70s via a Spotify playlist and request to receive a class certificate. The UWAA featured five alumni video highlights from this class that included Dr. Jeffrey Cummings (B.S. ’70; H.D. ’11), Marilyn Kite (B.A.’70; J.D. ’74), Bill Hill (B.A. ’70; J.D. ’74), Glen Larson (B.S.M.E. ’70) and Susan Kany (B.A. ’70).

The 2020 Distinguished Alumni Awards were postponed to 2021. In the fall of 2021, we will celebrate David Burman (B.A. ’74), Nancy Freudenthal (B.A. ’76; J.D. ’80), Peter Sherman (B.S. ’86) and Medallion Service Award recipient April Brimmer Kunz (J.D. ’79).

By celebrating Homecoming 2020 virtually, we were able to increase the accessibility of our activities to alumni throughout the world who may not have had the opportunity to travel to Laramie. While we are looking forward to celebrating Homecoming 2021 in person next fall, we will still look to include virtual components to help keep the brown and gold spirit alive wherever our alumni may be celebrating from.

If you didn’t get a chance to view the Homecoming videos, they can still be accessed on the UWAA YouTube page or the Digital Connections page on the UWAA website. 

Thank you to our Homecoming sponsor: UniWyo Federal Credit Union