While it is widely recognized that Homecoming requires months of hard work and planning, few students know what goes on behind the scenes. To find out, the Cabinet interviewed the Homecoming Design Team, a student group formed by the Center for Student Engagement (CSE) to engage the student body during Homecoming week at Geneva.
Kiera Foster-Staff Reporter
The majority of Homecoming is planned by Geneva’s Events and Foundation offices, and they do an incredible job at welcoming alumni back to their alma mater and helping families become acquainted with the college. However, with the majority of Homecoming centered around alumni and families, students who don’t have family visiting can be displaced from everywhere but their dorms. To solve this problem, the Homecoming Design team “was formed to give things to students to do,” said Seth Barker, a senior communication media and rhetoric major serving on the Homecoming Design team for the second year in a row.
Barker first joined the Homecoming Design Team during the 2025-2026 school year, after he received a card from the CSE in his mailbox with a checkmark beside the Homecoming Design Team. “To this day,” Barker said, “I have no idea who that card came from.”
Micah Henry, a senior computer science major in his first year on the Homecoming Design Team, was encouraged by Geneva faculty, Kevin Donaldson, head of the Homecoming Design Team, to join. In addition to all the fun events across campus, Henry noted that his favorite part of being on the team was for the community. “I definitely enjoy the meetings,” he said, “we all get along really well.”
Vivian Haan, a senior business 3+1 scholar, is also serving on the Homecoming Design Team for the second year in a row. Similarly to Barker, Haan found herself encouraged to join the Homecoming Design Team by a roommate and close friend. For Haan, the decision to join the Homecoming Design Team was a bit more complicated. She had previously served as a Learning and Transition (L&T) Mentor and wanted to continue in the role. Donaldson encouraged her to interview for the positions she wanted, and Haan found herself serving both as an L&T Mentor and on the Homecoming Design Team.
Haan also worked on one of Geneva’s major Homecoming events geared specifically toward the student body: the car smash. Every year, the homecoming car is decorated with phrases and symbols representing Geneva's opposing football team for the year. In 2025, Geneva played Bethany College, whose mascot is Boomer the Bison. The car featured sayings like “Got beef?” and “Take Me Home Country Roads,” since Bethany hails from West Virginia. For all the students who may not enjoy attending sports games, the car smash helps foster Geneva spirit. “It gets students really excited,” Haan said. This year, Geneva will be taking on the Hiram College Terriers, so be sure to keep an eye out for the car smash.
In addition to the car smash, students should keep an eye out for spirit week. “Spirit week is framed a little differently this year,” Haan added. Because Homecoming directly follows fall break, spirit week actually loses two days out of the week. For Haan, this loss actually provides a way to engage the student body even more.
This year, the three major branches of student life will each have their own day during spirit week. Residence Life, the CSE and the Student Ministry departments will each host a themed day. Students will also receive an attendance passport as an incentive to check out different events across campus, and these passports provide students with a unique way to remember Homecoming 2026.