While Kent State is gearing up for Homecoming festivities, the College of Education, Health and Human Services is putting on its own set of Homecoming events Saturday.

The events start at 9 a.m. at the KSU Alumni Breakfast, where the College of EHHS will have a welcome table for the alumni to catch up and with former classmates, said Hope Magnus, one of the coordinators of the EHHS Homecoming events.

There will be a watch party in the White Hall parking lot at 10 a.m. that will include face painting, pumpkin painting, corn hole, and a front-row view of the parade, she said.

After the parade, alumni and students are invited to an open house for all four of the College of EHHS buildings: White Hall, Nixson Hall, the Music and Speech Building and the Gym Annex, Magnus said. This is the first year all four buildings will be open for Homecoming.

“Anyone from the College of Education, Health and Human Services is invited to the events,” Magnus said. “We did target our alumni to participate but we also invited our students, faculty and staff.”

The College of EHHS will also have its own float in the event, getting many students involved, she said.

The Kent State Education Association is one of the several student organizations involved in the Homecoming events, Abbey Wollenberg, president of KSEA, said.

“I know the Dean’s Office has been putting an emphasis on trying to get alumni back on campus and getting students involved,” Wollenberg said.

“All of the student organizations in the College of Education, Health and Human Services are involved in the parade and invited to the open house after to interact with alumni, which is nice for both the students and the alumni,” she said.

Dave Herpy plans to attend the breakfast and watch party. He is an EHHS 2001 graduate and a coordinator for the Department of Recreational Services at Kent State.

“I think it’s a good idea for the college to have the new open house because of all the changes to the buildings over the years, especially the Music and Speech building,” Herpy said.

“These are activities that the Dean’s Office has put together for our graduates,” Magnus said. “It’s just a welcome event where we want people to come back and reminisce about their days when they were here at Kent.”

“I like that these activities are offered for the alumni,” Herpy said. “It shows that they care and that the alumni are truly valued, which is a good feeling.”

Contact Chelsea Cassudakis at at [email protected].