Illinois College is celebrating its homecoming this week with the traditional parade, athletic contests, and student and alumni activities.
One of the highlights of the week is the college’s annual homecoming parade starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. This year’s honorary parade marshals are alumni Tom and Marcy Bramley Burrus.
While students on the Hilltop, Marcy Burrus was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Literary Society and Tom Burrus was active in Gamma Nu Literary Society and served as vice president of his senior class. He received the Investment Award before graduating from Illinois College with a major in business and economics in 1971.
The Burruses have worked with one another in the family business, Burrus Seed, which was formed in 1935 by Tom Burrus’s grandfather and his brother, and now includes the fourth generation of family ownership. Burrus Seed markets hybrid seed corn and soybeans in a five-state area.
The alumni couple has remained engaged with their alma mater. Both were elected to the IC board of trustees as alumni trustees.
The parade will be staged in the Jacksonville High School Bowl and Grace United Methodist Church parking lots. Entries will step off at the corner of West State and Church streets and head east on State Street to the downtown plaza. As a new addition this year, the parade will go north and clockwise around the corner of the square before turning south onto Mauvaisterre Street and eventually west onto College Avenue. The parade will continue along College Avenue and go left onto Park Street before disbanding at Park Street and Edgehill Road.
Throughout the week the Blueboys and Lady Blues will be compete in a number of athletic events, culminating with the football team taking the field at 1 p.m. Saturday to battle Grinnell College at England Stadium. After the homecoming game, there will be a post-game party for alumni, parents and friends featuring music by the band ’90s Daughter under the Homecoming Celebration Tent from 4 to 7 p.m.
A pep rally will kick off homecoming week at 8 p.m. today, with a full week of student activities to follow. Alumni events are also planned throughout the weekend.
A complete schedule is available at www.ic.edu/homecoming2016.
