-Isms: Original views on life in rural America

With all the homecoming hullabaloo last week, I’ve been thinking about the intersection of school and traditions and the importance of maintaining pieces of the past mixed with the present.

Homecoming’s roots are embedded in football, when colleges would invite alumni to return home for the big game.

In the early 1900s, Arizona State, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri all initiated grand spectacles, with the football game as the centerpiece. There were parades and speeches, dances and bonfires.

Arizona State started the Lantern Walk. Texas is known for homecoming mums. One of my favorite...