Alumni Enjoy Homecoming Weekend With Pre-game Parade
Liberty University hosted its annual homecoming weekend Oct. 8-9, bringing many alumni back to campus, during the parade prior to the football game against Middle Tennessee State University.
The parade featured many groups from Liberty, including NASCAR driver William Byron, students from the school of nursing, the Liberty Figure Skating team, the Cheerleading team and more.
Another participant in the parade was the Virginia winner from the Miss America pageant. Tatum Sheppard is a Liberty alumna who came back to be in the parade.
“I am excited to see other Liberty alumni,” said Sheppard.
Sheppard said she enjoyed being able to represent the state through Miss America.
“I love how diverse Virginia is,” said Sheppard. “I live in Roanoke, so I’m in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I love that about Lynchburg too. But I also love how we love the coast, we have the country, we have the mountains, and I think that this is just one of the most beautiful states.”
Other groups that participated in the parade were the Liberty marching band, the Color Guard and the Figure Skating team.
Captain of the figure skating team Marissa Harter said she looked forward to just hanging out with her team.
“I feel like this is going to be a good time just to have some fun and give some candy to people,” Harter said.
Harter explained that she found a family-like atmosphere within the Figure Skating team.
“I’ve been figure skating for about 12 years now,” Harter said. “I just love the community here. I love skating with these girls. It’s just a very encouraging atmosphere.”
Many of the groups participating in the parade threw candy to the families. Parade-goers scrambled to catch the candy and put it in bags that they brought. Liberty President Jerry Prevo and Campus Pastor Jonathan Falwell also made an appearance.
“Probably my favorite float was the Prevos,” said Justin Gibble, the events supervisor of Student Activities. “They gave out king size candy bars along with a lot of other free candy,”
The nursing students also participated in the parade using a float that had “Legacy 50” written on it and was decorated in fall colors.
Hazard is a news reporter.