“It’s one of our long-standing traditions of welcoming our alums back to campus and offering an opportunity to reconnect with their friends and their experience and to see how the university has been transformed since their time,” Olsen said. 

He said this year’s events are very symbolic because the first ever homecoming parade was also held on a year the Spartans faced the University of Iowa.  

“We’re really looking forward to this rematch on Saturday and hopefully pulling through a victory for Michigan State,” Olsen said. 

More than 100 floats registered for the parade this year including alumni, student and community groups. Olsen said some alumni groups have people coming in from all across the country for the celebrations. He said they are proud of the grand marshal they picked this year. 

“Sam (Vincent) is a Lansing native who played for Michigan State Basketball, went on to the NBA and now serves as a coach for Beacon College in Florida where he’s making some really remarkable impacts for those with neurodiversity,” Olsen said. 

He said those looking to celebrate can show their Spartan spirit by switching out their lightbulbs for green ones through an MSUFCU and Consumers Energy partnership. The bulbs are a part of a new homecoming tradition: “Glow Green, Glow White.” The bulbs can be picked up during office hours at the Student Alumni Foundation in the MSU Union. 

Some students with strong leadership were represented in the parade, chosen for the homecoming court. Computer science senior Sanaye Lewis was among this group and chosen for her contributions at MSU.

“I think it’s more focused on your community service, how you’re involved in the community at MSU and Lansing,” Lewis said. “I’m involved in women engineering and Spartan Participation K-12 Outreach. I am one of their lead admins and I help run several coding programs through there. I am also in the club Women Computing as the Vice President.” 

Lewis is also in the Honors College, holds a leadership role for H-STAR and is in the Honors Students of Color Coalition. 

“It’s really cool and really an honor for me to be a part of this,” Lewis said. “For me it's just being a representation of what a Spartan is and being a leader in my community and being involved. I always look forward to the parade, it's a lot of fun.”

Some groups who walked in the parade were new to the tradition. Organizational communications senior Will Husby said his organization, the Undergraduate Communication Association, is trying to get their name out there as the club took a hiatus during the pandemic. 

“It’s just a great way to show off what we can provide for the students because we are a new organization on campus at MSU,” Husby said. “We’re just really excited to be a part of this parade and have a fun time.” 

He said the group is about professional development and helping students figure out what they want to do after college. The group was reinstated this year. 

Alum groups, like the MSU Retirees Association, were also present in the parade. MSU Retirees Association President David Brower said he’s a Spartan through and through. 

“I’m a lifelong member of this community, and last year I had a ruptured achilles so I couldn’t do anything at all so it’s even more special to be able to participate this year,” he said. “These are people I’ve worked with for 32 years and I’ve been retired for about 10 now so I just enjoy spending time and rooting the Spartans on.” 

He said although his group is made up of those who have retired, it doesn’t mean their connection to the community is lost. Vice President Angela Brown said this parade is representative of that.

“Our part is to make sure that with our members, we keep them connected and this (parade) is one of visibly showing that we’re still connected,” Brown said.

The group spends their time raising money to give scholarships to students at MSU and planning get-togethers where they can talk about their spartan experiences among those who share them.

The parade attracted thousands of people who lined Abbot Road and Grand River Avenue before ending on campus after dark. With another successful homecoming parade finished, Spartans left knowing they would return next year for the lively tradition.