SAIL, Eastern’s Alumni Association and STCU teamed up again this year to bring Eagle Spirit Week to the EWU student body and community. This is a week full of events designed to promote a sense of home and Eastern spirit throughout the campus.

The theme this year is “Paint the Town Red.” The week will kick off on Oct. 24 with the Community Spirit Splash Contest and will end with the Eagle Spirit Week Parent and Family Closing Brunch on Nov. 2.

This year’s spirit week, like last year’s, is combined with Parent and Family Weekend.

Lisa Poplawski, director of Alumni Advancement, said in an email that this was done “in order to create a bigger, better and more inclusive week-long celebration bringing together current and prospective students, parents and family, alumni and the community.”

She said the long-term goal of the merging of Spirit Week and Parent and Family Weekend is to attract a bigger audience to campus during the traditional week of homecoming.

As for the official name of the week, whether it is “Homecoming” or “Spirit Week,” Stacey Reece, director of SAIL, said, “It’s all of the above.”

Manager for New Student Transitions and Parent Programs, Victor Rodríguez, said he wants students to learn what it means to be a student at Eastern, an Eagle. Both Reece and Rodríguez want students to know that Eastern is their home.

According to Reece, planning for the week starts November of the previous year and continues in March. She said it takes a whole community to plan the week; students, custodial workers and other members of the campus community help out as well.

Of events being offered, three have been traditions since the 1940s, according to Reece. These events include the Mr. and Ms. Eastern Pageant, the bed races and the parade.

Reece and Rodríguez said every event is important and that each event is strategically planned to boost the feeling of pride for EWU.

“There is no other entire week at a university to share with each other an immense sense of love and appreciation for ‘our University,’” said Poplawski.