What: UTEP Homecoming Parade
When: 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29
Where: Starts at Mesita Early Childhood Development Center at Vilas, 220 Lawton Drive, and ends at Centennial Plaza on the UTEP campus
The University of Texas at El Paso invites the community to celebrate Homecoming with a Miner flair at the annual Homecoming Parade. The parade is free and open to the public.
New to this year’s parade is the partnership between UTEP and the nearby elementary schools Mesita Elementary and Mesita Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Vilas. The partnership was established to encourage community participation in the parade as well as give elementary school children the opportunity to partner with UTEP students to inspire them to be college minded.
“This year’s parade will have a new route and a new time, but one of the most exciting changes is the inclusion of students from Mesita Elementary and Mesita ECDC at Vilas,” said Maribel Villalva, assistant vice president for alumni relations at UTEP. “The young children wearing their ‘Future Miners’ T-shirts will march alongside current UTEP students. We have so many wonderful community partners and we want to celebrate the great relationship with the local schools. What better way to engage our youth than to ask them to be a part of the UTEP festivities?”
“We are so very excited to be involved in such a wonderful event,” said Laila Ferris, principal at Mesita Elementary School and Mesita ECDC at Vilas. “It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of UTEP in this way with our future Miners!”
Highlights of the parade include the UTEP marching band and cheerleaders, athlete appearances and creative floats inspired by the Homecoming theme, Pete’s Arcade.
The new parade route will start at Mesita ECDC at Vilas on Lawton Drive, continue on Schuster Avenue and Randolph Drive to Hawthorne Street and onto the UTEP campus. The route concludes at Centennial Plaza.
The Homecoming Pep Rally will immediately follow the parade at 3 p.m. in Centennial Plaza.