After starting in the 1940s and continuing into the 50s, Homecoming started off as a hit. Floats paraded down Hillsborough Street towards Riddick Stadium, ready for the weekend’s football game.

With the 80s and 90s came a decrease in events. Though the school held banner spirit contests throughout the week, attitude surrounding the week were tame.

But in stepped two students — Daryl Willie and Jodee Ruppel — in 2001 and 2002 who decided to take it upon themselves to bring back the Homecoming glory days of the 1950s.

Willie served as student body president in 2001 and worked to begin the Homecoming parade again.

“He really tried the grassroots movement approach of getting people involved and he was able to pull together an impromptu parade on Cates Avenue,” said Ruppel, who now helps organize homecoming events at UNC-Greensboro.

The next year, Ruppel became the first ever student homecoming committee chair and started a more wide-scale homecoming improvement effort.

Ruppel stepped in and created sub-committees to focus on certain aspects of Homecoming. But plans stalled a bit when she didn’t receive the support she thought she’d get. Her first Homecoming meeting only had about 10 people, she said.

“Where’s the packed room I was expecting?” she asked.

Support from the surrounding community will always be an issue, according to Jeramy Blackford, the director of student programs for the Alumni Association.

“We’re always hoping to increase our student involvement and get more suggestions,” said Blackford, who is helping with this year’s Homecoming.

But Ruppel was able to build the foundation for the Homecoming traditions students now know, such as “Wear Red, Get Fed” and the Pack Howl concert and pep rally.

Now the week has come to feature other events, like “Paint the Town Red,” “Take Back the Night” and the All-Night Bash.

“I was [on campus] last year and was amazed how much it has grown,” Ruppel said. “And it was always a dream of ours to have the parade on Hillsborough Street.”

Still, those involved know there’s still work to be done to continue to expand the event and rival the Homecoming weeks of schools like Florida, Florida State and Clemson.

Florida’s Homecoming committee is elected by students, and has come to hold the amount of prestige Ruppel hopes NCSU can achieve.

The school modeled Pack Howl after the pep rallies of Florida State and Clemson, which feature guests such as Cedric the Entertainer and Sarah Silverman.

And though the Homecoming Committees from the past few years have heard their share of complaints about the performers at Pack Howl, Blackford said it takes more than just suggestions.

“We get a lot of support from organizations around campus, but the budget situation is always a problem area,” he said.

Adam Compton, the publicity chair on this year’s Homecoming Committee, was a part of the group who asked for a $6-fee increase a month ago. The fee did not go through though, as the Board of Governors said they did not want any new fees, according to Compton.

“Homecoming will continue to grow, but the rate at which it grows will continue depending on the budget,” Compton said. “You can’t really make offers to a band until you know exactly how much you have to spend — so it holds the whole process up.”

But despite the lack of funding, Blackmon said he is excited with where Homecoming seems to be going.

“We gave out 500 more T-shirts and fed twice as many people at the Kickoff this year compared to last year,” Blackmon said.

He added that the group has sold 3,000 tickets so far for the Pack Howl concert, featuring Guster and The Avett Bros., compared to the nearly 1,500 sold last year.

Compton said the group hopes to add to the event schedule next year, with possibilities of “Wear Red, Get Fed” events on Centennial Campus and having an event each night of the week.

“It really all boils down to the money issue though,” Compton said.