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Mean Green pride will flood Denton streets when the annual homecoming celebration for the University of North Texas begins tonight. While events for students began earlier this week, two days of events for students, alumni and community members will begin tonight. The Spirit March starts at 7 p.m. from Fraternity Row on Maple Street to the bonfire near Apogee Stadium. The bonfire will be at Eagle Point on the northwest side of Apogee Stadium, at 1251 S. Bonnie Brae Street. The flames will dance from 8 to 10 p.m., and UNT alumni can watch the fire from the Alumni Pavilion at the stadium. Saturday will also be packed with events leading up to the homecoming football game against Florida Atlantic University. Attendees can still sign up for the free 5K race Saturday morning. Registration takes place before the race, which starts at 7:15 a.m. outside of the Pohl Recreation Center at 1900 Chestnut St. That afternoon, the homecoming parade will begin at the intersection of West Hickory and South Welch streets at 1 p.m. The parade will go east on West Hickory Street, and loop around the downtown Square before heading back to campus. A full map of the route is available online at http://calendar.unt.edu/2014-homecoming-parade. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20141107-unt-abuzz-with-events-for-homecoming-weekend.ece

Tradition. I love this word. Even the sound of it is solid. One of Broadway’s most famous musicals is also one of my favorites, Fiddler on the Roof. It is the story of people in a time of upheaval. Tevye is the main character, through whom we experience the drama. Change is rocking his world, and he would be completely undone were it not for tradition. “Because of our traditions, we’ve kept our balance for many, many years,” he says. Tradition is a binding force that holds together. It works even when we who keep it have forgotten why. Cumulatively, we have thousands of them, some shared, others personal. Some are weighty with meaning, and many we keep for the sheer joy of doing so. Football and holidays are two in the latter category that immediately come to mind. I am a University of North Texas alumna. Over the years I’ve heard murmurs, even among fellow students and alumni, that unlike other universities, UNT lacks tradition. Not so! UNT’s culture is steeped in original, independent tradition. It may not always be obvious, because it looks a little different from every angle and on every individual. But that is the manifestation of original, is it not? And the fact that thousands have pursued their passions their own way in the campus’s classrooms and corridors over the years is the tradition for which UNT is perhaps most known. But there are many others. This week is Mean Green’s 2014-themed “Greatest Homecoming on Earth.” Many traditions combine under the homecoming banner: homecoming court, bonfire, parade, Yell Like Hell pep rally, Spirit March, tailgating, all crowned by the game itself. I wondered if these traditions were really ours. So I did a bit of digging to see if Denton stories were behind these traditions or we decided somewhere down the line to mimic those of others. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/business-tech/denton-business-headlines/20141102-kim-phillips-tradition-surrounds-unt-next-weekend.ece