Every year, Homecoming revolves around a specific theme, this year’s being “Bright Lights, Red City.”

What has changed is this year’s incorporation of using a hashtag built for the theme as a means to document Homecoming activities.

Ginny Hensley, director of Alumni Programming, said alumni will encourage students to tweet with the hashtag “#redcity” during events. Hensley said the campaign will make the event easy to archive and will provide a broader view of what students do during Homecoming activities.

“We’re on the alumni side, so we’re dealing with the alumni groups,” Hensley said. “We don’t always get to see what the students are doing, so it gives us an opportunity to really see what the students do throughout Homecoming week.”

Hensley said the theme was chosen by a committee earlier this year. The committee took around 30 different themes and thought about how students could incorporate the theme into Homecoming week before narrowing it down to the top two or three.

The remaining themes were then presented to President Gary Ransdell for final approval.

Ransdell said he liked the theme for multiple reasons.

“I just kind of liked the energy of it,” Ransdell said. “It kind of brings out the school spirit with our red and I just thought it gave a lot of different options for people to decorate around.”

Hensley said the theme will be utilized heavily during Homecoming week.

“We use the theme truly throughout all of our Homecoming festivities,” Hensley said.

Hensley cited the Summit Awards on Oct. 24, which will recognize volunteers throughout the campus, as an example of how the theme will be used.

“Everything about that event will be in the theme,” Hensley said. “They’ll be tons of red uplight throughout it — all the tablecloths will be red. It’s just going to be full-on this theme.”

Other festivities that will focus on the theme will be the floats in the Homecoming parade and banners that will be hung inside Downing Student Union. The floats and banners will be judged based on how they incorporate the theme.