photo by: KU Alumni

Spectators line the streets as the University of Kansas Homecoming Parade marches north on Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence. Friday, Sept. 26, 2014.

It took seven years, but it’s finally here.

The University of Kansas homecoming parade is back this week as part of KU’s 114th homecoming celebration. The tradition will culminate with the KU football team taking on Baylor at noon on Saturday at the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The celebration will bring together students, faculty, staff and alumni to honor KU’s history and tradition through the end of the week, and include a a lecture, a parade and the KU/Baylor match-up, among other activities.

Here are some of the events that will take place during the homecoming week.

Friday, Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m., Community Impact Lecture

KU’s Office of Community Impact will host its inaugural Jayhawk Homecoming Lecture for Community Impact, featuring KU alumnus and Michigan State University associate professor Kaston D. Anderson Jr. The lecture expands KU’s homecoming tradition and welcomes KU alumni back to campus to share how their work affects the communities they serve.

The event is free to attend. It will be at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Ave. Registration is available at this link.

Friday, Oct. 23, 6 p.m., homecoming parade

KU’s homecoming parade, making a return to Lawrence for the first time since 2019, will begin at 6 p.m. at the Chi Omega Fountain, 1345 W. Campus Road. It will go through Jayhawk Boulevard and conclude at 13th Street.

More information on the parade is available at kualumni.org/homecoming-parade.

Saturday, Oct. 24, 9 a.m., 100 Years of Scholarship Halls

KU will celebrate 100 years of Scholarship Halls, which are student-led living communities where residents live, study, eat and work together. The living arrangements provide one of the most affordable on-campus living options, according to KU.

Check-in for the event begins at 9 a.m. and includes tours of some of the buildings. Registration for the event is available at kuendowment.org/100-years-of-scholarship-halls-rsvp.

Oct. 24, 12 p.m., KU vs. Baylor

At noon on Saturday, KU and Baylor will face off at the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. A win for KU will put an end to a nearly two-decade drought in which the Jayhawks came up short against the Bears.