A virtual homecoming

Okay, this is Homecoming weekend at JMU.

Hundreds of loyal Dukes will be streaming back into Harrisonburg. Local Dukes will be hauling carloads of food to campus. Some Dukes will see the new and improved Bridgeforth Stadium for the first time. For others returning to JMU, it will be all about experiencing a little Madison vibe once again — walking the campus, cheering at the football game, enjoying tailgates and seeing friends.

But what is Homecoming if you live, say, in Japan or on the other side of the United States?  Or what if your job or funds or other obligations preclude you from traveling and you can’t be here in person? Why not change it up? What about enjoying a virtual Homecoming?

If you’re social media savvy (and you certainly are if you’re reading this), you can have that experience. Between Facebook, Twitter and the Internet, you can “be” here while, well, not being here.

Why not start here http://www.jmu.edu/homecoming/index.shtml, or the JMU website. “Walk” around, look at JMU’s Flckr feed. Follow the Homecoming events, the football game — there’s already buzz about a new quarterback — or just reminesce. Maybe you can gather a few local Dukes wherever you are this weekend and have your own long-distance Homecoming. I mean, come on, we have distance learning. Why not a distance Homecoming?

So if you’re a Duke, if your Madison Experience still lingers in your life, if some of life’s fondest memories have a purple or gold haze over them, then — definitely — you should be here for Homecoming — one way or another.