Each fall, the spirit and excitement of Homecoming Week festivities has been an anticipated tradition at Southern Miss. Festivities begin as early as Monday and continue through Sunday evening, and all areas of campus get involved.
Community Events
Schedule of All Events
October 9
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: Marsh Auditorium
Description: Organist, James Mellichamp's performing career spans more than 45 years, during which time he has performed in solo recitals at venues throughout the United States, such as the National City Christian Church (Washington, D.C.), Claremont United Church of Christ (California), St. Patrick's Cathedral (New York), and Cathedral of St. Philip (Georgia). He has also performed at iconic international venues such as Notre Dame Cathedral (France), Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Russia), Westminster Abbey (England), and St. Paul's Cathedral (England.). Dr. Mellichamp is President of Piedmont University in Demorest, GA.
Sponsoring Department: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Music
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, Community
October 10
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Where's Waldo? is a social media challenge where students on homecoming teams must find and take a photo with individuals in black and gold striped shirts!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Alumni, Community
Time: 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Place: Thad Cochran Center
Description: Black and Gold Day is our annual fall campus visit experience exclusively for high school seniors and their families!
Sponsoring Department: Office of Admissions
Target Audience: Students, Alumni, Community
Time: 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Place: Centennial Lawn
Description: Kickoff spirit rally for Homecoming 2022!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, Community
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: George Hurst Building - Gallery of Art and Design
Description: Opening reception for the Southern Miss Ceramics National, a national juried exhibition of ceramic works created by artists from across the US. Juried by George Rodriguez and made possible through support from Partners for the Arts.
Sponsoring Department: Art + Design Program, College of Arts and Sciences
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, Community
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Parkway Heights United Methodist Church
Description: The School of Music and Choral Activities present a Fall Choral Concert featuring Tenebrae and University Treble Chorus, our TTBB and SSAA choral ensembles. These talented students will perform a variety of musical styles and pieces that are sure to engage their audience.
Sponsoring Department: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Music
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, Community
October 11
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Where's Waldo? is a social media challenge where students on homecoming teams must find and take a photo with individuals in black and gold striped shirts!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Union B
Description: Career Services is hosting three Career Fairs this Fall, each one tailored to fit specific industries to cater to your majors and interests. All students are invited to attend each Career Fair to network with local, regional, and national employers on campus. Students can discover endless career possibilities, grow professional contacts, and explore various job opportunities and prospective graduate schools. No matter where you are in your journey, the Career Fair has something for everyone!
Sponsoring Department: Career Services
Target Audience: Students
Time: 6:30 PM
Place: Bennett Auditorium
Description: Kwame Anthony Appiah, one of America's most celebrated philosophers, will speak
about "Honor, Morality, and Revolution" at the University Forum.
Anthony Appiah thinks about how morality and identity shape our lives. He was the
Laurence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University
before moving to New York University in 2014. He has written more than 20 books, both
fiction and non-fiction, including Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
and The Lies That Bind. Cosmopolitanism argued against the accepted view that the
world is divided among warring creeds and cultures, emphasizing the robust ties that
connect people across religions and nations. The Lies That Bind challenged assumptions
about how identities define us, transforming our thoughts about who and what "we"
are. His most recent scholarship explores the moral life, the ways we think about
religion, and the changing nature of work. In 2010, President Obama presented Appiah
with the National Humanities Medal, and in 2022, he was elected President of the American
Academy of Arts and Letters. He currently pens the "Ethicist" column in the New York
Times Sunday Magazine.
Visit our University Forum Speaker Schedule web page to sign up for an email reminder
or to access the link to attend the event.
To keep up-to-date on everything Forum, like our University Forum Facebook page, follow
us on Instagram @southernmissforum, visit our website at usm.edu/forum, or email us
at forum@usm.edu. Forum is always happy to provide instructors with confirmation of
attendance if requested by a student at the event.
Sponsoring Department: Honors College
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, Community
October 12
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Where's Waldo? is a social media challenge where students on homecoming teams must find and take a photo with individuals in black and gold striped shirts!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Scianna Hall
Description: Career Services is hosting three Career Fairs this Fall, each one tailored to fit specific industries to cater to your majors and interests. All students are invited to attend each Career Fair to network with local, regional, and national employers on campus. Students can discover endless career possibilities, grow professional contacts, and explore various job opportunities and prospective graduate schools. No matter where you are in your journey, the Career Fair has something for everyone!
Sponsoring Department: Career Services
Target Audience: Students
Time: 11:30 AM
Place: Shoemaker Square
Description: We will have a marketing table to promote SMAC events for the remainder of the semester. We will also have a dunk booth for some fun during Homecoming week!
Sponsoring Department: SMAC
Target Audience: Students
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Bring It On Eagle Style is the annual Homecoming dance and performance competition. Teams will compete in a dance, step, and spirit battle!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni
October 13
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Where's Waldo? is a social media challenge where students on homecoming teams must find and take a photo with individuals in black and gold striped shirts!
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Union B
Description: Career Services is hosting three Career Fairs this Fall, each one tailored to fit specific industries to cater to your majors and interests. All students are invited to attend each Career Fair to network with local, regional, and national employers on campus. Students can discover endless career possibilities, grow professional contacts, and explore various job opportunities and prospective graduate schools. No matter where you are in your journey, the Career Fair has something for everyone!
Sponsoring Department: Career Services
Target Audience: Students
Place: Payne Center
Description: Homecoming teams will put forth their most strategic members to solve the Eagle Escape Room. The team who solves the room the quickest wins the most amount of points!
Sponsoring Department: Payne Recreation Center
Target Audience: Students
Time: 11:00 AM
Place: IME Multipurpose Space, HUB 100
Description: #HashtagLunchbag is a humanity service movement dedicated to empowering and inspiring humanity to reap the benefits of giving through the use of social media. We create and use bagged lunches, complete with love messages, as a vessel to spread this love and share our experiences to inspire others.
Sponsoring Department: Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, and Community
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: Southern Wing Company and the Courtyard, Hattiesburg Campus
Description: More details forthcoming!
Sponsoring Department: Eagle Dining
Target Audience: Students
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: Lake Terrace Convention Center
Description: The annual NPHC Homecoming Step Show! Tickets for purchase on Eventbrite.
Sponsoring Department: Fraternity & Sorority Life
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, and Community
October 14
Time: 8:30 AM
Place: Thames Polymer Science Research Center Auditorium, Hattiesburg Campus
Description: In celebration of 52 Years of Polymer Science and Engineering (PSE), USM will host a Research Symposium showcasing new faculty, emerging research, newly acquired instrumentation, updated laboratories, and students. Participants will engage in networking and breakout sessions, along with research presentations, and student interview opportunities. The celebration will culminate with an alumni tailgating event at Homecoming.
Sponsoring Department: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Polymer Science and Engineering
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, and Alumni
Time: 9:30 AM
Place: Payne Center
Description: Career Services and the School of Education invite representatives from school districts from all over the country to campus to connect graduating educators with exciting job opportunities.
Sponsoring Department: Career Services
Target Audience: Students
Place: Payne Center
Description: Homecoming teams will put forth their most strategic members to solve the Eagle Escape Room. The team who solves the room the quickest wins the most amount of points!
Sponsoring Department: Payne Recreation Center
Target Audience: Students
Time: Noon to 4:00 PM
Place: Shoemaker Square, Hattiesburg Campus
Sponsoring Department: Student Government Association
Target Audience: Students, Alumni, and Faculty/Staff
Time: 2:00 PM
Place: Trent Lott Center, Hattiesburg Campus
Description: This is an invite-only campus tour designed specifically for prospective students whose parents and/or grandparents are Southern Miss alumni. The event will take place in Trent Lott Center and include an Admissions presentation, welcome from the Alumni Association, and a campus tour that highlights the history and traditions of the Southern Miss campus. For more information contact, Alden Bennett (alden.bennett@usm.edu or 601-266-5823).
Sponsoring Department: Office of Admissions
Target Audience: Students, Alumni, and Community
Time: 6:30 PM
Place: Southern Station, Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Join alumni, students, and fans for a pep rally featuring The Pride of Mississippi Marching Band, Southern Miss Cheerleaders, Southern Misses, and more. Experience live music entertainment, food trucks, and other outdoor activities for the entire family!
Sponsoring Department: Southern Miss Alumni Association
Target Audience: Students, Alumni, Faculty/Staff, and Community
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Marsh Auditorium, Hattiesburg Campus
Description: Duo Extempore interprets history, art, and space through music, exploring the very
spaces in which we perform through live composition. Through these unique series of
storytelling improvisations, the space itself becomes the score for impromptu pieces,
bringing stories of the past into the present-day imagination.
Our bass and piano duo program allows listeners the space to rediscover the history
and culture of their community, and it has sparked lively post-concert discussions
with audiences.
Sponsoring Department: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Music
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, and Community
October 15
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Thad Cochran Center, Grand Ballrooms, Hattiesburg Campus
Sponsoring Department: Southern Miss Alumni Association
Target Audience: Students and Alumni
Time: 1:00 PM
Place: Hattiesburg Campus / Hardy Street
Sponsoring Department: Orientation and Transition Programs
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni, and Community
Time: 2:00 PM
Place: Spirit Park
Description: Career Services and the School of Education invite representatives from school districts from all over the country to campus to connect graduating educators with exciting job opportunities.
Sponsoring Department: Honors College
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni and Community
Time: 3:00 PM
Place: Spirit Park
Description: Former Southern Miss baseball player and current Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville Recording Artist Adam Doleac returns to the Hub City, Saturday, Oct. 15, at 3 p.m., prior to the Arkansas State football homecoming contest to perform as part of the free Spirit Live Concert Series.
Sponsoring Department: Southern Miss Alumni Association
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni and Community
Place: Courtyard of Scianna Hall
Description: The College of Business and Economic Development invites students, faculty, staff, and community members to attend our homecoming tailgate festivities!
Sponsoring Department: College of Business and Economic Development
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni and Community
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: M.M. Roberts Stadium
Sponsoring Department: Southern Miss Athletics
Target Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff, Alumni and Community
Fight Song
Southern Mississippi to the top! to the top, So lift your voices high, show them the reason why, That Southern spirit never will stop. Fight! Fight! Fight! Southern Mississippi all the way, banners high And we will Fight! Fight! Fight! to victory, Hear our battle cry!
See more traditions at Southern Miss