No single person clearly and definitively “invented” homecoming, but a few schools and people are strongly associated with its origin, and historians still debate it.

Quick Scoop

  • Homecoming grew out of early 1900s U.S. college football culture, when schools started inviting alumni to “come home” for a big game, parades, and rallies.
  • Several universities claim they started it, especially the University of Missouri, Baylor University, and the University of Illinois.
  • Because similar events popped up around the same time and records are patchy, there isn’t a universally accepted, single “inventor.”

Main Origin Claims

1. University of Missouri (popular claim)

  • Missouri says it created homecoming in 1911, when athletic director Chester L. Brewer invited alumni to “come home” for the football game against the University of Kansas, adding a parade and pep rally.
  • This story is one of the most widely repeated versions online and in pop-culture style explanations of “who invented homecoming.”

2. Baylor University (early but irregular)

  • Baylor hosted a large alumni event in 1909 that many historians consider an early homecoming-style celebration.
  • However, Baylor did not hold it every year at first, and the tradition did not become fully annual and influential until later, which weakens its claim as the definitive origin point for the national tradition.

3. University of Illinois (early, very influential)

  • At the University of Illinois, two seniors, Clarence Foss Williams and W. Elmer Ekblaw, are credited with proposing a “homecoming” in early 1910 to bring alumni back to campus.
  • Illinois held its first official homecoming in October 1910 and then repeated it annually (except during the 1918 flu pandemic), which helped the idea spread and become a model for other schools.

So, who “invented” homecoming?

If you’re asking “who invented homecoming” in the simple, pop-answer sense:

  • Many short explainers say:
    • “The University of Missouri invented homecoming in 1911, led by athletic director Chester L. Brewer.”

If you’re asking in a more historical, nerdy sense:

  • A fair summary is:
    • Homecoming evolved from several early 1900s alumni–football gatherings. Baylor (1909), Illinois (1910), and Missouri (1911) all played key roles, with different schools emphasizing their own story.

So the safest answer is that no single person or school can be universally crowned the inventor of homecoming , but Chester L. Brewer at Missouri, and student organizers like Clarence Foss Williams and W. Elmer Ekblaw at Illinois, are the names most often tied to the tradition’s early form.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.