By: Abigail Moore

Quincy University officially kicked off homecoming week festivities with an annual campus tradition, on the campus’s busiest sidewalk.

Students from every campus club and organization gathered on Penny Lane to represent themselves in a creative way. The students were required to create a design that best represented their mission and were able to paint that design onto block of the sidewalk. Music was also playing for student enjoyment.

For senior, Gina Gruenbacher, it’s an event she’s never missed. As she’s in her fourth year of being involved in this exciting campus tradition, Gruenbacher testifies to the joy and community it brings to the university each year.

“I honestly think it’s one of the best events that we have, especially for homecoming. Just because it brings the whole campus together, it makes penny lane look beautiful, and it’s one of those things where Penny Lane really stamps our QU community. It kind of says, ‘Hey, we’re QU, we have this tradition’ and every single year I think it’s absolutely amazing,” Gruenbacher said.

Greunbacher spent her afternoon painting the Students For Life square with the rest of her organization. The University helped the process by supplying the students with chalk, paint brushes and paint to decorate their portion of the sidewalk. The creation of the design was left completely up to the students. The process was very simple.

“Pretty much we actually came up with the design really really fast. We just got together as group, went through some pictures, then we found one that has a heart and crown that says ‘keep calm and love life’, and so we decided to go with that, nice and simple,” Gruenbacher said.

SGA president and senior, Gino Grivetti, has seen beauty in the tradition in his years at Quincy University and values the fellowship and community that it brings to students.

“Painting Penny Lane is one of the most time honored QU student traditions and we are just so blessed to be able to come out on such a great day to celebrate this great start to homecoming week,”  Grivetti said.

For freshman, Breanna Kurk, her first year experience of painting Penny Lane left her wanting more. Kurk expressed how excited she was to see what a college homecoming was like. The event itself helped her to know what she could potentially be involved in on campus.

“I love it. It’s kinda nice seeing all the different organizations like sports and stuff because I didn’t know there were that many organizations. It’s also kinda cool to see everybody’s creative side coming out,” Kurk said.

Kurk aided in painting the Phi Sigma Sigma square with her sorority sisters. The layout of the designs of each organization was choreographed differently.

“I didn’t know what the design was going to be until I got here. They said just use a roller and start painting the whole square, then we are going outline it in gold and put our symbols on it. ‘I was like, cool, I”ll just go with it, go with the flow’,” Kurk said.

For other students, it’s a simple way to bond and practice working together. Sean Barnett, senior and Delta Tau Delta member, spent his afternoon working with his fraternity brothers on their design.

“It’s a good way to get started into the week. It’s an easy event. It’s not meant to be hard It’s meant to be fun. You don’t have to be working the whole time, you can alternate who paints, ” Barnett said.

The event is always enjoyed by students. Painting Penny Lane was just the beginning of the homecoming festivities in store for the remainder of the week. Alumni are welcomed and are able to be just as involved as the students when participating in homecoming activities. Quincy University released a full schedule of  homecoming week activities here.