The University of Iowa is celebrating a century of Homecoming traditions with numerous festivities this weekend.

The first Homecoming was on Nov. 23, 1912, when the Hawkeye football team took on Wisconsin. Since then, Homecoming has grown into a week for the community to come together and celebrate the Hawkeye spirit.

Traditional events like the annual parade, concert, and football game are expected to draw thousands of UI students, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as residents of the Iowa City and surrounding communities.

Other activities will invoke the Iowa Challenge—a concise statement of expectations for students—as they inspire students to show off their school spirit while demonstrating their desire to excel, stretch, engage, choose, and serve. With these activities, which range from “theme days” to basketball and volleyball tournaments, students compete for points, bragging rights, and, in some cases, trophies in three “Homecoming Sweepstakes” divisions: fraternities and sororities, student organizations, and residence halls.

The Homecoming parade, themed “Keeping the Tradition: Centennial Edition,” will begin at 5:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28. It will start at the corner of Linn and Washington streets, wind through downtown Iowa City, and end at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Gilbert Street. For a map of the route, see homecoming.uiowa.edu/#parade.

The Homecoming 2012 Honored Guest is Liang Chow, the former UI gymnastics coach who owns Chow’s Gymnastics & Dance Institute in West Des Moines, where he coaches Olympic champions Shawn Johnson and Gabrielle Douglas.

The Homecoming king and queen coronation ceremony will be held on the Pentacrest lawn immediately following the parade. Following the coronation, Matt & Kim and Grand Funk Railroad will perform during the annual free outdoor Homecoming concert.

The UI Alumni Association also will sponsor several Homecoming tailgates, open houses, and social events for the university’s various colleges. For details, see www.iowalum.com/reunions/hrw.

To commemorate Homecoming 2012, a $2 collectors button is on sale at the Hawk Shop in Old Capitol Mall and online at hawkshop.com. Commemorative T-shirts are also available for $15.

The Homecoming Council also commissioned a limited number of commemorative 100th anniversary buttons, which were signed by UI President Sally Mason. The buttons were available through silent bidding at The Hub in the Iowa Memorial Union through Thursday, Sept. 20. The remaining buttons are now available for $55 each at The Hub.