This week, many Marquette students will wear blue and gold game day colors as if they are welcoming the highly anticipated basketball season. But the season does not begin for another few months — so why exactly is the student body celebrating?

Marquette’s first annual Unofficial Homecoming kicked off Monday. The weeklong celebratory event was planned and organized by Jim Love, a junior in the College of Communication.

Love said the idea of homecoming on Marquette’s campus began in July.

“I visited some friends at Southern Illinois (University) and heard all the stories about their good times,” he said. “I felt deprived — like we needed to have something on this campus.”

Marquette’s Unofficial Homecoming’s Facebook page has generated more than 1,200 RSVPs. According to the page, students may purchase $10 wristbands that enable participation in all the week’s planned events, as well as food and beverage. The wristbands were sold this past week at on-campus locations like The Brew Bayou, and will be for sale through Wednesday.

Planned events for the week include a campus bar crawl Thursday, a semi-formal dance at 15th Street and State Street Friday where a Marquette “King” and “Queen” will be announced and a family cookout Saturday followed by the men’s soccer game at Valley Fields, according to the Facebook page.

Love says 35 wristbands have been sold and he hopes 150 to 200 students total will attend the Unofficial Homecoming.

The buzz surrounding this new event is exciting many students.

“I think it is exactly what Marquette needs,” said Claire Mullen, sophomore in the College of Communication. “There is never a point where the whole campus is together.”

Mullen said that although basketball games can gather the student body and campus community, there is not the same united feeling or planned social events that a homecoming associated with football games would generate.

Students interested in attending the event can sign up for email alerts by following a link on the Facebook page. Love says these alerts reveal themed days like “Spirit Day” for Monday. The themes will continue through Wednesday.

Marquette’s Unofficial Homecoming is neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Office of Student Development or Marquette University Student Government.

“I don’t think administration knows about the event,” Love said. “I really would love to talk to the Office of Student Development, though, and possibly make this a yearly celebration with the university.”

A disclaimer on the event’s Facebook page said the event is “not intended to encourage heavy drinking or blacking out,” but it will focus on students enjoying themselves by “celebrating the school they love.”

Although one scheduled campus-wide event involves alcohol, Love insisted such events are intended for upperclassmen only.

Some Marquette students, like Jim Deroche, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, didn’t see a problem with students organizing this event without consulting the university.

“I don’t think everything that happens on this campus must go through administration,” Deroche said.

Deroche said Unofficial Homecoming is a good idea, but if the students are irresponsible throughout the week, their poor behavior would make it more difficult for these events to occur in the future.

Love said thus far, there has been “unwavering support” for Unofficial Homecoming. Many Marquette students have volunteered space and time to make the event a reality.

“The whole campus seems genuinely excited about this,” Love said. “I feel it is a celebration that is well overdue.”