Alumni Remember College Years at NDSU Homecoming

Many of their family members have attended North Dakota State as well

FARGO, N.D. — Greg Holte fell in love with NDSU as a senior in high school.

“I came and marched with the Gold Star band during halftime of the game and I believe it was during homecoming,” Holte said. “That’s what really hooked me.”

He graduated from the university in 1974.

You can now find him every Saturday at the one and only Fargodome.

“Maybe I shouldn’t say this because someone else might try to top us but we usually have the tallest flagpole in the lot, and that’s how people know where to go,” Holte said.

Alumni say tailgating has not always been the big trailers and flags seen in the Fargodome parking lot.
The stadium didn’t even exist until 1991.

Alan Scott graduated from NDSU in 1988 and still remembers when the Bison played at Dakota Field.

“It’s a much different experience now than it was then,” Scott said. “You had to get dressed up in snowmobile suits and coveralls. We loved playing the California teams.”

But they say the Bison always managed to bring out the excitement.

“Going to the game at Dakota field was a lot of fun then as going to the Fargodome now.
It’s just bigger and more elaborate, more involvement, more fun,” Holte said.

The loyalty alumni have with NDSU isn’t just with football.

NDSU alumni say they have deep ties to the university, especially because of their kids.

“I have a daughter who graduated from here, one son who attended, now I have a niece who’s on staff as a professor here,” Holte said.

“My oldest son is now an alumni, my middle child is currently a senior at North Dakota State and my youngest daughter who’s a senior in high school this year is committed to NDSU for next year,” Scott said.

The university has become a part of Holte and Scott’s family.

“It’s something that we identify with. The bison are something that we identify with and I just enjoy the events no matter what we attend,” Holte said.

And the Bison seem to never go unrecognized.

“You know you wear NDSU gear other places, people know what it is,” Scott said.

The game was the last event for NDSU’s Homecoming week.