Brother W. Elmer Ekblaw
Illinois '07
Originator of "Homecoming"

The next time you attend your alma mater's homecoming celebration you just may want to stop and thank an Acacian for the experience. An historical argument makes the news every Fall as to who and which university held the first homecoming festivities. Illinois and Missouri both lay claim to this distinction. However, records support the claim that one man — a man of many talents and experiences, Brother W. Elmer Ekblaw — is credited for the creation of the first college homecoming festivities.

Brother Ekblaw was also a well known scholar, educator, and conservationist who served Acacia as the National Vice-President (1912-13) and President (1918-19) and later served as National Secretary (1919-37). From 1913 to 1917, he was part of the MacMillan-Crocker expedition to the Arctic, a two-year project that turned into a four year adventure when the expedition party was frozen in by a turn of weather so foul that rescue efforts were impossible.