Set for the week of Feb. 13, UMSL Homecoming 2017 will again feature the popular Red & Gold Regatta – plus many other traditions old and new. (Color photographs by August Jennewein)

Triton spirits are soaring high with a fresh semester and homecoming festivities just around the corner at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

As the campus community prepares for a week’s worth of school pride and merriment Feb. 13-18, UMSL Daily takes a dive into University Archives to uncover the UMSL spirit of yesteryear as compared to today.

A lot has changed in five decades – but some things stay the same. For instance, a hearty “welcome” is still one of the most common words seen and heard on campus.

And UMSL students still gather in droves for pep rallies.

Back in the late ’60s, community service – and particularly outreach among local young people – was already a regular campus activity.

School dances continue to draw enthusiastic moves.

Busch Memorial Stadium appeared in UMSL’s 1966 yearbook shortly after the Cardinals’ first opening day in the then-brand-new complex. A new stadium has long since taken its place, but the Redbirds remain dear to the campus community, which turns out each year for UMSL Night at the Ballpark.

There’s still a mascot.

And UMSL’s student musicians still pump up the crowd at countless events athletic and otherwise.

Aspiring queens and kings keep on dressing up for their homecoming-candidate portraits, as evidenced here by members of the 2016 court – and by 1977 homecoming king Joel Bennett.

And independent student creativity abounds, with two student editors’ alternative Gnostic News in the late ’60s a precursor to efforts like today’s Brain Stew, published regularly by the Pierre Laclede Honors College crowd.

The role of chancellor remains pivotal at UMSL, although Chancellor Tom George (at left) wisely opts for presentation clickers over the pipes that frequently appeared in Chancellor James Bugg’s hand during the late 1960s.

Finally, cardboard continues to be very much a thing – and works wonders on land and even in water.

To view the full UMSL Homecoming 2017 schedule, click here. Go Tritons!