Spirit Week is returning to Ithaca College for the second year Oct. 8–13 to continue the effort to increase school pride in students on campus.

Senior Rachel Heiss, president and founder of IC Spirit Week, said the organization is geared toward promoting school spirit within the student body and making students feel more a part of a community.

“Spirit Week is one of the largest ways to get the Ithaca College community involved, both students and alumni,” Heiss said. “What we look to do is create this tradition in which students, once they graduate, will be able to look back on their time here at Ithaca and really see that Spirit Week was a big part of their time here.”

The Spirit Week organization chose to include popular events from last year’s Spirit Week and also introduce some new events to increase student participation.

Returning events include the Mr. and Ms. Ithaca Competition, the Students Today Alumni Tomorrow banner contest and the Student Government Association’s Taste of Ithaca. The new events will include the Student Activities Board’s Open Mic Night, an Ithaca College edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and a bonfire.

This year, Spirit Week was registered as a club, which Ayesha Patel, Spirit Week organization liaison, said was more convenient for funding and advertising.

“Spirit Week was registered as an organization because it’s easier to get funding,” Patel said. “We can get a website on [IC Link].”

By registering Spirit Week as an organization,Heiss said, she hopes that students will be more likely to volunteer and get involved in the set up of the events taking place.

Heiss said she wants to improve the level of student attendance from last year.

Marissa Osowsky, communications director for Spirit Week, said she hopes bringing back successful events from last year will get returning students excited for Spirit Week this year.

“Some of the events are similar to events we had last year, so we’re hoping that people loved them so much that they’ll come back,” Osowsky said.

Freshman Sabrina Knight said school spirit is necessary for a college because its a way to unite the community.

“School spirit is necessary for our school because we are such a large community that is divided by school, major, place of residence, clubs, interests and several other ways, that coming together to celebrate the community as a whole is important,” Knight said.