A giant pep rally with the Montana Grizzlies and the state’s largest parade are just two of the events for community members and returning alumni to enjoy during UM Homecoming Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30-Oct. 1. This year’s theme is “Treasure the Past, Embrace the Future.”

Homecoming festivities for the local community kick off Sunday, Sept. 25, at Southgate Mall’s Clock Court with a celebration from 1 to 3 p.m. The event features appearances by Monte and the UM cheer squad and dance team, as well as a chance to win “the ultimate tailgate party.”

The annual Homecoming Art Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in the University Center Atrium.

Friday and Saturday are the big days for events, some of which center around Saturday's Homecoming game pitting the Montana Grizzlies against the Weber State Wildcats. Friday evening, the public is invited to cheer on head coach Bobby Hauck and the football team on the eve of the big match.

The Grizzly Growl Pep Rally will be included in the 8 p.m. Singing on the Steps of Main Hall ceremony, which also will feature crowning of the Royal Ambassadors, the marching band and the traditional lighting of the M.

Saturday’s Homecoming Parade begins at 10 a.m. at Circle Square in downtown Missoula and travels south down Higgins Avenue.

The UM Alumni Association’s highest honor will go to three graduates during next weekend’s Homecoming celebration.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are Bruce D. Crippen of Billings; James Grady of Silver Spring, Md.; and Deborah Doyle McWhinney of Tiburon, Calif.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, in the University Center Ballroom. A reception will follow. The public is invited to both events.

Crippen, a Billings attorney, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1956 and a juris doctorate in 1959. Grady, an author and screenplay writer, received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1972. McWhinney, president of Schwab Institutional, earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 1977.

UM is celebrating American Indian Heritage Day with a full slate of events today and in the coming week.

UM President George Dennison started American Indian Heritage Day several years ago as a way for campus to honor Native cultures and traditions. The day is celebrated the fourth Friday in September each year.

Today’s events include a sunrise ceremony at the M Trail, a Salish elders panel, President Dennison’s proclamation about the special day, a lecture by Earl Old Person on treaty-making, and a reception for Blackfeet artist Francis Wall.

See the news release for a complete schedule of events.

A new graduate-level certificate program, Natural Resources Conflict Resolution, is being co-sponsored by UM’s School of Law, School of Business Administration, College of Forestry and Conservation, College of Arts and Sciences, and Graduate School.

The program, which offers students a working knowledge of the theory and practice of collaboration, consensus building and conflict resolution as they apply to natural resources and the environment, is the first of its kind in the nation.

A fall graduate seminar, Advanced Natural Resources Conflict Resolution, continues Friday, Sept. 30, with a free, public lecture by Lawrence Susskind on the history, status, future and dynamics of negotiating international environmental treaties.

Susskind is the Ford Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founder of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. He will speak from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Law Building’s Castles Center.

"Water and the Landscape of the American West" is the focus of the 29th annual Public Land Law Conference to be held at UM Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 5-7.

The conference, sponsored by the Public Land and Resources Law Review, is free and open to the public. Attorneys are eligible to receive up to 12 Continuing Legal Education credits for attending the conference.

For more information, call (406) 243-6558 or e-mail plrlr@umontana.edu.

During the past two weeks, just under $6,000 has been collected in the University Center for Hurricane Katrina survivors.

The money, which went to the American Red Cross, was donated by campus denizens via Culligan water jugs placed throughout the UC and a table with volunteers selling ribbons striped in Mardi Gras colors.

For the second consecutive year, CosmoGIRL! magazine has selected UM for its list of “50 Best Colleges” for girls. The list appears in the October issue of CosmoGIRL! available on newsstands now.

Of the 50, only 16 were public institutions. Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., was the only other school in the Pacific Northwest to make the list.

The magazine notes that UM has one of the largest percentages of alumni who volunteer for the Peace Corps. It also spotlights “UM’s intriguing course” -- the Wilderness and Civilization Studies Program, saying “Dig the outdoors? You’ll love this class, where students go on a 10-day backpacking and canoeing trip along the Missouri River!”

The magazine looked for schools with small class sizes, prominent female faculty, strong women’s sports teams, career centers that excel at internship and job placement, and leadership opportunities in campus clubs and activities.

Everyone knows the Hollywood stereotype of Old West saloons: poker cheats, massive brawls, cowboys punched through windows and drunken gunfights.

But a new book by UM archaeologist Kelly Dixon shoots some holes in this mythic tapestry, revealing a historic West that’s more inclusive and complex.

“Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology and History in Virginia City” is based on Dixon’s doctoral dissertation work in the historic mining town near Reno, Nev. She helped excavate several saloons that represent a wide spectrum of wealth, class and race.

Dixon said she tried to write a book that will appeal to a layperson as much as archaeology scholars.

“When you integrate the historical and archaeological resources from these places, the story becomes so much more dramatic,” she said. “It’s beyond what we could have imagined.”

An exhibit of recent abstract paintings by Blackfeet artist Francis Wall will be on display through Friday, Nov. 25, at UM.

The exhibit is located in the lobby of UM’s Davidson Honors College. An artist reception will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. today, Sept. 23, in conjunction with American Indian Heritage Day.

Wall, who was raised and educated on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, incorporates American Indian subjects and Northern Plains Indian geometric designs into his paintings.

The Department of Drama/Dance will present “Bat Boy: The Musical” at 7:30 p.m. October 4-8 and 11- 15 in the Montana Theatre of the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center.

Eager to be accepted by a world that isn’t quite ready for him, Bat Boy learns the ways of civilization and especially how fear of the unknown can bring out the worst in human beings. This musical tragicomedy blends campy humor, horror and music both beautiful and hysterical. Audience discretion is advised because of adult subject matter.

To reserve seats, call the drama/dance box office at (406) 243-4581. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

A 2005-06 American Humanics Cohen Grant awarded to UM will help to enhance professional development opportunities for employees of the state's nonprofits.

UM earned the award for its project "Statewide Curriculum Coordination for Nonprofit Management Preparation."

The yearlong project has two phases and could be implemented as early as fall 2006, said Andrea Vernon, director of UM's Office for Civic Engagement.

The UM football team's defense held the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits to just over 100 total yards en route to 7-0 nonconference victory on a rain-soaked day in Montana's Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The only score of the game came on Montana's third possession of the contest, as junior running back Lex Hilliard scored on a three-yard run. Hilliard was a workhorse and tied his career-high with 25 carries, picking up 128 hard-earned yards. It was his seventh career 100-yard rushing game and his second this season.

The Grizzlies have no game this weekend and return to action Saturday, Oct.1, for UM’s Homecoming weekend in Missoula.

Montana defeated Portland in three games on Saturday evening in its final match of the Denver University Invitational. With the victory, the Grizzlies finished 2-1 at the tournament and improved to 10-4 overall. Earlier in the tournament, UM beat Northern Illinois 3-0 and lost to host Denver University 0-3.

UM opens Big Sky Conference play this week, when the Grizzlies travel to Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. Montana, which had its best pre-conference performance since the 1999 season, faced the Lumberjacks Thursday night and next take on the Hornets at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24.

Junior Lindsay Winans netted a pair of goals to lead the UM soccer team to a 2-0 win over Idaho Sunday afternoon at Guy Wicks Field in Moscow.

The win was the Grizzlies' first road conquest of 2005 and improved their season record to 2-5-1. UM lost 3-1 to Gonzaga Friday night at Martin Field in Spokane, Wash.

Montana is off this weekend, returning to action the next week on the road at Eastern Washington and Washington State. They’ll meet the Eagles in the Big Sky Conference-opener at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and battle the Cougars at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2.