Stephanie March to Lead Homecoming Parade 10/22

Actress Stephanie March, who portrayed Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot on the popular NBC-TV series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and Dale T. Mortensen, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics and a Northwestern University faculty member, will add star power to the University's 2010 Homecoming Parade at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22. The theme for this year's Homecoming celebration is "Where the Wildcats Are."

As the parade grand marshal, March, a 1996 graduate of the School of Communication, will lead the parade as it progresses north from the corner of Foster Street and Sheridan Road to Lincoln Street. Her husband, Food Network celebrity chef Bobby Flay, will join March in the parade.

March's recent TV credits include roles as a tortured mother on ABC-TV's hit show "Grey's Anatomy" and a psychic in FX Networks' "Rescue Me." March also was seen opposite Tina Fey on NBC-TV's multiple award-winning comedy series "30 Rock." March has appeared on screen, including a starring role in the film "The Invention of Lying," written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson.

Mortensen, the Ida C. Cook Professor of Economics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, was named one of the three winners of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics. He will be joined in the parade by his wife, Beverly Mortensen, an adjunct lecturer for Northwestern's department of religious studies.

Other parade participants will include Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro and Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl.

The parade is one of several Homecoming events open to the public. A Homecoming Pep Rally and Concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, will be held outdoors at Deering Meadow, the open green space between Deering Library (1934 Sheridan Road) and Sheridan Road. The event will feature the Northwestern Wildcat Marching Band conducted by Daniel J. Farris, cheerleaders, LadyCats, Willie the mascot, Wildcat football coach Pat Fitzgerald and some of the Wildcat football players. (Editor's note: In case of rain, the pep rally and concert will be moved indoors to Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.)

The 2010 Homecoming king and queen will be crowned by Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) President Charles Katzenmeyer during the first quarter break of the 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, football game at Ryan Field. The Northwestern Wildcats will play the Michigan State Spartans during the ticketed event. Tickets are priced from $35 to $50. To order tickets, visit NUsports.com or call (847) 491-2287 (CATS) or e-mail cat-tix@northwestern.edu.

The public also is invited to a performance and craft activities for young audiences by the award-winning Purple Crayon Players, a Northwestern student-run theatre and community service organization, that will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave., in downtown Evanston. Admission is free.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, there will be limited access to and from Northwestern's Evanston campus prior to and during the Homecoming Parade. Traffic heading north on Sheridan Road will have access to Campus Drive.

For more on Homecoming 2010, visit http://nuhomecoming.ning.com/. Biographies for the Homecoming royalty candidates are available at http://alumni.northwestern.edu/node/4321 and http://alumni.northwestern.edu/node/4322.