By Madison Pena
Features Assistant
Student Government organized various events for this year’s Homecoming Spirit Week from Monday Oct. 22 to Friday, Oct. 26. Events ranged from a popcorn giveaway in the Brower Student Center to competitions filled with lines of eager students ready to participate.
The week began with a flash mob fashion show at the Student Center on Monday. Students were encouraged to wear their most creative school gear on the runway. Kristine Spike, a senator for the School of Arts and Communication and a junior communication studies major, said that SG’s main objective of the event was to promote school spirit.
“When we met with President Foster, she mentioned how she would like the school to be more energized,” Spike said. “I think after that student involvement became a main objective for us.”
Students had the opportunity to come out for an intense trivia night at the Traditions Lounge on Tuesday. In teams of four, students tested their knowledge on topics like celebrities and music. Phi Mu Alpha came in first place.
The following day, a line beginning at the Social Sciences Building went as far back as Alumni Grove when students got in line to receive their free homecoming T-shirts. The shirts vanished quickly into the hands of eager students as the line for more grew longer.
SG members and Student Ambassadors made their way down the line of students shouting out which T-shirt sizes were available and which were gone.
Roscoe the Lion pumped up the crowd as he gave out high-fives before settling in the photo-booth to take pictures with students.
During Pop into Homecoming on Thursday at the Student Center, students created their own popcorn mix with a range of treats such as M&Ms, marshmallows, pretzels, crackers and chocolate. Nick Marsola, a freshman music education major, appreciated SG’s effort to boost school spirit.
“I didn’t go specifically for the popcorn, but I saw it happening and decided to go over,” Marsola said. “I didn’t hear a lot about the events but the Student Government did a good job organizing it.”
Student organization members armed with orange buckets competed in the canoe battleship competition at the pool in Packer Hall on Thursday night. Each team, which consisted of three students from each organization, poured water into each others’ boats until one of them sank.
Allison Bronander, a freshman open options major in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences who represented the women’s club rugby team, enjoyed the competition. Her team won third place.
“We did the event as team bonding and it was really fun,” Bronander said. “I thought it was a really creative event. It was probably my favorite of the week.”
Most of the event’s participants were either students from Greek Life or members of a sports team on campus.
“Most events have a good turnout because of the involvement of Greek Life organizations on campus, as well as other clubs and teams,” Spike said.
The Lip Sync and Dance event featured performances from a variety of Greek organizations, as well as Synergy and the College’s Dance Team.
Performers showed off their acting and dancing skills by lip syncing original mashups and bringing their best moves to the Student Center Room 100 stage.
After a night of anticipation, a team composed of Phi Alpha Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha and Delta Epsilon Psi members took home the first prize for both the lip sync and the dance competitions.
SG took a lot of time planning and putting together Spirit Week’s packed schedule. SG members were encouraged to sign up to help run the Spirit Week Festivities, according to Spike.
“I would have to give a shout out to some of the higher ups for doing the grunt work,” she said.
While the Homecoming Tailgate was rained out, the days leading up to the festive weekend were filled with opportunities for students to enjoy themselves and show their school spirit.
“Since the weather was bad I didn’t end up going to the tailgate or game,” Bronander said. “I’m hoping next year will be a better in that regard, but overall Homecoming was fun and I’m excited to see what’s in store for next year.”
