By Caroline Boden
For 73 years, students, alum, faculty, staff and friends of the university have come together to celebrate this annual tradition.
This week, the school will exude spirit far beyond a football game with the multitude of events planned for students. Homecoming at the university dates back to 1946. As student enrollment rocketed following World War II, the football team joined the Lone Star Conference and the marching band was organized, Homecoming became one of the campus’ many traditions.
“Homecoming is a way to connect and bring everyone together for a common idea,” said Anthony Salcido, Homecoming Chair. “With any campus, any school, or really any place, it’s all about the history. It’s what builds that camaraderie; whether I am a student now or someone that went here back in the 90s, there’s that connection that we all went to UH. All of these traditions bring up the school spirit.”
There have been new events implemented on top of the recurring ones. Beginning Monday evening, there will be a pep rally to kick off the week and announce Homecoming Court. Other activities during the week include a field day, a talent competition, a volunteer campus clean up, a scavenger hunt, bed races, a carnival, and a concert in addition to the basketball and football games.
“When looking at all of these different events to plan, we look at having them two a day at different time points that way we can get a wide range of students attending because of our commuters,” Salcido said. “Because we are a diverse school, we’re always trying to look for different ways to get students involved and create something at each event so that anyone can find something to enjoy.”
Each year, Homecoming follows a theme. This year it is “Be Someone and leave a legacy” to encourage students and alumni to leave their mark and try to make a difference in not only their life but also at the university.
In an attempt to increase overall attendance throughout the week, the Homecoming Board has purposely implemented new items and introduced alumni participation in the festivities.
“The alumni get involved by attending the game, but they do judge Spirit Cup, Can-Struction and Strut Your Stuff (the talent competition),” said Valentina Gajardo, Homecoming Vice Chair. “We try to include them as much as possible to give them the ability to come back and look at the team and see the progress over the years.”
One of the most popular events during the week is the concert Thursday night sponsored by the Student Program Board. The performer every year is a celebrity and kept a secret until a couple days before.
“The reason we haven’t announced it yet is because the contract is not finalized and we can get a huge lawsuit to the University of Houston because we told the students earlier and the artist could say they’re not doing it anymore,” Gajardo said. “It’s not in our hands. It’s just a long process and we’re just waiting for it to be finalized. The second it is, we’ll put everything (flyers and posters) everywhere and tell everyone.”
The last event of the week is the football game on Saturday against the Memphis Tigers. During halftime the 2019 Homecoming King and Queen will be announced. Prior to student voting for these titles, juniors and senior who are interested must turn in an application, an essay, a resume and hold an interview. Scores are created for each of the submissions in addition to the number of votes they receive. Monday evening the top ten nominees with the highest number of student votes will be announced as Court. Out of these five men and five women, the two with the highest overall score will be crowned.
“A lot of the people who are on court are really involved,” said Director of Court Activities, Kendall Hollingsworth. “It gives other people on campus someone to look up to when it comes to being involved and making a difference on campus. A lot of them are student leaders; they’re in sororities or fraternities, they’re leaders of organizations, some of them have started organizations, started charities, things like that.”
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