HOMECOMING IS A day that students at all colleges should cherish as an example of a time when we enjoy our greatest sense of community.

Homecoming is a day that is a celebration of the history of our school and our sense of ourselves as we relate to that school. What homecoming is and what it should be, however, are two separate things.

There are many things to be proud of at DU. The simple fact of our tight-knit community, the competitive sports, the genuinely livable living conditions (believe me, there are a lot of people who don’t eat as well or sleep as well as we do) and the numerous clubs, organizations, fraternities and sororities.

Which brings me to my point. Anyone at DU can be nominated for the homecoming court, through a student organization, but when was the last time a non-Greek was even nominated to be homecoming royalty? I do not know the answer to this, but I’m betting it’s been rare.

This is not an attack on Greeks, who are the only organizations organized enough to submit homecoming nominations. The situation is probably similar in many colleges across the country, especially those whose fraternities and sororities are the focal points of college life. My point is that homecoming is an event for the entire school.

How can we represent the community of DU when one of the focal points of homecoming, the royalty, is a cross-section of Greek life, and Greek life only?

This is not an inducement to get yourself nominated for homecoming king or queen through one of your organizations; this is just to get you thinking. Do you know someone who deserves to be a king or queen (or even duke or duchess) for a day? I’m guessing that the Greeks aren’t the only ones with the class to be homecoming “royalty.”

When you look at your ballot this year ask yourself how many nominees you actually know, and then ask if they are truly representative of the absolute best of DU. If no-one passes these two tests, ask yourself what the DU community did to put someone deserving on the ballot. If history is any indication the answer will be “nothing”.