This year’s homecoming, which kicked off Sunday and continues this week, is packed with events aimed at getting students more involved and boosting class spirits, according to co-chair of the DUPB Board of Traditions Committee, Richard Maez.
This year’s first of the three tradition events, which also include Winter Carnival and May Days, is centered around the theme, “Silencing the Howl.”
The biggest difference from last year is the fact that the committee chose to not host an actual dance for homecoming, like last year. According to Kaitlin Neumann, one of the co-chairs of the DUPB Traditions Committee, the dance last year didn’t have the turnout that they had hoped for, for the expense.
“Last year was the first year that we held a dance, it was on a trial basis and while everyone who went had a great time, we felt that there might be a better activity that would benefit the entire student body,” said Neumann.
While there will be no dance this year, there are plenty of events to get involved in to show school spirit and participate in inter-class competition.
“We really wanted to capitalize on it being at the end of October to give it that fall, haunted aspect of it and to bring in that element of school spirit,” said Maez.
“Silencing the Howl” is a theme that benefits from combining the elements of a haunted homecoming and being Halloween-oriented. It also is a play on words since the Pioneers are facing off against Michigan Tech Huskies for the homecoming hockey game.
Other events during the week are geared towards involving other athletic teams rather than just focusing on hockey games. Events such as the Cider on CIBER event, which took place on Sunday at the men’s and women’s soccer games. This was all in the name of promoting school spirit, according to Richard Maez.
Homecoming this year will also be aimed at competition against classes. On Monday and continuing today and Wednesday there will be class competitions for people to participate on Driscoll Bridge. There will be a table set up with trivia and activities such as minute-to-win-it games. Involvement in activities, such as these, result in a point for the participant’s class. These points will be tallied and contributes to their class’s overall score for the class competition. This also includes the Costume Contest winners on Friday.
Also coming up Wednesday is the Royalty Showcase, in which the homecoming royalty nominations will be showcased before voting is opened.
“Most of the time first and second years don’t even know that there is royalty for homecoming, so by putting in extra into the showcase we’re hoping to make everyone aware of their candidates so that they can vote,” said Maez. Voting will become available after the showcase, which is taking place Wednesday in Lindsay Auditorium. Much like the nomination process students will receive an email that will walk them through the process of voting.
There are also possibilities of winning prizes throughout the week. There are going to be homecoming t-shirt giveaways at the Pioneer Pregame and Costume Contest this Friday on Driscoll Green as well as at the Pioneer Hockey Blackout on Saturday. At Fright Fest on Thursday there will also be travel mugs up for grabs, according to Maez.
The Homecoming Parade, held Saturday, will be the final event. The parade will showcase the students, clubs and everything DU has to offer, according to Maez, who stressed the importance for students to attend.
“I think it’s bringing us together, it’s really the first time that we can all come together and showcasing our DU Spirit and our pride for the Crimson and Gold and having pride in what we do and showcasing what a good school DU is,” said Maez.
