FRIDAY,OCT.12,2001
HOMECOMING
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
EN-KAE CHANG/KANSAN
Anniehes Scott (left), Junction City freshman, and Brandy Griffin, Grandview, Mo., sophomore, competed in the 2001 homecoming queen contest.
Black Student Union crowns royalty
By J. R. Mendoza Kansan staff writer
Anneshea Scottlikes to keep it real. That's why the Junction City freshman chose the "I'm real" remix by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule to represent her personality in the Black Student Union's homecoming queen contest.
"I don't like to sugarcoat things." Scott said.
Scott was chosen as the homecoming queen at the organization's meeting Monday. Brandy Griffin, Grandview, Mo., sophomore, was chosen as princess. Scott said the contest was also a fund-raiser for the organization.
Scott and Griffin will participate in the homecoming parade today.
For the contest, Scott said she had to fill out an application, write an essay on why she wanted to run for homecoming queen, participate in a question-and-answer session, choose a special outfit and pick a song to represent her.
She said she and Griffin also had to ask for donations from other students.
Scott said she chose to wear KU pants and an Inspirational Gospel Voices T-shirt to show pride in the University and her love for singing. She said she also did her hair because hairstyling was one of her passions.
Shanika McPhaull, Omaha, Neb. senior, and BSU student senator, said the money raised from the contest would be used for the organization to attend the annual Big 12 Student Conference Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, 2002, at the University of Missouri. She was not able to say how much was raised.
She said 50 to 60 students were planning to attend the conference. The KU chapter of BSU played host to the event last spring.
Contact Mendoza at 864-4810
Beating K-State and drinking free beer: Homecoming's glory days remembered
By Lauren Stewart
Kansan correspondent
Sonny and Cher were there. So was 800 gallons of free blue beer. Baby Jay made his first appearance, and hundreds of pairs of Crimson and Blue underwear were dumped on Kansas State's campus. After 89 years, history has proven almost anything can happen during homecoming week at the University of Kansas.
Before the first official homecoming game in November 1912, the University spent several weeks planning events for students and alumni. The week before the game, interest was so high that workers were trying to build enough box seats and bleachers to accommodate all the fans who had purchased tickets for the Nebraska game. By the 1920s, more than 30,000 people attended the homecoming games in the then-recently constructed Memorial Stadium.
Although many alumali return to the campus for homecoming, the majority of events have been student-oriented. In the freshman nightshirt parade — popular in the early days of homecoming, but unsuccessfully revived in 1945 — male freshmen would parade around campus in their pajamas.
All students, however, could participate in Hobo Day. Students dressed in their oldest and shabbiest clothes the day before the game and marched in parades, sang songs and organized contests for the best-
dressed hoboes. Despite the protests of faculty members, Hobo Day became an annual event from 1923 to 1941.
One of the more unusual traditions often would coincide with Hobo Day. Doctor Yak, the "famous pep-dispenser," would be the focus at a pep rally on Hobo Day. Created in 1919, this character — portrayed by an alum — was an old-fashioned medicine peddler, handing out sugarcoated "pep pills" guaranteed to "create more pep and confidence" in students. This tradition continued into the 1940s.
House decorations also were once an important part of homecoming festivities. The best-decorated fraternity, sorority or other organized house was selected on the basis of "beauty, appropriateness, originality and cleverness." In 1929, the Delta Sigma Lambda fraternity received first prize by depicting a nest crowded with hungry baby Jayhawks, with older birds bringing tiger cubs to them for a homecoming feast.
The construction of floats began in 1938 and continues today. Other cultural and social activities have been planned during homecoming weekend, including University Theatre productions, art exhibitions, intramural sports and special concerts featuring such performers as Elton John, Louis Armstrong, Bill Maher and Sonny and Cher.
Yet many of these once important traditions have ceased, leaving one student apathetic and uninformed about homecoming at the University
"I don't really know anything about our homecoming, and besides, I don't really care," said Danila Staa, Leawood sophomore. "Even in high school, I never really had an interest in it all. It just doesn't seem that special to me."
Staab is not the only one to have that opinion. Even in the 1930s, alumni were bemoaning the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by students toward homecoming festivities.
One of the most visible traditions was the homecoming court, but the last homecoming queen was elected in 1969. The following year, the homecoming committee decided to eliminate the position of homecoming queen, saying that one queen truly could not reflect the multicultural and diverse University. Partly because of this decision, no major homecoming activities took place in 1970.
However, homecoming returned to the University in 1971 with the theme, "Go Big Blue!" During the halftime show, Baby Jay appeared for the first time, hatching out of a giant egg in front of 55,000 fans. Later, after Kansas beat Kansas State 39-13, students quickly drank 800 gallons of free blue beer while attending an all-school dance sponsored by the board of class officers.
Several memorable pranks also were executed in 1971. Using fire extinguishers filled with gallons of white paint, 13 students transformed the giant KS overlooking Manhattan into a giant
Students wave the wheat at a 1960s homecoming pep rally. Some current students say homecoming has lost its appeal.
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES PHOTO
KU. In addition, several fraternity members organized what was described as an "airborne panty raid," collecting hundreds of bras and athletic supporters, dying them crimson and blue, and
dropping them on K-State's campus from a small airplane.
Information taken from the University Archives
Contact Stewart at 864-4810
Past, present, future Jayhawks take pride in traditions
Bv Lauren Airey
Kansan correspondent
For Stephanie LeClaire, the University of Kansas is a family institution.
instruction.
As she grew up, she watched football and basketball on television and in person. From an early age, LeClaire wanted to be a part of KU tradition.
"I've always had KU pride," said LeClaire, Shawnee freshman. "I was raised hearing stories about what it was like when my parents went to KU. My favorite tradition is the Rock Chalk chant because it gives me goose bumps. It's almost haunting."
One of the nation's most famous college cheers, the Roeb
Chalk chant is a rallying cry for students and alumni around the world. A chemistry professor invented the chant in 1886 while returning from a conference by train. The click-clack of the train on the rail joints was the basis for the rhythm. The original "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" was later replaced with "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU." Chalk rock is the name for the limestone outcropping on Mount Oread, the site of the Lawrence campus.
After gaining popularity with the students, the cheer became known worldwide. Teddy Roosevelt called it the greatest college chant he'd ever heard. It was presented to the King of Belgium
at the 1920 Olympic Games as a typical college yell. It was used by troops from Kansas fighting in World War II. In August, Sports Illustrated named it the most underrated college chant in its article "The Rating Game."
Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the University is its mascot, the Jayhawk. The Jayhawk is a mythical bird with roots tied to the historic struggle of Kansas settlers during the time of the Civil War. During the 1850s, Kansas was a battleground between people who wanted legal slavery and those who wanted a free state. Fora time both sides were referred to as Jay hawkers. The name stuck, though to those in favor of a free state.
By the end of the Civil War, Jayhawks were synonymous with the passion and conviction of the people who fought to make Kansas a free state. In 1886, the bird first appeared in the University's Roek Chalk chant. When Kansas football players took to the field in 1890, the logical name for the team was the Jayhawkers.
A student cartoonist drew the first version of the Jayhawk in 1912. In 1920, a more somber bird, perched on a KU monogram, was redrawn. In 1923, two students designed a duck-like 'Hawk that resembles today's Jayhawk. After quickly scrapping the grim Jayhawk, the depression-era Jayhawk and the perky Jayhawk,
KU settled on the design of a smiling Jayhawk in 1946. This 'Hawk still adorns the campus, the athletic field and KU merchandise.
The Jayhawk came alive in the 1960s when the KU Alumni Association provided a mascot costume and "Jay" entertained fans at sporting events. In 1971, during the homecoming halftime show, a huge egg was brought to the 50-yard line, and fans watched the hatch of Jay's companion, "Baby Jay." Today, anonymous students continue to provide entertainment as the mascots.
Information taken from the University Archives
Contact Airey at 864-4810
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