6C
HOMECOMING SECTION
THE UNIVERSITY HAILY KANSAN
EVENT
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2008
New Homecoming events bring student involvement
Participants run on Naismith Drive during the annual Jayhawk Jog during Homecoming week. The Jayhawk Jog was on Sunday, October 12.
BY VIRGINIA DOWNING
ydowning@kansan.com
Virginia Downing/KANSAN
The Homecoming Steering Committee gave the University of Kansas students homecoming spirit for the past week.
The Committee hosted many events collected to the medieval theme, Hail to the Hawks, which included the annual mural contest, Rock 'n Chalk, on Wescoe Beach, and the all-day Crimson and Blue Day on Friday. "We wanted a theme that reflected all of KU's great accomplishments in 2008," said Megan Atkinson, senior and homecoming publicity director. "Every year it's exciting to have a new theme."
Along with the old events, the committee brought in some new events to Homecoming Week.
"The new events will definitely set apart from last year," Atkinson said. "We came up with a ton of new ideas."
The new events included Medieval Monday, where the committee passed out free chicken legs and donated Burger King hats to the students on campus, the Jayhawk Renaissance Festival, the first annual homecoming mixer at Ellsworth Hall, hosted by the Community/Campus Outreach, and the Homecoming Barbecue, which substituted last year's pep rally, but still included the Jayhawk Jingle. Another event this year also deals with the new theme. The Quest for the Homecoming Grail began on Oct. 20 and lasted the rest of Homecoming Week with clues in the University Daily Kansan. "We tried to put the some of the clues in Old English to give it a little twist," Atkinson said.
A not-so-new event that sparks up school spirit is the signing of the Good Luck Banner on Wescoe Beach. Students have a chance to write good luck notes and their names to the Kansas football team before the big homecoming game. Quotes like "Beak 'Em Hawks" or "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" were included on the banner. The Steering Committee puts thebanner in the football team office so all the team members can see the support that KU students have for them.
According to Atkinson, the
main point for these new events was to include more student organizations and involve more students as a whole to enjoy and understand the spirit of homecoming at the University. To help with this, the Steering Committee made a contest for scholarship and residence halls and organizations on campus. One competition for the organizations was the banner competition. The winning banner will be displayed at the homecoming parade. Another competition that was included was the residence hall homecoming decoration contest. One event that included students from all around campus was the Jayhawk Jog that kicked off homecoming events on Oct. 12. With more than 200 participants
running or walking to support the United Way of Douglas County, the Homecoming Steering Committee since 2002 has found ways for students to come together.
Mary Duarte, junior and the coordinator for Jayhawk Jog, said, "It's great to see students, faculty, alumni and community members all running in the spirit of homecoming and to help out the United Way."
Throughout all of homecoming week, about 20 organizations participated, including both academic and student groups.
Another organization that is making homecoming eventful this year is Student Union Activities. With an hilarious performance from comedian
Gabriel Inglesias on Wednesday, SUA showed homecoming spirit. Jacque Lumsden, a senior who belongs to the Steering Committee and SUA, said that it has been a tradition to bring the homecoming comedian.
"SUA is very happy to work with the Homecoming Steering Committee because we realize how important it is for students to be involved," Lumsden said.
The events for today start with a Pancake Breakfast at 8 a.m., which leads to one of the oldest events at homecoming: the parade. The parade ceremony has been around even before the Homecoming Steering Committee was created. The parade will feature different sorority and fraternity floats, and the Grand
to the Chi Omega Fountain. After the parade is tailgating for the game at the Adams Alumni Center leading into the big game against Texas Tech.
Marshall, Dr. David Ambler, who the Recreation Center has been named after since Friday. The parade will start at the Kansas Union and continue down Jayhawk Boulevard and
Virginia Downing/KANSAN
Sunday afternoon, participants in the Jayhawk Jog run past the Kansan Union during their Sk walk/run.
HOMECOMING OCT.19-25 For a complete list of Homecoming Week activities, visit www.homecoming.ku.edu