February 5, 2001
Homecoming gears up
By Eric Rangus erangus@emory.edu
Homecoming, for the most part, is a student-centered activity. At many universities, primarily those with football teams, RVs filled with alumni also descend on the campus of their youth for a weeks worthor at least a weekends worthof fun remembering the pre-responsibility glory days of college. For a school without a football team, as well as student body with a
reputation as spirit challenged, Homecoming arrives each year with its
own set of built-in obstacles. Our campus isnt really known to be spirited, said Mitali
Chakraborty, Student Programming Council (SPC) Homecoming chair. Sometimes
we have to shake people up. So, all Homecoming week, which begins today and runs through Feb. 10,
SPC members will tool around campus on a Facilities Management golf cart
handing out prizes. This years Homecoming theme is Emory Gras 2001, and if the SPC
golf cart spots any students, faculty or staff members wearing Emory colors
or any other university clothing, the celebrant will receive free t-shirts,
beads or other prizes. SPC has sponsored Homecoming for the past eight years, and this year,
Chakraborty said, the council is actively reaching out to include faculty
and staff in the celebration. We will always send out invitations [to faculty and staff], but
there hasnt always been a good response, Chakraborty said.
Generally we do not see faculty participate. Were trying to
encourage more faculty members to take part. Most staffers, with the exception of Campus Life and Residence Life personnel,
have also historically taken a pass at Homecoming time. Attending activities
isnt difficult. Faculty, staff and students get in free to all Homecoming
events by showing their Emory IDs. Some of this years activities have been planned with an eye toward
a diverse crowd. Come-dian Lewis Black, who appears on Comedy Centrals
The Daily Show, will perform Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium. He should appeal to an older crowd, Chakraborty said of the
wry, political comedian. The schedule has a serious side as well. On Feb. 7, SPC is cosponsoring
the panel discussion, Reconciling Race: The Future of American Race
Relations, featuring Harvard professor Cornel West, DePaul professor
Michael Eric Tyson, author and former head of the Black Panther Party
Elaine Brown, and civil rights activist and California state Sen. Tom
Hayden. On Thursday, Feb. 8, SPC and Volunteer Emory will sponsor a clothing
drive and sign Valentines Day cards for children at Egleston. While some of the midweek activities lend an air of reality to the proceedings,
Homecomings opening event is a little looser. Tonight at 7 p.m.
in Glenn Auditorium, 10 male and 10 female students will compete for the
titles of Mr. and Ms. Emory. While the moniker screams beauty pageant,
the event is actually based on personal interview, a talent competition
and a student body vote. The week reaches its peak with the Homecoming parade Friday afternoon,
which will ring the campus and end at the P.E. Center, where a tailgate
party will precede a womens/mens basketball double-header
with Brandeis at 6 p.m. The final eventthe semi-formal Homecoming Ballwill be held
on campus for the first time, which not only saves some money but might
boost attendance. This is one of the few opportunities the whole
University can get together at one time, Chakraborty said. The hope is the event, which normally draws about 700800, will
attract about 1,000. Hip-hop group Naughty by Nature will perform. SPCs efforts to increase interest in Homecoming have already shown some success. More than two weeks before the parade, Chakraborty said, the number of floats participating (13) was already higher than last year (eight). |