Baker University’s Student Activities Council is switching things up for homecoming week, Oct. 1-6, by putting an emphasis on student organizations as a whole.
In the past, sororities and fraternities have been paired up to form teams for the week of homecoming activities. This year, however, student organizations were encouraged to sign up regardless of Greek affiliation.
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Homecoming Court
Queen Candidates
Milan Piva
Katerra Shackelford
Lauren Williams
Lauren Amrein
Lauren Breithaupt
King Candidates
Tim Laughlin
Bryce Bowers
Brandon Haefke
Andrew Kelley
Jordan Robertson
“We want to focus more on student organizations as a whole and try to get the most people involved as possible, instead of concentrating on Greek houses,” SAC Vice-President of Featured Events Sierra Wallace said.
Because of this change, some Greek organizations have opted not to participate in the homecoming activities.
“Our fraternity (Sigma Phi Epsilon) chose to not participate in homecoming because of it,” junior Parker Johnson said. “We feel like it’s changing the tradition in how it’s been done and it’s just not as fun.”
Randy Flowers, assistant director of student life, said there has been a decrease in the number of students signed up to participate in the festivities.
“I don’t really know how to blame one thing for (decrease in participation),” Flowers said. “But I think in the growth of the whole scheme of things, over the next five years, this is the step that has to take place to grow homecoming in terms of student organizations.”
Another change in the homecoming week activities is the location of the dance on Friday. In past years, the dance was hosted at the Salt Mine, but has been moved this year to the parking lot between Parmenter Hall and Rice Auditorium. This is to avoid any liability issues, and Flowers said is something that “should have happened 10 years ago.” The change in location will also be more accessible to students living on campus.
“Our residence halls are all right here; our Greek chapter houses are all around here,” Flowers said. “It’s just easier access for everybody and bringing it back to our university because that’s what we should be proud of. It shouldn’t be the Mine that we’re proud of, it should be Baker University.”
The “superheroes” theme will be tied into the activities throughout the week.
Homecoming week will once again consist of what used to be called the BU Olympics, which has been changed to the BU Showdown.
“It’s actually copyright and you’re not supposed to be using that,” Flowers said. “So that’s correcting legal issues so we’re within the guidelines of copyright laws.”
Other homecoming activities include the Knowledge Bowl, Skit Night and a Powder Puff football game.
As of Tuesday, eight teams had signed up to participate. Alpha Chi Omega, Zeta Phi Beta, Kappa Sigma, Zeta Chi, Independents, Delta Tau Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha and Up ‘Til Dawn are the teams competing in this year’s competition.
HOMECOMING 2012<strong>HOMECOMING 2012</strong> HOMECOMING 2012
Tuesday: BU Showdown<strong>Tuesday: BU Showdown</strong> Tuesday: BU Showdown
9 p.m. Collins Center
Wednesday: Knowledge Bowl<strong>Wednesday: Knowledge Bowl</strong> Wednesday: Knowledge Bowl
9 p.m. Harter Union Cafeteria
Thursday: Skit Night<strong>Thursday: Skit Night</strong> Thursday: Skit Night
9 p.m. Harter Union Cafeteria
Friday: Powder Puff Football<strong> Friday: Powder Puff Football</strong> Friday: Powder Puff Football
6 p.m. Liston Stadium
Saturday: Homecoming Dance<strong>Saturday: Homecoming Dance</strong> Saturday: Homecoming Dance
10 p.m. Harter Union Parking Lot
