Annual homecoming rally draws crowd, offers sports updates alongside food and games
Members of the Student Activities Council hand out chicken and waffles as well as pop, water, and energy drinks during the pep rally.
Photo credit: Elizabeth Salo
By Elizabeth Salo
Excitement and the smell of chicken and waffles filled the quad during Tuesday night’s Homecoming pep rally, an annual event hosted by the Student Activities Council featuring yard games, bouncy houses and competitions between students.
Student athletes and general audience members participated in pep rally competitions like charades, a scavenger hunt and a cup-stacking game. Those who won the competitions received free Homecoming t-shirts.
Each of the coaches for fall sports gave an outline on how their teams were doing this season, as well as important athletic events during Homecoming week.
Students also enjoyed yard games such as cornhole and played in bouncy houses. SAC members served chicken and waffles along with pop, energy drinks and bottled water as part of the festivities.
Later in the night, there was also line dancing, including classic favorites like “The Cha-Cha Slide” and “Footloose.”
Many students enjoyed the pep rally, including freshman secondary education major Eden Perling.
“I thought it was really cool how they involved all the different sports teams in the games,” Perling said. “I thought the bouncy houses were a good idea…I thought it was really cool to see everyone just hang out together on the quad.”
Sophomore elementary education major Gabrielle Schauer also liked the way students came together.
“It was great to be a part of the festivities and see all the students having a good time,” Schauer said.
According to senior Student Activities Council President Matthew Koenig, the night’s events were months in the making.
“This has been in the works since the very beginning of the school year,” said Koenig. “We’ve been meeting weekly, and this has been brought up every week…we’ve chipped away at it over the course of time. We split it up between the advertising, getting the food here, the inflatables and the music here, getting everything organized.”
Other Homecoming Week activities for students include the Paws for a Purpose Service Project on Monday, the annual Variety Show on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Weller Chapel, Thursday’s Powder Puff Tournament at 10 p.m. in Bulldog Stadium, and the Sand Volleyball Tournament on Friday at 8 p.m.
