Volume: 59 Issue: 14
JANUARY 27, 2016
driftwood.uno.edu
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Homecoming brings in new events, preserves old favorites BY ANNA GOWIN Features Editor With every new spring semester comes Homecoming season, a week of events dedicated to generating school spirit and celebrating the UNO student body, this year’s theme is “Privateers of the Galaxy.” “I think that UNO pride and Privateer pride is something that is lacking on this campus,” said SAC’s Lagniappe Chair, Devin Gaeta. “I think that Homecoming is the most effective thing that this campus does to try and bring that back.” Gaeta, as lagniappe chair, is the SAC member in charge of organizing the events of the week, leading up to this year’s basketball games against McNeese. Gaeta said he hopes that Homecoming offers a fresh, fun start for all students on campus, not just the members of Homecoming court, or organizations involved in creating teams. “From the beginning, I was just
like ‘Wow, this is a big deal.’,” Gaeta said, in regards to getting to tackle the challenge of planning such an important event. “It’s like an honor.” This year’s festivities are going to be a mix of the familiar and new events that Gaeta and SAC hope to turn into lasting traditions. Like, for example, the Homecoming parade was something Gaeta instantly knew he wanted to revive. “It used to be a car parade with floats and everything, and all the colleges participated. And I was like, ‘Why don’t we do that? We’re the University of New Orleans!’.” But of course there were a lot of details to be taken into consideration, and plans needed to be altered accordingly. So the event evolved to make the transition easier for students and SAC. “We decided to compromise and ease into things with a second line parade,” said Gaeta. The second line will include a brass band, the members of the homecoming court, the basketball players and even Coach Slessinger, all hand-
ing out “UNO swag” to students on campus. But there are a lot of staple events that Gaeta knew SAC needed to keep in line with what people expect with Homecoming week. This includes staples like the tailgate, and trivia night. And, Gaeta said, “Six Appeal has become a staple, this is their third year in a row here, so I knew from the beginning I wanted them to come.” The traveling A Cappella group, which performed Monday night, has become a student favorite. But one Homecoming tradition didn’t make it past the planning stage this year: the Homecoming dance. “In my mind, that is a Homecoming staple, but every year attendance is pretty horrible,” Gaeta said. And he and SAC understand why. “People want to go out, especially with their friends after the game.” So, while it would have been nice to hold on to, Gaeta said, “Objectively it’s just not worth the money, the effort or the time.” These are the kinds of sac-
rifices that have to be made when planning such a large scale event for students, in order to make the best Homecoming possible. “There were certainly a lot of twists and turns, in terms of what to do,” Gaeta said, “but we’ve added some fun and interesting things I’m excited about.” New events this year include things like the student showcase and the lip-sync battle, which will hopefully inspire students to get involved with the events happening on campus. Wednesday night’s showcase was actually the idea of a volunteer SAC member. “We want Homecoming to be about the students, and not just the basketball team,” Gaeta said. So it’s important that student voices are heard. And the lip-sync battle is probably going to be a surprise hit, according to Gaeta. “The more work you put into an event,” he said, “the more you idealize it in your mind.” But it is always the events that require “little to no preparation,” Gaeta said, that end up becoming
student favorites. “I was thinking about how all of the events are going to go, and just thinking that that is really going to be one of the more fun events.” Not to mention, Gaeta said, “We definitely have some people of character on our campus that I’m excited to see perform.” Now that the week is in full swing, Gaeta says this is probably the easiest part for him and everyone involved, watching Homecoming unfold. While they might have to deal with last minute problems as they arise, “At this point, it’s happening, and people are enjoying it. Just like, ‘Wow, here it is. It’s all here.’.” Check the campus calendar for a full list of Homecoming events yet to come. Voting for Homecoming court is open until Friday, Jan. 29 at noon. Pictured above from left to right: Marc Smith, Leroy Johnson and Matt Dayton enjoy homecoming event on Monday.