Revealing royalty candidates at Monday’s pep rally. Painting downtown business’ windows. Dashing to beat out opponents in the Adventure Race. Putting one’s wits to the test at Loper Feud. Dancing at the Lip Sync Battle. Crowning the king and queen. Watching Saturday’s parade before the big game.
UNK Homecoming.
This anticipated week is meant to celebrate what it means to be a Loper. Festivities and competitions are designed to bring us students together. But The Antelope has noticed a trend within past homecoming participation.
While homecoming isn’t promoted as a Fraternity and Sorority Life event, the culture surrounding it comes across that way.
Fraternities and sororities make up a large portion of the lineup. Out of the eight teams signed up to compete this year, half of them are fraternity and sorority teams.
Not all teams are taking part in every competition.
Our team is happy to see heavy involvement from Greek Life. But we would like to see more diversity in what organizations are involved. The Antelope recognizes how many students beyond FSL are missing out on the fun.
It may be hard for a student to get in on the action if they aren’t a part of Greek Life or another sizable organization. Teams generally have been made up of larger organizations in the past, which may be why Greek Life teams are common.
Despite that, only Loper Feud and Adventure Race require a certain number of competitors. Both ask for six team members. We see how this could still create a potential challenge for some organizations, as finding students who have time in their schedule can be tough.
We recommend that more student organizations team up to compete.
Similar to Christian Student Fellowship, Navigators and United Campus Ministry, other organizations should collaborate and create a team. This would allow more students to have the chance to join in on the celebrations.
Additionally, the wrestling team has performed with the cheerleaders at Thursday’s events in the past. Our team wonders why we don’t see participation from other sports teams. The football coach comes out and gets the crowd excited at the Lip Sync Battle, but the players are not seen until Saturday’s game. Getting more sports teams involved is another way more students could participate.
The Antelope asks that homecoming organizers encourage more student organizations to get involved in homecoming. We hope to see more students taking advantage of the fun that homecoming has to offer.
