Ouachita will celebrate the 2015 Homecoming Week from Sept. 28 through Oct. 3, bringing together once again alumni and current students as well as hopeful future tigers, and continuing the traditions that are so deeply rooted here on our campus.
Homecoming Week is not to be seen as just one event, but rather a week full of many diverse events. One might imagine that there is a large amount of student involvement in the organization, success and overall fun of this week.
Students at Ouachita may all find themselves involved in Homecoming one way or another, whether that by being on the Homecoming court, cheering on our football team, hosting GROW students, participating in Tiger Tunes, and the list goes on. A student at Ouachita can hardly avoid Homecoming altogether.
Campus organizations such as the alumni association, student senate, the admissions office and the social clubs are a huge part of all of the big events that happen throughout the week. Many things have changed this year, but everyone is still as excited as ever to throw this week-long party in honor of Ouachita.
John Merryman, director of Ouachita Alumni has been working hard with his co-workers on putting together the alumni office’s annual OcTiger Fest Reunion Lunch, which in years past has been held on the main campus from 9 to 11 a.m. This year, some changes have been made to the event.
“Because of the televised football game, the event will be held at Cliff Harris stadium lot from 9 to 10:30 a.m., we’ll crown the Homecoming queen at 10:30 and the game will start at 11. We’ll have an awesome brunch that morning instead of lunch,” said Merryman.
Student Senate is also excited to share a part in this week by preparing for the crowning of the new Homecoming queen. The voting system for this year’s queen has been changed so as to narrow down the nominees before game day. This year there will be two voting days in order to have a top 20 to introduce on the field.
“Homecoming is one of Student Senate’s favorite events to be a part of. We are hoping that the changes we’ve made will help things be more efficient,” said student body president Josh Rubin.
A few things that haven’t undergone much noticeable change are Tiger Tunes, GROW and some of the fun events put on by social clubs. This year’s Tiger Tunes is guaranteed to be another impressive show of song and dance, and of course a fun competition between the clubs and campus organizations.
GROW is another event that is still the same as it has been throughout the years. It will be a time for prospective students to become immersed into the college world, and more specifically the Ouachita bubble.
Current students will host these hopefuls in their dorms, and while Ouachita students will continue life as usual, these high school students will get to tour the campus as well as sit in on some Ouachita classes. There are events sets up for the “GROW-ers” to help them meet each other, and to keep them engaged while they are visiting. One major event that the GROW students get to attend is Tiger Tunes, the glue that holds Homecoming Week together.
Along with performing in Tiger Tunes, several of the social clubs get to be a part of Homecoming by putting together things like photo booths, and Tiger Tunes after parties. The Women of Tri Chi will set up a photo booth on the lawn Friday afternoon for anyone who walks by to take part in creating pictures to add to their Homecoming week photo albums and Instagram posts.
Another social club event to be excited about is the Men of Eta Alpha Omega’s 16th annual Muggin’. Muggin’ is the Saturday night Tiger Tunes after party where people from all social clubs, and even those not in social clubs will gather together to celebrate the great memories that are made during the week of Homecoming.
“We can’t wait to share IBC Root Beer and have a good time with everyone on campus after the last Tiger Tunes performance Saturday night. We love getting to serve the campus in this way,” said Jacob Moreno, president of Eta Alpha Omega.
The Men of Kappa Chi are also excited to host their cookout after the Friday night Tiger Tunes show.
“The Men of Kappa Chi are looking forward to homecoming, the busiest time of the year for Ouachita. We are excited about our cookout Friday night after Tunes, which is open to the public,” said senior Josh Reaper, vice president of Kappa Chi and Searcy native.
Homecoming Week is a great display of how everyone at Ouachita loves to come together to make a fantastic event that reaches out to students, staff, alumni and even the community of Arkadelphia. Those involved in the organization and production of all the various facets of homecoming week are excited to debut the changes that have been made and to continue with the long standing traditions. For a full schedule of homecoming week events, visit the Ouachita calendar at www.obu.edu/calendar.
Great article.