Thursday, October 18, 2001

Homecoming spirit misplaced
Commentary by Jenny Specht

The walls in the Student Center are being repainted, meaning TCU is out to impress someone again, this time the alumni. The wet paint signs are signifying that it’s Homecoming week at TCU and once again we have forgotten something.

Let’s search the Homecoming schedule. The highlights of the week’s activities: Sunday, building decoration competition. Monday, can collecting competition, followed by can sculpture building competition (Andy Warhol would be proud); Tuesday, Frog Follies skit competition; Thursday, intramurals competition; and Friday, parade competition … see a pattern?

In an effort to increase participation, Homecoming week has been turned into a competition between various organizations to determine whose members have superior sidewalk chalk ability and who happens to be really good at pushing a shopping cart down the aisle at Albertson’s and picking up green beans at the low, low price of three for a dollar.

It’s wonderful that the TCU campus is now decorated in a Dr. Seuss theme; it’s wonderful that we are giving to the community; it’s a commendation to our English department that so many students can think of original rhymes for skits.

However, why can’t this be done in a more inclusive, less competitive atmosphere?

Every poster shows support partially for the Horned Frogs, but partially for the organization (and just so you know… they’re not the ones playing Army).

Where is the campus unity that should accompany Homecoming week? It seems to be missing just as all of the students not involved in a specific organization are this week.

What does one do if they are just a TCU student who wants to participate? True, there are activities such as the Sugarbomb concert and mock game show. But even these have been cheapened by the fact that organizations will receive points for how many members they have there. How easily has a simple free concert turned into a bitter brawl for spirit points?

As a member of an organization which encourages its members to participate, for me, the fun is taken out of Homecoming because it has become mandatory. Somehow Homecoming has become another homework assignment I’m forced to do, when I would rather not.

Homecoming is coming home. Home being TCU, the school we all attend. But as alumni, will we be able to show our support when during our undergraduate years Homecoming was a segmented contest which failed to include parts of the campus population and placed utmost importance on spending money to compete over a few measly points?

When I come back to campus as an alumna, what will I remember of my undergraduate Homecoming celebrations? How I ended up spending the entire day of the parade my sophomore year rebuilding a float which was destroyed by other members of the campus community? The stressed-out Homecoming chairs of each organization spending the week in misery?

Let me digress a bit and say that I think Programming Council has done a wonderful job. The activities of Homecoming week reflect careful planning, hard work and a variety of interests. I just want to make a suggestion that I think a lot of people would agree with.

We would have more fun if the only competition at Homecoming was the football game. We all go to to TCU; let’s work on supporting it. After all, if we can’t work together as Horned Frogs during Homecoming, when will we be able to?

Jenny Specht is a junior English and political science major from Fort Worth. She can be reached at (j.l.specht@student.tcu.edu).