Since 1919

The Prairie News

Since 1919

The Prairie News

Since 1919

The Prairie News

Homecoming needs creativity to survive

The Prairie Opinion. Art by Chris Brockman.
The Prairie Opinion. Art by Chris Brockman.

Homecoming is a special time for a university, where its students and alumni can gather together to celebrate their institution. It has its own pageantry, with a Homecoming King and Queen, numerous events to entertain its student body and community, culminating in (with most universities) a battle on the gridiron between its school and often a rival squad. Homecoming is a cherished tradition that spans back to the early 20th Century.

West Texas A&M has most of these things, and it is not lacking in school spirit by any means. It has free lunches for students, events that span from the Midnight Weenie Roast and Midnight Pancake Breakfast to the Freshman Convocation, Pigskin Revue and Homecoming Parade. However, there are flaws that can easily be seen.

For example, after the Pigskin Revue, most of the students who attended the event left the First United Bank Center before The Revivalists began their set. It was pretty sad to walk into the First United Bank Center, which seats more than 5,000 spectators and more so with the floor opened up for concert purposes, to see a mere head count of 25 people attend the concert.

This is not the band’s fault; instead there is blame on those who run the overall Homecoming festivities. The Revivalists were good, but the name value that would entice students to stick around just wasn’t there. The Revivalists needed some help, as most students didn’t know who the heck they were or what genre of music they played.

That is where the Homecoming Committee needs to spend a little more money on advertising. That would be a great help in identifying who The Revivalists were. Or, the Homecoming Committee could spend a little more money or a little more time figuring out just who could retain the student populace after the Pigskin Revue.

Simply put, we at The Prairie would like to apologize to The Revivalists for lack of effort from the powers to be to draw a larger crowd.

But this lack of creativity and drive has been happening for the past few years. While the Mardi Gras concept for Homecoming was nice, the “Come Home” idea fell short. At first, you would think of the chorus of the Diddy song featuring Skylar Grey put on repeat. That wasn’t the case, and the concept was less than stellar due to the vague nature of “Come Home.”

The same nature goes for “Thunder is Coming.” While it is a cool concept with AC/DC references, lightning bolts, and particular deities of thunder and lightning thrown all over the place, wouldn’t it be better if the Homecoming Committee brought in hillbilly mockband Hayseed Dixie instead? That would be a little more relevant.

Lesson of the day: do your research for the concept you want to do and make it cohesive all throughout.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The PRAIRIE Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *