Students Assisting in Good Endeavors (SAGE) has a long legacy of dominating the Homecoming parade competition.
“I first joined the organization in 2015, and that’s as far back as I know,” Sabrina Pugh, SAGE adviser said. “But from 2015 to 2023, we have lost only one year, and the rest of the years we have won.”
In a seven-year legacy of winning, the year they fell short was 2021.
“We didn’t even place in the top three,” Pugh said. “We didn’t exactly hear why, but we believe it might have been due to our float’s size or height or whatever it might have been. We didn’t meet the regulations. However, I believe the first-place winner was Chi Omega Sorority, and they partnered with Phi Delta Theta.”
This year, students are excited about the theme as it leaves room for creativity and interpretation by each organization; attendees will likely see a lot of music-inspired floats.
“[Music is a very] generic theme this year, and I think organizations are just really open to being creative,” Pugh said. “They’re all trying to figure out, what does that mean? What does that look like? How do we apply that to both WT spirit as well as fun with the theme?”
Homecoming provides an opportunity for community engagement, for both the West Texas A&M University and the Canyon communities.
“I think WT loves it for the WT spirit it builds,” Pugh said. “I think it’s less so for the Canyon community, but the [the students and alumni] would love for the Canyon community to be a part of it.”
Parade float judging will be open to the community as well as campus and student organizations. Prize categories go as follows: Student Organizations – 1st- place $300, 2nd- place $200 and 3rd- place $100 and People’s Choice (Text-to-Vote) – $100.
Pugh extends the invitation to all the Canyon residents.
“We just want to invite the Canyon community to WT,” Pugh said. “We would love to host you; we have all these vendors going on, so come and join WT for the Homecoming parade.” The parade float winners will be announced during the WT football game against Western New Mexico University at 7 p.m. at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
Many student organizations are able to fund these floats through fundraising. Additionally, the Alumni Association, which oversees the parade, offers up to a $200 reimbursement for float supplies and materials. The reimbursement form is available for submission by Oct. 31 on the WTAMU Homecoming Guidelines page.
