Homecoming week is upon us at University of Memphis. The homecoming theme this year is Always True Blue, which is meant to encourage students to always show their school spirit.
The events are organized by the Student Activities Council and the Blue Crew. It kicked off this past weekend but events will be taking place all week. Blue Crew director Jazsmine Robertson said she is optimistic about it.
“We have a pretty good lineup for homecoming,” Robertson said. “We are doing a lot of traditions, but we are making a few new changes which I think students will like.”
Sunday started with a homecoming kick-off party at Main Event, which is one of the new events that the homecoming organizers hope to make a tradition. It included free games, food, drinks, and giveaways. Homecoming boards and banners, made by organizations on campus, were also set up in the UC lawn and atrium.
On Monday, a photo booth was set up in the UC atrium for students to come and take festive pictures with their friends along with a silent disco that was held in the library that night.
Build-a-tiger, SAB mudball, and a scavenger hunt will take place Tuesday. Build-a-tiger will be held in the UC atrium at 11 a.m. where students can come and customize their own stuffed tiger. The Student Ambassador Board will be holding their mudball tournament, which helps raise funds for the J. Wayne Johnson Scholarship. The “Where’s Baby TJ?” scavenger hunt will be held at noon. Homecoming teams will be looking for Tom Jr. across campus.
The Up till Dawn Letter Sending event benefitting St. Jude will also be held on Tuesday at the Rose Theatre. Up till Dawn is a nationwide event held at college campuses to raise money to fight childhood cancer. Students can register a team on St. Jude’s website.
A flag football tournament will be held on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Alumni Mall. Campus organizations will be participating in the tournament. The Phi Beta Sigma comedy show will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Rose Theatre.
Thursday’s event will allow students to customize a personal license plate in the UC at 10 a.m. Students are then invited to visit the Haunted Web of Horrors Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. It is a haunted house located on Perkins Road, about 15 minutes away from campus.
Robertson mentioned that the biggest events of the week start on Friday.
At 4 p.m., the SAC carnival starts on Tiger Lane. The carnival will feature rides, inflatables, and games. Robertson said they aimed to make this year’s carnival more “college friendly.” One change that SAC has made from last year is all these events will be on Tiger Lane. The Bluff City Bash will then begin at 5:30 which will include a parade and concert.
The parade will include floats designed by Greek life and over 40 other organizations at the university of Memphis. Along with floats Mr. and Ms. UofM finalist, twirlers, Bruce Elementary and other performers.
Later that night there will also be a concert on Tiger Lane. The headliner for the concert has not been announced yet. The Daily Helmsman tried to get an exclusive on who this years’ performer will be, but all they would tell us is that we might know by Thursday.
Tickets to the concert will be $25 a person and are only available to those 18 and older. Tickets will be available to the general public and students, faculty, and staff at Memphis may reserve one free ticket.
Homecoming will conclude on Saturday starting with tailgating before the U of M football game. The 24th ranked Tigers will square off against the 15th ranked Southern Methodist University Mustangs. Students are encouraged to show up and be loud on Saturday. The College GameDay Twitter account confirmed Monday afternoon that their crew will be visiting Memphis for the first time in the school’s history. The game will begin that night at 6:30.
Robertson said the best way for students to get involved is to participate.
“Just show up to the events,” Robertson said.
Students gather in the Ned McWherter library for silent disco. The Student Activities Council and the Blue Crew organized many events for Homecoming week.
Students gather in the Ned McWherter library for silent disco. The Student Activities Council and the Blue Crew organized many events for Homecoming week.
Students gather in the Ned McWherter library for silent disco. The Student Activities Council and the Blue Crew organized many events for Homecoming week.
Students gather in the Ned McWherter library for silent disco. The Student Activities Council and the Blue Crew organized many events for Homecoming week.
