Prep Work: Students prepare for Homecoming Week

Part of the week for homecoming is seeing the final result of parade floats and S.O. Sing performances, but student organizations put hours into construction, pomping, writing lyrics and practicing choreography.

Tissue paper, chicken wire, plywood and spray glue – all materials used to make the homecoming float. Caleb Moushon, homecoming chair for Beta Upsilon Chi, said the craziest part of it all is that students do everything, from sawing the wood to building the infrastructure that will hold over 40 organization members in levels while the float drives around campus.

“I think it’s a really cool way for new members, who are mostly freshman, to get more involved in Texas Tech and more of the traditions we have and meet more people,” Moushon said.

To start building the float in mid September, they needed to rent out a storage unit, get a trailer and immediately start construction. Moushon explained the layout of the float to be built like the inside of a house.

Once BYX and their homecoming partner, Delta Delta Delta, discovered their theme as Backstreet Boys, Moushon said they designed how they wanted the whole float to look, taking ideas from album art and 90s themes of bright colors and geometric shapes. From there, they drew the design on the plywood, placed the chicken wire on top, and spent weeks pomping.

Moushon said pomping is the term organizations use in homecoming where members cut squares of tissue paper, shape it by twirling it like a stem of a rose, then using the spray glue to attach to the chicken wire because it does not always stick to the plywood.

Since pomping is extremely time consuming, Moushon said each initiated member of most student organizations are required to complete a specific amount of hours on helping with the float.

“I think it’s a lot to do, but I think the tradition is fun,” he said. “It’d be a bummer if we didn’t have all these things to look forward to like the parade and S.O. Sing.”

Student Organization Sing is an event hosted during the week of homecoming. Two organizations are paired together and create a dance, sing lyrics to their desired song, and wear costumes all based on their selected theme. According to the Student Activities Board website, groups compete against other student organizations and are judged on Tech spirit, choreography, quality of singing, and overall presentation.

Alexa Fishman, homecoming chair of Alpha Chi Omega, participated in S.O. Sing when she was a freshman and said she knew she wanted to lead it one day because of her involvement and dance history.

“I’ve been dancing my whole life, so I love choreographing and teaching dances,” Fishman said. “I watched a lot of S.O. Sing videos from prior years and saw what tricks I think would work best for my group of people.”

Most organizations select 16 new members to participate in S.O. Sing. From holding auditions the second week of school, Fishman said their group of girls were mainly dancers or cheerleaders in high school, and a few have none to little experience but showed dedication and personality in their audition. Even with that, Fishman said the 16 boys in their homecoming partner, Beta Theta Pi, have never danced before, so she has had to teach at a slower place and help with persistence of tricks and stunts.

“I think the boys are more nervous than the girls are, but I definitely think everyone is super excited,” she said. “It’s really cool to see all these student organizations come together and celebrate Tech and have a good time. I think it’s super unique because it’s different actually working towards something.”

Since picking their theme in September, the organizations have practiced for at least four hours a week, and practices have increased in amount and time limit as S.O. Sing approaches.

Ana Anile is a new member of Alpha Xi Delta, which is partnered with Kappa Alpha Order for homecoming.

With all organizations participating in at least one trick or stunt, Anile said each member has to put an extreme amount of trust in their partner.

“A lot of the tricks require them holding you really tight around your waist, and I got bruises up and down my rips from how hard my partner was squeezing me to try not to drop me,” Anile said. “It’s intense.”

With the S.O. Sing performances being shown in front of judges and all the student organization members, Anile said she is nervous to be in front of so many people and scared of messing up, but all the practices are what will prove their hard work and dedication.

S.O. Sing is in the United Supermarkets Arena on Oct. 16 at 8 p.m., and the floats will be shown at the parade on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. For the parade route and a list of more homecoming events, view the schedule online at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/sub/Homecoming/schedule.php.

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