Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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K-State mascot the Wildcat pumps up crowd at Stadium during Homecoming Pant Chant event and More than students and attended to show support before the A M University game. (Photo Brandon White) homecoming.11

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Home Coming Sparking interest to enhance For the first time in three years, Black Student Union members gathered at the north end of Memorial Stadium to kick off Homecoming ' s Pant the Chant competition. After taking a break from Homecoming ac tivities, BSU entered the organizations ' division confident they would win. They were the only team in that division to compete. We ' d like to see more organizations compete, Colette McLemore, BSU president and senior in social science, said. I think competition would be fun. BSU members began planning to participate in Homecoming about three weeks before competition began. Of the six Homecoming events, BSU competed in two. I think next year we ' ll be involved in more activities rather than just the parade, the chant and banner, Irysha Walker, BSU social director and sophomore in prelaw, said. This is kind of new for us so we just put one foot in rather than jumping in all the way. by barbara hollingsworth Members began the week, Oct. 13-18, by hanging their spirit banner in the K-State Student Union Courtyard. The banner resembled the gray T-shirts members wore for the Pant the Chant competition on Friday. The shirts said, Umoja, wajibu, amali, Swahili for unity, commitment, action — BSU ' s theme for the year. Walker said BSU members enjoyed the variety of students. We ' ve had a lot of newcomers in BSU, she said, and I think they ' ve been really excited about participating in activities that don ' t only involve black students but students of different races. More than 30 members participated in Pant the Chant, but Walker said almost every one of BSU ' s nearly 70 members participated. We ' re bringing in new members and jumping them into Homecoming to spark their interest in BSU, she said. By participating in Homecoming, we ' ve been building our participation and excitement. Pant the Chant was the week ' s highlight, Erika Cannon, freshman in civil engineering, said. Members practiced for the competition at their weekly meeting and the night before the competition. It really gave us all an opportunity to all come together and, not so much as individuals in meetings, but to show ourselves, Cannon said. We ' re a big group of kids. This really gave us an opportunity to come together as older kids and have fun. 10. homecoming

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In front of more than 3,000 cheering Homecoming participants, Willie the Wildcat threw a Texas A M University dummy into the first Homecoming bonfire in more than five years. The bonfire was only one of several changes in Homecoming, which Jami Nelson, Panhellenic Council Homecoming Day Committee representative, said participants welcomed. The important thing to remember about the greek system is that changes are good. They keep it exciting, and they give it life, Nelson, junior in journalism and mass communications, said. We decided to implement a lot of these changes because it was time to update Homecoming. Chris Hansen, Interfraternity Council Homecoming Day Committee and senior in nuclear engineering, said Greek Affairs coordinated a task force to suggest changes after 1996 Homecoming. The task force was divided into five groups: competitive events, chapter relations, pairings, service, and constraints and finance. One of the task force ' s suggestions was to increase body-building safety. The competition combined cheerleading stunts and dancing, so K-State cheerleaders conducted a safety clinic for homecoming chairs. Nelson said two of the biggest changes came with the float competition and Paint it Purple service project. We felt like these were two competitions everybody could compete in because with body building you ' re pretty much limited to athletes, she said. There has been so much emphasis over the past few years on body building. I think we had our purposes skewed because it was worth more than a service project that helped the community. Float competition was worth more points than previous years, and Greek Affairs worked with United Way to provide service opportunities for teams rather than making teams find their own projects. Trent Schaaf, Kansas State University Association of Residence Halls said the residence halls took a larger role in helping with events. In addition to sponsoring Crazy Cat Kickoff, a competition open to residence halls, KSUARH also distributed prizes for Purple Prizes Day in the K-State Student Union. We had more participation behind the scenes, Schaaf, senior in architectural engineering, said. In years past we ' ve done a lot of participating but not a lot of planning. Homecoming had been primarily a greek event, Hansen said. He said they made steps to change that with events, like the bonfire, which were open to the community and alumni. Homecoming is not a greek thing, Nelson said. It ' s a K-State thing, and that ' s an emphasis we ' re trying to make this year. by barbara hollingsworth homecoming teams welcome updated competitions 12. homecoming