Last year, I had the privilege of serving as the Homecoming Chair for SMU. Homecoming is a special time for SMU when the entire community of students, faculty, alumni and university neighbors come together to celebrate a time of togetherness and school spirit. My committee and I planned a fun filled week with a pep rally, a philanthropic dance marathon and a parade with over thousands of attendees. We had 31 homecoming candidates that spanned 18 different organizations. I am so proud to say that in 2019, we had the most diverse participation ever with groups such as the Association of Black Students and Theta Tau, the engineering fraternity.
This year I picked the theme to be “Homecoming: A Tradition as Old as Time.” Each organization was given a chance to submit their choices and we had great themes such as the The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Alice in Wonderland. At the start of the week, we started out with our pep rally, Rock the Vote. The entire student body was invited to our football stadium where we asked the candidates questions for everybody to get to know them better and their personality. Our dance and cheer squad also performed to start the week on a fun note.
We had a parade with 9 fully built floats, 4 decorated golf carts and 3 decorated vehicles. Floats were decorated over the course of a week with 10 hours each day available for members of each organization to come decorate. During the parade, each candidate or pair of candidates rode in the parade with their organization walking behind and cheering. They passed out stickers, cups, and fun other items to the people watching the parade.
We then finished the day with an amazing 59-51 win against East Carolina University. I loved being able to put my own spin on Homecoming and get to work with my committee to plan such a special day. I learned lots of amazing lessons and am so grateful for the experience.
Pony Up!
Abby Johnson
Class of 2021