Texas State’s homecoming festival brought the campus to life this year with a variety of events and celebrations.
The University Star sat down with Alexandra Puryear, Pride and Traditions Coordinator and communication studies senior, to learn about what goes into planning the weeklong event.
- What are your duties when it comes to homecoming coordination?
Basically, I plan and oversee all the events during Homecoming week. That’s Powderpuff, 3-on-3, Homecoming Carnival, Spirit Rally, the talent show, Soap Box Derby and also Homecoming Court. Basically, we plan every detail from who’s going to go where to volunteers to the logistics of the event. I begin that planning process over the summer.
- How are you preparing for homecoming this year?
I actually had an internship this summer that taught me how to become more organized. This summer, I decided to have everything prepared before school started, and then have the little small details just during the school year that I would have to catch up on. That’s how the whole planning process went.
- Can you tell me a little bit about this year’s homecoming theme?
We were wanting to incorporate the iconic Old Main. That’s kind of what ties in with our logo and we wanted it to be a more modernized design as well. That theme is just trying to tie in old tradition with new tradition and connecting alumni and also current students, as well.
- What would you say is the difference between homecomings at Texas high schools compared to college?
Homecoming in college is much more of a connection between former students and current students. Since the events are pretty similar as years past, they can have that connection and talk about the differences that they’ve had in the past years and things like that. I think that in high school it’s more focused—at least in Texas—on getting on a homecoming mum and going to a dance and things like that. There aren’t really as many events you can be involved in.
- How do think homecoming at Texas State compares to other universities in our area?
I think Texas State has a really good connection with (its) students. We are still wanting to improve and grow our events. I think other universities have that good connection. We’re looking forward to building that with our students over the years and making it bigger and better each year.
- What is the most challenging thing about planning homecoming events each year?
Oh gosh, everything. I think the most challenging thing would be making sure everyone has the opportunity to be involved.
- Why do you think it’s important for students to attend these events?
I think that it’s important because this is the one week that everybody knows about. It has been a tradition for so long that it’s a huge deal to be a part of because you can be part of history. I think why people want to be a part of each event is because they’ve been so constant for so many years that they want to be a part of that history with Texas State.
- Did the Halloween floods affect any of the homecoming events?
We had the 3-on-3 basketball and powderpuff competition on the day after the flooding, so we unfortunately had to cancel that. Everyone was super flexible and we were able to hit the ground running and just continue on the other events and prepare for what was coming next.
- What is the process like to become homecoming King and Queen? Can you describe the process for the entire court?
First, you have to be nominated. We have a poll that is created through our Texas State website where students can enter in whoever they would like to be nominated. Then, we send out an email to those who are in the top, so like the top twelve Gaillardians, and then Duke and Duchess for the residence halls. Then, they’re invited to come to the Talent Show. For those students that get invited to come to the talent show, Duke and Duchess automatically get into the court. Gaillardians, it’s the top twelve. This year we actually had fourteen candidates so we decided to allow all the fourteen candidates to be a part of the Gaillardian Court. Also, it’s the top eight for the King and Queen candidates to go be a part of the halftime ceremony at the football game. After that, that’s when we nominate the King and Queen. That’s when we crown the King and Queen is at the football game.
- What has been your favorite part about homecoming so far?
I think, my favorite part overall has really been seeing all the events come together. One of my favorites was actually the talent show. I was told that Dr. (Denise) Trauth said it was her favorite talent show yet. She’s been here for fourteen years and she said it was her favorite talent show and it was very well-organized. I thought that it was really cool to hear from the president of the university. I think seeing everything coming together in each event, and also the talent show, was a really big highlight of this week.
- If you could change anything about homecoming for next year, what would it be?
I would change having the flood. I would really hope that weather works in our favor next year. I know it was a little bit of a hiccup not having two events. We really were excited about those because we know a lot of students participate in that and they put a lot of hard work into that. I just hope that weather works in our favor next year.