Tuesday, October 23, 2001

Homecoming events driven by school spirit
Commentary by Alex Johnson

It is late October and a certain atmosphere settled on campus recently. A chill was in the air, football (once again) became religion and TCU alumni returned to the glories of their undergraduate days.

Yes, Homecoming blanketed the campus once again last week, where young and old Horned Frogs reunited to share pride for the school. Yet, for all the glories Homecoming brought, complaints were made about the system.

No one can deny what Homecoming does for TCU — gives alumni a chance to reunite with old classmates, root for the home team and leave with lighter wallets. But for current TCU students, Homecoming is seen as nothing but a competition between groups, as indicated by Jenny Specht’s column “Homecoming spirit misplaced” in the Oct. 18 Skiff. This is where the point of the tradition is lost.

I am in an organization that heavily participated in the Homecoming activities. While participation was not mandatory, we were highly encouraged to get involved. I decided to get involved not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

Homecoming is fun and a chance to meet new people. It’s an opportunity to give back to the campus and, if nothing else, display superior sidewalk chalk ability.

Homecoming is about promoting the image of our school.

Students spent money to help feed the needy. Our parade was designed to show the community our Horned Frog spirit. Frog Follies was a humorous time to see skits promoting the university.

Is this in the spirit of competition? Maybe. But did Homecoming events help strengthen our TCU’s public image as well as our pride? Most certainly.

Homecoming may be cheapened by a frenzy to collect participation points. But this is in the eye of the beholder. For most students, Homecoming is fun and a chance to get involved in and for TCU.

I can’t name any other time except the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when I’ve seen the campus united under one cause. Competition is something that can have negative effects on the spirit, but in this case, the effects are only positive for the school.

Should it be mandatory? No, but I think students would get involved regardless.

Does the current system exclude some students on campus? This is where I agree.

Not all students on campus have the opportunity to get involved in the festivities. This is a problem Programming Council realizes and is trying to fix. I am confident that in the future, Homecoming will involve the entire campus and be available to the entire student body. Already, some student organizations open to any student, like Hyperfrogs and Baptist Student Ministries to name a few, were involved this year.

When I return as an alumnus, I will remember the fond memories I have taken from Homecoming: building the float the day before the parade until 2 a.m. with my best friends, laughing hysterically at the skits performed for Frog Follies, watching TCU run over opponents like Army every year in football. These will be some of my best memories from college.

Let’s not kill the Horned Frog spirit by downing the week’s events. Anything that is flawed in the current system can be improved upon to make Homecoming better.

Let’s improve to make Homecoming enjoyable for not only alumni and current students, but future Frogs as well.

Alex Johnson is a sophomore history major from Topeka, Kan. He can be contacted at (a.m.johnson@student.tcu.edu).