Friday, November 1, 1996

HOMECOMING:

Student participation of event has declined immenselyBy Rachel Kelley

Daily Bruin Contributor

Imagine a hundred thousand people united by a common spirit, a common goal, a common school which fewer than one thousand students could truly call home at the time. One might assume that this scene describes a protest or a celebrity event, but this affair, once referred to as "the greatest event in history," was UCLA's Homecoming 1949.

So what happened?

Somewhere along the line, the connection between the football team and Homecoming festivities weakened, which minimized school spirit, said Raymond Goldstone, dean emeritus of students.

"Going back to the genesis of Homecoming, it was the homecoming of a football team that had gone on a road trip that everybody celebrated," said Goldstone. "It was truly based on school spirit."

But according to the dean of students, there are additional reasons for the demise of the Homecoming spirit.

"Too much emphasis has been placed on who can build the most expensive, fanciest float, and who would make the ideal king and queen," Goldstone said.

"It's always struck me that kings and queens don't make much sense. I would just assume not have them. (Not having royalty would be) better than having it be a beauty contest."

However, according to some students, this mentality isn't quite so bad.

"In high school, Homecoming was purely a popularity competition and that's how it should be," said second-year undeclared student Michael Hoeft.

But Homecoming in high school was on a much smaller scale, and according to one student, it is the size of UCLA that deters from school spirit.

"I liked Homecoming in high school better because I knew everyone. It was more like a family, so naturally we had a lot of spirit," said second-year undeclared student Shelly Beer.

The Student Alumni Association recently conducted a survey to find out why more students do not participate in Homecoming festivities.

"What seems to have happened is that there is a financial resource problem for student groups. It has come down to the more money a group has to spend on a float is who wins the prize," said Lisa Petty, program supporter for Homecoming.

Campus Events and the Student Alumni Association have made many attempts to bring back the spirit associated with traditional Homecomings.

Campus Events tried to find a drag queen this year to spice things up, according to Joe Liu, campus events commissioner.

"Homecoming (selection process) was kind of dumped on us, so we decided to put our own crazy twist on it," he said.

However, a search for a cross-dresser left Campus Events empty-handed. Nobody would go through with it, Liu added with disappointment.

Goldstone referred to the search for a drag queen as a "sign of desperation," and said that Homecoming has been a struggle between making it a spirited, enjoyable event or a competitive event. But Goldstone questioned whether anyone would participate if Homecoming were non-competitive.

"I'm going to the game just because it is another football game," said first-year computer science and engineering student Dave Boggs.

Bruin Life

(yearbook caption - 1949) Westwood awakened to the fact that it was a college town when Sherrill Luke rallied UCLA spirit around him in an informal presentation through the streets.