This year, Homecoming was a bit different because of COVID-19. Some changes included virtual and socially distanced activities. Homecoming celebrations took place Oct. 18-24.
Originally, the University announced Homecoming was not going to happen this year, but that decision was reversed around Sept. 28. The Homecoming Committee, which included representatives from various campus organizations, had less time to plan events than usual. Homecoming planning usually begins in February, or even earlier, but this year it started about three weeks before Homecoming week.
“We were focused on coming up with unique ways to incorporate students,” Jesse Wren, Homecoming Planning Committee member, said.
Festivities this semester included a socially distanced car parade, a TikTok competition, a balloon sculpture of Spike, mask decorating, a 24-hour service challenge, a penny bucket challenge and a chalking contest.
There was not a football game this year, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any competition. Truman competed against the University of Indianapolis in the Top Dog Challenge to see who could raise the most money for their chosen philanthropies. Truman raised money for the Food Bank for Northeast and Central Missouri and the Adair County Humane Society. Truman raised over $7,000 during Homecoming week.
“Despite all the circumstances, I would say things went pretty well,” Josh Jay, Student Activities Board president, said.
This money raised included $233.57 from the Penny Bucket Challenge, $1,940.15 in student raised funds and $2,295 in online or in-person donations.
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There was also a Chalking Challenge, where different organizations could submit a photo of their chalk art and the winner was determined by the amount of likes they received on Instagram. All of the chalk art designs were based on the Homecoming theme. The American Institute of Graphic Artists won.
The TikTok Challenge allowed groups to submit a TikTok that incorporated the Homecoming theme of “Close or Apart we’re Bulldogs at Heart.” Alpha Sigma Alpha won .
The Penny Bucket Challenge included two competitions. The first, based on the design of the buckets, was won by the School of Math and Science. The second was a race to get the highest total of pennies, while facing sabotage from other teams in the form of silver coin deductions. The School of Business won.
The final competition was philanthropy, and Delta Zeta raised the most amount of money, followed by Sigma Kappa and Alpha Sigma Alpha.
The Homecoming slogan this year was, “Close or apart, we’re Bulldogs at heart.” The entire Homecoming celebration reflected this with events that people could participate in from anywhere.
“We were able to do and consider things we’ve never done before,” Michael Facey, assistant director of Union and Involvement Services, said.