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After over a month of planning, UNM’s 2013 Homecoming will kick off next week.
The annual weeklong event will start with an atrium-decoration party on Monday. This year’s homecoming royals will be decided Wednesday. Various events, including karaoke, a dance and a pep rally, will be held throughout the week.
Shannon Groll, executive director of the ASUNM Lobo Spirit committee, the group that organized the event, said students can expect a lot of fun at this year’s homecoming. She said the committee and volunteers have been working on homecoming week since the beginning of the school year.
“We’ve been working on it since the first day of school, getting everything taken care of and situated,” she said. “It’s been an ongoing process. We’re so excited it’s finally here.”
Rebecca Fritsch, homecoming chair for Lobo Spirit, said the organizers this year tried to involve UNM students.
“We really wanted the students’ voice this year,” she said. “We didn’t want to be the only people creating the homecoming.”
Fritsch said lots of work went into organizing the homecoming dance this year, and she hopes a lot of people will attend.
“We think it’s already going to be a great turnout. But the more, the merrier,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. We put so much hard work and so did our volunteers so we want to make this dance big.”
Groll said the outside of the dance on Friday would have a dual “award ceremony” and “Hollywood Hills” theme. She said there will be a red carpet, a giant director clapboard and photos for decorations.
“Outside is red carpet, Hollywood glam, and inside is Hollywood Hills, kind of more relaxed,” she said. “We’re really excited. They worked very hard picking that theme and the decorations.”
Students can expect a lot of variety in events this year, Groll said.
“Say they are really into decorating and they want to help us do the decorations, they’re more than welcome to,” she said. “But maybe they don’t want to participate in karaoke, or they don’t want to watch a movie in the pool. We have so many options and so many different events for all of the wants of the students.”
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Groll said students will vote for homecoming king and queen on Wednesday, the court will be announced Friday at the pep rally, and the king and queen will be crowned Saturday. She also said students will get to see a real-life UNM mascot on the homecoming election day.
“We also have a real lobo (Wednesday),” she said. “His name is Zoerro and he will be coming from the wolf sanctuary. We thought it would be a really cool way to get the students pumped up for homecoming, with a real lobo there.”
She said while her office worked in depth on the project behind the scenes, volunteers from the University community planned a lot of the activities.
“Our volunteers have been the ones who have provided us with all the ideas for the events next week,” she said. “They voted on all the decorations, all of the coronation, crowns and sashes. Really, our volunteers have done it all. They have provided us with all those ideas so that we can just get things ordered. It’s really been them.”
Groll said about 75 volunteers consistently showed up to help with the planning. She said UNM’s Alumni Association provided the overall theme for Homecoming.
Monday:
Atrium decoration party from 2-4 p.m.
Tuesday:
Lobo Walk of Fame and karaoke from 11:00 a.m.-2 p.m. in the SUB Atrium
Wednesday:
Homecoming king and queen elections
9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the SUB
Meet Zoerro, a real lobo at Dominguez Fountain Plaza from noon-2 p.m.
Thursday:
Finding Nemo – movie in the pool from 8:30-10:30 p.m. Johnson Gym
Friday:
Fall Sports/Homecoming Court Pep Rally at noon in the SUB Atrium
Howllywood Dance from 8-11:30 p.m. in the SUB Ballrooms; photo booth from 8-11 p.m.
Saturday:
Homecoming Game at 6 p.m.
