To celebrate the week’s festivities, the UH Homecoming Board provided students with giveaways, music and crafty activities. | Bethel Glumac/The Daily Cougar
Homecoming celebrations at UH continued as students and faculty gathered Tuesday evening at Lynn Eusan Park for the “Go Coogs Day!” event to boost Cougar spirit with loud music, crafts and speeches.
The UH Homecoming Board ran many activities promoting their “Keep Houston Red” theme for Homecoming week and encouraged support for the football team for their upcoming game against Tulsa.
Tables were set up providing space for fans to make posters to cheer for the Cougars. Students enjoyed free t-shirts, sunglasses, and food.
“We wanted to have this event to promote Cougar pride and to get students excited for Homecoming,” said Jacob Ortiz, the director of production for the UH Homecoming Board. “We planned events that we know would bring out fans and we are very happy with the turn-out.”
The Hot 95.7 radio station created a soundtrack for the event and led the audience in chants and cheers. A few members of the Coog Crew displayed their cheering talents by inviting all students to show up loud and proud on game-day to support the team.
“We need every student to grab everybody they know and come out and fill up the student section,” said Mike Brown, Hotel and Restaurant Management senior and president of the Coog Crew. “Show up, have a good time, cheer loud, and go Coogs!”
Students were allowed the opportunity to gather together and create an aerial photo with their Shasta paws up in the air. A parade of students also made their way to the Shasta statue in front of the Roy G. Cullen building to give it a quick rub for good luck and snap a picture with a new pair of sunglasses provided by the Homecoming staff.
Mike Pede, the president and CEO of the UH Alumni Association spoke to the students about what being an alumni means to the university.
Homecoming allows UH alumni to return to campus to celebrate with students and spread the word about how being a Cougar does not have to end at graduation, Pede said.
“We are living during the golden age of UH, and by next fall we will have 8,200 students living on campus,” he said.
“This is the time to grab friends and tell them about the traditions here that they can carry on with them into their alumni years. This is about turning active students into active alumni.”
