Hallyu performs K-Pop and hip-hop songs at Strut Your Stuff 2021. | Katrina Kuwaja/The Cougar
For the second day of Homecoming event week, students participated in events like Canstruction with Spirit Teams as well as the annual Strut Your Stuff competition.
At Canstruction, four out of six teams were tasked with creating a sculpture that fits with the Homecoming theme of “Back Where We Belong” to win points for the Spirit Cup. At the end of the week, the team with the most points will win the Homecoming Spirit Cup.
“This is the second event that they can get points for,” said Homecoming Director of Spirit Claire Nadira. “They’re basically going to get scored on creativity, how well it sticks to the theme and criteria like (that). It has to be at least three feet tall and no tampering with the cans.”
The first team, Sigma Kappa and Sigma Pi designed a Shasta-shaped sculpture. The second team, Delta Zeta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon sculptured a dual fraternity and sorority house. Team three, Alpha Sigma Phi and Phi Mu created a mini TDECU football stadium. And last but not least, the fourth team, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Chi Omega put together the Houston skyline with the “Be Someone” sign.
While each team put together the models, students were able to enjoy a live DJ, pizza and other activities like face painting and throwing a pie at members of Greek life in their faces for dollar donations.
The teams not only worked hard and challenged the wind to build their sculptures, but also took them down at the end to box the canned foods. The cans will be donated to the Manna House in partnership with the Metropolitan Volunteer Program.
“We had no idea what to expect. This event specifically we estimated around 200 to 300 people,” Nadira said. “For this event alone around 500 to 560 people showed up.”
The winners for Canstruction were announced at the final event of the day, Strut Your Stuff. In third place were Tau Kappa Epsilon and Chi Omega. In second place were Delta Zeta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. And in first place, the winning structure came from Alpha Sigma Phi and Phi Mu.
The winning Canstruction structure from Alpha Sigma Phi and Phi Mu. | Sydney Rose/The Cougar
Day two continued with the Homecoming Board hosting Strut Your Stuff where the Spirit Teams were able to get on stage and show off their Coog spirit.
The event opened with our current 2020 Homecoming King Andy Salinas and Queen NK Nebeolisa as MCs. They introduced what UH’s Homecoming is all about, the judges for the night and worked to get the crowd pumped for the performances.
With the theme being “Back Where We Belong” the teams came up with funny skits and group dances to win over the judges as well as get cheers from the audience.
Delta Zeta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon were the first group to kick off the night with a Star Wars-themed performance.
Next on stage was Alpha Sigma Phi and Phi Mu’s Scooby Doo-themed skit.
The third group was Chi Omega and Tau Kappa Epsilon who performed a basketball skit inspired by High School Musical.
And the final group, Hallyu, showcased their dance moves with K-Pop-inspired performances and other dances with hip-hop songs.
“As Greek life, we all have this competitiveness so it’s always super fun when we can get together like this and team up,” psychology senior Tien Nguyen said.
Groups were inspired by timeless pop culture references and got creative with dances, costumes, acting and storylines that stuck with the theme and amped up the liveliness of the event.
Between the performances, the reigning Homecoming King and Queen kept the crowd entertained with trivia questions about UH’s history and giveaways.
Towards the end, the 2021 Homecoming court was introduced to the stage where they shared their names and what the theme for Homecoming this year meant to them.
“I was impressed by the skits,” said engineering junior Christain Martinez. “The performances were really cute and the dancing was great as it always is.”
