Many of the events that take place over Homecoming Week are meant to remind students that we are a united community. However, The Beacon thinks that the two court system along with the reduced attention and promotion at Biscayne Bay Campus prevented actual unity. Furthering the divide, little to no advertising for events such as the election held non-Greek students back from participating.
Due to BBC’s much smaller student body in comparison to Modesto A. Maidique Campus, claims were made that BBC students would be at a disadvantage – The Beacon agrees.
Although the Homecoming Court was University-wide at the beginning of the year, a sudden change to divide the votes by campus, left the BBC king and queen to run uncontested. The lack of interest in the qualified spots shows that these two students should have been thrown in the pot with the rest.
The process to run for king and queen on either campus is another example of division. According to the official court participation package, candidates must fulfill a number of requirements in order to run that include being part of a registered team that participates in two or more homecoming events. The only registered teams for most homecoming events are Greeks, which excludes a large percentage of University students.
There was no effort by the Homecoming Council to encourage participation from students not involved in Greek life or other campus life organizations.
The Beacon thinks there could have been more of an attempt made to unify Homecoming courts by the Homecoming Council. However, the council was unorganized and did not reach out to the majority of the University community. This problem was not only limited to the Homecoming Court, but also to the lack of BBC events and promotion to its students.
The little advertising that these events did have catered only to those who would already know about these events, like members of a Greek organization and Student Government Association. These are the types of students who pass in and out of the student centers, where the Campus Life and SGA offices are located.
Effort to truly extend outreach to all groups who were not already aware of the week’s events were poor. Advertising, which barely made its way to BBC, mainly limited to print, and did not make use of accessible social media. The social media that was used was under used and out of date. The Facebook fan page of “FIU Homecoming” was last updated on May 25 and boasts a very modest membership of 1,967.
By next year, The Beacon hopes that the University will consolidate both Homecoming courts and expand outreach to non-Greek students. These two practices are far more compatible with the University’s commitment to unifying BBC and MMC and having events that incorporate all students, not just those already involved and aware of University activities.
About Post Author
