Caped blue men tore through campus on Friday night, ringing in the culmination of an age-old tradition at Georgetown: Homecoming. Hoya Blue, Georgetown’s spirit tour de force, led the campus on a pep rally to psyche everyone up for Saturday’s football game versus Butler. The organized madness in Red Square featured Georgetown cheerleaders, Jack the Bulldog and several football players soliciting student support for the upcoming game.
Despite sound system problems that challenged the effectiveness of Friday’s pep rally, Hoya Blue continued to play up Georgetown spirit on Saturday. Students flooded Parking Lot T to enjoy the general party, various student bands and a barbecue provided by Hoya Blue. According to President Ryan DuBose (COL ’02), Hoya Blue painted faces all day to encourage an enlivened crowd at the game.
Georgetown fans that showed up at the game proved to be as involved as Hoya Blue could hope.
“At one point about 20 of us fell over,” DuBose explained.
The game itself did not disappoint, with Georgetown fighting hard for a close, 57-56, victory.
“The game was awesome,” DuBose said. “It was the first time at Georgetown that I really felt like I was at a college game.”
According to DuBose, about 15 students rushed the field after Georgetown’s victory.
The Homecoming game was the climax of a larger effort, Homecoming Week, which was organized by various student organizations. InterHall, the Senior Class Committee, Georgetown Program Board and GUSA all played a part in planning the week.
Each day of the week was given a specific theme and deemed a “Spirit Day.” Missy Foy (COL ’03) led the daily costume contests in New South. Although some students got involved, such as a freshman decked out in a grass skirt and a senior who showed up with a basketball on his head, student participation was somewhat reserved.
“Spirit Week could have been better, but this was just the first year and hopefully next year it will be better,” Foy said.
Spirit week ended with the annual Homecoming Dance, which took place in the Car Barn and featured a South Pacific theme.
“Everyone seemed to have a good time at the dance,” Special Events Chair for GPB Gary Chyi (COL ’01) said. “More attended than we figured on. We weren’t quite sold out, but it was above expectation.”
GPB sold over 400 tickets and was at 90 percent capacity, according to GPB Chair Tim Staines.
“The Car Barn was a nice venue and looked absolutely amazing,” Chyi said. “It was built from scratch, and we had palm trees, tropical flowers and a running fountain.”
Student leaders remain hopeful that the entire week was the beginning of a spirited Georgetown tradition.
“It was great how all the groups worked together to make the week go smoothly,” said Foy.
