By Melanie Dostis, News Correspondent
“Meet the 2011 Homecoming Court” kicked off the school week on Monday night, where candidates for King and Queen participated in a game show-style event.
Homecoming Week, an annual fall tradition at Northeastern, highlights Husky pride through a series of events. The festivities commenced Sunday afternoon with the Homecoming Hunt and will conclude with the men’s hockey game versus Vermont Saturday night.
Organizers hope this year’s Homecoming will better connect students and raise school spirit, evidenced by the theme “Connect to the Husky Network.
“It’s hard to stay involved, especially if you’re on co-op, but Homecoming is about drawing students back,” Homecoming Committee Co-chair Mike Splain said.
The Homecoming Committee hopes the theme of “Connect to the Husky Network,” will inspire students to interact the same way they do on social media sites.
“Northeastern is the ultimate network,” Taylor Cotter, who is in charge of Homecoming marketing and outreach, said.
Going along with the theme, Cotter, who last year worked with SGA in the same position, used social media to reach out to more students. She created the Twitter and Facebook page for the event.
Students who got free tickets came out to Blackman Auditorium Monday to listen to the candidates for King and Queen. The event was also streamed live online through the official Homecoming website.
Student groups, especially sororities and fraternities, were largely present at Meet the Homecoming Court. Members of student organizations who attend the most number of Homecoming events win the Spirit Cup at the end of the week for their group.
Of the 10 women running for Queen, seven represented Panhellenic sororities and of the five men running for King, two represented fraternities from the Interfraternity Council. The remaining candidates represented organizations such as the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), the Student Government Association (SGA), the Resident Student Association (RSA) and Husky Ambassadors.
Monday’s event pitted candidates against each other as they competed to show their Northeastern knowledge – and win over the audience.
As students cheered for their favorites, candidates were called up to answer “Family Feud”-style questions such as “What’s the best place to eat on campus?” and “What is the favorite Boston sports team?”
Moderators encouraged the audience to participate, especially during the second half of the event when participants competed in “Don’t Forget The Lyrics.” Audience members broke out into song, helping contestants finish a variety of tunes ranging from The Beatles to Katy Perry.
To end the event, candidates, hand-in-hand, sang Oasis’s “Wonderwall.”
Festivities continued Tuesday night with the Mayor of Huntington Avenue debate. The event is one of the Homecoming events run by the Student Alumni Association instead of the Homecoming Committee.
Unlike Homecoming King and Queen, which is a title only for Homecoming Week, Mayor of Huntington Avenue is a yearlong position.
Six candidates, representing RSA, SGA, Greek life, the N Zone, as well as one unaffiliated student, are running for Mayor.
Candidates answered a range of questions and audience members were invited to tweet “borderline inappropriate” questions. These ranged from serious such as “favorite Northeastern tradition” to whimsical such as “boxers of briefs?”
Cotter said she hopes his year’s Homecoming attracts more students who aren’t involved in student organizations and was glad one unaffiliated student was running.
“Student groups will always participate but it’s also about getting to the students who might not be involved yet,” she said.
Another goal for Homecoming this year was to lure international students.
“International students don’t have Homecoming and they come here and don’t know what it is,” Homecoming Co-chair Brittiny-Rae Gagnon, who has helped organize it for three years.
Gagnon and the Homecoming Committee worked with the International Student and Scholar Institute (ISSI) to create an international feel to Homecoming.
Focus was also given on what events would attract students from different groups. The Homecoming Committee decided to add a video competition, which will be held today and replaces last year’s talent show.
“Many NU students become temporarily YouTube famous,” Splain explained of the decision to incorporate a video competition.
Participants in the competition answer the question “What does Northeastern mean to you?”
Homecoming will also feature Russell Brand on Friday night.
“It will be an actual stand-up routine this time,” Cotter said, referencing last year’s Q&A format for comedian Andy Samberg’s appearance.
