I have tolerated Homecoming for the past four years, but being alarmed by a 20-foot tall gyrating green man outside Baker while I was trying to eat my burrito is the last straw in the ridiculous exhibition that is Homecoming week.
I do love many things about Homecoming. Alumni coming back to Ohio University the same weekend is a site to see and one I know I will take advantage of once I graduate. As a current student, I genuinely enjoy the free food, Post retrospectives, history posters and other events throughout the week.
However, sometimes we need to slap ourselves in the face and acknowledge that the fanfare surrounding Homecoming is one big, goofy spectacle.
Every year, we go through the same ritual of creating a lot of hullabaloo over something pretty inconsequential. Homecoming is the time of year when unsuspecting students get bombarded with calls for them to show unnecessary amounts of enthusiasm for being a Bobcat.
No, I do not want to go to the parade. No, I do not want a free Bobcat phone cover. No, I do not want to “yell like hell.” That sounds very uncomfortable.
Speaking of which, can we all calm down about the parade? First off, it’s just a parade. They are expensive, boring and require me to wake up at the ungodly hour of 10 a.m. on a Saturday. Second, the parade route changed last year and nobody died. Relocating the parade off of Court Street is not the end of the world.
The football game is fine, but it really isn’t that different from any other football game. Why we are excited about playing Central Michigan is beyond me.
And then there is Homecoming court.
I don’t even know anyone on Homecoming court, so I’m pretty clueless when it comes to voting for someone. I’m sure all of the individuals on Homecoming court are lovely people, but electing a Homecoming king and queen (since when was royalty elected?) seems like a pointless exercise. I suppose they are more free and fair than a Student Senate election though.
It’s also not entirely clear what the point of electing a Homecoming queen and king is, other than to reinforce gender norms. Last year, Homecoming court members were dubbed “Homecoming ambassadors,” but for some reason the planners this year decided to take us back to OUr past in the 1950s and resurrect the titles of Homecoming “king” and “queen.” It’s disappointing to see OU at the forefront of perpetuating heteronormativity when we had made so much progress last year.
So Bobcats, enjoy your Homecoming. But maybe we can tone it down a bit next time and cut out some of the nonsense.
Matt Farmer is a senior studying political science and education. What do you think about homecoming? Email him at mf291209@ohiou.edu.
