by Claudia Peppenhorst
Troy University’s homecoming activities wrapped up with the big football game Saturday afternoon however gameday started with a popular homecoming tradition on the downtown Troy square.
The annual homecoming parade featured over 70 entries which varied from Greek organizations, local school bands, dance studios, and even a guest appearance from T-Roy himself. Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr. said this traditional homecoming event is a way to help bring the University and the community together to celebrate ‘One Troy’.
“This community is really unique because you are literally a Trojan from the day you are born until the day you pass on into heaven,” Chancellor Hawkins said. “’One Troy’ means this community and the university and for us to come together, celebrate each other, and thank each other which is really what this process represents.”
This year’s homecoming theme ‘Game On’ gave students and community organizations the opportunity to be creative and implement the theme into their floats. From sports to board games, the floats on the downtown square held a variety of ways to display this year’s theme with their own creative touch.
“There were so many creative ideas from all different kinds of sports, board games, and even video games,” said homecoming co-director Anna Grace Holland. “It was so cool to see what all these organizations could come up with, especially knowing how big of a deal the float competition is here at Troy.
“Organizations poor so much time and effort into this, so it’s always so cool to watch it come together in the end.”
Chancellor Hawkins added that his favorite part of each year’s parade is seeing all the hard work Troy students put into their floats.
“It’s always intriguing to me to see the effort that goes into making all of this happen each year,” Chancellor Hawkins said. “We are so grateful to all of our students, and we know we have the best students of any university.
“For us to have this opportunity to celebrate with each other is really a wonderful experience.”
The winners of the homecoming float competition were announced during the game on Saturday. For the sorority division, Phi Mu placed 1st, Alpha Gamma Delta placed 2nd and Alpha Omicron Pi placed 3rd. For the fraternity division, FarmHouse placed 1st, Sigma Chi placed 2nd and Tau Kappa Epsilon placed 3rd.
