When you envision Homecoming, normally it involves parades with floats that represent different clubs/functions, people cheering, a band marching and a dance.
Homecoming for Mason started on February 5th with a parade my suitemate convinced me to attend with her that would lead to a party in Dewberry Hall. I was very excited and eager to witness the parade, as well as, attend the party. My very first college Homecoming, and it was going to be awesome! Right?
There were no floats. No band marching. No fraternities stepping. We participated (yep, participated, not watched) in the “parade” with a small group of people. It consisted of a few pathetic golf carts with poor decorations. Everyone who came to Merten Hall to view it ended up following behind the (about 3) golf carts screaming GMU while a bunch of camera men took photos. I, of course, had my hoodie on trying to block the cold and embarrassing pictures.
On the flyer hung on the doors knobs of dorm rooms, it said the parade was to go all around campus.
We walked to Fenwick and then the front of Southside before heading back towards the Johnson Center. All of which are very close to each other and nowhere near the full expanse of the campus. Then they made us stand outside (in the cold) for about 20 minutes before they ushered us into the JC for the party. I stayed due to the promise of seeing the basketball team and “free” t-shirts. Ahh, how naïve I was.
Related: I Won A Coupon For Free Chick-Fil-A At a Mason Basketball Game…And Then My Dreams Were Crushed
The basketball team did show up and I will say they seem taller in person than in the arena but that didn’t make up for all the flaws within this party. Dewberry Hall was full of students, who hadn’t participated in the parade, but had been promised that same t-shirt. In the horribly small room they held the “party” in, there were only about 5 tables that were all quickly occupied. They had a DJ, but no one dancing. They had food, but the lines were so long it wasn’t even worth waiting. They had a game that reminded me of Chuck E. Cheese back in the day.
It was a nightmare. I couldn’t walk to the trash can without bumping into someone and at the near end of the party they gave out the “free” t-shirts. It was like an angry mob descended upon the table that held the shirts. They were all gone (and so were the majority of the party goers) by the time my friends and I got through. And weirdly enough, it seemed as if some people had gotten (stolen…) more than one t-shirt.Via Giphy
But wait! The planners of this event promised more t-shirts if we attended any of the other homecoming events going on during the week.
I fell for it; so, I attended two more events in hopes of getting the free Homecoming t-shirt. On Friday, I went to the Lip Sync Battle, only to be informed that the room they were having it in was already over capacity. I was under the impression that Homecoming events were for everyone so why wouldn’t they host it in a place like Eagle Bank Arena? Anyway, no free t-shirt for me, but I still went to the Block Party and Tailgate they had on Saturday. I will say, there was a bunch of free stuff at the tailgate, however, I still didn’t obtain the free Homecoming t-shirt.
Out of the 30,000 plus students in this school…how come no one warned me about this scam? I still didn’t get my shirt.
Photo courtesy of Zeairah Webb