Waka Flocka Flame headlining the Homecoming concert at Lynn Eusan Park on Oct. 24, 2024. | Raphael Fernandez/ The Cougar
Last week, UH hosted numerous events for Homecoming 2024 that showcased the Cougar pride behind UH’s traditions.
From bed racing to welcoming Waka Flocka Flame to campus, Homecoming is a week meant to celebrate and bring the University together.
“I’m already feeling the energy, there’s a lot of people, there’s already so many events and I love being a part of the school’s atmosphere during this time,” said biotechnology junior Arianna Brinkley.
Kick-off
HOCO week began with the red-skirted cheerleaders and the Spirit of Houston band coming together at Butler Plaza to perform and ramp up the energy, opening with the iconic “Womp Womp” song.
The Homecoming court at the kickoff pep rally on Oct. 12, 2024 at the Butler Plaza. | Raphael Fernandez/ The Cougar
With Raising Canes, glitter tattoos, henna and much more, it was hard for students not to feel the abundance of Cougar Pride.
“My favorite thing is just the spirit,” said health sophomore Lexi Baker. “ It brings everyone. I think it’s really amazing to live this experience and see the Coogs win.”
Kadeem Foamkom, Milan Kemp-Murray, Maurice May, Jordan Porter, Braeden Williams, Jada Hill, Aneesha Varkey, Micah Cooper, Khaliyah Ballard and Tynecia Davis were announced as the 2024 Homecoming Court.
Stuff-A-Coog
On Tuesday, HOCO festivities continued with Stuff-A-Coog, where students could make their own Cougar plushies.
“It was so much fun!” said psychology senior Isabelle Joly. “I love stuffing bears.”
Stuff-A-Coog was designed to celebrate school traditions and give students a memento to hold on to.
“Our mascot is the Cougar, so we thought it was fitting to offer Cougar plushies with little sashes,” said director of Homecoming court activities Kiana McDonald.
While the event was well-received, the event experienced a delayed start that frustrated some students.
“I was waiting here for about an hour before,” said physics freshman Christian Rodriguez. “The weather wasn’t bad, but they did take a while to set up.”
However, the organizers explained that the reason for the delays was nothing but the high turnout, which was beyond their control.
“The best we can do, and have been doing, is managing the line to keep events running smoothly,” McDonald said.
Despite the wait, students like Rodriguez agreed that the experience was worth the wait and look forward to it again next year.
“People love it, and they’re enjoying not only the plushie itself but also the customization options,” said assistant director of the Homecoming Court Cesar Badillo. “It’s a fun addition to school spirit, maybe even a new decoration for dorm rooms.”
Strut Your Stuff
UH is filled with multi-talented students from all walks of life. At this performance event, students got to show off what they had to offer.
Student organizations that performed were the Vietnamese Student Association, Phy Mu and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Chi Omega and Alpha Sigma, Black Student Union and CYPHER.
CYPHER winning Strut your stuff on Oct. 22, 2024. | Raphael Fernandez/ The Cougar
“UH is what brought this team together, so to be part of Strut Your Stuff means that we get to represent our talent, passion for dance and the school that lets us express all of that on stage for people to see,” said the co-director of CYPHER Kyla Vargas.
The winner of the night was CYPHER who were also the winners last year.
Bed Races
As a known tradition, bed racing is definitely one of the more unique and awaited experiences at UH. Teams of students are meant to customize their mattresses and bed frames on wheels.
With beds decked out in space themes to an array of streamers, teams raced their contraptions down the street in front of TDECU stadium.
The bed racing event happening near the TDECU stadium on Oct. 23, 2024. | Emma Christensen/The Cougar
Free food and entertainment were made available for students to enjoy and the athletics team got to take home the win for the night.
“So far, it’s been super fun. This year being in hall council, it really immersed me in the HOCO environment which I really love,” said architecture sophomore Cedric Gonzalez. “I really love the school spirit. Homecoming Week is all about the Cougars and I really enjoy that.”
CANstruction
Homecoming is not just about competitions but bringing the community together through philanthropic ways, too.
CANstruction is a fundraising event organized by the Metropolitan Volunteering Program to bring organizations together to collect cans for the Cougar Cupboard on campus.
Teams are assigned to collect cans and build the best and most impressive tower they can. The trick is not to have any cans fall or they can not be donated.
“Whether or not you’re in a sorority, you could still help out,” said public health junior Shannon Mercer. “In philanthropy, we’re set up to easily go through the process of helping others, but I think everyone should be encouraged to get involved in some way on campus, I think this puts everyone in good spirits right before the homecoming season.”
Waka Flocka Flame concert
Another much-awaited event of the week had been the Waka Flocka Flame concert. The concert was organized by the Student Programming Board in Lynn Eusan Park.
The students were hyped to see the rapper headlining the concert and the lines began to form as early as 6:30 p.m.
LilChika performing at the concert on Oct. 24, 2024. | Raphael Fernandez/ The Cougar
“Honestly, I have never seen him live, and I kind of grew up with him,” said psychology freshman Nickyra Gaston. “I want to say as a freshman, it’s the beginning of the party era, so the fact that I get to see him for free, makes me really happy.”
Students were satisfied with the decision to bring Waka Flocka Flame, however, many thought that bringing a Houston-based artist instead would have been a bit better.
“I am happy with the current choice but I was expecting a Houston-based artist,” said political science sophomore Audrey Forero. “I know some people were saying they wish it was more of a Houston-based artist or someone a little more relevant.”
The artist performed songs like “Round of Applause,” “No Hands,” “Hard in Da Paint,” “Grove St. Party” and “Karma.”
While the event was successful and students could not stop cheering for the artist, a fight did break out which led UHPD to get involved.
Apart from Waka Flocka Flame, the concert was opened by LilChika and the student crowd responded well to his songs. He successfully kept the crowd engaged and even threw out some t-shirts to the crowd.
According to SPB, about 2,270 students were in attendance.
Football game and HOCO King and Queen
Homecoming 2024 ended with a bang when the UH Cougars won the game against Utah, 17-14.
Business finance and marketing senior Maurice May and business marketing senior Jada Hill were crowned this year’s Homecoming King and Queen.
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“Homecoming 2024: Going Hard in Da Red Paint” was originally posted on The Cougar