The streets of Westwood Village bustled with energy and
excitement as hundreds of people of all ages celebrated UCLA
Homecoming on Friday night.
The Homecoming parade and rally, themed “Oh, the Places
We’ll Go!”, featured live music, free food and floats
created by UCLA student groups and Westwood community
organizations.
“Homecoming is an event to unite the campus, bring back
alumni, and raise school spirit. It’s the one time during the
year you can show off everything that UCLA does,” said Mark
Deppe, executive director of Homecoming 2004 and a fifth-year
psychobiology student.
The Homecoming parade began as a UCLA tradition in 1933. Though
lack of interest caused the annual parade to be cancelled in 1997,
it was revived in 2002 by the Student Alumni Association to
increase UCLA student spirit and pride.
The parade began at 8 p.m. at the corner of Gayley and Kinross
avenues and proceeded through Westwood on a pre-planned route.
The 18 members of SAA’s Homecoming committee started
working out the details of Homecoming six months ago by deciding
the parade route, recruiting students, and attaining permits to
hold the parade.
The committee’s efforts did not go unnoticed by new
students attending the parade for the first time.
“Homecoming was an exciting first parade for me.
I’ve never experienced anything like it before,” said
Constance Reese, a first-year theater student.
Those that had attended previous Homecoming parades were also
impressed by the performances in the parade.
“I had a nice experience, especially with seeing the flips
and acrobatics some groups performed,” said Tanisha Williams,
a third-year theater student.
When asked how they felt about leading Homecoming, UCLA mascots
Joe and Josie Bruin jumped up and down and gestured spiritedly.
“Joe and Josie Bruin mean that though it was
nerve-wracking, they loved seeing all the children and crowds of
supporters,” said Mike Kockler, acting spirit squad adviser
for the Center for Student Programming.
Chris Diaz, a saxophonist in the UCLA Marching Band and a
second-year political science and sociology student, said he had
been preparing to perform in the event for weeks.
“Seeing the crowd cheering as we were marching by is
something I won’t forget. I hope to see this level of
enthusiasm at every game,” Diaz said.
Other performers believed that Homecoming was also beneficial to
the surrounding community.
“It was really, really rewarding to see all the children
smiling and to be supporting such a great cause,” said
Heather Schwartz, a member of UCLA Dance Marathon and a third-year
psychology student.
Awards based on various factors such as creativity, presentation
and spirit were given out to parade performers during the
post-parade rally. Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Alpha Gamma Omega
fraternity won awards for most creative entry, best banner and best
overall performance. Triangle fraternity and Phi Sigma Rho sorority
were awarded best presentation, and the most spirited award went to
UCLA Dance Marathon. South Bay Bruins received the Friends of UCLA
award.
Homecoming festivities included selecting two UCLA students as
Royal Bruins, a title given to those who have demonstrated
leadership, academics and involvement as undergraduates.
This year judges crowned Francine Maigue, a fifth-year world
arts and cultures student, and Jason Chiu, a fifth-year mechanical
engineering student.
“The best part was seeing how many awesome people the UCLA
community encompasses and having everyone from those that graduated
in the 1930s to little kids that want to go here in 15 years out
there,” Deppe said. “It’s what being a Bruin is
all about.”