Homecoming is one of the most memorable events that takes place during the fall semester at TJC. With organizations competing with one another for the infamous “Apache Spirit Award,” we take a look at the process to establish whether changes could be made to improve the event in the future.
To start, let’s break down the process that goes into deeming a winner for TJC’s Apache Spirit Award. There are a total of five competitions: sidewalk chalk, office decoration, float competition, supply drive and the age-old tradition of the drum beat.
Alongside these competitions are the accompanying homecoming elections. Each organization that submits a candidate will receive 50 points. Every nominee who makes it to the top five earns an additional 50 points. Lastly, the winning homecoming king and queen earn an additional 50 points in total.
Each competition this year had a different scoring system in regards to participation. For example, participants in the sidewalk chalk competition received 50 points. Office decorations earned 100 points in regards to participation. Finally, the float competition earned each organization 150 points in participation.
Each of these events had the same point reward system for first, second and third place. First received 100 points, second received 75 points, and third earned 50 points.
The supply drive is where future changes may likely occur. As of this year, each item/package submitted during the supply drive would merit a single point. How does this create issues? Some organizations on campus have less students enrolled than the larger organizations. Consequently, some organizations have larger rosters, allowing for the pooling of supplies for the supply drive. More people means more donations. This creates an imbalance in the point system.
How could this be fixed? It would be better to ask the math department for a mathematical solution, but it would regard proportionality. Let’s say organization A has 10 members and organization B has 100 students. An equation would have to be created to ensure that organization A would have to submit a certain amount of goods to match up to organization B’s larger pool of contributions. Additionally, a scoring system similar to the previous events could be instituted to create a fair playing ground. Each organization gets points for participating, but only first, second and third would get additional points.
The last event that should be covered is the drum beat. An organization gets 10 points per hour and can score double points from the hours of 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. Out of all the week’s events, this is the most time consuming. Again, organizations that have more people will be able to fill the most time slots. Similarly to the proposal for the supply drive, an amendment should be made regarding the point system for this event to consider smaller organizations.
Turning to the homecoming election process, some disagreements occurred regarding the campaigning process. Accusations were made regarding some participants campaigning prior to the allowed starting date. This time frame should be entirely abandoned. For a college campus that has 12,000 students, not everyone is aware of when homecoming week starts. If individuals who are campaigning can make students aware weeks prior to homecoming, would it not instill more school pride?
Make homecoming fair for everyone Homecoming this year was fantastic. Those involved in both participation and coordination ensured that everyone retained a sense of school pride. For the 2019 year, homecoming is over. As a school seeking to make its students feel the most at home, perhaps changes can be made so that the homecoming competitions throughout the week will become more competitive and fair.
