The annual MU Homecoming Parade took place Saturday morning with sidewalks submerged in black and gold from Rollins Street to Broadway. Families, returning alumni, Columbia residents and students made up the crowd.
The parade started at 9 a.m ahead of MU’s Homecoming football game that afternoon.
Crowds met parade participants’ M-I-Z chants with callbacks of Z-O-U.
Multiple organizations threw candy out to waving children, Greek Life members tossed soft toys and told jokes to families from their floats, and the men’s basketball team let crowd members take a shot through a slowly moving hoop.
Each float also reduced noise and turned off flashing lights in response to the signs requesting a quieter atmosphere when they approached the sensory-friendly section of the parade. The section encompassed the last block of the parade between Broadway and Fifth street. Both sides of the street had two large yellow signs with the headline, “Shhh, Please! You’re entering the sensory-friendly area.”
In this area, volunteer staff members held posters that said“Turn Off Light and Sound,” and “Shhh, Please!”
“My son has autism so he cannot tolerate loud sounds … I think it was a really good idea, that they [the university] did this,” said Erica Flores, an audience member who was standing in the sensory-friendly section with her family.
“There was one mother that came to me and said their child was prone to migraines and they were very happy there was a section where they didn’t have to worry about this,” said Ana Compain-Romero, a staff member assigned to the section.
One of the organizations participating in the parade was Down Syndrome Innovations, and member Kathleen Basi said that some of the members aboard the float were wearing headphones.
“[Sensory sensitivity is] a thing that people in our community deal with, so it’s really great to have that sense of inclusion,” she said.
Down Syndrome Innovations is an organization that provides opportunities and services to people with Down syndrome, according to Basi. It was one out of a variety of different organizations and businesses that participated in the parade.
“I hope that in future years more people will be aware of it [the sensory-friendly section] and use it more,” Basi said.
Homecoming 2023 took place on Saturday, Oct. 21, when the Tigers take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Edited by Emma Flannery | eflannery@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Jacob Richey
