Before sororities and fraternities took to the Jesse Hall stage for the annual Homecoming Talent competition, Homecoming Director Kelsey Denker addressed the racist incident that occurred across the road at Traditions Plaza.
“We are deeply saddened by the hateful act that was committed on Traditions Plaza last night,” Homecoming Director Kelsey Denker said. “Traditions Plaza is a place for new events to be born, celebrated and embraced. So this Homecoming, season we challenge everyone to work and celebrate together and make unity and respect a lasting tradition on this campus.”
The night before a presumably drunk white man yelled racial slurs members of the Legion of Black Collegians 2015 Homecoming Royalty Court’s while they were rehearsing a play, “The Mis-Educated,” which they performed Tuesday night at Traditions Plaza.
The directors also strongly encouraged students to attend a wide variety of events this week in order to support all students at MU.
After Decker’s message, the competition, also know as Fling, kicked off. For the members involved, it was the culmination of months of choreographing, rehearsing and perfecting since the beginning of the semester.
Nine acts stepped into the spotlight in Jesse Hall on Monday night. A live stream broadcast the performances at the Student Center and online. The pairings of sororities and fraternities acts ranged from skits to dances. The houses are judged and winners are announced for a variety of categories at the end of the competition.
As for the talent competition, all the groups have been spending weeks preparing for the show. They had to come up with choreography and scripts. Along with that an audition process and an execution process had to be fulfilled.
“First, we had auditions a week after Bid Day,” Sigma Sigma Sigma member Elizabeth Reiher said. “Then we would practice two times a week for two hours for six weeks. Then on this past Sunday, we had our ‘marathon day’ which was 10 hours of practice. It was a lot of work.”
To start off the night, Sigma Kappa member Rebekah Northern sang the national anthem. Next the production team performed their annual dance, and then the competition began.
Kappa Delta took the stage to perform their skit titled “A Wild and Wonderful Western Bank Job.” The skit was a mash up of a cowboy and romance story.
“I loved everything about the talent competition,” Kappa Delta member Katherine Fraley said. “It was so fun getting to watch everyone on stage, and they all did a really great job.”
Next, Grace Rasulo, Jack Fargotstein, Jeremy Schmetter, Josh Less and Alex Foster played the song “Sunday Candy” for Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Epsilon Pi. They used a mixture of guitar, piano and trumpet to create their own twist on the song.
The next skit was titled “The Band Goes to CoMo,” performed by Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Chi. It featured a band called HUGG that was trying to find its way back to Columbia.
A music group came in to break up the skits featuring Shauna Yates, Morgan Fryman and Madison Croft representing Kappa Delta. They sang the song “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes.
Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Alpha Kappa Lambda arrive next on stage with their skit “Father Time.” Their tale involved a time machine and a look into different time periods.
“The B Team,” a skit performed by Zeta Tau Alpha and Phi Gamma Delta, changed the focus from time travel into supervillains. Their story ended with the defeat of the supervillain Florida Man and She-Gator.
The last performance of the night was by Sigma Sigma Sigma, Beta Sigma Psi and Beta Upsilon Chi with a skit titled “The Love Experiment.” It showed the love story between two college students who had the help of Bill Nye to aid their relationship. Reiher enjoyed getting to participate in her sororities homecoming talent.
“It was so cool getting to perform in Jesse (Hall),” Reiher said. “I loved dancing up there, and there was a lot of great energy from the crowd. It is nice being involved in something that everyone around me is so passionate about.”
