Homecoming tailgate party

There is a lot of tradition that comes from tailgates. They are associated with barbecuing, football and   sometimes even tailgates, none of which were involved at UVU’s homecoming tailgate.

As part of UVU’s homecoming celebration there was a tailgate at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, before the men’s homecoming game. This was put on by the MAWL.

The tailgate was held in the West courts at the UCCU event’s center. It was a free event for anyone that had tickets to get into the homecoming game.

The purpose of the tailgate was to create a pride for the basketball team who played University of Missouri-Kansas City. The game was played on national television as part of Fox College Sports television.

For anyone that was able to attend there were free t-shirts for the first 500 people through. These t-shirts were provided by UVU Marketing.

The shirts ran out in an hour, so there was around 500 in the first hour, then as the game got closer, a larger crowd started to pour in.

To show pride there were six activities that people could do. There was a face painting booth that seemed mostly occupied by children, the favored face paint was a form of war paint, with green and black slashes across the face. The face painting had a line of about 25 children at any point. There were also some glittery tattoos.

There was also the UVUSA wheel of prizes, that allowed students to win a t-shirt, a notebook, some glow sticks and a small assortment of other knickknacks.

The calendar on the UVU website that said the first 100 alumni and all MAWL members were supposed to get free J-Dawgs hot dogs, but unless they came later or a lot earlier than the prescribed time they were hidden from the mass public. There was a nacho bar that was free for MAWL members and $2 for everyone else.

There was also some swag available for sale from the UVU Alumni Association.

The were two real interactive activities, an inflatable basketball hoop with some mini basketballs and a little trivia booth that had question’s

This was a homecoming activity so it could have been that these activities were directed towards families and bringing children in, but there was very little for UVU students to do.

Despite the lack in number of activities, students enjoyed the atmosphere.

“It’s awesome,” said Kayla Hudman, a senior from UVU. “It brings students out and we get to meet people… And there is free food, you can’t beat that.”

A few minutes before the game started there was a drum performance by the UVU’s “Green Man Group.”

By Jarom Moore – Managing Editor