Last week, NSU celebrated its annual homecoming week. Students enjoyed traditions such as the “Anything That Floats Raft Race,” the men’s basketball homecoming game, the tailgate, homecoming dance, and a new tradition — the Deep Blue Fest carnival.
The celebration started on Thursday with the fifth annual tailgate party outside the Don Taft University Center. Attendants enjoyed free food, ice cream, and had the opportunity to win homecoming T-shirts by shooting basketballs. Students could also take pictures with Razor.
This year’s tailgate also included a surprise. Students and staff formed a flash mob, which is a group of people who participate in a spontaneous act. They performed a dance for the crowd.
To view a video of the dance, click here.
The day continued with the raft race. Organizations built rafts and raced around the Gold Circle Lake for a chance to win $750 and six tickets to the homecoming dance. The rotaract/physics club team won. The physics club also won last year when they competed by themselves.
“We used the same design as last year’s boat but last year’s boat was a little deeper so we realized that we needed to make a little more shallow. So we did that and the boat was very stable this time,” said Buss Ullah, junior biology major.
Ullah said the adjustments they made to the boat made it faster and safer.
The first day of homecoming ended with Flight Deck Follies. Male students dressed as women and participated in a beauty pageant to win money for their organizations.
Day 2 of the homecoming festivities featured NSU’s newest tradition, the Deep Blue Fest carn-ival, took place on Friday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the library quad. The carnival featured a petting zoo, a mini golf hole, table bowling, and a dunk tank.
That night, at the homecoming basketball game, the Sharks beat the Warner University Royals 85-83.
During half-time, the homecoming court was announced.
Lisa Viglona, senior business administration and marketing major, won homecoming queen. Vignola said she did not expect to win. She said that she and another contestant were in Alpha Phi Omega sorority so she thought the votes would be split between them.
“I don’t have Facebook and everyone else does. And I work Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I wasn’t really campaigning those days,” she said. “I didn’t think I was going to win, to be honest, especially when I walked out onto the court. I thought I had a pretty good shot at it but I didn’t think I was going to win.”
The game also featured a special presentation. Freshman biology major Daphne Petereit Wlaskok was announced the winner of the “Free Books Until You Graduate” scholarship. She said it was her first time ever winning a raffle and she didn’t collect her prize right away because she wasn’t sure what to do.
“I didn’t believe it because I’m never called,” she said. “When I got to the court, I asked, ‘What did I win?’”
Homecoming ended with a party. “Escape to Paradise” took place on Route 66, a club near Ft. Lauderdale beach, on Saturday. More than 800 students attended. During the party students could take their pictures and have them framed as a souvenir of the evening.
Anthony Campenni, Student Government Association president said, “This year’s homecoming was amazing and record-breaking. We saw impressive turnouts from students at all the events. That’s what shark spirit is all about.”
Written by: Annarely Rodriguez and Keren Moros
