After indoor in-person events were all but canceled last year due to COVID-19, NSU’s Office of Campus Life and Student Engagement went all out with the homecoming celebrations this year. Concluding one week full of festivities, such as indoor roller skating, a DJ battle at the pep rally and even a surprise firework show, students got to celebrate the annual NSU homecoming bash. This year’s homecoming bash wasn’t any regular dance, though. NSU’s 2021 homecoming bash was held on a yacht.
Three hundred students were able to purchase tickets to come aboard on the evening of Nov. 12 to dance the night away, as well as witness the crowning of homecoming royalty before it was announced at the annual homecoming basketball game. Attendees enjoyed free food, music curated by a DJ and four floors of the yacht to explore, including several outdoor areas. The yacht also featured a cash bar for students who were over 21 years old.
The yacht was sourced out of Hollywood and named the South Beach Lady. Students who weren’t able to drive themselves to the dock were able to hop aboard one of several large buses that NSU had hired to bring students to and from the event.
Ian Chang, a junior environmental science major at NSU, was impressed at NSU’s creativity during the homecoming events this year.
“I was not expecting to be on a yacht today. It’s pretty impressive,” Chang said.
His friend Lukens Martimer, a junior at NSU majoring in exercise science, agreed that this year’s homecoming bash in particular had blown away their expectations.
“I like how creative it was. I don’t think a lot of schools would have been able to afford a yacht and have 350 people on it. I don’t actually know how many people are here, but it’s still really cool,” said Martimer.
The yacht departed from the dock and strolled at a leisurely pace up and down an intercoastal waterway in Hollywood, even passing one of NSU’s regional campuses towards the end of the voyage. Students got to enjoy the music and dancing in the indoor areas of the yacht, and then step outside to enjoy the fresh air and nighttime ambiance of the coastline.
While being on the yacht was impressive, many students did miss out on the opportunity as space was limited. Lickchina Jeanlis is a freshman majoring in public health and voiced that she felt badly for those who were not able to get tickets.
“It’s fun. I just wish it was with everyone. I feel bad because I know a lot of people couldn’t come,” Jeanlis said.
Overall though, students enjoyed their time on the homecoming yacht and seemed excited for the events to come during their time at NSU.
