Homecoming winners announced

Student organizations, residence halls and Greek houses all

By Erica Zucco

Published Oct. 23, 2007

Excited MU students waved posters and cheered for their groups on the steps of Jesse Hall on Sunday night.

At 8 p.m., members of the Homecoming Steering Committee announced the winners for each of the Homecoming categories to screams of triumph and moans of defeat.

Fraternities and sororities, residence halls, and student organizations earned awards in the areas of the blood drive, service, the talent competition, spirit and campus decorations. Groups were also recognized for their efforts in the parade, special events and merchandise. In addition, congratulatory announcements were made toward Homecoming Royalty, who received awards at the Homecoming game against Texas Tech on Saturday.

Homecoming Tri-Director Ryan Murdock said selection for Homecoming Royalty consists of two judging scores: event attendance scores and online voting. This year, approximately 5,000 online votes were cast.

Senior Anne Case-Halferty, sponsored by the Alumni Association Student Board, and senior Patrick Elmore, sponsored by the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, were chosen as this year's Homecoming king and queen.

Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity won first place overall for Greek chapters with Kappa Delta sorority, Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity in second place; Pi Beta Phi sorority and Phi Kappa Theta fraternity in third place; Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Beta Sigma Psi fraternity and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity in fourth place; and Chi Omega sorority, Delta Tau Delta fraternity and Delta Chi fraternity in fifth place.

For the residence hall category, Mark Twain residence hall took first place with South residence hall in second place and Laws residence hall in third place.

The Alumni Association Student Board came in first place for student organizations. Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity came in second place and the Newman Center came in third place.

Homecoming Tri-Director Christopher Smith said the blood drive collected approximately 4,140 donations during the three-day drive, saving more than 12,000 lives. Kappa Alpha Theta, Beta Sigma Psi and Pi Kappa Phi tied with Alpha Delta Pi and Pi Kappa Alpha for first place in blood donations. First place for residence halls was shared by Laws residence hall and Hatch residence hall, and second place went to South residence hall. The Alumni Association Student Board came in first for the student organizations category.

"This year, the Homecoming service category included Tiger Tango and Tigers Taming Hunger," Smith said. "Groups received full points if the required number of members were present at each event."

Nine Greek chapter groups received full points in the service category. For residence halls, first place went to Mark Twain residence hall. The Alumni Association Student Board again took first place.

Talent is an event that showcases acting, choreography, sets and props produced by Greek chapters. First place went to Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta and Delta Chi, with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity following in second place, and Delta Delta Delta sorority and Kappa Alpha Order fraternity taking third place.

Smith said the spirit competition consisted of a banner competition and a "Decorate the District" contest. Judges gave points on the basis of creativity, effort and spirit for MU, and points were deducted if groups did not take down their decorations on Sunday. First place went to Alpha Delta Pi and Pi Kappa Alpha.

Mark Twain residence hall was awarded with first place for residence halls. For student organizations, the Alumni Association Student Board came in first.

For campus decorations, Kappa Delta, Alpha Gamma Sigma and Tau Kappa Epsilon won first place. Superlative awards were also distributed.

Twelve Greek chapter groups received full points for Homecoming merchandise.

Awards were also given to residence halls for participation in special events. Wolpers residence hall won first place for the Residence Hall BBQ. Mark Twain residence hall was also recognized for participation in the Residential 5K Run.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday, the annual Homecoming parade marched through downtown Columbia and campus, sharing school spirit with Columbia residents and MU students. For Greek chapters, Pi Beta Phi and Phi Kappa Theta took first place, Delta Gamma sorority and Delta Upsilon fraternity took second place and Phi Mu sorority, Sigma Chi fraternity and Sigma Nu fraternity took third place. For the student organizations category, College of Agriculture, Farming and Natural Resources Student Council won first place.