With the Penn State Homecoming Parade just a day away, student organizations are putting the finishing touches on the floats that are the featured attraction every year. It takes a lot of hard work along with plenty of crepe paper and chicken wire.
The Greek community comes together every year for a little friendly float competition.
Just like everyone else, members of Phi Sigma Kappa are busy finishing their float. There are a lot of parts to assemble before the parade. The fraternity hasn’t won the float competition in years — its mostly about fun and tradition.
“It’s not all about winning,” fraternity brother Mark Rodriguez says. “There’s just something about having a really good float to show off that we put a lot of work into this.”
Rodriguez says his fraternity’s float’s theme is the Wizard of Oz. They are teaming up with Omega Phi Alpha sorority and will all dress up as characters from the movie.
For Alpha Chi Rho, homecoming is all about tradition.
Fraternity brother David Hoyson says they make an effort every year to get alumni back during homecoming. The fraternity sent out an email to all former members, inviting them to a brunch before the game against Michigan Saturday.
The theme of Alpha Chi Rho’s is based on the movie Finding Nemo which should be entertaining for children.
A frequent winner of homecoming activities, Theta Chi, is going all out this year with their float, but has a simple theme — the circus.
Brother Ian Brodsky says that homecoming is their fraternity’s big thing every year, and so they usually go all out on their floats. Two years ago, the fraternity won the overall competition with a Super Mario Brothers theme.
For Theta Chi, homecoming is passed down from year to year.
“When we all joined, it was the tradition that was instilled in us,” Brodsky says. “We get to teach the younger guys the tradition that the guys before us thought us.”
