By Alicia Parker
LONG LIVE THE KING
By Alicia Parker
RCC’s homecoming festivities were ready for action, but had few people show up to enjoy them.
The RCC Alumni House stood ready for guests with decorations, soda, food and prizes a few hours before the homecoming football game on Oct. 15. Yes, RCC had a homecoming game. The sad part of it all, though, was the time and effort that a few people took to set-up this pre-game celebration that zero showed up for. That’s right, no one bothered to come to the house and enjoy what was there.
A little later on there was a more populated, but still empty, pre-game celebration in the soccer field. There stood a huge blow up slide made of the same material as moon bouncers, a stage were the homecoming kings and queens stood and an In N’ Out van making food for hungry guests.
As the winners for the Riverside, Norco and Moreno Valley campus homecoming king and queens were announced, few people were actually present around the stage to watch them have their happy moment. A lousy applause congratulated their crowning. I felt bad for them when they were crowned and looked out into what should have been a crowd, but was only a small group, most which consisted of their friends and family members.
Most the attention that should have been paid to the other ongoing activities was unfortunately diverted by the In N’ Out van that was giving out free burgers and fries to all of the guests. Huddled around the van and waiting in line, the crowd stood.What a shame it was to see that the van became the main attraction of the pre-game festivities.
Once the king and queens for each campus were dubbed with their titles, the showdown for the collective campus king and queen began. As each candidate began to answer questions, their voices were drowned out by the band warming up in the background, a bad speaker and microphone system and what I swear was the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack. I didn’t want to hear A Flock of Seagulls wail, I wanted to hear what the candidates had to say about some important issues that were directed towards them.
In the end Justin Myers and Elizabeth Nevarez were crowned the king and queen from Riverside. For the entire district Mario Galicia Jr. and Elizabeth Nevarez took home the titles of king and queen.
The hungry crowd that was huddled near the In N’ Out van finally came over to the stage area when the band gathered together to give a little preview of what to expect at the half-time show.
Simply put, the band was awesome. I could feel the strong sound in my chest and became overwhelmed with both watching and listening to it play. The band played a few pieces from what it is practicing to play when it goes to Spain soon.
I gained a sense of Spanish heritage in some parts of the song and could imagine myself walking down the streets of Spain as I closed my eyes. With notes in sync and energetic members, the performance ended with a happy cheer and applause from the viewers.
At the end of the festivities and as the rain began to come down, the visitors of the celebration were herded over to the football field where the game was to start shortly.
Not counting the members of the band, dance team, instructors, and homecoming court candidates there had to be, at the most, 70 people present, a small turn-out considering RCC’s large student population. The huge lack of school spirit was expected, but nonetheless extremely disappointing.
True, I never saw any banners around school mentioning the pre-game fun, which doesn’t help the turn-out any, but one nonpromoted event isn’t the only time that no school spirit was found.
The lack of guests present to support their college, teams and fellow classmates is an increasing trend for college-related events.
It’s a sad day in this college’s history when you mention the upcoming homecoming events and a fellow classmate replies with, “What homecoming?”
