Homecoming week will begin Nov. 16 with the 25th annual Roll Tide Run and conclude with the crowning of the 2014 Homecoming Queen during halftime of the Alabama vs. Western Carolina football game Nov. 22.
Samantha Walker, the 2014 SGA homecoming executive director, said in the past students could compete for homecoming with large or small organizations. However, she said this year the University has made an organization called Crimson Division along with another group referred to as the Tide Division.
“The Tide Division is the new opportunity for individual students,” Walker said. “It is for anyone who wants to compete and for any small organizations who will not compete for everything.”
She said participants do not have to be members of a student organization. Each team must simply pay the entry fee and have the minimum number of participants on their team as is required by the rules of the competition. Teams can be created by groups of friends, roommates, intramural teams and classes, for example. The winner will be announced and awarded at the pep rally and bonfire Nov. 21.
“I do not think many colleges think they can be in the parade, but that is a great way to advertise the college,” Walker said. “Because there are tons of students, the community of Tuscaloosa and alumni in town watch the parade.”
Yardena Wolf, the director of the homecoming parade, said she hopes Tide Division will spark interest and diversity.
“We would like to have the Tide Division participate this year,” Wolf said. “I really hope it can encourage other organizations to participate in homecoming, because it is a general week of activities for everybody on campus. It will be a bigger and more diverse parade this year.”
Wolf said people are excited to register for the Tide Division and are really looking forward to participating in the parade, even if they have not in the past.
The homecoming parade will begin four hours before kickoff. It will start in downtown Tuscaloosa, go north on Greensboro Avenue and then go east on University Boulevard.
Information about homecoming can be found on Facebook under UA Homecoming and on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at “UAHomecoming.”
