My Homecoming Is Better Than Yours – An Open Love Letter To College Night

My mind has been firmly stuck in Montevallo since yesterday for two reasons. The first, main reason, is that yesterday kicked off the start of Homecoming Week at my alma mater, the University of Montevallo. Our Homecoming is referred to in one generalizing phrase as “College Night”, though it is surely more than one night.  While there have been events going on for the last month and a half, this week is when everything kicks into high gear, starting with tonight’s dress rehearsal performances.

The other reason was a report, put out by Inside College, about the top Schools for Socially Awkward Students. “Some students are not as socially gifted as their peers. Here are schools where Screech can become Zack.” When I first saw this, I was instantly angered at the thought that my beloved institution would be labeled as some type of ‘home for the socially disabled’. My school was great, what were they trying to say!?!?! As I took a step back, however, and as some of my friends on Twitter suggested looking at the list in a different light, I found myself again thinking about College Night. That’s when I realized, and happily accepted, that this list was 100% correct, and I’m actually very proud to be on the list.

You see, College Night involves the school splitting into teams, The Purples and The Golds (go here for an explanation of the actual College Night competition and history). Through a kind of amazing “courtship” process between the sides and incoming students, freshman (or often times other late-blooming upperclassman) eventually pick which side they will be on. The competition encompasses a wide-variety of aspects and events, including sports, business management (each side has a budget), cheerleading, acting, directing, visual arts of all varieties, and ultimately, leadership responsibility.  College Night, then, in reality, is a microcosm of the college experience itself. Whatever your interests or talents, College Night has something for you. I was beyond blessed to have participated in College Night on various levels, first as a cast member, then as a Stage Manager for the production, and then eventually I was beyond humbled and blessed to have been chosen as the male leader for the Gold Side my senior year. I saw the participants of the side at every level, from every angle.

Which brings me back to the list. There is no doubt that there were some very socially awkward people who participated in College Night. Their skills and talents might not have been readily apparent. However, we had a policy, at least in my time there – if you want to be in the show, you’ll be in the show. It might not be on stage; but pit chorus? Absolutely. Because as long as you got to be involved with the show some how, some way, then you were also being provided the chance to be part of the process. Part of the experience that we were all sharing together, as a team, as a family. That young woman who had never really had friends in high school, who was scared to death to try to leave her dorm and make friends during her first semester of her freshman year? Every night in January and February, she could leave her room and know that she was going to be in a fun, loving, and ultimately accepting environment. We didn’t care who she was, or who she’d been; we only cared that she was Gold. I have no doubt that the Purples can attest to the same thing.

I often heard the cry of “well, I wish we just had a football team or we rallied more around the Homecoming basketball game, then everyone could be involved.” Really? Lets look at the break down. Look at the University of Alabama. How many players are on their football team? For sake of argument, lets just say 200 students participate some way on the football team. Then another 20-30 in cheerleading, maybe another 200 for the band? I’ll even be generous – lets say overall, 600 undergraduate students participate in the Homecoming football game. That’s about 2% of Alabama’s undergraduate population who are actually able to take an active hand in their homecoming; the rest are mere spectators. I know there are other activities that you could incorporate as being part of Homecoming at the larger universities, but allow me to finish out my logic here. During College Night, each sides active roster can vary between 150-200 students. I’ll be very conservative, and say both sides have active and participating rosters of 300 students. At a minimum, that’s almost 13% of the student population that’s able to actively participate in their schools Homecoming, and not just be spectators! I would argue that no other school’s homecoming allows so many students to be able to take an active hand in their school’s homecoming celebration.

Because you see, no matter how much we are “rival” teams, fighting tooth and nail for that win on Saturday night, we are all still ultimately apart of the same process. I remember a constant refrain from people who didn’t participate in College Night was that “it turns the campus against each other.” Sure, maybe for the undergraduates who will have some fleeting rivalries against each other for a couple of years. However, what is the point of Homecoming? Homecoming is not ultimately aimed at undergraduates; it’s aimed at alumni, those who have traveled to live and work far and wide, but who want and feel the need to “come home”. When I look and talk to my fellow alumni who come back, I am talking to alumni on both sides of the split. Some of the people I looked forward to seeing most each February are “Vintage Purples”, even some who directly tried their hardest to beat me while I was an active Gold. Why? Because we have a shared experience. While the details may vary, the story is the same – you worked, you laughed, you cried, and you loved. We are not just Golds. We are not just Purples. We are College Night. We are Montevallo.

At the end of each night, the sides will “circle up”, and sing their “side songs”, songs that have been carried down by the respective sides for decades. Each song (whether you want to admit it as an undergraduate) is meaningful and touching in its own way, stirring up images and words that instantly transport the singers back to their own times on the side, their time of shared sacrifice and devotion to the greater cause of success on that second Saturday night in February. Times changes, friends come, go, and ultimately pass away. The songs, though, they remain the same; that second Saturday night in February will never go away. It’s always there, waiting to welcome the College Night family home.

“Purple pepsters sing with glee. Show your blood is royalty. Lord have mercy and it will be VICTORY.” – Purple Side Song

“Don’t think that we will ever stop singing. Because a song in our hearts is ringing. A song of joy that binds us together. This is a song that we’ll sing forever.” – Gold Side Song

My Homecoming is better than yours.

P.S. – I also have fully come to terms with our inclusion on the Inside College list. Why? Because I realized that I needed to look no further than myself to see the truth in this assessment. I came to Montevallo as an obese, awkward, and self-doubting Screech. Maybe I didn’t turn into Zack, but I was at least able to grow into one of the seemingly cool background characters who nodded their heads in agreement when Zack and Jessie pitched their prom ideas to Mr. Belding. I was at least confident enough to be on the Prom Committee, and I have Montevallo to thank for that.