Each year, a team of students is selected to serve on the executive board for the Student Alumni Association. They apply, interview and are selected to serve based on their outstanding accomplishments as some of the most prominent student leaders on our campus. This month, we are highlighting our Homecoming director, Daniel McFarland. He is a junior majoring in animal science. McFarland’s job as Homecoming director is to plan, organize and execute anything and everything related to Homecoming 2013! “When I first considered applying for the Student Alumni Board, I kept saying that I did not want the Homecoming director position. I was on the committee last year and enjoyed the experience but I just thought that I was not ready for a position of that caliber. I can truly say that I have enjoyed this position and have gained so much positive experience that will last me for a lifetime,” he says.
McFarland and his committee are a group of students involved in different organizations across campus. Some of the organizations they are involved in include the Student Alumni Association, Associated Student Government and Greek Life. One of the largest aspects of Homecoming director is working throughout the summer to pick a theme for Homecoming. “The theme selection process was possibly the most stressful part of the Homecoming pre-planning. This summer, I was frantically trying to find new and innovative ideas for the theme to allow the overall Homecoming events to be a success! I was excited after the reveal to hear of everyone’s excitement about the theme and enthusiasm for the big event,” he says. This year’s theme is “Super Hogs.” Each pairing will be focusing on an individual superhero or groups of heroes such as Captain America and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
While Homecoming has over two weeks of events, the culmination is the Friday night parade down Dickson Street and pep rally at the Greek Theater. “My favorite aspect of the Homecoming events is the Parade and Pep Rally. I feel like these events create the most excitement (other than the game) not only at the university, but also within the northwest Arkansas community! Being able to see all of the different floats that the pairings and local participants create is spectacular. After the parade, when everyone fills up the Chi Omega Greek Theater, the pep rally is an awesome representation of the spirit that this university has for Razorback Athletics,” McFarland says.
The Student Alumni Board is excited to see our campus and community’s hard work come to life within the next few weeks. For more information on this year’s events, please visit homecoming.uark.edu.
