By: Christa Burns
MONTGOMERY, Ala.– Auburn University at Montgomery celebrates Homecoming with a pep
rally that, according to students, was not so peppy.
Student affairs sponsored the Homecoming pep rally on January 31 at 2 p.m. in the
Athletic Center. Initially, the rally was supposed to be held on the Quad, but was relocated due to the
rain. There were about 25 students in attendance. The AUM Pep Band played a selection of
songs, including the AUM Fight song. The cheerleaders danced towards the students,
encouraging them to dance and sing along. Curtiss, our AUM mascot, also
celebrated his 13th birthday, which was announced during the pep rally.
Allasha Dudley from the women’s basketball team said a few words during the rally.
Dudley stated that the team was thankful to the students for coming and supporting them by
showing up to the games. Both the men and women’s basketball teams said they were excited for
the upcoming homecoming game.
However, many students have said the experience was not what they expected. Some
students say there was “no pep” at the pep rally, which wasted their time. Senior Grace Brennan,
who plays the clarinet in the AUM Pep Band stated that the event was unprofessional, chaotic and
too short with no pep.
The rally only lasted about 35 minutes, and 20 of those minutes were occupied by the DJ
playing music for students to dance to, but few students wanted to participate.
Homecoming this year followed a snowstorm that set the university back a couple of days
due to being shut down for a week. Many students have been playing catch-up with assignments
because of the unexpected break. Another factor could be that the pep rally was held on a Friday
afternoon. Since AUM does not have Friday classes, very few students are
on campus that day, meaning several had to drive to campus for the event. Band and
cheerleading students had to arrive two hours early, which left them frustrated that
they spent so much of their day at the rally instead of doing something more productive.
We contacted the Director of Student Life, Da’ Monta Wiggins, to get the opinion of how
well he thought the pep rally went. Wiggins said this was his first pep rally, and he appreciated
how the students came together to support it. “Seeing participants come out, including the AUM
Cheer Team, men’s and women’s basketball teams, AUM Pep Band and DJ Blaze, made the best
of a rainy situation.” When asked about his opinion towards the negative feedback from
students, Wiggins said that he has heard the opposite. “I’ve received positive feedback from
students and people involved. Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, there were a lot of
smiles throughout homecoming.” Wiggins said that he is looking forward to next year’s
homecoming and is open to suggestions on what to do next year.
