Hoosier homecoming

There was an unexpected win at Alumni Hall Thursday night. \nVarious IU organizations competed in the annual Yell Like Hell spirit competition to kick off Homecoming. It was sponsored by the Student Athletic Board, IU Alumni Association and the Student Alumni Association. Students sang, danced and performed skits. \nBut one act stole the show.\nThe students of Read Quad performed a song from the Beatles. They changed the lyrics and sang about the typical life of an IU freshman living at Read. At the end of the night the judges announced them the winners.\nRead participants jumped up and hugged each other. Aimee Dawson, a sophomore and the president of Read, said the win came as a shock.\n"This is unbelievable," Dawson said. "It is about time. The residence halls are trying to make a name for themselves. In the past, the support was lacking."\nThe acts were judged by five IU alumni. Jerome Tardy, a judge for the competition said Read won because of the amount of spirit their act instilled in the audience.\n"Their reaction with the crowd and the crowd's reaction with them was great," Tardy said. "It's a win, win situation. They just looked like they put a lot of effort into this. I will be looking for Read at IU Sing."\nThe Homecoming theme, "Back where you belong," centered around IU alumni coming back to IU and realizing it was where they should be.\nMembers of Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Chi portrayed this year's theme in their skit. It was the year 2060 and an old IU alumni couple was reading the a newspaper. They reminisced about their IU memories as members danced and sang "This is us at IU baby -- this is us at IU Homecoming."\nPatricia Surfus, a junior and vice president of SAA, said the goal of the event is to make students realize Homecoming isn't just about a game, it's about spirit.\n"It's the first event where all the students come together," Surfus said. "...it's an especially good time to get the spirit started for the rest of the student body."\nThe acts are judged on their creativity and their success in making the crowd cheer. Meredith Suffron, senior and vice president of SAA said a lot of preparation goes into the competition. All the acts and scripts are screened by SAA before hand.\n"It's more than just a competition -- you have to entertain the crowd," Suffron said. \nScott Siegel, a representative of IU Alumni Association said every year they try to bring in a variety of performances in addition to the acts.\n"It's to add flavor to the show," Siegel said.\nWhen the members of Straight No Chaser took the stage all eyes were on them. The crowd cheered and danced to their songs and they received a standing ovation.\n"I love Straight No Chaser. They are awesome," said sophomore Kristin Modrowski. "They are laid-back and fun. They bring a great energy to the show. They are like IU's Backstreet Boys"