Pep rally features Redsteppers, cheerleaders to rev up crowd for game

The Sample Gates hosted IU's 44th annual Homecoming pep rally Friday evening.\nThe rally concluded at the end of the annual homecoming parade and featured performances by the IU cheerleading squad, the Redsteppers and the IU Marching Hundred, among others.\nDuring the rally, head football coach Gerry DiNardo and senior safety Joe Gonzales talked to the crowd. Several players on the football team were also introduced. The master of ceremonies was IU athletics announcer Chuck Crabb. \nCrabb introduced notable IU personalities such as outgoing IU President Myles Brand, Chancellor Sharon Brehm and Dean of Students Richard McKaig.\nThe rally also saw the coronation of the Homecoming Court with senior Megan Richards named as queen and senior Pat Miller named king.\nThe rally was organized by the Student Athletic Board and the IU Student Alumni Association. Betsy Warburton, the director of homecoming for the SAB, said the events of the week are a "great way to get people involved in the weekend, and it is also a great way for people to get to know Coach DiNardo."\nWarburton said they began working on the rally over the summer. \n"The past few weeks have been really busy," she said.\nWith the backing of the athletic department, the SAB added a bonfire this year at Dunn Meadow, which started after the pep rally. The tradition of the bonfire was originally planned to start at last year's homecoming, but was scrapped after Sept. 11.\nHomecoming is a great way to build support for the football team, and the coaches and players see it as a time to thank people for their support of the football program.\n"What we are trying to do is build a team people are proud to support," Dinardo said. "With the student population I'm involved with on a regular basis, we are trying to build a championship team."\nIt is also a way for former and current players to bond and build bridges.\n"It is a chance for everyone to come back to IU," said senior safety Joe Gonzales. "At the stadium we have had the old players coming back and it is good to see that around."\nHomecoming is not only for the football team, but also a chance for the students and alumni to celebrate the University. \n"Homecoming is a great way to show school spirit, especially for the football program," McKaig said. "It is about pride, tradition and joy in your school."\nChancellor Brehm echoed McKaig's sentiment. \n"Homecoming is a great way to build the IU community and family," she said.\nMany returning alumni considered homecoming a bridge back to their college years. Mark Rousseau, an IU graduate of the class of 1962, said his undergraduate years were some of the best of his life.\n"It's great to come back and be an undergraduate for three or four days," Rousseau said.