New tradition of decorating banners

With all the fanfare of Homecoming, it’s easy to forget the celebration is missing one important thing: a campuswide tradition.

There have been many failed attempts in the past to start a tradition, and the Carolina Athletic Association hopes to change that this year with a new banner contest.

“Other schools do floats, parades and other things to do a lot for Homecoming, and I look at our school and want to do something more,” said Chris Keyes, CAA Homecoming committee chairman.

He said he wanted to bring something memorable to Homecoming this year.

The contest was open to all student organizations. They were notified through a mass email, Keyes said.

The CAA gave each participating group a banner to decorate. Students had two weeks to decorate the banners and turned them in Friday.

All of the submitted banners are displayed in the Union this week.

The homecoming committee will select the winning banner on Friday, which will be hung from the Bell Tower during the homecoming game. The winning group will also receive $500.

The publicity was a large incentive for joining in, many participants said.

Sophomore Josh Ellis, president of UNC Underwater Hockey, said the chance to reach more people was too good to pass up.

“Especially for a club like us, not many people know about us, so having the banner in the Union for a week will enable people to see what we look like and who we are,” he said.

“We’re trying to stand out and think outside the box to display our creativity and get our name out there on campus,” she said.

The only rules for the design were that the banner had to display the organization’s name and this year’s homecoming theme: Exterminate Tech.

Sophomore Natalia Perez said the Carolina Brings Back the ’90s club is excited about their Pokemon battle design, which looks like a Game Boy.

“I think people that see it will say, ‘Man, I miss the ’90s,’” she said.

While others weren’t sure what they would do with their banner after Homecoming if they won, Perez said she wants to put hers up in the front yard of her house.

The participants’ enthusiasm is exactly what Keyes wants to continue and grow the contest.

He said exposure will be the key to turning this into a tradition.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.

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