The ASUCI Campus Spirit Commission co-hosted UCI’s first virtual homecoming event via Zoom with the Student Alumni Association on Feb. 26 and 27. The two-day event featured interactive activities such as a student vs. alumni competition, a scavenger hunt, a networking event, a Men’s Basketball reunion panel, and a watch party for the homecoming Men’s Basketball game.
“My favorite part was the live segment our wonderful Campus Spirit interns hosted with our 2021 homecoming court,” Sabrina Rashid, third-year education sciences major and co-commissioner of ASUCI’s Campus Spirit Commission, said.
“Seeing their initiative and drive for the live segment was really worth all the hype and the high attendance was super amazing!” Rashid said.
The second annual student vs. alumni competition segment was hosted on the second day of the Stay@HOMEcoming event. The competition featured UCI alumni and current students from the 2021 homecoming court. In the first game called “Separation Anxiety,” students and alumni redistributed a handful of M&M’s from their hand and separated them into different piles by color. The first person from either team to successfully finish the task earned the win for their team. In the end, UCI graduate Michelle Woodhouse was victorious, putting the alumni on top early with an overall score of 1-0.
The next game, called “Defying Gravity,” challenged participants to use their hand-eye coordination to keep three balloons airborne for as long as possible. The winner, lasting 60 seconds, was John Synowsky, a UCI senior homecoming king nominee. This put the students on the board and tied the overall score at 1-1.
The next game was titled “Speed Eraser.” Challengers were tasked with grabbing seven No. 2 pencils and trying to bounce each pencil off an eraser into a plastic cup. The player with the most pencils flipped into a cup would earn the win for their team. After successfully flipping a total of four pencils, UCI alumnus Bryce Roberto put the alumni ahead of the students 2-1 in the overall score.
The next challenge, titled “Backflip,” involved 12 No. 2 pencils. Participants used their forearms to flip two pencils at once and then catch them in the palm of their hand. Players would add two pencils to their hand after each successful attempt and continue flipping until they were able to catch all 12 pencils at once. The winner, with no mistakes at all, was Neloo Naderi for the alumni, putting them ahead with a score of 3-1.
The final challenge of this round was called “Face The Cookie.” Each competitor placed an Oreo on their forehead and tried to move it into their mouth without using their hands. Adam Rodriguez, a senior UCI homecoming king nominee, secured the victory for the students and placed the score at 3-2.
The next section of the competition was a trivia game. Participants were asked questions such as what are the four UCI libraries (Langson, Law, Medical and Science Libraries), which sports team has won the most national championships at UCI (Men’s Volleyball with four victories), which celebrity visited UCI during their 2014 graduation ceremony (Barack Obama), what famous movie was partially filmed at UCI (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”), how many varieties of trees are at Aldrich Park (51), where was commencement originally held at before moving to the Bren Events Center (Aldrich Park) and what food did Paul Merage invent with his brother (Hot Pockets). Daniel Martinez answered the highest number of questions correctly for the students, earning them 10 points and putting them ahead 12-3 in the overall score.
The final part of the event asked students and alumni to identify snippets of songs that were played by the hosts. Participants were played songs such as “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston, “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus, “Dynamite” by B.T.S., “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John, “YMCA” by Village People, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey and “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. In the end, the alumni scored 70 points, for seven correct answers, and the students 50 with five. The alumni were winners with a final score of 73-62.
“We are very grateful for all that contributed and helped out!” Rashid said after the event concluded. “Co-hosting the first-ever virtual homecoming with the Student Alumni Association was an opportunity like no other. We definitely worked super hard and saw everything pay off at the end and it was worthwhile!”
“Since our entire school year has been online it’s definitely been a little bit of an adjustment learning how to coordinate and plan events in a way that still engages students, so the fact that homecoming had over 5,000 participants is something I’m super proud of,” Megan Chimwaza, a third-year political science major and co-commissioner of ASUCI’s Campus Spirit Commission, said. “The fact that our game session alone had 148 participants and everyone enjoyed themselves makes me so proud.”
“Our interns especially took on this project mostly alone while my co-commissioner Sabrina and I supervised everything, and I hope they know how proud we are and I want everyone to know that the student vs. alumni game wouldn’t have been the same without them,” Chimwaza said.
The next homecoming event was a scavenger hunt hosted by the Student Alumni Association. Participants were split into six breakout rooms of about 15-20 students/alumni in each room. Participants were asked to find as many items from the list below from their own room in 10 minutes. The winners from each room were each given prizes such as a UCI sweatshirt, UCI pen, and more.
To conclude homecoming, the Student Alumni Association set up a virtual watch party for the Men’s basketball game via Zoom. The Anteaters defeated UC San Diego by a score of 75-64.
James Huston is a Campus News Intern for the Winter 2021 Quarter. He can be reached at hustonj@uci.edu
