Southern Miss celebrated another homecoming week with festivities at both the Hattiesburg and Gulf Coast campuses.
All week, students celebrated their school’s traditions by participating in events such as “Bring it on Eagle Style” in Reed Green Coliseum on Monday and the “Fountain Sit” on Friday afternoon. Students were able to get involved in any way that they saw fit.
“The hardest part about this is not the questions, but the games that they play,” said junior marketing major Ryan Delmas, who participated in the Fountain Sit on Friday from 1-5 p.m. “You’re always kind of moving around. There are fake keys too. You get happy, then it kind of bums you down.”
In recent years, the USM community has taken into account social media’s involvement in homecoming preparation. Organizations spanning from Greek to academic clubs participated in team events. Each team competed by taking varying pictures and videos showcasing their school spirit.
On Friday night, each team was tasked with decorating a billboard that would be presented at the front of the Hattiesburg campus for all visitors, students and staff to see to celebrate the occasion. This led into Saturday’s events, as the influx of visitors and the rest of the USM community was able to watch their Golden Eagles play against the Marshall Thundering Herd, and see the annual parade at 11 a.m.
Homecoming culminated with the football team taking the field against a Marshall team that had defeated Southern Miss in the last five contests. Although the game was particularly close, Nick Mullens guided his team to a 24-14 victory over the Thundering Herd as he set several career records.
“We have had great atmospheres at ‘The Rock,’ we really have,” said Head Coach Jay Hopson. “Eagle Walk [is] fantastic on weekends. It uplifts these guys. You notice the only game we lost [against Troy in rain-filled fashion] we didn’t have Eagle Walk. To say our fans aren’t our 12th man is an understatement. We need those fans, that really gives us some help.”
The homecoming festivities sponsored by the Southern Miss Student Government Association, went under the theme of “Forever Gold,” used to inspire commonwealth among the entire Southern Miss community.
