Homecoming goes virtual - The Rider Newspaper

Students and visitors take photos while the UTRGV letters burn during the Fire Up event last spring at the Fieldhouse parking lot on the Edinburg campus. The burning of the letters is a traditional event for the UTRGV community during Homecoming week.

Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER

With Homecoming traditionally being a weeklong event in February, Student Activities has changed it to a virtual, three weekslong event due to COVID-19.

Cindy Mata-Vasquez, director of Student Activities, said the change was made after discussing with fellow departments.

“So, we spoke to our partners at Athletics, we spoke to our friends at Alumni Relations, and we, kind of, discussed, like, the pros and cons of doing a three-weekend series, and everyone agreed to it,” Mata-Vasquez said.

She said students were also included in the talks of altering the Homecoming celebration.

“It was kind of 50-50,” Mata-Vasquez said. “So, we were like, ‘Let’s try it out.’ It doesn’t hurt to try something out.”

She said events will be on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. To see the list of events, RSVP and be updated on Homecoming, click here.

“We are working closely with our partners at Athletics to figure out, you know, how do we move forward.” Mata-Vasquez said. “We definitely want to celebrate our students and celebrate Homecoming, but we also want to be respectful of anything that Athletics may be doing to honor [former UTRGV Men’s Basketball Head Coach Lew Hill.]”

Hill, 55, died in his sleep Feb. 7.

The first virtual tailgate was postponed due to Grand Canyon University not being able to make it to the Rio Grande Valley to play against UTRGV.

“We thought, ‘Let’s just postpone it and see if we can do it another time,’” she said.

Hannah Brigitte Ramirez Rangel, a civil engineering freshman, said she was going to attend the virtual tailgate and the basketball game, but it got postponed.

“I’ve been attending, like, some online events and then also, like, organizations, and it’s been a little bit, like, different from, like, what I, kind of like, expected, like, in person,” Rangel said. “It’s my first year, so that’s, like, I really don’t have high expectations, but they’re trying to create the atmosphere you would have in person.”

She encourages her fellow freshmen to participate in online events.

Noel Rangel, a sociology senior, transferred to UTRGV before the pandemic and had the chance to experience Homecoming in person.

“It was really cool,” Rangel said. “You know, entering UTRGV, I didn’t know how the events were going to happen, or how they were gonna play out, but they were huge and they were super fun.”

He said he wants to attend the virtual tailgate and dance party because he loves to dance.

“I think that it’s a great way of giving us some normalcy,” Rangel said. “I know that virtually, everything is not the same, but if I can be on the screen seeing my colleagues, friends and the faculty, it brings me joy that I am still able to see them through Zoom.”

He said he appreciates virtual events and that it is a great opportunity to meet new people and win prizes.

“I know, it’s not the same as in person, but try to attend the online events,” Rangel said. “They’re pretty fun. I just imagine how they’re going to be, hopefully, in person sometime soon. … If you’re a freshman, you still have four more years to go. So, you’ll probably see an event in person sometime soon.”