UTRGV’s Homecoming Week activities are underway and will continue through Feb. 18, with a dance, parades, basketball games, a barbecue and the burning of the letters.
5 p.m. today is the deadline for eligible student organizations to sign up for the UTRGV’s Window Painting Contest. Although the contest started Wednesday, organizations have until 5 p.m Monday to finish their art pieces.
Second- and third-place winners will receive catering credits for their student organization. The first-place winner will receive a catered party for the organization at a Student Union Game Room of its choice.
Winners will be announced at the Vaquero Boots and Barbecue at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Union Quad on the Edinburg campus.
Saturday is the annual Dye Hard Orange 5K color fun run and walk. Check-in starts at 7:15 a.m. and the race begins at 8:30 a.m. at the UTRGV Harlingen Campus Clinical Education Building, 2102 Treasure Hills Blvd.
Registration is on VLink and is free for current students, $15 for faculty, staff and alumni, and $25 for community registration.
The activities are meant to “honor our legacy and build our future,” according to Cristina Rodriguez, assistant director of Student Activities.
Rodriguez said the university has “transitioned from king and queen to university royals.”
Vaqueros will choose three UTRGV royals from a ballot of six candidates:
–business student Anjanette Aguado
–health student Dylan Alvarado
–nursing student Rensanali Dela Cruz
–mass communication student Angela Flores
–dance teacher certification student Jennifer Jimenez
–music teacher certification student Allysa Perez
Students will receive the ballot through their UTRGV email on Monday and have until midnight Thursday to vote for their choice of royals.
The Homecoming dance and social, V My Valentine, will take place 4 to 6 p.m. Monday in the Student Union’s La Sala on the Brownsville campus.
Hosted by the Student Union, the event will feature DJs from Student Media, free desserts and chocolates.
The Student Union will serve free ice cream sundaes from noon to 1 p.m. Monday in the Clinical Education Building on the Harlingen campus.
From 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Student Union Quad on the Edinburg campus, the university will feature a new event called Vaquero Boots and Barbecue. The event will have a dance instructor teaching line dance, a barbecue food truck, giveaways, and the local country band Cheyenne will perform.
There will be a calf walk competition where Vaqueros will compete in three boot categories:
–originality and confidence
–fashion and styling
–star factor and audience appreciation.
“We want to encourage people to wear their cowboy boots,” Rodriguez said.
From 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Facilities Parking Lot on the Edinburg campus, students can participate in the wrapping of the UTRGV letters, which will be burned on Thursday.
The Homecoming parades will take place Wednesday on the Brownsville campus and Thursday on the Edinburg campus.
Starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday on the Student Union lawn in Brownsville, students, faculty and staff can participate in events, including a photo booth and a DIY Vaquero hat station, leading up to the parade at 3 p.m.
The first 200 students will receive free bolis.
In Edinburg, the festivities start at 4 p.m. and the parade will get underway at 5 p.m. Thursday on the Quad in Edinburg. Students will walk the route of the parade and take a group photo around 5:45 p.m.
The parade will end at the Fieldhouse, where the UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team will play against Abilene Christian University at 6:30 p.m.
After the game, the annual Burning of the Letters will take place from 9 to 10 p.m. in Edinburg Fieldhouse parking lot E-16.
The UTRGV Baseball Team will face off against the University of Rhode Island in its season opener at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Baseball Stadium on the Edinburg campus.
Homecoming Week will end with a tailgate party from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday in Fieldhouse parking lot E-16 on the Edinburg campus.
“We are trying to bring back tailgating … just trying to get everyone really excited because that’s gonna be part of the football experience when it launches,” Rodriguez said.
Afterward, the men’s basketball team will play against the University of Texas at Arlington at 6:30 p.m. in the Fieldhouse.
Rodriguez said students should “come out and really enjoy and build that sense of belonging and have an opportunity to get to meet new folks and build into that UTRGV spirit.”
