The Catholic Student Association won the "Lip Sync" contest with their rendition of "One Jump Ahead" from the Disney movie "Aladdin." The Lion's Roar

The Baptist Collegiate Ministry built and lit the bonfire at the traditional homecoming pep rally. Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar

Continuing the traditions of Homecoming Week, the Traditions Committee of the Student Government Association organized the “Roar Rally Spirit Competition,” bonfire and pep rally at Cook Field followed by the “Lip Sync” contest in the University Center.

The events took place on Thursday, Oct. 5. Assistant Director of the Office for Student Engagement Kyle Gallagher explained the importance of these events.

“The bonfire and ‘Roar Rally’ is a chance for students to come out and get excited about the upcoming football game,” said Gallagher. “Homecoming events like ‘Lip Sync’ allow for chapters to bond and work with each other.  In addition, homecoming overall helps to promote a sense of pride and connection with the university.”

SGA Director of Traditions Hannah Fork described the process through which the traditions committee organized the events.

“Basically, we started off with the homecoming pack reviewing all the ‘Roar Rally’ rules,” said Fork. “We started off with that, and then we contacted the BCM in order to have them build the bonfire. BCM has just been doing it for multiple years. Once they met with Lt. Gipson, we were able to get the fire permit, and then we had to coordinate with the football players, the coaches, with the Lionettes and all the spirit groups to get them out here.”

Fork thought the rally and the bonfire event was successfully organized, and she also explained her goal for holding the event.

“I think it went awesome,” said Fork. “It’s been hectic this week due to all the weather stuff coming up, but it ended up doing awesome. Everything went as we wanted, there really weren’t any hiccups. All of the teams did awesome with their ‘Roar Rally’ chants. I couldn’t ask for any better. My biggest goal for having this event is for all the students and organizations to show their Southeastern pride and for all to come together.”

Following the events in Cook Field, the ‘Lip Sync’ contest began with seven teams participating in the contest. Catholic Student Association won the contest with their Aladdin-themed performance.

“Winning ‘Lip Sync’ was incredible,” said Parker Berthelot, who played Aladdin. “There are so many teams that came out and gave it their all, so to have gotten first place just blows me away. We’ve been working so long and hard on our performance that I knew that we had something fun and exciting to offer. When they called CSA’s name when announcing first place, I couldn’t believe it at first. There was just so many joyful emotions in that moment.”

Berthelot shared the hard work that went over their performance prior to the event.

“We had been practicing for weeks before,” said Berthelot. “We would go over and over and over it again, making sure everything looked good and that we were together. The best part of all that was that we had tons of fun doing it. Practice was always a great time because we’re like a family, and we like to have fun together.”

Berthelot explained the reasons behind their winning performace.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we performed as a team,” said Berthelot. “We’re all a family at CSA, and this experience has only helped us bond even more. I’m very proud of the people who choreographed our performance. They put much time and effort into organizing all of this, and I’m so glad they got to see it pay off.”

According to Gallagher, a change of location for the “Lip Sync” contest had a positive impact.

‘“Lip Sync’ went extremely well this year,” said Gallagher. “The new location in the University Center allowed for a better viewing experience by those in attendance. I think the performances really showcased how many talented students we have at Southeastern.”

Due to the weather condition, Saturday’s homecoming events have been moved to the Oct. 28 home football game against Sam Houston State University.