Story by Carlee Hite, Brennan Hoskins and Hope Heffley
WKU celebrated its annual Homecoming festivities with events from Friday, Oct. 31 to Saturday, Nov 1. The decided theme for this year was Once Upon a Hill. According to WKU’s website, the theme is inspired by the Halloween celebrations and captures the WKU Spirit. Read on for the Talisman’s coverage of the parade, tailgate, football game, step show and more.
Hilltoppers parade through Homecoming fairy tale style
The spirit of WKU flourished during the Homecoming parade and pep rally on Friday, Oct. 31. Fraternities and sororities from across campus, as well as other organizations and community members such as Habitat for Humanity, WKU Disaster Science Operations Center, the Big Red Barking Band and more, participated in the parade.
Alpha Omicron Pi senior Emily Ferrier, a human resources major, said that she felt bittersweet about her last homecoming.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s really rewarding,” Ferrier said.
Ferrier’s sorority teamed up with Lambda Chi Alpha, FarmHouse and Sigma Alpha to create their Wizard of Oz-themed float.
Ferrier said that, other than her own float, she liked Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Tau Omega’s Into the Woods float.
“I have a couple of friends over there, so I’m a little biased,” Ferrier said. “Honestly, everybody’s was really good. I know how much effort we put into ours, so just seeing the work everybody put into theirs, like, everybody did so good.”
Molly Wilson, a senior member of Kappa Delta, was a part of the float curation team. She said it felt crazy that this was her last homecoming as a student.
“I love homecoming just because I don’t think anybody does it quite like Western does,” Wilson said. “We really do all come together to get this thing done.”
Kappa Delta collaborated with Sigma Chi and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., to create their fairy tale float. A Kappa Delta member said they were aiming to encompass the spirit of the Hill with their float.
The Big Red Marching Band led the parade down College Street while playing various songs, including the WKU Fight Song. The parade ended at Fountain Square Park for Big Red’s Roar, the pep rally.
According to WKU’s website, the parade began at 4:30 p.m., which is earlier than normal to accommodate families’ Halloween plans.
The team pairings were as follows:
- Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. created a Tangled-themed float.
- Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. designed a Cinderella float.
- Omega Phi Alpha and Alpha Gamma Rho built a float with the theme “sliding into the future” and featured Big Red waving students goodbye from Van Meter Hall.
- Alpha Xi Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. created a Peter Pan float.
- Phi Mu, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. built a “Big Red’s Adventures in Wonderland” float.
- Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. created an Into the Woods float.
- Sigma Kappa, FIJI and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. designed an Alice in Wonderland float.
- Delta Zeta, Pike and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. built a Shrek-themed float
- Lambda Chi Alpha, FarmHouse, Sigma Alpha, and Alpha Omicron Pi constructed a Wizard of Oz-themed float.
- Kappa Delta, Sigma Chi and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. collaborated to create a fairy tale float.
At the end of the night, Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha and Omega Psi Phi won the coveted “Red and White Spirit Stick,” which identifies the team that showed the most school spirit and enthusiasm, according to the WKU website. Alpha Xi Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Phi Alpha won the float competition with their Peter Pan design.
Tailgating brings Hilltopper fans together
Hilltoppers of past and present years flocked to campus on Saturday, Nov. 1 for the Homecoming tailgate and football game. For this year’s Homecoming game, the Hilltoppers face New Mexico State University Aggies.
Lashai Williamson, a graduate of WKU’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, said that she and fellow alumna Krishanda Potter had returned to tailgating.
Williamson said the two had been avid Hilltopper fans in their college days.
“We went to every game,” Williamson said. “Basketball, football, baseball, everything.”
Williamson said she was mainly excited to reconnect with her fellow graduates.
“We came for the alumni parties, the fellowship with our friends and tailgating,” Williamson said. “It’s been nine years since we last came here.”
Williamson said that within those nine years, the campus had changed drastically.
“We parked over in a lot that didn’t exist before,” Williamson said. “Western does a good job of upkeeping.They are always changing the campus.”
Closer to the stadium, a patchwork blanket of tents spread across South Lawn. Under one of those tents was Craig White, a graduate of WKU’s Department of Marketing and current Bowling Green firefighter.
White, accompanied by his wife and fellow firemen, said the group tailgates as much as possible.
“We come here to tailgate every game we get a chance to,” White said. “We just love being on campus, seeing all the people and stuff going on.”
White said his Homecoming participation extended beyond the game.
“We like walking over and watching the parade, then coming to see the floats again today,” White said. “So we enjoy all of the events and festivities going on.”
White said he felt confident that the Hilltoppers would win against the Aggies.
The game kicked off at 2:30 p.m., surrounded by hundreds of fans. After struggling early on, the Hilltoppers ended the first half with an eight-point lead. At the end of the game, the Hilltoppers won the second half at a final score of 35-16.
The Big Red Marching Band performed multiple songs at halftime, leading into the crowning of the 2025 Homecoming Queen.
Genevieve Robinette, sponsored by Alpha Omicron Pi, FarmHouse, Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Alpha, took second runner-up. Hadley Whipple, sponsored by Kappa Delta and Sigma Chi, took first runner-up. In the end, it was Rayna Taylor, sponsored by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, who was crowned WKU’s Homecoming Queen of 2025.
Stepping into the fairy tale with NPHC’s annual Step Show
The NPHC hosted its 55th annual Homecoming step show on Saturday, Nov. 1. Held in the Van Meter Hall auditorium, the event drew a large crowd, with tickets to the show selling out days before the event, according to a post on their Instagram.
The NPHC is the governing organization of WKU’s nine historically African American letter sororities and fraternities. According to the website, the organization is active throughout the entire academic year, hosting events, educational programs and participating in community service around the city of Bowling Green.
Performing fraternities in the show consisted of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.
Sororities that performed at the event included Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
The environment of the event was lively and bubbling with excitement. Chants and cheers rang out in the hall as alumni of each chapter filled the auditorium, waiting for the show to begin.
Backstage, chapter members moved about at a whirlwind pace getting ready to go on. Some practiced in groups, others were hugging and sharing inspirational words.
Conyae Cherry is a senior in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Cherry said she was the stepmaster for the chapter’s performance this year, and is incredibly passionate about her chapter’s role and commitment.
Cherry said perfecting the show takes “blood, sweat, and tears.” Chapters train for months in preparation, choreographing, conditioning and perfecting the routine until the performance is as polished as possible.
Not only is the show loads of work and preparation, but Cherry said the history and significance of stepping runs so much deeper.
“Stepping represents not just performing but a sense of unity and having a creative outlet,” Cherry said.
Michael Diugu is the president of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He has been in the chapter and stepping since his freshman year. He said the biggest challenge of this year’s show wasn’t the hours of work or the juggling of classes, responsibility and practice.
“It was really just accepting that it’s my last one, it’s just about leaving it all out on the table,” Diugu said.
Stepping has been a tradition of African American sororities and fraternities since the early 1900s according to StepAfrika, one of the world’s leading step groups. According to the website, when African Americans began to attend universities in larger numbers, they decided to form their own Greek-letter organizations to support their community on campus.
“It’s about calling back to our roots and keeping tradition alive,” Diugu said. “That’s why it’s so significant, it’s how we express the way we feel, emotions, creativity, passion and everything that we do.”
Nadia Shobe, a senior in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said that the community and involvement of past members starts long before they take the stage. Shobe said each chapter performance is critiqued by their alumni, and that they help them make the performance as strong as it can be.
She said for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the alumni involvement supplies the girls with hope before the performance.
“That’s what they’re here for, we help each other out, that’s how we get connected is through our alumni,” Shobe said.
Instead of stepping, Shobe said she created the soundtrack and music for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.’s performance. She said that all members of the chapter have a part to play in putting on the show.
“I think that’s what makes it more unique,” Shobe said. “Everybody in my chapter is assigned to something, whether it’s lights, music, props or stepping, every member has a role.”
By the end of the evening, every chapter left everything they had on the stage. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. took home the win for their chapters.
Diugu said that reflecting on all the hard work these chapters put in encapsulates such a powerful experience of African American students that he hopes the audience also takes home with them.
“The embodiment of the hard work and perseverance of everything that we’ve been through in the past 200 years,” Diugu said. “Waking up and knowing that you have a busy day but making those sacrifices and knowing that you have something great to achieve.”