Homecoming officially kicked off Friday at the UC patio with the Opening Ceremonies and Hurricane Howl, the fall concert with headliners New Found Glory and opening band All That’s Left.
Hurricane Productions was in charge of signing the bands to play and managing the audience.
According to organizers, opening ceremonies were done in a “pep-rally” style on the UC Patio to get students pumped up for the next two weeks.
“I’m really impressed that the University has gone ahead and organized this event,” Jenine Douglas said. “This is awesome and I’m having a lot of fun.”
During opening ceremonies, the homecoming executive committee and each organization participating in homecoming events were introduced.
At 8:30 pm, All That’s Left, a band from Hollywood, FL, performed their fast, modern punk rock., followed by New Found Glory’s melodic crossover punk music.
“I’ve known [the drummer of All That’s Left] for two years, and he’s really worked hard for this,” said junior Sandeep Patel. “I thought their performance was amazing, and I want to buy their new CD.”
“I’ve seen them before, and the live shows rock,” said sophomore Randall Rahm, a resident of New Found Glory’s hometown of Coral Springs. “It’s good to see a local band playing at homecoming.”
According to organizers and those present, there were problems with crowd control and moshing throughout the event because of the presence of non-students and local fans of the bands, many of whom were witnessed trying to buy tickets as guests of UM students.
A member of Hurricane Productions stated that the moshing and crowd surfing were stopped because of liability issues and safety of the audience.
“Besides the fact that it got a little crazy at times, I think that, overall, everything went well,” Douglas said. “Everyone is going to come home smiling.”
“It was a wild concert,” Emma Carroll said. “They put on a great show.”
The Miss University of Miami Pageant took place Sunday night at the Gusman Concert Hall.
The winner of the Miss UM title was Jenna Edwards. She was sponsored by Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Fifteen contestants participated in the scholarship competition. Among the prizes was a $1,000 scholarship, gift certificates for massages from the Wellness Center, and arrangements by Cookies By Design, as well as many other prizes.
The fourth runner-up, Kiara Duran, was also named Miss Congeniality. She was sponsored by Kappa Sigma. The third runner-up, Angie Perez was sponsored by Zeta Tau Alpha. The second runner-up, Candice Byrd, was sponsored by Delta Delta Delta. Diane Cabrera was the first runner-up, sponsored by the Federation of Cuban Students.
Jenna Edwards will represent UM in the Miss Florida Pageant in June.
The annual homecoming blood drive takes place this week until Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day in the University Center Flamingo Ballrooms. All donations go to the Florida Blood Bank.