By Millie Appleton

Tests are piling high and the end of the semester is rapidly approaching, but many students only have one thing on their minds: Homecoming. Though they may not admit it to their teachers, many students are spending more hours on Homecoming than homework, and that’s particularly true with Greek students. Homecoming is no longer just the traditional pep rally and football game, but a week of competition Greeks look forward to and plan for all year.

Though Homecoming events are only a week long, the Student Alumni Board has been meeting since last semester to plan for “A Red and White Affair,” the theme of this year’s Homecoming competition. The board’s Homecoming committee, led by Megan Lomax, worked all summer and has been meeting once a week this semester to plan every detail. Everyone on the committee this year is Greek, “so we’ve really had to take a step back and not be biased to our fraternity or sorority,” said Andrew “Vu” Ritchie, Homecoming committee member and Sigma Chi president.

Sororities are paired with one or more fraternities for the competitions. In early October, SAB released pairings and the 2009 theme, kicking off the countless hours of planning for floats, lawn decorations and more.

Every sorority and fraternity handles the competition differently. Chi Omega sorority has a Homecoming committee with separate committees within it for each of the events, said Bethany Haefner, Chi Omega president. Most houses have a similar system and require members to work a certain number of hours. Freshmen are normally required to work about 15 hours, more than other pledge classes, to get them more involved.

“I’ve gotten to know a lot of people just because I’ve had to ask for blood donations, like a lot of people in my classes,” said Blair Woodward, freshman Kappa Delta sorority member. “But also we’ve had an extra coke date with Sigma Chi just to get to know the boys better since we’ll be working with them this week.”

Though only a certain amount of hours are required of each member, that doesn’t stop members from going above and beyond to earn more points for the competition.

“Freshman love to help out, and honestly it gets so competitive as the week goes on we will all be staying up to work on banners or something,” said Ashley Shelton, public relations chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma women’s fraternity. “I don’t know how many hours are spent working on Homecoming. What’s seven times 24?”

One activity keeping Greeks busy for hours is pomping. A foreign term to many students, pomping is when tissue paper is wadded up and stuck into chicken wire that is formed into shapes for a parade float or lawn decorations. The time-consuming task is similar to a puzzle, the final product nearly unrecognizable until finished.

All of the time spent on Homecoming is proportionate to the money spent, as well. The Homecoming budget for SAB comes from the Alumni House and association, who help organize Homecoming every year. All sororities and fraternities also have Homecoming funds built into their budget.

“A lot more goes into (the budget) than we like; we’d rather see that money go to our philanthropy,” Haefner said. “But all the presidents said something about how SAB wants it to stay the main competition of the year.”

The week is packed with competitions, including a cook-off, step show, and the pigskin classic. Though the events can get extremely competitive, the climax of the week brings everyone together to call those Hogs at the big game the next day.

“The pep rally is in conclusion to such a big week … and every house is screaming and excited to win, but most of all we’re there for the Razorbacks,” Shelton said. “The emphasis is taken off the Homecoming competition and put on the Homecoming game.”

Though Homecoming is often perceived to be a Greek event, Parice Bowser, director of Greek Life, stressed the importance of Homecoming being a UA event to bring all students together.

“I want everyone to enjoy Homecoming just like our Greeks do,” she said. “UA homecoming is about everyone, and I wish everyone would be involved and get as excited as our Greeks are.”