Star-studded Homecoming Week to feature Lupe Fiasco, Wayans brothers

By: Alfredo Aparicio / Life! Editor

Big stars will be making their way onto campus during Homecoming Week, including hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, who will be the main event at this year’s Homecoming concert.

While there are plenty of pre-Homecoming events to choose from, Homecoming Overall Director Mercy Lavado promises that there is plenty to please everyone during Sep. 25 until Oct. 1.

The Homecoming Concert, which kicks off the week on Sep. 25, will feature the talents of Fiasco, accompanied by Tinie Tempah at 7 p.m. in the Football Stadium.

“After carefully examining who was currently on the top charts, we started thinking about the demographics of our students,” explained Lavado. “We felt Lupe Fiasco would best cater to the musical interests of the student body as a whole and also the Miami community.”

Tempah, who Lavado described as a rising star who is gaining fans in Europe, will also demonstrate his talents to create the feel-good concert the homecoming council has been aiming for. The University spent $90,000 to bring both Fiasco and Tempah to the University.

“We made lists of people but the council ultimately decided this would be the most appealing,” added Lavado. “Of course, with any artist, there are difficulties to overcome between managements, contracts and more, but we got both for $90,000.”

Lavado believes this concert will also be an opportunity for incoming freshman to come and support the events.

“Our goal is to have an amazing kick-off event for Homecoming Week to encourage everyone to come out to the other events. We hope this leads to a larger attendance at our Homecoming Game [so students] support the team,” said Lavado. “This concert will create the hype and excitement for everyone to see how amazing this week is and since this is the first big event freshmen will encounter, we get to instill their FIU pride early on.”

On Monday, Sep. 26, the events continue with a Pep Rally at 12 p.m. at the Graham Center Lawns.  At night, the main event will be the Panther Prowl, held at 7 p.m. in the US Century Bank Arena, where the Wayans Brothers – Shawn and Marlon – will be featured. The cost of both brothers ranged from $35,000 to 45,000.

“[The Wayans Brothers] appeal to the masses,” said Lavado. “They are known throughout a diverse population and their sense of humor can be appreciated by all. Aside from their movies, ‘Scary Movie’ and ‘White Chicks,’ their stand-up has gotten excellent reviews.”

The process was the same as with Fiasco, Tempah and the Wayans Brothers have shown their enthusiasm about coming to the University.

“They tweeted us about their excitement,” said Lavado.

The Homecoming Council usually has 3,800 tickets every year for Panther Prowl, but with the popularity of the Wayans Brothers, they have extended their tickets to 5,000. Despite having more tickets, Lavado advises to come early as tickets run out fast.

On Tuesday, Sep. 27, the week continues with the National Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show at the US Century Bank Arena at 7:30 p.m.

The NPHC, also known as “The Divine Nine,” will perform a Step Show that has traditionally been held every year at the Biscayne Bay Campus. Due to growing demand, it has been moved to a larger venue and incorporated into the Homecoming Week.

“The step show is a chance for members of the NPHC to showcase the unique talents and traditions of their respective black organizations through stepping, chants and strolls,” explained Lavado. “Judged and based on the traditional steps that have been around for over 100 years, in some instances, step shows are integral parts of the NPHC Greek Life.”

The Homecoming Council hopes the show will also generate a bigger interest outside of the NPHC community and keep non-NPHC students informed and interested in coming out and seeing the show.

“[The NPHC Step Show] has been successful because the FIU chapters work alongside the other chapters in other Florida campuses,” said Lavado. “For example, one organization here can call upon the chapter of Florida Atlantic University to help their performance. This is a huge event within the NPHC community and it is unique to FIU.”

The Variety Show will take place on Wednesday, Sep. 28, at 8 p.m. in the BBC Wolfe University Center Theatre. It will incorporate different acts such as magicians, contortionists and other performers. Everything will be directly related to this year’s Homecoming theme: “If Roary Ran the Circus…”

The penultimate event, the Lip Sync/Talent Show, will take place at 8 p.m. between the Gold and Blue Garages.

Lip Sync is a chance for students to showcase either a talent or a choreographed Lip Syncing routine. All dances incorporate this year’s Homecoming theme, FIU panther pride and student creativity,” explained Lavado.

Homecoming King and Queen Voting will take place Sep. 29 in the Modesto Maidique Campus and BBC Computer Labs and online from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. The Homecoming Dance will begin at 8 p.m. at BBC’s WUC Ballrooms.

Oct. 1 marks the start of “Game Day” with the Homecoming Parade in the Ryder Business Building Loop at 2 p.m. and continues with the Panthermonium Gameday Tailgate in Lot 6 across the Everglades Hall Residence Housing at 3 p.m.

The Homecoming Game between FIU and Duke University begins at 6 p.m. in the FIU Football Stadium.

A message from the Homecoming Council: Any student or groups of students can participate in any of the Homecoming events. All events are free with Panther IDs and tickets are available for Alumni.  If students as well as faculty and staff are interested in participating, there are participation packets located on our website at hc.fiu.edu under Policies and Forms. Any questions or concerns may be addressed to the corresponding emails on the packets or by simply passing by our office at GC 2214.

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