The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Mavericks Spirit Contest saw different departments and Mavericks show their school pride for Homecoming Week.
Official participants included the Department of Business, Custodial Services, Western Colorado Community College (WCCC), Department of Mathematics, Lowell Heiny Hall, Career Services, Student Life and Residence Life.
“The contest was created as a way to increase the Maverick spirit on campus,” Director of Alumni Relations Jared Meier said. “The contest was a way to present a challenge and watch people’s competitive sides come out. I’m always blown away by how well the departments and their students collaborate on it.”
The Department of Business had a competition within the three classes that represented them in the Spirit Contest as well. “We entered them in the spirit week competition, but [they] also compete[ed] for Department of Business swag,” Staff Assistant Annie Shoberg said. “It’s been fun to watch the department come together for some friendly competition, and we hope it helps students feel more connected to campus.”
Career Services had a different take on the Road Trip theme for their decorations. “Our take on the theme was ‘Road Trip to the Real World’ – we had a number of ‘stops’ along the road that a Maverick might make as they progress through their education here at CMU,” Coordinator of Career Services Alecia Dembowski said. “Stop number one was Major Exploration; stop number 2 was Job Search; three was Resume Writing; four was Dress to Impress for an interview; and five was Launch into your Career.
WCCC was a co-winner of Best Performance, along with Lowell Heiny Hall. WCCC put together a video that featured their decorations in the front Hallway of Building B, including a head cutout of President Foster in a refurbished CMU alumni truck earning a citation from their Police Academy “Interceptor.”
“Homecoming is always a fun week that reminds us about our CMU family and how far it extends. When we were setting up our display, we had several people coming through who told us little stories about their time as a CMU/WCCC student,” WCCC Director of Student Services Kelly Reuss said.
The other Best Performance co-winner was Lowell Heiny Hall, who decked out their first floor in a Dr. Seuss-inspired theme.
CMU’s Custodial Services participated in the contest for the first time, decorating their custodial office on Orchard.
“Overall, it went well, and those that participated had a lot of fun with it. We have a large number of our full time staff that are either CMU Alumni, or are currently pursuing a degree, so we used them as our focus in our decorations,” Custodian III Shari Burkhalter said. “Being out and about on campus, it seems like the students [were] really getting into and enjoying all the activities. It’s fun to check out all the different decorations. I like the fact that even businesses in the community participate in some of the activities.”
Student Life emerged as the winners of the contest, hoisting the trophy during the Homecoming football game versus Black Hills State University which the Mavericks ended up winning 58-21.
“The win was a complete team effort. Our student staff really took pride in this project and it was so fun to watch their creativity flow! It took a week to set everything up and everyone pitched in. We had six cities on our ‘road trip’ with different transportation in between each, there were a lot of elements,” Director of Student Life Shanae Mundee said.
“I think we also show school spirit by how we treat everyone that come through our doors, we really try to get everyone to join our Mavily and I think that’s a critical factor in school spirit,” Mundee said.
With departments around campus showing their Maverick Pride, the bonfire and carnival lighting up Friday night, and the football game essentially over by halftime, CMU showed their homecoming was a journey indeed.
“This year we saw more people involved with each of the departments presentations. There were live skits, delicious food offered, and massive amounts of creativity and thought went into each and every one of them. It was incredible and totally set the tempo for an amazing Homecoming Weekend,” Meier said.
