In a time where many communities were riddled with damages caused by Hurricane Harvey, it can be difficult to show any type of spirit. Hurricane Harvey shook many communities to the core, but one thing it proved was that UHCL’s spirit grew stronger. UHCL will host its annual Spirit Week for students Oct. 9 – 14.
Spirit week is a week-long event dedicated to school spirit. During Spirit Week, students are encouraged to participate in the daily events that take place, such as “I Heart UHCL Day” Oct. 11, where students are encouraged to dress up to show who has the most school spirit and a winner will be chosen. Other events taking place during spirit week will be Campus Recess, which will be held in the Delta fields Oct. 9, and Bingo and Breakfast held in the Garden Room on Oct. 10. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) will host a “Fright Night Dance” in the Garden room Friday, Oct. 13.
The campus will offer the UHCL Cares Day community service fair between 12-4 p.m. Oct. 12 and The Student Life Film and Speaker Series will show Spiderman: Homecoming at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 14.
“Don’t hide your pride, show your love,” said Patrick Cardenas, assistant director of student life. “GO HAWKS.”
Offices are encouraged to participate by decorating their offices and/or their windows or doors with a fun theme. Last year the Office of Admissions took home the victory for Best Decorated Office.
“It’s really exciting to win, especially since it was our first time competing,” said Amanda De Gracia, admissions evaluator II. “We like having that record, 1-0.”
Decorating offices can be a time-consuming process, which will include many staff members coming together with a central theme.
“When it comes to participating this year, we are not sure what to do this year.” said Natasha De Gracia, admissions evaluator I. “Last year we had so much more staff.”
Many offices and student clubs will participate in decorating their office, doors or windows with variety of themes in hopes of winning this year. UHCL students can go online and vote for their favorite designed office and door by visiting https://uhcl.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a5D7seWVeHQcXSI. Winners will be announced on “I Heart UHCL Day” Oct. 11 with a cut-off date for voting Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m.
Unfortunately, not every student will be able to attend the festivities of Spirit Week, like Kinesiology student Tyler Matejka. UHCL is still classified as a commuter school that does not yet offer live on dorms, which can make it difficult for some students to come to campus for events.
“I love being a Hawk, but I wish I had more opportunities to participate in spirit week,” Matejka said. “I work a lot of hours, and I am full-time student, so it can be difficult to find time.”
Many students, like social work major Jessica Sauceda, are excited to show off their school spirit in hopes of winning “Most School Spirit-Individual” or “Most School Spirit-Group.”
“Being a Hawk has been a great experience,” said Sauceda, who is in her last semester at UHCL. “This campus has made me feel like I was a part of something and included. I always enjoyed participating in the different events on campus during Spirit Week; it’s saddening that it will unfortunately, be my last here.”
