One-Hundred Years of School Pride
This past week, Texas Tech celebrated its homecoming in the midst of the one-hundredth-year anniversary of the university. Homecoming season means a busy week for us Saddle Tramps, as we make sure we are doing our best to ensure the best homecoming experience for all Red Raiders and the community of Lubbock. To get homecoming started, many of our brothers participated in the Tech Preview and Homecoming kickoff, both of which were huge successes in getting the student body excited for the week to come. To follow that, we participated in the S.O. Sing competition alongside Alpha Omega Epsilon, and were able to take home second place in the student organizations category!
One of the most important traditions that we partake in during homecoming week is the great bonfire that burns brightly through the night before game day. This year, we were donated 422 wooden pallets from Nutrien Ag Solutions and Barrett Farms, as well as a trailer and pickup to haul said pallets by Jay Light Farms. A huge thank you to those who supported us in the preparations for the bonfire, it was a major success, and we hope that all current students, alumni, and the people of Lubbock enjoyed our long-running tradition.
Unfortunately, our football team was unable to come out with a win over the Kansas State Wildcats, as they fell with a score of 38-21. Nonetheless, we had a great time supporting our Red Raiders, and hope for a bounce-back victory as they play one of the new Big XII recruits, the BYU Cougars, in Provo, Utah. We remain confident that our guys will be able to earn their spot in a bowl game this season. Though we are in the heat of an up-and-down football season, we are beginning to look forward to the fast-approaching basketball season, as our guys will open their season with a charity scrimmage against long-time rival Texas A&M, on October 29th
Saddle Tramp Spotlight
In this newsletter, we would like to highlight one of our most hardworking and dedicated men in the organization, Mark Parrish. Mark is from Prosper, Texas, and graduated as a part of the class of 2022 from Prosper High School. He is a member of the Fall ‘22 pledge class, the Cactus Crusaders, and since his pledge semester, has been working tirelessly as our homecoming committee head. As homecoming committee head, Mark is tasked with all things homecoming, including the bonfire and interactions with our homecoming partner: Alpha Omega Epsilon, as well as other university events like Arbor Day. I had the opportunity to sit down with Mark and talk a little about his experiences in preparation for homecoming this year. When asked about the importance of the homecoming traditions we uphold, he reinforced that: “We’ve been doing these traditions for such a long time ... and the fact that we keep carrying on this bonfire tradition … [everyone] is there, and it brings everyone together and brings a sense of pride and unity to our school.” Mark continued to speak more about how proud he is that we are able to play this role within our community, but we cannot do it alone. Mark went on to describe the involvement of our homecoming partners: “[AOE] has been amazing, they’ve been incredible … they’ve been heavily committed to what we get done. They put in so much effort and heart and soul.” We would like to thank Alpha Omega Epsilon for their hard work and collaboration with us throughout the past few months. When I asked Mark about how big of a role he felt he played in the organization of all our homecoming events, he humbly stated: ”A lot of it goes unnoticed, but I kind of like that … it feels good to do something that you really love doing.” We could not have made it through this homecoming week without Mark and his committee, so we hope he can be further recognized through this Saddle Tramp Spotlight.
Article written by Blake Moos
Pictures taken by Landon Mehta