Marlin Cook, Staff Writer

The weather is cool, the leaves are falling and changing colors, football season is in full force and the days are getting shorter. Fall is here and students in the AUC  have just completed midterms. Looking forward, the annual SpelHouse homecoming is quickly approaching during the last weekend in October.

SpelHouse homecoming is one of the most exciting and important events to take place the entire year. Many people will be coming and going throughout the week enjoying the festivities, but there is a special group of people who make SpelHouse a success. This special group are the students who attend their respective colleges, Spelman and Morehouse.

For some students, it is a week of having fun with your friends and seeing who is the best dressed, or attending fraternal events with cash prizes at stake. Marcus Washington, a member of the Chi Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., participates in the annual step show every year.

“I don’t really get to participate in the homecoming festivities; it is more of a business week for me,” Washington said.

Washington enjoys hanging out with his frat brothers and when the older brothers’ come back to campus there is excitement but with a twist.

“When the pyrophytes (a member of a Greek organization for more than one year) are around, there is pressure of perfection and showing them that the shield is being held up to a good name,”  he said.

However, for students without fraternal obligations, the week is filled with late nights and can’t miss events. For Jason Grant, who transferred from Ohio State about two years ago, this will be his first time ever witnessing a SpelHouse homecoming.

“Coming from a PWI, they never celebrated homecoming the way it is celebrated down here,” he said.  

Grant’s excitement for his first homecoming could not be put into words, but his brothers had the perfect words when it came to describe the week and tailgate which is the highlight event of homecoming. Steven Bolden, along with Kris Mathis, have attended every tailgate since freshman year.

“It is an experience, to see all the alumni come back and show love to each other and the institution,” Bolden said.

“Homecoming is a marathon and not a race,” Mathis exclaimed.

One thing that is clear, no matter a student’s affiliation on campus, students from both campuses are the heart and soul of SpelHouse. As one student put it, the whole experience is invigorating.