By Leilani Duran
Around 500 spirited Mustangs past and present, clad in red, paraded around Doak Walker Plaza at the Friday Night Stampede, a pep rally, to celebrate 100 years of athletics here on the Hilltop. Excitement mounted as the crowd stirred about the first SMU home football game Saturday against rival Texas A&M.;
“Since we have a new head coach, there will definitely be changes…but I think that [SMU] is very optimistic about this new era,” said Mustang 11 freshman spirit member Adrieanna Reyes. The long awaited but tumultuous start to the SMU football season, with two early losses, had students ready to head back to the Boulevard to support the team through this transition into its next 100 years.
Stampede, a new SMU tradition, fosters the idea that there is “nothing like SMU spirit… and it brings us together as a community and school,” says best dressed spirit squad member Nate Williams. White tents, filled with red glowsticks, pom-poms, and other spirit goodies, lined the Mustang Mall leading down to a stage where the SMU Belle Tones and Mustang Band performed for the crowd. Fans could refuel at food trucks from Ruthie’s and Kona Ice, choose to just relax and play a carnival game or listen to the catchy songs performed by the hub of SMU spirit, the Mustang Band.
A new football coach isn’t all that has changed this football season. The highlights of the evening’s festivities included the dedication of the new state-of-the-art Mustang Band Hall and the first ceremonial illumination of the cupolas of Armstrong Commons and the Laura Lee Blanton Building.
Mustang Band alumni like Tom Wright expressed their gratitude to donors who funded the new band hall saying, “It came 40 years too late…we even had a few rehearsals underwater,” due to the old band hall’s location under the Perkins Natatorium. The new band hall located underneath the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports is “a great place to rehearse and a great recruiting tool for growing the band up to 150 members from its current 90,” said drum major Nick Morris who spoke at its dedication.
The cupolas made their debut illuminating a stark white then changing to red, which will signal a Mustang victory moving forward.
During the Stampede, Adrieanna Reyes said that she “loved seeing so many generations of Mustangs come out and connect with the current students, staff, and faculty” on a momentous night supporting SMU athletics now and into the future.
