On a cloudy and rain-sprinkled Friday afternoon, Malcolm X Plaza turned from grey to yellow. Eager SF State Gators filled the area with bright yellow T-shirts with “Gator Nation” printed on the front, in a last-minute campaign to encourage more students to go to the homecoming games, hoping that their voices echo throughout campus.

Inside the gymnasium, yellow and purple signs emblazoned and highlighted every corner, coupled with the encouragement of cheerleaders and the students’ chant of “Go Gators.” As time passed, more students fell in line at the entrance of the gym.

Homecoming at SF State calls for students to come out and support the basketball teams’ last home game of the season in an effort to bring everybody on campus together, according to Jaih McReynolds, Associated Student at-large representative.

Due to the absence of the football team, the ASI decided to have homecoming during the basketball season, since it’s the second most popular sport, according to McReynolds. However, according to some of the students at the games, the number of attendees could have been higher. They said the publicity of the event might have had a hand in this.

“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have noticed homecoming,” said Jose Paz, a junior in Raza studies, who was at the women’s game. “I think there were some improvements in advertisement this year, in comparison to last year.”

Paz said he learned about the event through his friend. He said even though there weren’t as many students as he expected at the game, the students who were at the game were definitely enthusiastic. “I think this is a way for students to connect with one another and give us a chance to be proud of our school.”

Two days before homecoming, some students said they didn’t even know that SF State had the event. Some learned about it just recently after seeing advertisements on campus. Some students said there are not enough notices on campus to raise awareness.

“I never heard anyone talking about homecoming on this campus. I don’t think the school promotes it that much,” said Masumi Wada, a senior majoring in Chinese. Wada said she would be interested in going to the game if she didn’t have to work that day.

Another student pointed out that homecoming at SF State wasn’t like what they had experienced in high school.

“The school doesn’t make it seem like a big event,” said Tabitha Bender, a freshman, majoring in nursing. She recalled her high school memories, noting everybody was interested in the event. She added that it seemed like SF State isn’t really big on sports, making it an event more for the athletes, and not the school at large.

Some students felt that their life is more focused on out-of-school activities and they do not have time for school functions.

“If I were an undergraduate student, I would probably be interested,” said Thad Fowler, studying for his master of fine arts degree in creative writing. “Since this is my final semester, I guess I’m not really looking for big social events on campus. I have my own life outside of school, and that’s my priority.”

To promote students’ awareness of the event, the athletic department has increased advertising on campus, according to Douglas Hupke, associate director of Athletics Operation and Development. He said they have been decorating and posting banners for about a week and a half, and added that this year was probably the biggest increase in advertising for the event in the last few years.

According to McReynolds, to encourage school spirit, the ASI decided to give away free T-shirts to the first 500 students who showed up for the games, in addition to free popcorn and distributing raffle tickets to the students, giving them a chance to win an iPod music player. A homecoming king, queen, prince and princess were also nominated by ASI from students on campus, according to McReynolds.

Homecoming disappeared from campus in 1994 when the athletic department cancelled the football program at SF State. However, with the encouragement of ASI, homecoming returned about three years ago, according to Hupke.

“Homecoming is very important,” Hupke said. “It encourages school spirit and brings everybody together in the university.”

In Spring 2002, four students, along with the help of the ASI, coordinated and funded the first homecoming in eight years. One of those, Sterling Brown, wanted to encourage students to join school events.

“We wanted to have more people to build a community in school, since SF State is a commuter school and doesn’t have events like this,” said Brown.

Since 2003, ASI has hosted Homecoming, according to McReynolds. “Every year, it’s becoming more popular and more students recognize the event,” she said.