Students, alumni, faculty, and community members filled all 6500 seats of Corbett Sports Center as the official homecoming kick-off Pep Rally began on Monday, Oct. 6. Hosted by Marcus Bass, president of the Student Government Association, and senior Brandon Alan, the event featured the sounds and styles of the Blue & Gold Marching Machine, appearances from all the fall sports teams, and the game chants of the Aggie Maniacs.
“Everyday of homecoming this year is going to be off the hook,” Bass said. “It’s homecoming ya’ll.”
Before motivational speaker Fonzworth Bentley took the stage, the music of DJ Red October lead to a “woo-tang” battle between Marcus Cobb, Mr. Aggie, and junior Gary “G-Smooth” Madison, an Aggie Maniacs member.
“My Aggie spirit made me want to get on stage and battle,” Cobb said. “This is how old school Aggies get it.” Followed by the dance off, Justin Blake, Vice President of External Affairs, and senior Justin Moore unexpectedly took the stage and had a mini step off, with Blake representing Alpha Phi Alpha and Moore representing Omega Psi Phi.At the end of the “step show” the Aggie Cheerleaders performed to keep the spirits of the crowd high, giving Bentley plenty of energy to work with when he finally took the stage.”Talking straight,” to the crowd, Bentley spoke on what the true definition of the new “cool” was.
“I think that going to college is cool, being a gentleman is cool, I think that being a lady is cool, but I don’t think that using profanity is cool,” Bentley said, keeping the crowd entertained.
Calling it underestimated, powerful, and a deciding factor in so many things in students lives, this new “cool” Bentley spoke of focused on three aspects which he called “tenants: unity, giving back, and the power of the vote.”
“Giving back is not an option, because you know just as well as I do that HBCU’s are fizzling away left and right. It’s going to be great when you come back for your first alumni homecoming and you know that you’ve given back,” Bentley said. “That is powerful. That is cool.”
Rounding out his speech by focusing on the vote, Bentley referred to North Carolina as the Florida of the 2008 election. Encouraging students to vote early on Oct. 16, Bentley left, but not without giving a shout out to juniors Gary Brown and Syene Jasmine, who have both been extremely active in the campaign.
“It was great to get a shout out from Bentley, but most importantly, he talked about the early voting,” Brown said. “Forget the shout out, he was focused on getting out the vote which is great.”
He discussed how important it is to network with each other in our majors but also to branch out and get to know other majors as well. Bentley went on to say, “Voting on November 4th is vital in altering the course of history and the last 8 years of Bush’s reign over us. Early voting begins on October 16, 2008; do not wait until the official voting day.” After a few impressive dance moves to “Get Silly” he left to a standing ovation.  Before the show closed, Blue Reign brought new moves and choreography to the stage, which impressed the faculty.
“They have improved a lot this year,” said assistant dean of student development Ralph Brown. “The performance is a huge step up from last year.”
Featured musical guests Young Steff, Rock City, and Young Berg were the highlight of an eventful and thrilling evening. From Rock City’s Obama remix, M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” to the performance of the band, and the attendance of all the athletic teams, the Pep Rally seemed to put all students into the spirit of homecoming.
- Dexter Mullins