Butler University’s campus was filled with students excited to participate in homecoming events last week.

The theme of homecoming this year was Butler University’s International Tour.

Information about events was sent out via messages from the “Butler Homecoming 2010” Facebook group created by Special Events Chair of Program Board Brittany Dorsett to reign in as much participation as possible.

One of the events that lasted all week and received large participation was the search for Blue II and Butler President Bobby Fong.  Every morning a clue to find either a Blue II or Fong sticker on campus was distributed to homecoming representatives and presidents.

Dorsett also sent an e-mail through the Butler listserv each night explaining when the next clue would be posted on Facebook. Many waited by their computers in the morning and to find the clue as soon as it was posted, she said.

The search for Blue II and Fong got a lot of students to participate in homecoming all week long.

“People really enjoyed this ‘hunt’ every morning and a lot of people said they thought it was a great idea and was really fun,” Dorsett said.

Other homecoming events, all organized by Dorsett and Special Events Committee Co-Chair Michael Couch, began on Monday with the comedy game show in the Reilly Room of Atherton Union.

The comedy show included one hour of stand up, one hour of crowd participation and a costume contest among the king and queen contestants judged at the end of the event.  Members of the homecoming committee also gave away trucker hats and sunglasses to the first students to arrive.

These free and highly-desired items were again given away along with water bottles on Tuesday at the “International Adventure” on the Mall.

The “International Adventure” involved a blow-up obstacle course, sumo wrestling suits, a mechanical bull, pizza and music, attracting more than 500 students.

“People loved the different attractions and we had people out there for the whole two hours,” Dorsett said.

Finally, that night, an entire bus full of students was taken downtown to go on Italian gondola rides on the canal beneath the stars.

On Wednesday, students went to a Zumba class in the Reilly Room where they again received free water bottles and Butler University sweat bands.

Zumba is an intense fitness workout to the blended sounds of Latin and International music.

Students who went to this event also earned points for their homecoming team if they had more than 15 people from their team present.

That night, the homecoming committee also held the annual “Midnight Snack,” which was organized by juniors Colleen Finn and Grace Fisher.

Finn and Fisher acquired more than 2,780 food items from restaurants like McDonald’s, Arby’s and Jimmy John’s.

Wednesday night after the “Midnight Snack,” students stayed up late getting lawn decorations or “lawn decs” set up on their team’s designated lawn as they were due by 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

Thursday night, Butler’s annual cheer competition, “Yell Like Hell,” began in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Teams worked to create the most innovative and crowd-pleasing cheer routines while representing their team’s country.

“It was incredible. We were absolutely thrilled. Everyone put in a lot of effort, so winning was a huge reward,” Krista Miller, a sophomore and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, said about Team China’s victory in “Yell Like Hell.”

Finally, on Saturday, Butler alumni spent most of the morning and even some of the afternoon visiting the classrooms, dorms and Greek houses they once called their own at Butler University.

At noon, the homecoming parade began at Fairbanks Center and ended at Hinkle, leading the multitude of students, alumni and faculty to the 1 p.m. football game against Morehead State.

The announcement for the winners of homecoming queen and king was made during halftime of Saturday’s game.

Steph Gray, a senior member of Alpha Chi Omega was crowned homecoming queen by last year’s queen, Betsy Shirley.

Joe Wadlington, a senior member of Phi Kappa Psi, was crowned homecoming king by last year’s king, Anthony Erlandson.

The enormous workload of Brittany Dorsett and Michael Couch was eased by the help of Assistant Director of PuLSE Meg Haggerty and the homecoming committee, numbering more than forty student volunteers.

Overall, Couch said he felt good about the week.

“Homecoming went really well. I think that everybody had a great time and that all of the events were successful,” Couch said.

Butler University celebrated homecoming 2010 beginning Oct. 17 and ending Oct. 23 with the homecoming game against Morehead State University.