The Homecoming Court may no longer be a part of future celebrations, according to a recent meeting of the event’s planning committee.

Matt Griswold, advisor of the Homecoming Committee and member of the Wisconsin Alumni Association sponsoring the committee, said the Homecoming Committee planned to keep the 25-year-old tradition alive for a long time if not indefinitely, but the committee had reached a consensus to discuss future adjustments dealing with the importance of the selected court.

The new organization of the event would be designed to take focus off of members of the court and place it on the committee members who put on the two weeks worth of Homecoming activities.

“Committee representatives might discuss slowly diminishing the number of people on Homecoming Court and at some point maybe not having them at all,” Griswold said.

Homecoming co-chairs Raymond Jeffrey Eisemann and Kelly Lavin said the prominent community accomplishments of the court are important but said more recognition should go to those more involved in Homecoming events.

“The initial suggestion was that of the Wisconsin Alumni Association,” Eisemann said. “They have a big impact on the decisions we make.”

Jessica Yoshino, Homecoming Committee and Court co-chair, said the committee strived for a more “down to earth” look this year by decreasing the number of students on court and dressing the court in more informal attire.

Court member Joe Shumow said he believes UW’s Homecoming Court is less glorified than those of most other universities, because its members actually represent community organizations. Shumow said he could see the rationale for keeping or eliminating Homecoming Court.

“I wouldn’t be mad or offended if it was abolished, because that would say to me the committee wants to prioritize on [other aspects, such as] unity on campus,” Shumow said. “The court can sometimes steal the spotlight away.”

Other UW students said they think the Homecoming Court is intended to glorify its members.

“[UW is] such a big school, and there are a lot more people that are very involved in its community that don’t seek or receive recognition for it,” said UW senior Anthony Araneta, who is also a member of the Evans Scholarship House.

Court member Hendrickson said he thinks the Homecoming tradition is becoming less important to our generation, which lacks the pride and involvement students used to have in UW. He described the court as a great representation and meeting place of UW’s academic and community student leaders.

“It is amazing to see the impact a few college students can have on others’ lives,” Hendrickson said, referring to the children and elderly people touched by the Homecoming Court’s volunteering activities.

Last spring, a terminally ill University of Wisconsin student’s final wish was fulfilled partially due to donations from UW Homecoming campus events.

Instead of celebrating the finale of her college career, a Korean girl attending UW was forced to plan for her impending death. She had been diagnosed with bone cancer, and when she mustered the courage to undergo treatment was informed it had progressed to an incurable stage.

“Her last request was to die near her family,” said Lori Berquam, UW Assistant Dean of Students, who co-supervised the situation.

She added that the UW Dean of Students Crisis Fund was able to grant the girl’s invaluable wish due to donations from several organizations, including the Homecoming Committee. Since 1989, the committee has donated over $100,000 to the fund.

The girl died two days after arriving in her native Korea.

The Homecoming Committee also holds its own charity functions. This year was no exception, and students across campus were invited to attend a Charity Ball, Charity Run/Walk and a weeklong blood drive.

The eight individuals comprising Homecoming Court extended those contributions by volunteering at additional humanitarian organizations. Court members could be found playing basketball with homeless children at the Salvation Army, creating art projects for elderly people at the Senior Citizens Center or decorating immobile patients’ doors at the UW Children’s Hospital.

The Homecoming Court was chosen out of approximately 100 applicants representing several organizations on the UW campus.

Yoshino said the Homecoming Committee would likely discuss the matter of stressing its 60 members’ year-round involvement in Homecoming rather than focusing on eight individuals only participating in Homecoming for two weeks.