After having to withdraw from the lineup of Homecoming events and activities in 2015, the National Pan-Hellenic Council is set to host its step show for Homecoming Week 2016.
A year ago, the NPHC released a statement announcing the cancellation of the step show. This cancellation had followed the organization changing the step show to a stroll-off due to the Homecoming Commission's failure to book a venue.
Members of the historically black fraternities and sororities under NPHC, their officers and other students have since expressed their disappointment with the cancellation.
"It's very important to our culture," said Bri Means, NPHC co-vice president and third-year international studies and economics student. "So we wanted to make sure that it actually happened."
In June, Student Government responded with a statement pledging to bring the step show back to campus.
"As your elected officials, we understand how vital these events are to cultivating and maintaining the fabric of the university — both undergraduates and alumni — in order to celebrate the inclusive, diverse, and spirited campus we call home," student body president Michael Parks said in the statement.
Another event that was cancelled in 2015 was Spurs and Struts. The event returned to USC on Tuesday evening on Greene Street. The step show is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.
Means said that she met with Homecoming Commission representatives over the summer. The commission pitched the idea of an "inclusive" event that would combine elements of both Spurs and Struts and NPHC's step show and potentially include non-members of Greek life. She said that while the idea sounded great in theory, it seemed offensive and involved some cultural appropriation in practice.
"We're not going to do this event which kind of takes our culture and appropriates it to a lot of populations that aren't part of it," Means said. "What we want is for every population to feel like they're welcome to come see the show ... What we don't want is for our culture to be taken away from us."
Means imagines that those involved with Spurs and Struts have "some of the same ideology" in terms of preserving the cultural elements of the event.
Her co-vicepresident, fourth-year public relations student Rashon Murray, added that scheduling conflicts played a big role in last year's switch to a stroll-off and ultimate withdrawal from the line-up. Information about the stroll-off, Murray said, was unclear and received too late.
"The show that you will see is not a show that you can put together in a week," Murray said. As opposed to last year, where "we just chose the safer route would just be to put out a statement saying that we just are choosing to pull out of homecoming for this year."
The co-presidents said that they are excited for the show to come back. They also expressed gratitude for alumni who stepped in to help the NPHC with funding and finding a venue.
Murray said that the NPHC wanted to paint the event as one that is cultural and that represents who the members of the organization are.
"Not only is this just stepping and strolling," Murray said. "It celebrates our culture."
Means added that the step show and Spurs and Struts are important to the university and "have been for many years."
She said that attendance was forced to shrink due to a lack of funding to perform in larger venues, and it would be ideal for the show to end up back in a place like the Carolina Coliseum or Colonial Life Arena.
The co-vice presidents also highlighted that the show was produced with no malice, animosity or secrecy, and that they tried for complete transparency with the Homecoming Commission and with anyone else involved.
"We understand that when you have something that's outside of homecoming's lineup, people immediately think that there's some type of malice associated with it," Means said. "It's not about malice, it's not about spite, it's about us representing our culture and giving a show to our populations."
The event will be held on Thursday at Brookland Conference Center on Sunset Boulevard. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Online tickets are sold out, but there are still some available at the door.