We have to admit to all of you that we, like many other students on campus, were pretty skeptical when we heard that this year during Homecoming, Yell Like Hell would be in Cowles Fieldhouse instead of Hopper Gym.

Yell Like Hell has been in Hopper as long as most of us can remember, and many were concerned with how the change would affect the atmosphere of the event.

Any returning student knows what the dark, enclosed experience of Yell Like Hell in Hopper Gym felt like. It brought us closer to the action happening on the floor; close enough that we felt like we were part of the stomp routines. We were able to come together as a community to celebrate the beginning of the weekend and the announcement of the Homecoming king and queen.

Our main concern with having Yell Like Hell in Cowles was that the close atmosphere would be lost. Cowles is huge compared to Hopper, and many students were not sure if CAB could recreate that feeling in such a large space.

The reason the event was moved to Cowles was because having a lot of people on the indoor track in Hopper is not safe, and CAB was expecting that there would be a larger crowd at Yell Like Hell than last year. They were right.

We were amazed to walk into a smoke-filled gym with more lights, more people and more noise than Hopper could ever hope to have. You didn’t have to stand the whole time and you could see over those in front of you no matter where you were in the gym.

Students we have talked to have said nothing but good things about having Yell Like Hell in Cowles, and we would have to agree with them completely. We hope that CAB will continue having Yell Like Hell in Cowles to start a new tradition at Simpson.

So kudos to CAB for dissuading our fears and going the extra mile to prove to all of us on campus that Yell Like Hell is not just as good in Cowles – it’s better.