A festive week of Homecoming events came to culmination at Rec Hall Friday night. The annual Homecoming pep rally is always a favorite among Penn State students and alumni, and is used as a platform to announce the Homecoming King and Queen.

The event kicked off with the crowd favorite Penn State Glee Club, which performed Penn State signatures “Hail to the Lion” and “Fight On State”. They were quickly followed by a Penn State Blue Band performance that brought the largely alumni crowd to their feet.

The Penn State Lady Lion Basketball team, led by head coach and Honorary Grand Marshall Coquese Washington, made an appearance and led the crowd in a series of hilarious dance routines. However, the best part of the night came in the segment “When I was a Lion” when various Penn State alumni explained what being a Nittany Lion meant to them. This segment was highlighted when the first two women to ever play in the Blue Band, who also happened to be twins, gave an emotional speech on many topics ranging from football to family.

Not to be outdone, Grand Marshall Adam Taliaferro took the floor to thank Penn State for all of their love and support since he suffered his spinal injury over eleven years ago. Taliaferro is something of a Penn State legend after being told he would never walk again following a severe neck injury on the field during his freshman season, only to return less than a year to walk out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium.

The finale of the pep rally came with the introduction of the Homecoming Court and the crowning of the 2011 royalty. After initial fumbling with the envelope and much anticipation., Rene Garcia and Paige Rothaus were named the 2011 Penn State Homecoming King and Queen. With another homecoming week in the books, the only thing left on the agenda is for the football team to kick ass tomorrow afternoon against Purdue, and send all of our visiting alumni back home proud with a victory.