This weekend’s homecoming football game and festivities have come and gone.

And, as in year’s past, we fear this year’s events were dominated too much by competition among student groups instead of the desired focus of school spirit.

Each year, fraternities, sororities and other student organizations form groups to compete in a series of events, including building a float, chalking a piece of sidewalk on the South Oval and performing a dance, among others events.

This year, however, six greek organizations that normally compete in the events decided instead to pool their homecoming funds and put on a children’s carnival. Also this year, the theme was a little different, in that it focused on remembering favorite OU traditions.

While these things helped make the homecoming events less about brutal competition, this type of competition between student groups did occur, and that is unfortunate because homecoming should be a time when the entire OU community comes together.

We are not saying this unity did not occur, and we realize many students worked hard, giving much of their time to organize and participate in homecoming.

But instances of students waiting until halftime of the football game to see the announcement of the homecoming competition winners and then leaving the game were frustrating.

What can be done to alleviate these problems? We don’t know. Perhaps nothing.

But we would like to encourage students to think about what the true meaning of homecoming should be. It’s an event designed to foster school spirit. Despite our allegiances to different student groups, we are all members of the OU community.

This love of our university is what will inspire us to return to Norman after we graduate. Just remember that when we do come back, we won’t care about the student group rivalries that exist. Instead, we will care about fond memories of our time here at OU.