This past Homecoming Programming Council sponsored a dorm room window-decorating contest to promote Horned Frog spirit.Windows were decorated during Homecoming week, and winners were announced Friday. There were two categories in the contest. One for the most creative window, and one for the window that showed the most TCU spirit. Students with the best decorating skills in these categories were awarded $100.

Winners with the most creative window, titled “TCU: Always a Classic,” were Kristen Chapman, a freshman international business major, and Kelley Sweatt, a freshman special education major, of Colby Hall.

“We got our idea from the Homecoming theme, ‘Through the Years,'” Chapman said. “We included popular things from the ’50s to today.”

The window was decorated with old records, vintage car pictures, celebrities like Madonna and Princess Diana, and even famous television shows from today.

“We put shows like ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘Survivor’ on the spot for today because our generation is all about reality television,” Chapman said.

The roommates said they agreed the contest was fun and were glad to participate to show their Horned Frog spirit during Homecoming week.

“It didn’t take us that long at all, maybe a couple of hours at the most, and it was fun to work on and see it up when we were on campus,” Sweatt said.

Laura Crawley, a faculty member and the contest judge, said there was good participation in the contest but that she hopes next year there will be more men in the competition.

“All of the windows selected showed both spirit and creativity,” Crawley said. “I just tried to think about what would make an enjoyable evening of strolling around the campus looking at windows, but it then turned out to be kind of agonizing when I finally had to decide!”

Crawley said she did judge on a set of guidelines for contest criteria.

“I had to evaluate the windows on spirit and creativity, but I also looked to see if the window had incorporated the Homecoming theme” Crawley said. “I looked for elements of good design and organization – was it just decorative, or did it appear intentional? – and use of different media like old school records or magazines.”

Meghana Mathew, a sophomore accounting major and director of Homecoming for Programming Council, said this is the first year the contest has been held.

“The participation we had was great, and the students really enjoyed decorating the windows,” Mathew said. “We wanted to give the students a chance to show their TCU spirit creatively for Homecoming week, and I think it really worked.”

Mathew said the contest will be something Programming Council will be sponsoring next year during Homecoming week.

The winning window with the most TCU spirit came to a tie between Kristine Chen and Cara Pennington in Sherley Hall.

There was also an honorable mention award given to Erin Sciacca and Sarah Larkin for their idea of linking two windows together in Moncrief Hall.