Texas Tech homecoming brings big win, new Raider Red, king and queen
It was a homecoming to remember for Texas Tech, with the debut of a new tribute to Raider Red, the crowning of a king and queen and a 48-10 victory over West Virginia Saturday in Lubbock.
A new Raider Red
Tech welcomed the bronze statue of Raider Red to campus, unveiling the new work of art on Saturday morning near the Frazier Alumni Pavilion, ahead of the homecoming game.
The Texas Tech University System Public Art and the Alumni Association unveiled the statue of Raider Red created by artist Garland Weeks, a Tech alum.
Weeks graduated in 1967 with a bachelor of science in agricultural economics, according to the artist's website.
While at Tech, Weeks was a student body officer, a representative of the School Of Agriculture on the student council, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a 2-year letterman in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s archives, the statue was funded by Texas Tech Credit Union which donated $150,000 for the commission of the statue back in 2021.
However, the movement to create a statue of the beloved two-time NCA Mascot National Champion goes all the way back to the 1990s with the Texas Tech Alumni Association, whose three decades of funding for such a project was also used to supplement part of the credit union’s donation.
Located at the northeast corner of the Frazier Alumni Pavilion, at Akron Avenue and Drive of Champions, the statue depicts Raider Red on his way to Jones AT&T Stadium holding his Guns Up.
Homecoming king and queen
During halftime of the Red Raiders' football game at Jones AT&T Stadium, a new homecoming king and queen were crowned.
James Brady of Lubbock and Tomisin Alausa of Plano were crowned Tech's 2022 homecoming king and queen.
Brady, an agricultural communications major, represents Phi Delta Theta.
“Winning homecoming king at Texas Tech is very special for me,” Brady said in a statement. “It is a great honor to represent my university in all facets where the homecoming king is involved. It was also very special to see my family – especially my grandfather, who came to Texas Tech in 1962 – watch me win as a third-generation Red Raider. I love this school, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to even be considered for homecoming king.”
Alausa, a journalism and public relations and strategic communication management major, represents Chi Omega.
“Winning, to me, means that I can show students what ‘From Here, It’s Possible’ means especially as a minority at a big school,” Alausa said. “Though I am only one member of Texas Tech’s Black community, I have made the Texas Tech experience the best that it could be by getting involved. Winning means I can be a role model to girls who look like me in hopes of growing Texas Tech’s Black student community. I can give back to a school that has given me more than I could’ve dreamed of.”
The student body voted for the winners after the homecoming court was announced Friday at Rowdy Raider Rally.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech homecoming brings big win, new Raider Red, king and queen
