[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The 2018 Homecoming parade was canceled due to potential rain, according to the Emory Alumni Association’s website.

“There wasn’t any way to have this event as it is 100 percent outdoors, with paper floats, golf carts, etc.,” Student Programming Council President Abbey Kelly (19B) told the Wheel. “However, if we can find another way to plan an event that showcases our student organizations, we will do that. We are also super disappointed, as a lot of planning and logistic heavy work went into this on the SPC side.”

SPC, Campus Life and Emory Alumni Association decided to cancel the parade at 9 a.m, according to Kelly.

The parade is an annual tradition in which students, alumni, faculty and staff walk through campus with themed groups.

Residence Hall Association President Aaron Jordan (20C) said RHA had more than 100 hall council members working on 10 floats for the parade. The hall councils had started planning and working on them about one month ago and put in “countless of hours,” Jordan said.

In lieu of the parade, RHA hosted a smaller event where the floats traveled from the parking deck below Longstreet-Means Hall to Eleanor Raoul Hall and back. Some SPC members and Residence Life alumni judged the students’ decorations.

“They still got to have that short feel of recognition, but it wasn’t like everyone who was planning to come to the parade,” Jordan said.[/vc_column_text][cq_vc_cqcarousel images=”29159,29158,29157,29156″ slidestoshow=”1″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1540152591103{padding-top: -30px !important;}”]

Courtesy of RHA

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Jordan added that, for the future, SPC and RHA should have contingency plans for weather.

“There wasn’t any communication for what’s the contingency plan,” Jordan said. “For RHA, it really wasn’t an option to do a last-minute cancel because of how much work was put in.”

The Saturday concert featuring Keri Hilson (03Ox, 05C) will start as scheduled at 2 p.m. rain or shine, according to the website.

UPDATE (10/20/18 at 10:37 a.m.): The article has been updated with additional information from Kelly.

UPDATE (10/21/18 at 11:53 a.m.): The article has been updated with comment from Jordan.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Michelle Lou (19C) is from Irvine, Calif., majoring in political science and minoring in East Asian studies. She previously served as copy chief, news editor and executive editor. She won first place in the 2017 Georgia College Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest in the category Best News Article Based on Investigative Reporting for her coverage of the Spring 2017 student government elections. Outside the Wheel, she is an undergraduate research fellow at Emory’s Center for Law and Social Science; a member of Phi Eta Sigma, Omicron Delta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha; and an avid snorkler. She has interned at USA TODAY's copy desk and HuffPost's breaking news team.