HOMECOMING 2022: SAB thinks quickly, decides on tomato smash

(Panther photo by Tyuanna Williams)

The scheduled car smash event during Claflin University’s homecoming week turned into a tomato smash due to lack of transportation for the car.

The event took place on Monday, Nov. 14, at 3 p.m. in Kleist parking lot.

The Student Activities Board (SAB) president said that he learned of the transportation issue Monday morning after calling to check on the car.

“When I called this morning, they said they didn’t have the part that unleashes the car,” SAB President Justus Jenkins said.

Sunshine Auto Salvage was booked and confirmed for the event last week, Jenkins said.

Kevin Fields, manager at Sunshine Auto Salvage, said that the robot used to help transport the vehicles was not available.

“Stuff happens sometimes; it’s out of our hands,” Fields said.

After calling several junkyards, the SAB administration was unlucky in their hunt for a car and decided on the tomato smash instead, Jenkins said.

“Nobody was able to do it. So we had to think strategically about another event that would execute the same idea,” Jenkins said.

The administration bought boards and tomatoes to make their backup plan come to life.

“We went to Food Lion and grabbed every tomato in there,” Jenkins said.

Students threw tomatoes at a spray-painted board that represented their opponents in the homecoming basketball game, Morris College.

The tomato smash event was paired with a “funeral service” for Morris College. During the service, students “wept” and “mourned” Morris College’s losses in the upcoming basketball games.

“Since we’re playing Morris College for homecoming, we had a nice home-going service, kind of like a funeral service,” Jenkins said.

The Panthers-Hornets basketball games are Saturday, Nov.19, in the Tullis Arena. The women’s basketball game will begin at 1:30 p.m. and the men’s game will follow.