Wessel’s “Spider-Man” and Bullock 3rd East’s “Super Bowl Halftime” won their respective divisions in this year’s Freshman Follies.

Courtney McGaha, Director of Student Productions, said that this year’s freshman class participation in Follies was on par with last year’s record-breaking involvement. 

On top of engagement, the freshman class also brought new, fresh ideas to the competition, McGaha said. 

“Everybody had really interesting ideas,” McGaha said. “I think we only had like one, maybe two repeat themes. Everybody else was very original, and it wasn’t like we were trying to, you know, steer them away from things that had been done.” 

Even the one or two themes repeated from previous years had their own unique twists, McGaha said.  

Macy Collum, a director of the winning women’s division act, Super Bowl Halftime, said McGaha was helpful in guiding the group in their planning process. 

“When we sat down with [McGaha], she did a really good job at helping us,” said Collum freshman management major from Huntsville. 
“She had the idea to use the raw audio from the actual halftime shows.” 

Collum said she and her group aimed to use Follies practices to foster a positive environment – one where friendships could flourish. 

“It wasn’t just like, we’re here to win. We were there to be together,” Collum said.
“I think that’s why a part of the reason why we won is because we enjoyed being together.” 

Dylan Mercer, a director of the winning men’s division act, Spider-Man, held a similar sentiment to Collum.  

Mercer, freshman government major from Conway, Arkansas, said his group put “heart” into their act and added that the theme connected with the group and the audience well. 

“We put a lot of heart into this and we put a lot of time,” Mercer said. “We couldn’t have done it without our directors Brody Mercer and Grant Carlton.” 

Student Life announced the placing acts on their Instagram after a rain delay postponed the home football game. 

With the rain delay and the announcing of the winners on social media, many Follies groups were not near each other. 

Collum said they were sad they did not celebrate the winning news all as a group, but that they were no less excited. 

“We knew we had a chance, but then we saw all the other competition. We were like, ‘I don’t know about this,’” Collum said. “It was just really rewarding, because everyone worked really hard, and everyone really tried their best.” 

McGaha said the acts this year were competitive, bringing the results to a close call. 

“There were so many good acts that quite frankly, I did not envy the judges at all,” McGaha said. “The two that won, though, they came in with such exciting and over-the-top, big ideas and watching them actually accomplish it was really, really exciting.”