Thousands of fans braved the 28-degree temperature Saturday night to watch the Homecoming game at Carter-Finley Stadium. Some were dressed for the weather. Others bravely withstood the freezing temperatures in bare chests painted red and white. All of these fans had one thing in common: they had come to cheer on the Wolfpack. The home game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was the culmination of a week of free food, games and school sprit. It included the awarding of the Leader of the Pack scholarship, during halftime, to Paul Carruth, a junior in textiles engineering, and Casey Coats, a junior in landscape architecture.

Voting for the Leader of the Pack scholarship took place Monday and Tuesday. Because there are many factors involved in choosing the Leader of the Pack aside from just the popular vote, the winners of the popular vote are not necessarily the final winners. However, this year Carruth and Coats won both the popular vote and the final title.

The Center for Student Leadership Ethics and Public Service offers the scholarship each year to one female and one male, based on their leadership, service and scholarship on and off campus. “It’s a great honor and privilege to be named Leader of the Pack,” Carruth said. “It’s great that the University offers something that recognizes people for their leadership, service and scholarship and I congratulate all the finalists and Casey.” According to Carruth, to be considered for the scholarship, each participant had to submit three essays on his or her scholarship, leadership and service activities. A committee assessed these essays and the participants’ GPAs and choose 12 semifinalists. These semifinalists then must give a presentation on the ways they display the three traits. They are then interviewed by a panel of faculty and staff members, who choose the six finalists. Members of the student body vote for the finalist they believe should receive the scholarship during Homecoming week, and the man and woman who receive the most votes are awarded the scholarship at the Homecoming game. “I’ve always tried to live my life as a reflection of my faith and always do my best in whatever I do,” Carruth said. “I hope that I can continue to live my life by the ideals that this scholarship upholds.”