Students thought students were going to create the 2025 Homecoming theme. In early September, some Student Council members unofficially surveyed their peers to gauge preferences between two finalist themes: Pirates and Gotham City.

So when “Where’s The Party At?”- never one of the themes students wanted or suggested- was Instagram-unveiled on September 8th, it landed with a thud.

Almost immediately, nearly two dozen comments poured in on the Coronado Student Council account, expressing confusion, disappointment, and even disdain for the theme. A comment with 24 likes asked, “bro what does that even mean.” Another commenter lamented the pivot away from pirates: “What is this we miss pirate disco.” Another: “Twin what could this possibly mean.” Crying and broken heart emojis were popular as sentiment around the theme oscillated between bewilderment and negativity. The comments on the post were later removed or disabled, but students still questioned how and why Student Council had come up with such an unpopular theme.

Had they even come up with that theme?

More than one source within the Student Council class who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Cougar Daily that Student Council Advisor Ms. Ambroz had previously proposed a similar concept to “Where’s The Party At?” earlier on in the process of choosing a theme, but that gained minimal traction with student representatives. But according to the anonymous source, Ms. Ambroz only began to break precedent when she re-introduced the concept in a PowerPoint following protracted disagreement over the various student-generated ideas, like Pirates and Gotham City.

When asked how the Homecoming theme first came up in class, Ms. Ambroz said, “When I came up with the original theme and spirit days… I tried to pick a different kind of party for each spirit day… and take all of [the student body’s] ideas and put them under one umbrella.” According to Ambroz, one of the main functions of the new theme is combining the interests and desires of a variety of Coronado’s demographics, each of which want something different from their Homecoming. For example, Ambroz designated one of the days in spirit week as a costume party day, where students can “dress as pirates if that’s what they [are] interested in.” Before Ambroz’s presentation, StuCo considered only Gotham City and Pirates themes for a full week, culminating in a 4-vote edge for the Pirates theme. No vote was ever conducted regarding the new theme. However, in an effort to “honor the ideas” of the Pirates theme, Ambroz included the Boat Race and the Scavenger Hunt as homages to the proponents of the Pirates theme.

Ms. Ambroz emphasized the practical difficulties of a Pirate-themed Homecoming: “Decorating an entire dance under the concept of ‘pirate’ is really challenging.” It would also be difficult to draw a distinction between recent themes of “Under the Sea” and “Cougars of the Caribbean,” per Ambroz, who also mentioned inclusivity concerns: “A large amount of people said to me [via a survey conducted of Coronado students], ‘you can’t possibly announce [the Pirates theme].’ ‘Please not Pirates.’ ‘Dear god not Pirates.'” After reflection, Ambroz decided that she “cannot, in good conscience, tell the student body that the theme is pirate.” During the stalemate between Pirates and Gotham City, Student Council publicized a Google Form through which students could submit their own ideas for Homecoming themes. Of 93 responses, several advocated for Pirates, Disney Movies, Gotham City, Enchanted Garden, and Decades themes. Zero of the 93 respondents advocated for “Where’s The Party At?”

Many students, like the Instagram commenters, were curious to know what “Where’s The Party At?” means as a theme. Ms. Ambroz clarified that “Coronado is where the party’s at. This is the function that everyone should want to be at. Everyone at Coronado should want to get invited to this party, and everybody at Coronado should be on the list, getting in.”

Ambroz characterized her presentation as a “last-ditch effort” to bring the Council together, but according to both anonymous StuCo sources, it only served to drive a wedge between the Council and its advisor who, according to one source, “has Coronado’s best interests at heart” but “wanted to shape the theme in her own vision.” The same source felt Ambroz was “less receptive to other ideas because she had one of her own” even though Ambroz claims to have said to the class, “If you are not on board with this, we are not on board with this.” Neither source had any recollection of such a statement.

Nevertheless, positive reactions to the theme from Coronado students have seemed muted, at best, while negative reactions have seemed loud and more numerous. After an attempt at compromise to bolster inclusivity and resolve StuCo conflict by unilaterally creating an all-new Homecoming theme caused unprecedented controversy, one question remains: Where’s the Popularity At?