Ambassadors Enjoy "Pack the Stands" Homecoming Event

by Sarah Kelly

Outside of volunteering at events, UMSL ambassadors enjoy spending time together as well! With homecoming last week, the ambassadors’ social events committee planned an ambassador hang out at the homecoming basketball games to support our athletics teams and get to know one another better. 

As the UMSL Men’s Basketball team is in the midst of their best season yet, the Homecoming Steering Committee called for students to “Pack the Stands” at both the men and women’s basketball game on Thursday, February 27. This included a free nacho bar, free t-shirt, and other contests and giveaways!  

It was great getting to see other ambassadors and talk about what is going on in classes and engage in a more informal way than we normally get to. Cheering on the UMSL team together made me feel proud to be a Triton and lucky to have friends like these to enjoy the college years with. At a commuter campus, it can be hard to make friends and hang out with them, as our schedules can be hectic with school, homework, work, internships and everything else. The social events committee is making it easy to get to know one another better and take a break from the stress of everything else.  

The event was family-friendly with plenty of things for the kids such as face painting and a balloon artist. Since UMSL has a diverse student population, it is awesome to see inclusive programming that is geared towards some of our older student population that may have children or even grandchildren.

With both the men and women winning their homecoming games, it was a successful day at UMSL.

Overall, it was a great time spent with friends and a great opportunity to see what is going on at UMSL!

UMSL Homecoming is Here!

by Alex King

Hi Everyone! My name is Alex King. I’m a sophomore biology major here at UMSL, and this is my second semester as an UMSL Ambassador!

It’s finally one of my favorite times of the school year – Homecoming!

Homecoming Window Painting

Though it’s definitely not the norm, a famous UMSL tradition is that we hold our Homecoming events during the spring semester! UMSL’s first Homecoming in 1963 took place in February. Though Homecoming’s time in the year has changed throughout our history, our school spirit and commitment to service has stayed the same. 

I am especially excited for this year as it will be my first time participating in the competitions and events rather than just spectating. One of the organizations I’m involved in, Women Empowering Women, is sponsoring Jasmine Williams.

Jasmine is amazing! She’s a junior-level student, double majoring in political science and philosophy. I’m so happy she’s running, and I’m so excited to support her.

Even though I am pretty apprehensive about some events – especially the Lip Sync Competition – I am so pumped to compete (and win).

In high school, I went all out when participating in Homecoming every year. I loved planning our decorations, organizing the floats and all around being loud and having fun with my peers. I’m ready to bring that energy back and engage in some school spirit.

For those who don’t know the rules, each of the participating organizations sponsor one person to run for court. Throughout the week, each group competes to collect points by participating and winning events. The group that earns the most points wins. There’s also a campus-wide vote at the end of all the events.

CANstruction

Here are some of the many events that will be happening throughout

Homecoming: a Day of Service, two basketball games and “CANstruction” (to which all non-perishable items go to the Triton Food Pantry and Pagedale Family Support Center.

It’s nice to see how service-focused Homecoming is here at UMSL. As a university, UMSL is really engaged in service and within the St. Louis community; and it's amazing to see that reflected in an event that's often solely focused on fun. 

There are so many ways people can get involved, even if you yourself are not a member of a participating organization. Many of the events are open to everyone, like the Lip Sync competition and the basketball game. There’s also the Homecoming dance. Though I’ve yet to go myself, I’ve heard amazing things.

No matter how you celebrate Homecoming, I hope everyone has fun. Come out, support your peers and show off your UMSL Pride!

See you all around campus!