Meet TU’s 2019 Homecoming Committee
Get to know the Towson University students who have spent the past eight months planning this year’s Homecoming
By Kyle Hobstetter on October 14, 2019
For one week each fall, Towson University’s campus is taken over with school spirit as part of the annual Homecoming week.
Homecoming features a series of fun-filled week of activities events that provide students, alumni, faculty, and staff a chance to celebrate Towson University.
But what goes into planning Homecoming? Each year, a committee of student volunteers work for eight months to plan just one week of events. This includes creating a theme (this year’s theme is “Into the Galaxy), calling vendors, designing marketing materials, making reservations and just making sure events run smoothly.
For this year’s Homecoming Committee, there were challenges, including when a director left to work an internship at Disney World.
But that didn’t stop the five committee members who stepped up to make sure this year’s homecoming was out of this world. Meet this year’s Homecoming Committee and get a behind the scenes look at what went into homecoming, why they joined the Homecoming Committee and why they are excited for the week.
Abigail Amoah ‘20
Homecoming Chair/Director of Promotions
Healthcare management Major from Springdale, Md.
What goes into planning the theme? Why did you pick “Into the Galaxy?
"The key to planning what may seem to be a small simple theme into an entire week of event is collaboration. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t completely confident that we could make an entire week with space themes. But once I heard the potential events and activity ideas from the committee, the vision slowly started coming together. One idea could bounce from another idea and eventually, we found ourselves with a lot of potential events and activities that can easily be themed."
What made you want to get involved with Homecoming?
"I joined Homecoming because it was something I didn’t get to fully experience in high school. Although it’s great from an outsider’s point of view to experience the final result of a planned event, I really like the contribution in bringing a simple idea to life collaboratively. It’s been a long road, but I’m excited to finally see all our hard work pay off this week for the Towson University community."
Monica Burns ‘21
HOMECOMING Royalty Director
Deaf Studies MAJOR from Tuckerton, N.J.
What do you think Homecoming means to the TU community?
"Homecoming is a fun way to bring everyone together and have the alumni come back and celebrate how great Towson University is. I hope that everyone will be able to see how much pride there is at our school, and they can appreciate homecoming and what it means for the school, which is about having fun and having school spirit."
How does this leadership position help you with your future?
"This year was a great experience in learning to adapt. I learned that things might not always go exactly according to plan, but it is important to be able to adjust and keep going. We had some minor bumps in the road, but I have faith that this year’s homecoming will be just as great as homecoming weeks in the past."
Zachary Pounds ‘21
HOMECOMING Director of Advertising
Psychology MAJOR FROM Upper Marlboro, Md.
What has been your favorite part about being on the Homecoming Committee?
"My favorite part about being on the Homecoming committee has been building a little Towson family. This committee allowed to create and share memories that I will never forget. To work as a cohesive group to shape the perfect Homecoming week was exhilarating. Accomplishing all of this while having a sense of community, and knowing I have a group of people I can always call upon for support will resinate with me forever.”
How will this leadership position help you with your future?
"Like most leadership positions, the homecoming director position allows me to gain real world experience in a leadership position to learn not only about myself, but how to work with others and learn what leadership styles and tactics work best to foster a positive community that's working to complete a task."
Abi Bauman ‘22
HOMECOMING Co-DIRECTOR OF Events
Health Education & Promotion MAJOR FROM Burlington, Vt.
What is something the campus might not know about planning Homecoming?
"Homecoming takes about eight months to plan. I don’t think people realize how much work it really is. And finding events that appeal to everyone takes a lot of creativity. The theme helps with that a bit, but there’s definitely events that are audience pleasers and you want to use them over and over, but you can’t because it becomes too repetitive. Keeping it fresh every year takes a lot of creativity."
What has been your favorite part about being on the Homecoming Committee?
"Planning the events has been a lot of fun. And to see your vision come to life...it’s one thing to just say this is what I want to do, but to actually see it happening has been really cool."
Kaylee Franc ‘22
HOMECOMING CO-DIRECTOR OF EVENTS
Mass Communications and Communications MAJOR FROM Pittsburgh, Pa.
What do you think Homecoming means to TU?
"Homecoming is bringing a community together. We also love inviting our alumni back to enjoy the fun of the campus that they have left behind. I’m hoping that everyone likes it and has a fun time, and that these events can relieve some stress and get them to connect with other people (especially the new freshman)."
What has been your favorite part about being on the Homecoming Committee?
"I like having the ability to have a leadership role and be able to provide something for the whole campus to enjoy. I like being able to provide students with the opportunity to enjoy the college campus, especially after a week of midterms. And in the future I plan to be an event planner! I want to plan weddings and parties! This will help me because this is the position that I have now, is the exact one I would want to hold."
Towson University Homecoming takes place from October 13-19, and concludes with the Towson Tigers football game against Bucknell at Unitas Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19 with kickoff at 4 p.m. Before the game where will be a special student tailgate in Lot 13.
Homecoming also features several events throughout the week. Check out a complete list of events, and stay up to date with Homecoming by following their Twitter and Instagram accounts.