The Attraction of New Traditions

Throughout the two and a half years I have been here at TAMIU, I have noticed that students have become more spirited. I recall the days of being a freshman when very few people wore Maroon on Mondays or even knew the words to the fight song. Now the school has gradually introduced us to new traditions which to celebrate.

With the cooperation of different offices of TAMIU including Office of Student Affairs, Campus Activities Board, Student Government Association, Office of the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Alumni Association, and Division of Students a new tradition, Spirit Week, was created.

The Bridge had the opportunity to chat with Mayra Hernandez, Associate Director of the Office of Student Affairs who expressed that the idea of Spirit Week began with, "students, we had multiple students come to our office and asking about creating a new tradition which other universities called homecoming". As a result, Spirit Week consisted of bringing the TAMIU community together and demonstrating school pride.

Spirit Week was packed with numerous events to attend to for four days. There was a shopping cart parade where campus organizations had the opportunity to decorate their cart and display it across campus. It was a pretty way of attracting students attention.

Campus Activities Board (CAB) hosted a pep-rally filled with different activities to choose from. There were tug of war competitions, students posing with Dusty for pictures as well as singing away to the fight song. In addition, the candidates for Mr. and Ms. TAMIU were letting those present know about their campaigns.

It was the first time that the Mr. and Ms. TAMIU elections ever took place. As a result, they set the tone for future guidelines and rules because it was a pretty competitive race. These candidates were campaigning from the moment they found out they were finalists to the last minutes before the voting system closed. 

 However, Thursday was the highlight of Spirit Week since the  it included the coronation of  the first Mr. and Ms. TAMIU, the men's and women's basketball teams playing against the St. Mary's Rattlers, the men's soccer team championship ring ceremony and the opportunity to dance the night away at the after party. All these events presented students with more opportunities to enjoy their time at campus and become involved in school organizations.

These events had great turnouts; however, a little birdie told me that some students were not aware of Spirit Week. Let alone that students could even apply for Mr. and Ms. TAMIU. The way they found out about Mr. and Ms. TAMIU was through Facebook event invitations during the break. When they opened the message, they were lost because they did not even know what these elections were about. Therefore, some students felt left out.

Another interesting point raised in the conversation was how the events going on in campus should be "exposed" more. By this, having more events located on the green, a place that students will always have to pass by in order to go to class. As a result students would immediately notice the crowds and will want to see what was going on just like Welcome Week last semester.

 Hopefully, with the suggestions posed by the little birdie, there will be a greater attendance rate and additional school pride.