A walk back in time: NGU’s homecoming history tour
Treasure Hardwick, News and Feature Editor
Graphic courtesy of Riley Belle Kinard
The Aurora Agency, North Greenville University’s student-led public relations firm, has partnered with the Theatre Department and NGU’s archives to create a “Homecoming History Tour” for NGU’s alumni that will take place on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m.
The event, which is a part of homecoming weekend, will guide alumni around campus to revisit NGU’s history through acting, storytelling and music.
The tour will include live, student-acted vignettes that depict real, memorable moments from NGU’s past. From pranks in the 1980s to once-forbidden student dances in White Hall, alumni will have the chance to take a trip down memory lane.
Along with theatrical moments made to create a sense of nostalgia, the tour will also include a moment of singing in the prayer chapel. All these moments combined will give alumni a chance to reflect on the moments and place that they once called home.
Ansley Welchel, advisor for the Aurora Agency and professor of communication at NGU, explained that some vignettes will reflect events that alumni present in the tour took part in, giving them a chance to laugh and relive memories.
As alumni take the tour, different students dressed as mascots from NGU’s past, such as the spiders, mounties and crusaders will show up along the way.
Welchel explained that because of NGU’s recent changes, specifically with the mascot, this tour serves as an opportunity to strengthen relationship with alumni and to honor NGU’s past.
“We’re now the Trailblazers, and we’re excited about our future, but we appreciate and value the past of the university too because that’s made us what we are today,” Welchel said.
Kylie Davis, strategic communications major, Anslee Johnson, theatre and strategic communications major, and Jake Ridgewood, strategic communication major, along with other students involved in the Aurora Agency have all collaborated to make this tour come to life.
Davis explained that each student in the agency has a specific role in making the tour happen. While some are focusing on the theatre aspect, others are managing the logistics, planning and keeping track of tasks and schedules.
“Everybody has different roles, and we’ve just kind of been coming together to get all those roles and get the whole event planned,” she said.
The tour will begin at 9 a.m., starting at Plaster with donuts and coffee, and lasting around 40 minutes.
