The spirit of homecoming had an innovative flair as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff navigated through the pandemic to deliver, for the first time ever, a virtual homecoming experience.
Homecoming week was scheduled to take place from Sunday, Oct. 11, through game day Saturday, Oct. 17, and even though in-person festivities have been postponed until April, donors and alumni still wanted to keep the tradition alive during the regularly scheduled time as well.
Dr. Margaret Martin-Hall, UAPB director of Development and Title III, said she had alums calling the university so she compiled her team and assigned it the task and opportunity to create a safe homecoming experience. The team consisted of Tish Bullard, event project manager and coordinator, Brian Williams, team manager, supervisor and Title III program administration, and graphic designer, Christian Jefferson.
"Because we could not be present bodily to do the things we normally do for homecoming, we tried to tap into the emotions and the feelings that our alums are having this time of year and not let the covid pandemic destroy the homecoming spirit," said Hall. "With that in mind, we were brainstorming about things we could do."
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie8E8KjRAF4]
Hall said alums were also calling because they wanted to contribute financially to the university as they have in the past. UAPB Chancellor Dr. Lawrence Alexander said that by adjusting and commemorating the occasion in a virtual way, it was refreshing to know that UAPB still had alumni and friends to show their generosity and support.
"Usually around this time of year, you would have gathered here amongst your classmates, Golden Lion family, friends, jamming to the sweet sounds of the marching musical machine of the midsouth, but the pandemic made other plans for us," he said.
The virtual check presentation was held in a sequence where each donor showed themselves giving the check and passing it virtually to the next donor. "The homecoming assembly was always their vehicle, so we did that on Friday morning at the time we would traditionally do the alumni assembly," said Hall.
The small but mighty team elevated the homecoming experience to a new level when Jefferson envisioned a virtual tailgate party, where viewers could also donate, to cap off the weekend that also included virtual bingo. Inspired by other HBCUs and internet music shows, Jefferson took inspiration from each platform to create something people would be able to enjoy -- a virtual tailgate party.
"Tailgating is a really big event at UAPB. During the game we have hundreds of people outside participating in tailgating while thousands inside are watching the game," said Hall. "I want to give Christian some really big kudos because in the lineup of things, Christian stepped out there in a leadership role on this, and he did an awesome job."
Streamed on UAPB TV on YouTube from the Simmons Field Football Arena, the party attracted more than 600 viewers Saturday, with hundreds more who tuned in to watch the replay. The tailgate party was hosted by Toni "Seville" McCastle, radio broadcast personality, and the director of UAPBs radio lab while DJ Chris Cross mixed the latest and greatest hits.
"This is UAPB's spirit of homecoming," said McCastle. "A lot of us would have been out here hugging, holding hands, laughing, talking and just having a great time."
McCastle painted the picture of bumper-to-bumper traffic up and down University Drive, and campus police preventing them from pulling into the stadium.
"Picture all of the tents and the tailgates, the traffic, the turkey legs, the parties, the house parties, RVs, the cheerleaders, the band," said McCastle, as the UAPB football team held practice in the background.
As viewers enjoyed their virtual experience, behind the scenes Bullard, Williams and Jefferson were reaping the rewards of their hard labor because there were several moments when they felt the event was not going to happen.
When Jefferson's idea was approved by the development team, the team then had to receive approval from the chancellor and vice chancellor, who received the idea well. But after the approval, the team said it faced some additional obstacles.
"Any good event has its good and bad and its horrendously ugly, but the good thing about events, the outward audience has no idea of what your initial vision was, and that's great," said Williams, who took the back seat and supported Jefferson's endeavors as the creative lead on the project. It was a success, he said, "but it went through many iterations."
One was the unexpected football practice held by UAPB during the time the virtual tailgate party was to start. "I got to the stadium, and I was like 'oh my gosh, it's too many people, it's too many cars in the parking lot, what's going on?'" Williams said. "I was told we would have the whole stadium to ourselves."
Williams said McCastle's professionalism and expertise incorporated the scenery into her segments by interviewing football players and staff members as they passed by.
From location availability, scheduling conflicts, technical issues and the host getting sick two days before showtime, the team felt defeated. Bullard thanked Hall for giving them the pep talk to persevere even when the outcome looked as if it wasn't going to turn out as expected.
"There were times Christian, Brian and I were like, 'we can't do this, we can't get the people that we need' and Dr. Hall was like 'there's something you can do, think about it.' She pushed us to not stop."
When technical issues came up, the team gives all praises to Randy Kelly, the director of the UAPB Television Station, for handling them. There were also small roles filled by volunteers that mattered in a big way to the team.
"I think this could not be pulled off if it wasn't for good relationships and resources," said Bullard. "That is also an important key because it all could have just fallen apart."
Bullard added that with this being the first virtual event of this magnitude for the university, there were a lot of scary parts.
"You have your bosses looking to see is this going to pull off," she said. "It was a lot of pressure on Christian, him thinking if his idea was going to get us all in trouble. We had Dr. Hall, the alumni, the donors, and administration expecting for us to pull out successfully."
By all accounts, the team did exactly that. The 2020 virtual tailgate party was deemed a success that the team plans to continue next year. Even if normalcy returns and allows for in-person celebrations, Hall said, the team will offer the virtual option in conjunction with traditional homecoming festivities.
Not only was the administration impressed with the viewers who tuned in, but more than $141,000 was raised virtually over the weekend, an approximate $20,000 increase from last year's homecoming.
Quoting the phrase "It's not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies," Hall said that despite the obstacles, there was always unity.
"Even though we didn't have all of the resources that some other institutions may have, we had the strength of unity," said Hall. "This is such a talented group of young people. I knew they could do it."