Mark Braboy
News Editor
Jackson State University is preparing to celebrate Homecoming, Oct. 13-20, and has an alumna to thank for the theme, “The Legacy! The Experience! The Dream!.”
This year, faculty, staff, students and alumni had the opportunity to suggest theme ideas and vote on their favorite. After more than 100 choices were submitted and the top five selected for online voting, more than 14,000 voters chose the one submitted by Angela Moffett, a Jackson State alumna and middle school teacher from Carrolton, TX.
Moffett, originally from Heidelberg, Miss., graduated in 1990 with a degree in psychology. Her daughter, Megan, is a sophomore at JSU.
The five nominees that the public voted on were “We Are One”, “My Whole World Turns Misty Blue,” “The Legacy! The Experience! The Dream!”, “All Roads Lead to JSU Homecoming,” and “Back Together Again.”
Lori Stewart with the Center for Student Engagement and Inclusion came up with the idea to have a theme contest and established the online voting process which had 14,478 votes.
According to Moffett, the meaning of her theme is broken down into three parts. “The Legacy” represents the alumni who built on the dream of education for all students. “The Experience” represents students who currently live the read of the alumni, experiencing the things imagined and brought to fruition. And “The Dream” represents future students who will bring continued success to our university through service, scholarship, and the love of Jackson State University.
Moffett said she felt it was important to participate with the contest “to show our students that the love for Jackson State University is everlasting and we must strive to consistently increase our university’s goal of becoming the prominent university in Mississippi.”
She added: “Using not just words, but by our commitment to increasing our presence and financial responsibility in alumni organization and the public. I felt my most perfect gift to the university was sending my daughter to further her education at ‘My Dear Ole College Home’. I look forward to the legacy she will create while there and experience the love and caring faculty and staff that I encountered.”
Moffett was rewarded for her winning theme, and received a JSU Homecoming Prize Pack, which included tickets to all of the events during the week such as the step show, comedy show, and football game, along with a gift basket from the JSU Bookstore. Also, she will have a chance to be a judge for this year’s homecoming parade.
