19-year-old sophomore Meghan VanHouten tries her hand at archery. Oct. 13, 2025. (Staff Writer / Kacie Scibilia)
It’s that time of year when people conjure up some spirit — school spirit, that is. The week of Monday, Oct. 15, through Saturday, Oct. 18, is homecoming week at Rowan University. From pushcarts to football, this is the week of intense school pride and fierce competition, and Rowan tries to spread that message across the campus, but they fell short this year. The week-long event, however, started with a bang: the Homecoming Kickoff.
“[The] Homecoming Kickoff is an event to sort of start homecoming for the week. We have campus partners tabling to showcase their homecoming spirit, showcase their areas. We have certain activities set up for our students to explore at the homecoming kickoff. We have archery, games set up throughout the pit for the students to enjoy, but it’s just a low-key event to kick off,” said first-year graduate student Taylor Tavernier.
The event was originally slated to be held in Robinson Circle, but it had to be moved to the pit at the Chamberlain Student Center due to inclement weather. Even so, a cornucopia of students braved the elements and came out to support the university — the rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit.
The entrance to the pit was dressed up with arches of yellow and brown balloons, amping up the collegial spirit, and students instantly entered into a universe of all things Rowan. There sat a veritable bounty of Rowan clubs and services, and it was all for the students. From the library to Rowan athletics, the offerings proudly held up Rowan’s standards of excellence. Unfortunately, there was one tiny issue: nobody knew it was happening.
The overwhelming theme of the day was that students either happened to be passing by the student center or came to find something to eat, stumbling upon the celebration.
“I honestly walked in here and I saw the table, and that’s when I found out about it, like an hour ago,” said 20-year-old Alyssa Calabrese, a biology major with a pre-veterinarian concentration.
To be fair, the future veterinarian did receive an email from Rowan stating that it was homecoming week. She just didn’t get the impression that there would be all that fanfare.
Calabrese wasn’t alone in her unawareness. Plenty of students chimed in with similar stories to tell.
“We actually didn’t [know about it], we were gonna just grab some food, and then we saw so many people out here,” said 21-year-old biology major Diya Patel.
The major draw for most of the students was the free swag, though they were all reluctant to say it out loud.
“I just saw the free stuff, and it looked like a lot of fun, and I saw the bandana, and I wanted that, so there’s a lot of things that…drew my eye over here,” said 19-year-old junior Peter Combs, a geography and environmental studies major.
If there’s anything that can draw a college student out of the residences, it’s free stuff. They grazed from table to table, looking to score keychains, hats, stickers, and more. To keep things interesting, most tables featured a Wheel-of-Fortune-style wheel and prizes for the taking.
“I low-key was just around, and I saw them setting up, and, well, I assume they need my ID, so I’ll just get in the line,” said Combs.
This apparent lack of advertising also affected 18-year-old freshman James DiDominico.
“Honestly, I was just coming here to get some food with my friends, and we saw there was a bunch of people, so we had to check it out,” said DiDominico.
It isn’t as if all the blame lands in one lap. Rowan did post information about the kickoff event on ProfLink and their Instagram page. However, the on-campus advertising was either lacking or simply fell through the cracks. Still, the ball was dropped on this one. Whatever else may happen, may we all learn from our mistakes.
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