No homecoming tailgate may have been as unique as Saturday’s, Peace Omoike says.
“I don't think UB has hosted one like this before,” Omoike, a junior neuroscience major, says, “It's a nice way to get the community to come together and bond.”
Just hours before the Bulls took on the Robert Morris Colonials in UB’s homecoming football game at Broadview Arena, students and alumni celebrated and connected at Tailgate Village. Tailgates allow students and alumni to come together to connect, enjoy refreshments and performances and relax before games.
This year marks the first time that the Black Student Union (BSU) took on the mantle of sponsoring. The organization put on performances from the UB Step Team (UBST) and Eight Count, UB’s majorette and hip-hop group, and set up the African, Latinx, Asian and Native American (ALANA) tent: a space for BIPOC alumni and students to network, relax and foster community.
Fatoumata Nimaga, a junior legal studies major and historian for the BSU, says they were trying to bring “Black culture onto this campus and have a safer community within the Black culture, the Black diaspora.”
“It just gives us that HBCU [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] vibe and feeling during homecoming with the Black experience,” Nimaga said. “But it’s not only limited to Black people. Literally anybody can join.”
Tents were set up by various schools at UB — from law to dentistry — for alumni and students to meet each other.
Making sure that Black and other POC students felt not just comfortable, but compelled to come to BSU’s tailgate and connect with alumni was important, according to BSU Vice President Marissa Wright.
“We want to make the students of color feel more welcome,” Wright, a third-year legal studies major, said. “Since homecoming is more tailored to alumni — the whole premise of it — but we wanted them to be able to network with the other alumni that are people of color as well in a predominantly white institution.”
Griffin Roeder, a first year at UB’s School of Law, took full advantage of the community. He says that getting to understand the alumni’s experiences and how they were able to build their careers are his favorite parts about the event.
Josue Gonzalez is certainly coming to another tailgate.
“This is a perfect setting to bring my family next time,” Gonzalez, a junior architecture major, said. “I’ll definitely be here again.”
Karen Grimm, a graduate of UB’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and member of the UB Alumni Board of Directors, says the tailgate is “just so amazing.”
“I've been to other schools’ homecomings,” Grimm said. “And we are rivaling that.”
Agnes Keough is an assistant features editor and can be reached at agnes.keough@ubspectrum.com.
The features desk can be reached at features@ubspectrum.com.
