By Ada Zhang
Staff Writer
Homecoming is a time to remember the past and celebrate the present. The Baylor Chamber of Commerce wants to help students, parents and staff do exactly this.
Chamber is putting together Friday Night Flashback, a display showcasing various Baylor homecoming traditions as well as Baylor history in general.
The annual come-and-go display can be viewed Friday and Saturday on the first floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center.
The display will showcase All University Sing and Pigskin, the Baylor Line, Slime Caps, recent and past athletics highlights, Diadeloso and more.
Putting together Friday Night Flashback is a combined effort. Beaumont senior Bryant Windham, Friday Night Flashback coordinator, said Chamber is working with the Mayborn Museum, alumni, the athletics department and Baylor marketing to gather an assortment of pictures and three-dimensional objects. Chamber is in charge of planning, assembly and coordination, Windham said.
Unlike past years, this year’s Friday Night Flashback will have a larger emphasis on three-dimensional objects, Windham said.
“We’ve got a bunch of different ones coming in,” Windham said. “Athletics is providing a few, the president’s office is working with us and the Mayborn and the Texas collection as well. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but we’ve got a bunch of neat stuff coming out.”
The athletics department has provided Chamber with trophies won in past years, Windham said.
Windham said the purpose of this display is to bring Baylor spirit and memories back for alumni and also to show Baylor’s history off to present students.
“Baylor history and spirit goes a long way back and we’re trying to show that,” Windham said.
In past years, alumni have enjoyed Friday Night Flashback, Windham said, because many of them see themselves in the exhibit.
The exhibit also gets a positive response from the student body, Windham said.
The Chamber of Commerce is a rush-pledge organization. Its motto is “Anything for Baylor,” and in addition to homecoming, the Chamber also organizes Parent and Family Weekend, Diadeloso and the Baylor Line, according to the Chamber of Commerce website.
Active Chamber of Commerce members, currently comprised of 37 students ranging from sophomores to seniors, have devoted many hours towards organizing Friday Night Flashback, said Arlington senior Bryce Kunkel, public relations chairman of the Chamber of Commerce.
Windham said Chamber began planning Friday Night Flashback immediately after Diadeloso ended last year.
“We’ve been planning since last November,” Kunkel said. “It gets more intense as we get closer to the event.”
Despite the time and effort it takes to put on the exhibit, Windham said he has fun doing it.
“Really, this is where all of our traditions from the past come to be homecoming in the present,” Windham said. “We get to show of what Baylor has been about and what we’re about now.”
Kunkel said his favorite part of planning this event comes at the end when he gets to see peoples’ reactions.
“Just to be able to stand back- for even five seconds, take that one minute break- and see the smiles on people’s faces, that they are enjoying whatever we’re doing and having a good time out of this,” Kunkel said. “It just makes it completely worth it.”
