By Katelyn Patterson | Reporter
The 61st annual Howdy event will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 on Fountain Mall complete with live music, line dancing and cowboy boots.
Tulsa, Oklahoma senior Addison Ronk, one of the Howdy chairs, said the event is a large-scale roundup that is open to the public.
“Howdy is a big, country-western themed event on Baylor’s campus,” Ronk said. “It’s open to the whole Baylor community, so anyone is welcome.”
This year, Howdy will include a live band, food trucks, games, a petting zoo and a Ferris wheel. Howdy is co-sponsored by Pi Beta Phi and the Baylor Activities Council, as well as student government.
Wheaton, Illinois junior Lauren Litfin, also a Howdy chair, said the event is a time to gather and have fun within the Baylor community.
“We just like to create Baylor spirit, bring everyone together and get people involved,” Litfin said.
While entry to the event is free, a portion of proceeds from T-shirt sales will be donated to Read >Lead >Achieve, an organization that advocates for children’s literacy.
Ronk said Howdy raises money as Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy event.
“[Read >Lead >Achieve] is a national organization with Pi Beta Phi. I think that’s our main focus, just giving money to them to donate towards children’s literacy all across America,” Ronk said.
Lubbock senior Rebekah Jiou, BAC marketing coordinator, said they help Pi Beta Phi execute the event.
“Baylor Activities Council partners with many departments and student organizations to assist their vision,” Jiou said. “We aid our partners with the design and delivery of events that connect student life to campus.”
In 2020, Howdy was done on a smaller scale and spread out over a week due to COVID-19. Small events were held on campus every day and the big nighttime event that’s usually held didn’t happen.
“We’re really excited that Howdy’s coming back this year and that it’ll be normal again,” Ronk said.
Waco senior Mallory Ross, Howdy marketing chair, said the Howdy Instagram account will post information about T-shirt sales, potential book drives and weather-induced location changes.
“You can follow our Baylor Howdy Instagram,” Ross said. “We’re going to be selling T-shirts on certain days at certain times. All of the information will be posted there, in one place.”
