By Sophia Harris
Editor-in-Chief
By Dylan Pichnarcik
News Editor
By Bella Grimaldi
Staff Writer
Along State Street, on an unusually warm fall day, the Framingham State community came together to celebrate each other over a cup of hot cocoa.
Alumni returned to their alma mater to share memories with old classmates and roommates and reminisce about their college years.
Students, alumni, and family celebrated Homecoming on Oct. 25 and 26. The events were sponsored by the Center for Student Experience and Career Development, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, the Dean of Students Office, and the Office of Family Engagement.
Events included the Family Reception, Fire Pit & Hot Chocolate Social, Floorlords BreakDance Crew, Annual Moonlight Breakfast, GenOne Reception, Honors Program Reception, BIPOC Alumni, Student, Faculty & Staff Brunch, Family Network Meeting, classroom experiences, and Fall Fest State Street Block Party.
The festivities officially began with a Homecoming and Family Weekend launch party on the McCarthy patio, hosted by Ram engagement ambassadors, according to Rachel Spezia, assistant dean of students.
She said the highest-attended event advertised for families was the Moonlight Breakfast, which was attended by 350 students and family members.
Michael Newmark, acting general manager of dining services, said his favorite part of Homecoming was the Moonlight Breakfast. He said the team has “so much fun serving our students and families.”
He added he has only heard “positive great feedback for the entire weekend experience - specifically, the food served at the Moonlight Breakfast and the BIPOC brunch.”
Spezia said the attendance was good across all events and there was a mixture of alumni, students, and family, friends, and guests.
An estimated 250 alumni returned for the weekend, according to Eric Gustafson, vice president of Development and Alumni Relations.
He said his office was “beyond thrilled with the turnout - students, families, alumni - it was fantastic!”
Gustafson said alumni attend Homecoming for the purpose of reconnecting with their alma mater.
“For a lot of our alums, the University means a lot to them. It was a very important part of their lives, and not only for their education, but also all the friends that they made here and they still have today.”
He added that alumni attended from every decade dating back to the 1960s.
Gustafson said Framingham State is a major part of their identities and their lives, so an opportunity to reconnect with Framingham State is crucial to them.
Gustafson said he always enjoys seeing Framingham State alums with their children who are current FSU students reconnect with the campus in a whole new way.
He added he was particularly impressed with the turnout at the FSU football game, which had “some of the biggest crowds” his office has seen.
Mikayla Quinlan, class of ‘18, said she was on SGA with “a bunch of friends.”
Quinlan added, “I met probably my best friends freshman year, living on the 11th floor of Towers.”
She said her favorite part of Homecoming Weekend was reconnecting with fellow alums at the FSU Football game against Mass. Maritime. Liz Phillips, assistant director of alumni relations, said her favorite part of Homecoming was “seeing everybody here, all these families, students, alumni, faculty, staff - everyone. It's really exciting to see our community come together and just hang out. “We're always trying to build upon Fall Fest each year and make it a little bit bigger, engage more people, and have more events. This year, we had student organizations participate. We had a Hilltop bake sale and a fundraiser from SGA,” she said. Phillips added the Dance Team took over the pumpkin patch and did pumpkin painting and DIY tattoos. “That was so exciting to have them participate. We have alumni vendors this year, including Hook and Whiskers, which does crochet animals. … So every year, we're just trying to build upon it. If people have ideas, we love to hear it, because we want to make this [Fall Fest] for everyone in our community,” she said. SGA President Evelyn Campbell said she enjoyed Homecoming - especially hosting the SGA table, where she met many alums who were on SGA while they attended FSU. She said while at the table, SGA raised $227 for the Greater Good Charities for hurricane relief. Brian Leonard, class of ‘18, said, “I was an RA, the class president, I was Sam the Ram and I was the SGA fundraising chair.” He added, “My favorite memory is meeting all of my friends who I still talk to every day, and also when they unveiled the new Ram statue my junior year.” Leonard said, “I really liked getting a balloon dinosaur made, and I like that they shut down the street. They didn't use to do this. So I think this is a lot better. I like all the different stands.” Jennifer Callaghan, class of ‘05, ‘08, owner of Hook and Whiskers, which sells handmade crocheted animals, was a vendor at Fall Fest. She said she returns to Framingham State each year for Homecoming, but this is the first year she was a vendor. Callaghan said she is also a teacher in the Franklin Public School district. She said her favorite memory from her time at FSU was meeting her husband, who was also her resident advisor. While Callaghan was vending, she said, “There've been a lot of people coming up and buying stuff. I sold almost three-quarters of what I brought with me.” Senior Chris Miller, president of the Hilltop Players, said his favorite part of Homecoming was “the food trucks - they’re pretty awesome.” Miller said he enjoyed “Homecoming was much later this year. Last year, it was the second or third week of school, so it seemed early, and there wasn’t a lot of time to get settled in.” During Fall Fest, the Hilltop Players held a bake sale to raise money for their club fund, raising over $100, according to Miller. Ben Trapanick, executive director of family engagement, said, “It was great just to see so many of the family members that I communicate regularly with. They email me with questions and all kinds of things, so it's great to put faces to names and see some people who I had already met as well and saw when they moved in their students, and it was nice to see them back, so it's just great to connect with them.” Trapanick said his office spent $3,785 on catering for events sponsored by the Office of Family Engagement. Meg Nowak Borrego, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, said, “I like the addition of the lightness of the [Rubber] Duck Hunt and the family events on State Street. I thought it just added more energy and was inclusive of our alumni and their families.” She added, “I thought we did a good job this year creating events that both sets of people involved in the weekend can enjoy.” Student Experience Manager Sabrina Grammatic said 191 people turned out for the hot chocolate bar and close to 80 for the Floorlords Breakdancing troupe. Grammatic added she noticed that families had a great time at the Floorlords event. President Nancy Niemi said, “The energy on campus was palpable, and there was a real community. The community was intersectional - we had students, staff, faculty, neighborhood communities, sports teams, and alumni groups. It was just wonderful.” She said, “I loved the vibe on State Street, all the food trucks and the different places where there's something for kids and little kids and their families, but there was just something for everybody. It was a beautiful day.” Niemi said, “I really did like that State Street was so vibrant. I think we are closing off State Street more often than we used to, which is great.” She added, “I never made it to a food truck because the line was too long. So I'll have to try that another time.” Niemi said the highlight of Homecoming Weekend for her was talking to families, athletes, and alums at the sporting events. She said, “Talking to some of our staff members, our police officers. It was just nice to talk to them in a different forum. “It wasn't over a fire. It wasn't a problem. It was just a nice conversation to have.” “So I got to know some of them better, which is the point of working together in a community, and so most of the alums who showed up were people that I knew, which is also great to develop a further relationship with them,” Niemi said. She said Homecoming “gets better every year. This one, I think, is the best so far. And I don't think that's a recency bias. I think we've come further and further away from COVID, and so people are more comfortable coming back out.” Niemi said Homecoming is a way to form “a connection across alumni groups, across families, with current students and with our community.” Dan Giard, director of Facilities, and Brad Melon, head of grounds, were responsible for the decorations and floral work along State Street. In addition to the work of Melon, Giard said maintainers made sure the grass was cut and all the sprinklers were shut off across campus. He added Facilities “always makes sure that for Homecoming, everything is 100%.” In addition to the Fall Fest activities on State Street, Jorge Riveras, Professor of Business, held a classroom visit experience on the fifth floor of the McCarthy Center. According to Riveras, the session focused on Entrepreneurship in an Era of International Business. “It was exciting to present a topic that allowed me to weave together multiple themes - entrepreneurship, international business, and personal experiences - which I believe appealed to both parents and students alike. “The engagement from participants affirmed that this approach was effective. The families and additional attendees actively participated, asking insightful questions, sharing their perspectives, and engaging in a meaningful two-way conversation. The energy in the room reflected genuine interest, which was incredibly rewarding,” Riveras said. The session was attended by three families, and four additional guests, according to Riveras. “Each group came from different backgrounds and brought unique interests to the discussion,” he said. Freshman Arianna Baia said her favorite part of Homecoming was “when my brothers came up with my parents and we went to the football game.” Baia said that her family enjoyed other events during Fall Fest, but her father was unable to eat at the food trucks. “My dad is gluten-free, so he could not eat anything. They had no options.” Freshman Giancarlo Totino said, “Homecoming was pretty chill. My favorite part was probably showing my parents around the campus.” Sophomore Natalie Grimaldo said her favorite part of Homecoming was the food trucks during Fall Fest. Freshman Ty Kelley said his favorite part of Homecoming was the football game, in which he played. Kelley is a wide receiver for the Rams and the grandson of Head Football Coach Thomas Kelley, known across campus as “TK.” Freshman Sebastian Guillaume also said he enjoyed the football game against Mass. Maritime and the food trucks during the fall fest. Gina Pacitto, program coordinator at the Center for Student Experience & Career Development was involved in planning and booking vendors for the event, such as the hot chocolate bar, the apple cider bar as well as the Floorlords. She said her office is always looking for ideas and feedback. “If you liked what you saw, come let us know. If you want to see something else, let us know. If you didn't like what you saw, let us know,” she said. She said students and their families can stop by their office in McCarthy 412 or email EXP@framingham.edu.