'A big family reunion': TSU celebrates 2023 homecoming parade
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Tennessee State University's Aristocrat of Bands marched down Jefferson Street Saturday morning, kicking off the university's 2023 homecoming parade with exuberant music.
Cheering onlookers clad in TSU blue lined the sidewalks along the historic North Nashville stretch, close enough to feel the vibration of the Grammy award-winning band's drums in their chests as they sang the words to the school's fight song.
"I'm so glad I go to TSU!"
The TSU Tigers were set to face the Norfolk State Spartans Saturday night at Nissan Stadium, but the festivities started a week ago.
The parade itself is a time-honored Nashville tradition imbued with pride.
This year marked TSU President Glenda Glover's final homecoming. Glover, herself a 1974 TSU graduate, will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year after leading the historically Black public university since 2013.
Amid glittering floats, fringe, feathers and sequins, a handful of signs read "ask me about $2 billion," referring to the Biden administration's claim that Tennessee has underfunded TSU by $2.1 billion over the last 30 years. Tennessee last year approved $250 million in one-time funds for school infrastructure improvements.
Eleanor Jordan, a native Nashvillian and 1967 TSU graduate, has attended the parade since she was a child. This year, she donned a blue sequined baseball cap and a TSU sweatshirt for the chilly fall morning. The parade has grown, she said, but its draw remains the same.
"It's still the pride of everyone coming together for homecoming," Jordan said. Friends travel from surrounding states to celebrate. "It's like a big holiday."
Halfway down the block, Jeff and Natalie Payne set up their folding chairs for their first TSU homecoming parade. Their daughter is a freshman at TSU this year, where she is studying cardiorespiratory care. They drove to Nashville from Dayton, Ohio, Friday with her godfather, Tony Owens.
"She wanted to have the HBCU college experience… they take on students as family," Natalie Payne said. The parade is "like a big family reunion."
As they watched the steady stream of school bands, dance groups, community organizations and local businesses, they spoke about coming back for the next three years — maybe more.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'A big family reunion': TSU celebrates 2023 homecoming parade
