Festitivities, ceremonies lead up to WT Homecoming
CANYON — West Texas A&M University alumni will be dancing in the streets as the university celebrates Homecoming 2023. Themed “The Buff Playlist,” Homecoming events including two awards ceremonies and student festivities run through the week and culminate Oct. 14 with the annual parade and WT Football’s game against Western New Mexico University.
“Homecoming Week is a special time of year for WT alumni, students, faculty, staff and the Buff community,” said Ronnie Hall, executive director of the WT Alumni Association. “We are excited for people to return to campus to celebrate their Buff pride and create fond memories with friends.”
Highlights include The Phoenix, a celebration of WT’s Distinguished Alumni Class of 2023. The event will run from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 12 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center. The after-party is scheduled to be held around Buffalo Fountain on the Charles K. and Barbara Kerr Vaughan Pedestrian Mall. Honorees are Gary Barnes, a transformative former WT administrator; and the late William E. “Bill” Semmelbeck, a beloved business professor emeritus. Andy Justus, co-anchor of KAMR’s Studio 4 and Local 4 News, will serve as master of ceremonies. Reservations for tickets were due Oct. 2.
Student activities leading up to Saturday's festivities include a “Tunes at Noon” karaoke party Oct. 10 and 11 in the JBK Commons; Homecoming King and Queen elections; a dodgeball tournament Oct. 11 in the Virgil Henson Activities Center; and Pigskin Revue, the annual spirit rally at 8 p.m. Oct. 13 in The Box.
On Saturday, Oct. 14 during Run with the Herd, WT Military and Veteran Services will host a 5K fun run around the WT campus at 8 a.m. Later that day, the Buff Playlist-themed Homecoming parade will begin at 1 p.m. and will follow a route from the First United Bank Center to the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex along Russell Long Boulevard. Tailgating activities will begin immediately after the parade along 26th Street across from Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium on campus. The Alumni Association will host an open house, as well. The Buffs will take on Western New Mexico at 7 p.m. in Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
For a complete list of activities, visit wtamu.edu/homecoming.
Celebration of Color honors alumni, community leaders Oct. 13
Another Homecoming Week highlight is the Celebration of Color, where four WT alumni of color and three Amarillo community leaders will be honored at a dinner event. Held by the Office for Engaged Citizenship, the event will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus. Tickets are $35, including dinner. Reservations are requested by Oct. 11. For information, call 806-651-8482.
The event began in 2021 as a way to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the integration of WT’s campus and continues as an effort to pay tribute to WT alumni of color who have made enormous impacts professionally and in their communities, said Angela Allen, director of WT’s Office for Engaged Citizenship. “There are never too many occasions to honor our alumni,” Allen said. “This moment presents a wonderful opportunity for us to demonstrate to our current students the multitude of possibilities that await them after their time at the University. It’s an ideal occasion to express our deep pride and appreciation for the accomplishments of our esteemed alumni.”
At the event, Lilia Escajeda, a recent President’s Panhandle Pioneer Award recipient and community consultant for Amarillo National Bank, and David and Sherry Schaeffer, WT’s One West campaign leadership committee members, will be presented with community service awards for their contributions to WT.
The four alumni to be honored this year include a groundbreaking Black politician, a Dallas-area entrepreneur and record-breaking WT quarterback, a prominent former WT athlete turned teacher, and a professor emeritus of nursing. Honorees include civic leader Elisha Demerson; former star WT athlete Victor McGee; educatorand comedian Milton Smith; nurse and educator Dolores Neal Thompson.
Demerson earned both his bachelor’s in physics in 1976 and his master of science in engineering technology in 1991 from WT, then worked for several decades for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration at Pantex. Upon his retirement in 2014, Demerson received the department’s career distinguished service award. In 1978, Demerson was the first Black person elected to the Potter County Commissioners Court, and in 1986, he was the first Black person elected Potter County Judge. In 2015, he was the first Black official on the Amarillo City Council when he was elected to Place 1. He has served on the board of directors of many nonprofits and city committees, and currently serves as vice-chair of the St. Anthony’s Legacy and Redevelopment Corp. He is senior pastor of Emmanuel Temple Church.
McGee attended WT in 1981 and 1982. He was named starting quarterback of the Buffalos football team in 1981 in his second game with the team, eventually leading the Buffs to a 7-4 record, its best in more than a decade. During his second year, he threw for almost 3,500 yards, including 38 touchdowns, making WT one of the Top 5 throwing teams in Division I. McGee held WT’s record for passing as a quarterback until 1986; he now ranks No. 9 on the all time passing list. After leaving WT, he played for the then-Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League. He was inducted into WT’s Hall of Champions in September. After his football career, McGee worked for Texas Eastman Chemical and Westlake Chemical Co. for several decades, then started McGee’s Sportswear and his own entertainment promotion business.
Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communication in 1980 while playing football for the Buffs. He was a member of the 1977 squad that won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and was active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. After a stint in the U.S. Army, where he toured as a standup comedian for the troops, he returned to WT to work on a master of arts degree in interdisciplinary studies, which he earned in 1989. He became a special education teacher and has taught in the Fort Worth Independent School District for the past 18 years. He continues to perform standup in the area.
Neal Thompson is an Amarillo native and daughter of Helen and Nathaniel Neal; her mother was the first Black graduate of WT, and her father was the first Black faculty member. Thompson earned her master of science in nursing from WT in 1974, then began her teaching career at the Northwest Texas Hospital School of Nursing. She later served as an assistant professor of nursing at Amarillo College after working at St. Anthony’s Hospital for several years. She was named professor emeritus in 2016. She is an active community volunteer, serving on boards of directors for Olivia’s Angels, Bi-City County Health Department, Panhandle Breast Health, League of Women Voters and Friends of the Library. She volunteers at BSA Hospice of the Southwest and is a member of Johnson Chapel A.M.E. Church and Amarillo Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She is a past Educator of the Year from the Amarillo chapter of NAACP and was selected as a Woman of Distinction in 2010 by Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Festitivities, ceremonies lead up to WT Homecoming
