Monday Sept. 30 marked the beginning of the first annual Traditions Trek, a week-long event presented by the Student Alumni Board. Tied into the Traditions Keeper program, the event requires students participating to complete “traditions” and submit them to earn points. At the end of the event, six individuals with the most points will receive a $50, $75 or $125 shopping spree at any online store that ships to Emporia State’s campus or has a pickup option in Emporia. The ESU Center for Student Involvement offers financial support for the prizes.
Camila Viorel, volunteer Spanish translator for The Bulletin, is the Student Alumni Board Traditions Keeper program chair and the organizer of the Traditions Trek.
“The way it’s going to work is that we’re going to have a list of traditions for students that they can choose from and complete during homecoming week,” she said. “For every tradition completed, the students get one point.”
There are four categories of traditions: Black and Gold, Academic Success, Beyond the Classroom, and Civic Engagement. Examples of traditions students can complete include wearing black and gold, studying at the library, having a job on campus, and cleaning up trash in the community. The combined number of traditions between the four categories exceeds 100.
To submit traditions, students must first direct message @esu_sab on Instagram stating their name, email address and E-Number. As they complete traditions, they send photos of themselves completing them with a brief description of the tradition through the direct message. If a student does not have an Instagram account or does not want to submit through the app, they can complete this process by emailing Viorel at [email protected].
There are also opportunities to earn extra points.
“If you are wearing an ESU shirt … in your picture,” said Viorel, “you get extra points. Or if, what if, in your picture, there’s an alum … that would also count (for)more points.”
Those are just two of many ways to rack up the extra points. Other opportunities for extra points include wearing a “Forever Hornets” t-shirt, having an ESU professor or staff member in a photo, or taking taking a picture at a Homecoming event
The deadline to submit traditions is 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6. Traditions must be completed within the allotted time frame (Sept. 30-Oct. 6), so students cannot submit photos from before Homecoming Week. The winners of the Traditions Trek are likely to be announced after fall break.
Although the Traditions Trek is separate from the Traditions Keeper program (as in students do not need to enroll in the Traditions Keeper program to participate in Traditions Trek), Viorel says that “this is an effort to get the Traditions Keeper program to (become better) known.”
The Traditions Keeper program allows students to receive recognition for completing traditions once enrolled. There are different distinction levels for amounts of traditions completed. If a student completes 30 or more traditions, they are designated as a “Traditions Keeper” and awarded a medal to don at graduation.
“So the idea is that at the end of the week,” said Viorel, “if someone completed the Traditions Trek, I’ll reach out to them and I’ll be like, ‘Hey, you’ve already done all this. Would you like to get the official recognition?’ So it’s a way to also get (students) to the program.”
Viorel plans for Traditions Trek to become an integral Homecoming Week event.
“If you think about it, Homecoming is this special time where a lot of things happen around campus, and this is just something like, you know, something fun that you can do because it’s not like an event you have to attend,” Viorel said. “You can do it in your free time. You can do it whenever and at the same time, just have that ESU spirit.”
For the complete list of rules, conditions, and traditions, visit https://bit.ly/traditionstrek.