Bulletin Archive
The 2025 Stinger Showdown will be operated by the Office of Student Life, Associated Student Government Vice President Josh Manahan announced Thursday. The annoucement comes just days before the event is set to kick off Homecoming Week.
The Office of Student Life will lead the annual competition between schools known as Stinger Showdown, The Bulletin has learned.
The move comes as Stinger Showdown, which was planned by the Associated Student Government campus and community relations committee, is slated to kick off Homecoming Week on Monday, Oct. 27.
At a Senate meeting on Thursday, ASG Vice President Josh Manahan said Student Life will operate the event on Monday. Since the showdown’s inaugural event in spring 2023, the event has been planned and operated by ASG and its campus and community relations committee.
Student Life and the Union Activities Council already planned to take over the event as a Student Life program next year.
Manahan indicated the change, finalized Thursday morning at an 8 a.m. meeting with Student Life leaders and Taylor Kriley, vice president of student experience, stems from a larger-than-anticipated number of registered participants.
As of Thursday, 410 people have signed up to participate in Stinger Showdown or volunteer, a 544 percent increase from the 80 sign ups seen last year, said Manahan.
“So the Student Life Team and UAC, the people who are, to be quite frank with you guys, the people who are paid to be there, are going to be the ones who are going to be helping work it,” he said. “No one truly expected us to have these type of results … having near 500 people signed up was not on anyone’s 2025 bingo card for Stinger Showdown.”
ASG will not play a role in operating the event. Instead, they will now have the opportunity to participate in the showdown as students.
“We saw an opportunity to enhance what ASG had already planned and wanted the ASG students to be able to participate in the Homecoming events as students and not worry about needing to run the event,” said Jaden Rahe, senior director of Student Life.
“I hope that you guys take this with pride knowing that you were the group responsible for the most successful one-year transformation since any of us have been here, and maybe even in school history,” Manahan said in his Senate address. “So I just want to take the time to thank each and every single one of you.”
The shift in leadership has brought changes to the showdown schedule, which was initially slated to take place from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday night at Welch Stadium with three different time slots for activities. Now, the event will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Food and drinks will still be provided.
The change has also caused some showdown activities to be eliminated due to time constraints, though it is unclear what those activities will be. The Emporia State Marching Hornets, who were set to open the showdown, will no longer perform to open the event.
“We are working with other departments and looking at other programs throughout this semester to determine how we can bring those experiences (cut) to the students,” Rahe said.
Isabel Ayala contributed reporting.