The Ties That Bind Us

A group of wide-eyed freshmen sit huddled around a campfire together. Absent of concrete, cars and cell phones, they are surrounded only by the forest and their peers. This is the first experience many of them have ever had in the wilderness, and some of them are unsure of themselves.

An older student excitedly shows them the steps to a stroll known only to the participants of this beloved UofM tradition. The students loosen up and begin to joke around as they practice the stroll for themselves. This is the beginning of Frosh Camp, an annual camping excursion designed to help new students feel comfortable and empowered on campus.

Through this experience, these students will return to campus with new friends and new confidence in themselves. They will carry the memories of this time with them for the rest of their lives. Some will remain friends with their cabinmates long after graduation, and some will even find their future spouses thanks to Frosh Camp, but this program is just one piece of a larger history.

Sara Thatcher — a former head camp counselor, current director of corporate communications at Medtronic and member of the UofM Alumni National Board — credits traditions like Frosh Camp and Up ’til Dawn with helping her forge lifelong connections and memories.

“When you are at Frosh Camp, they have fireside chats. The campers would sit with the lights off in their cabin and light their little candle and have time for facilitated conversation with the counselors. Just asking the freshman every night, ‘How was your day? What did you learn? What are you thinking?’” she recalled.

“I think it was in those small moments where you actually feel the fabric of people really coming together, the relationships really starting to form and the connection to the University of Memphis starting to grow. I think that it makes people more successful when they’re actually in school. They have somebody they can turn to. They don’t feel alone when they’re coming in, and they have a sense of the type of school that they have signed up to attend, and they feel confident about the choice that they made.”

While long-standing traditions anchor the University’s culture, new traditions are shaping what it means to be a UofM student today.

With each passing year, these experiences evolve to reflect the changing student body.

From the thrill of seeing the president running through the fountain with the SGA president and vice president year after year at the “President’s Fountain Run” during Weeks of Welcome to the shared pride of Homecoming Week, these moments of togetherness create memories and connections that extend long after the lectures fade and the textbooks are shelved.

“When you hear people talk about college and their experience and how fun it was, or how they made some of their best memories, they’re not talking about going to class and doing their assignments and getting their degree,” Bailey explained.

“They’re talking about all the in-between moments of being on an executive board and having a meeting that goes until 7 p.m. because you’re trying to plan an event for students or going to this event with friends and learning these dances. Those are the moments that matter.”

With so much to experience, the UofM invites alumni and friends to participate in both longstanding traditions and new ones because the heart of the University will always be found in the community that comes together to celebrate them.