ETSU students and graduates “came home” Saturday, as the ETSU Pride Brick Pathway dedication honored alumni while the Buccaneer Bash marked the beginning of homecoming.
“This is the most wonderful monument to this university,” said Leslie Parks Pope, chairman of the ETSU Foundation board. “The students have been really proud of [the Brick Pathway] and it shows.”
Many among the dedication’s attendees and speakers felt a significant amount of pride in ETSU.
“When I came through in 1996, I carried [an ETSU Pride sign] with me to every meeting,” said ETSU president Paul Stanton. The sign is still in the trunk of his car, Stanton said, and he’s glad that the phrase has become a permanent part of campus.
The ETSU Pride Brick Pathway features hundreds of bricks purchased by or for ETSU alumni. Each brick is inscribed with the alumnus’s name, their years at ETSU, and the occasional message.
“It was a graduation present,” said Brittany Gambuzza, a public relations graduate. “It makes me excited to know that my name will always be here on campus.”
“Our lives have been shaped permanently by being affiliated with ETSU,” said Jeff Anderson, associate vice president of advancment at ETSU and a former mayor of Johnson City. “Being able to memorialize that helps foster our affiliation.”
Anderson purchased a brick for himself and his wife, and for his grandmother, who graduated from “State Teachers College” in 1931.
The pathway dedication coupled with the Buccaneer Bash offered an opportunity to impress prospective students. An “open house” was sponsored, inviting upcoming college students from all over the area.
“We have some 1,200 prospective students on campus,” Stanton said. “They know there’s something special about this campus.”
The ETSU Alumni Association invited the classes of 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1997 back to campus to celebrate and take part in the brick dedication ceremony.
“It brings another crowd that would not be here,” said Janell Rowe, alumni coordinator.
Rowe was impressed with the students who started wandering through the bash’s exhibitors and activities almost an hour before the event was supposed to begin.
“I’m excited to see the students who are here,” she said. “I feel they’ve rallied and stuck behind having a homecoming.”
The bash featured many activities sponsored by campus organizations, including the Carnival of Health, sponsored by the Public Health Student Association (PHSA).
“We do a lot of stuff geared toward kids,” said PHSA Vice President Jessica Ramey. “Instead of candy, we’re trying to promote being healthy and active.”
The event featured a luncheon and two bands, Rob Russell and the Sore Losers and Grammy award-nominated Blue Highway.
The bash also featured the works of ETSU’s artists in the Artist’s Plaza. “We want to be able to show the community what we’ve been working on,” said Jessica Augier, president of the Student Painting and Drawing Association.
“I envision changes yet to come,” said Stanton. “We have a great campus, wonderful programs and we’re adding to them every day.

Author