{"id":8024,"date":"2023-04-13T19:54:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T19:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=8024"},"modified":"2023-04-13T19:54:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T19:54:48","slug":"wilberforce-university-alumni-weekend-boosts-local-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/13\/wilberforce-university-alumni-weekend-boosts-local-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilberforce University Alumni Weekend Boosts Local Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1,000 Gather in Greene County<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Special to The Truth<\/em><\/p>\n

Dawn Dance is the traditional invitation for alumni to return to their alma
\nmater to celebrate the spring season and honor Wilberforce, the nation’s
\nfirst, private historically Black \u00a0college\/university (HBCU).<\/p>\n

This year, March 29 – April 1, more than 1,000 alumni, prospective
\nstudents, and friends attended on and off campus events in Greene County.<\/p>\n

The weekend’s highlights began with a fashion show featuring a production
\nby Nubiance, a student-led modeling company. Events then advanced to a
\nchapel service that included the university chorale and a
\nreception with ’07 alum, master poet Jay Martinez.<\/p>\n

Nearly 400 guests attended Preview Day. These visitors are prospective
\nstudents and their families who visited the campus for tours and
\npresentations. Among those who spoke, Provost Dr. Emily Lewis, President
\nElfred Anthony Pinkard, Ms. Gernisha Parnell, director of CASS, the
\nuniversity’s center for student success, and alumni who are now employed by
\nDawn Dance event sponsors PNC Bank and the local law firm, Wright and
\nSchulte, LLC.<\/p>\n

Cheerleaders offered a special welcome, and the WU marching band, the
\nHounds of Sound, strutted that blazing, rhythmic flair. The Saturday
\nevening wrapped up with a sold out, HBCU style Greek fraternity and
\nsorority step show that had more than 500 people in attendance.<\/p>\n

These events not only drove campus interaction, but according to the city
\nof Xenia’s economic development coordinator, 1,000 extra people in the
\ncampus area over the weekend can create what is known as the multiplier
\neffect.<\/p>\n

“That many people coming to an area for a weekend has a positive effect on
\nthe local hotels, restaurants and shops,” said Steven Brodsky. “You hope
\nthat they have enjoyed themselves enough to want to come back to this
\narea.”<\/p>\n

Over the years, Wilberforce has helped bring additional income to the
\nGreene County area. One study by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
\nestimated that Wilberforce University has driven approximately $124 million
\nin economic spending to the region annually and has the capability of
\ncreating more than 1,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

This is the first in-person Dawn Dance in the three years since the COVID
\npandemic closed many public events. \u00a0The annual weekend is rivaled only by
\nthe fall season’s homecoming festivities.<\/p>\n

The university acknowledges the residents and business owners in Greene
\nCounty and the surrounding communities for their warm hospitality during
\nthe \u00a0fun filled weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 1,000 Gather in Greene County Special to The Truth Dawn Dance is the traditional invitation for alumni to return to their alma mater to celebrate the spring season and honor Wilberforce, the nation’s first, private historically Black \u00a0college\/university (HBCU). This year, March 29 – April 1, more than 1,000 alumni, prospective students, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,18],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[170],"class_list":["post-8024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8025,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024\/revisions\/8025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=8024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}