ASU celebrates alumni, staff and faculty at Homecoming convocation

ALBANY — Albany State University alumni, students and faculty filled the Jones Brothers HPER Complex Friday to hear from distinguished speakers and watch performances by the ASU Marching Rams Show Band, cheerleaders and concert chorale.

ASU held its Homecoming Convocation Friday morning — one of the last events in a weeklong Homecoming celebration. The event kicked off at 10 a.m. and was open to the public — royal blue and gold attire encouraged.

This year’s homecoming theme is “It’s a RAMily Affair.” ASU President Marion Fedrick welcomed alumni “home.” She encouraged students to hear alumni stories and to embrace the school’s history.

“Just walk along this campus and see how beautiful things are at ASU,” Fedrick said. “Know that it was just steeped in that history.”

Albany Mayor Bo Dorough, Dougherty Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard, and ASU National Alumni Association President Takeshia Thomas were among speakers who addressed the crowd Friday. They shared messages of pride and joy in ASU coming together.

Celebrate the ties that bind the ASU family, Thomas said. Renew the commitment to support the “unsinkable and indestructible ASU,” she told the crowd — encouraging membership in the alumni association.

Stonecrest Mayor and ASU Aluma Jazzmin Cobble served as the convocation speaker.

Himani Patel, the Student Government association president, introduced Cobble as “someone committed to excellence in her leadership role.”

Stonecrest is a city in the southeast corner of the state, and Cobble is only its second mayor. She entered the position with a goal of restoration, rebuilding and reformation among the Stonecrest community while advocating for residents.

The Stonecrest mayor acknowledged that she was only with the crowd for a moment but that she hoped to share a message that would carry beyond the homecoming celebration.

Cobble gave the crowd, heavily made up of ASU students, three pieces of advice: Have a personal standard of excellence, live for a higher purpose and find value in commitment.

She talked about external expectations, how they can often seem endless, how in reality there is not a world where they don’t exist.

“But the question I ask myself is, how do we continuously ensure that our personal standards are what leads to the outcomes of these expectations?” Cobble said.

Taking personal accountability for performing at the highest level one can, even when it’s hard, should be done every day, she said.

“Excellence isn’t something you can turn on and off,” Cobble said. “It should be the benchmark, the bare minimum that you operate with.”

A legacy exists long after you, she told the crowd. Therefore, having a standard of excellence will allow one’s legacy to speak for itself.

Cheers and claps from the crowd occasionally erupted as the mayor and ASU alumni spoke, but for the most part, Cobble had the crowd’s undivided, silent attention. Her message echoed around the sport’s complex’s walls.

The convocation ended with a celebration of the fall sports teams and ASU’s football team. The pride for ASU was undeniable.

The convocation paved the way for weekend Homecoming celebrations: the downtown parade and homecoming football game Saturday and a community clean-up on Sunday.

Staff Photo: Lucille LanniganStaff Photo: Lucille Lannigan