‘Reigniting the flame:’ ASU prepares for homecoming one year after campus shooting

ALBANY – School spirit is in the air for college homecoming season across the U.S., including at Albany State University, which is in full swing prepping for the 2025 celebration.

The weeklong schedule, which begins Sunday, is packed with parades, marching band performances, Greek step shows, and alumni tailgate parties. While it’s called homecoming everywhere, the celebration carries deeper cultural meaning for historically black colleges and universities, especially at ASU, where some 25,000 visitors will “come home” to their alma mater.

“What makes an HBCU homecoming special? It’s honestly indescribable,” Shaniyah Jackson, an ASU mass communication senior, said. “It’s just knowing that you’re around a lot of like-minded individuals – of every race – but a lot of your kind. It feels like a family.” 

Many HBCUs were founded after the second Morrill Act of 1890 required states – especially former Confederate states – to provide land-grants for black student institutions if admission was not allowed elsewhere. There are 107 HBCUs across the U.S. Homecoming celebrates black identity, legacy and pride through traditions unique to these campuses.

This year’s homecoming celebrations follow a wave of racially motivated threats. In September, multiple HBCUs, including ASU, received fake bomb threats and went into lockdown.

ASU also is marking one year since a deadly shooting during 2024’s homecoming. One person was killed and five injured during a campus event on Oct. 19, 2024. The tragedy rattled the community and tainted a day meant for joy. One year later, ASU is rolling out new safety strategies. Students said they haven’t forgotten the incident but are ready to jump back into celebration. 

“I’m excited. It’s going to be a great week,” Ryann Ruffin, ASU’s Student Government Association’s vice president, said. “It’s a great time to show not just the city of Albany, but the entire nation what HBCUs are about. You can’t just narrow us down to violence.”

‘It was surreal:’ Students recall night of the incident

ASU had just wrapped up a week of celebration and secured a homecoming win against Morehouse College, when a person unaffiliated with the university decided to open fire in a crowded area near a campus concert. 

Ruffin and her roommate received a safety alert on their phone and watched from their dorm window as the flashing lights of emergency vehicles swarmed the campus. The two students had been preparing to join the celebration. 

“It was surreal,” Ruffin said. 

Zykerria Parrish, the president of ASU’s Active Minds student organization, had just left the celebration and returned to her dorm when the shooting happened, but her younger brother was still outside, near the event. Parrish was placed on lockdown in her dorm, and her brother made his way to a safe evacuation center. 

“It was just anxiety and hopelessness because I couldn’t leave my building to check on my brother,” she said.

Parrish said campus became quiet after the incident. Some students took time off, and the university’s counseling services sent messaging, inviting students to set up appointments. She said people wanted immediate answers, but communication was unclear as the investigation unfolded.

“It just puts a fear in place because campus is our safe space,” she said. “We were anxious to know who did it and what happened – if it was a student.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced in August that the 18-year-old shooter from Albany was indicted in connection with the shootings that took place that night. According to the indictment, the shooting stemmed from a rivalry between two Albany-based criminal street gangs.

“This should have been a weekend of celebration for the Albany State community. Instead, one teenager lost his life, several others were injured, and hundreds of innocent people were put in harm’s way,” Carr said. “The people of Dougherty County deserve better, and they deserve to be safe.”

Changes to safety protocol

ASU Police Chief Anita Allen said campus and local police responded swiftly and efficiently the night of Oct. 19. She’s now leading a major security overhaul ahead of Homecoming 2025.

“The sheriff, Chief (Michael) Persley, we can lean on them,” she said. “We support each other. The response time was quick, efficient, and they were able to arrive and respond accordingly.” 

Persley, chief of the Albany Police Department, and Allen said meetings to address the shooting and safety for the following year’s homecoming celebrations began almost immediately. 

Guests at Oct. 18 events will be required to wear wristbands at all times. More than 1,100 blue and gold barricades, new gate arms with ID-access and check-in points with metal detectors will secure the campus. Road closures and one-way traffic will be implemented on the lower East campus to monitor traffic. Drones from local law enforcement will monitor crowds from above. Sixty to 80 officers and other security personnel will be deployed across campus. 

Traffic is another safety concern for this year’s homecoming, as construction on the Oglethorpe Bridge blocks off a main thoroughfare that is used to get to and from downtown events. Law enforcement are encouraging celebrants to use the Liberty Expressway and Oakridge Drive for access.

Persley said there will be changes to traffic patterns on Broad Avenue and an increased police presence manning intersections throughout the day. 

Allen encouraged students to report suspicious activity and maintain communication with officers. She encouraged anyone who sees suspicious behavior to call (229) 430-4711 or 9-1-1 to report it. 

“We have an open-door policy,” she said. “The more students see us, the better the relationship is.”

Jackson said safety alerts are now more frequent via the LiveSafe app, which helps students feel informed.

“You can’t control what a person does,” Allen said. “Sometimes unfortunate circumstances are unpreventable, but the most important thing is how you respond.”

Xavier Jones, an ASU alumnus and chairman of the ASU Alumni Presidential Task Force, was a part of an alumni group that originally expressed concern over the response from the University System of Georgia and Albany leaders after the 2024 shooting. Jones sent The Albany Herald a statement from alumni that said they were encouraged by the proactive steps from ASU’s current leaders to mitigate potential threats during this year’s homecoming. 

“My organization’s executive leaders call upon the Georgia General Assembly and Gov. (Brian) Kemp to supply the university with the necessary funding to ensure campus safety and security during homecoming and beyond,” the statement reads. “Albany State University’s homecoming is the crown jewel of the greater Albany and southwest Georgia region. Its success, sustainability, and safety are essential not only for the institution but also for the spirit and vitality of the broader community.”

Reigniting the flame; reigniting the culture

Homecoming preparation is in full swing among students.

Jackson started planning her outfits one month in advance, piecing together statement pieces she said will be bold, proud and full of blue and gold school spirit. She’s not letting the incident that took place a year ago stop her from celebrating. 

For Parrish, homecoming is one big family reunion, a time that signifies unity and an opportunity to decompress, celebrate and learn from alumni who came before her. 

Students said they were let down by the media after the campus shooting. Students said they felt like people were quick to dismiss the violence on their campus as just something that happens in Albany or on mostly black college campuses. Parrish said she feels like students weren’t given a voice or a chance to defend against this narrative in the shooting’s aftermath. 

“This wasn’t our institution,” she said. “We come and work in this city. Our students start businesses in the city. We have students all over from Paris to Washington D.C. It was kind of disappointing to know that we never had an opportunity to change the conversation … to defend the students.”

Parrish said this year’s theme, “Reigniting the Flame,” is exactly what ASU is doing. 

“We’re reigniting the culture,” she said. 

“It’s just a sign of resilience,” Ruffin said. “In the history of America, black people –  it seems like somebody’s always trying to put them down, but we still rise to the occasion every single time, and we’re not going to stop. We’re always going to be ourselves. We’re always going to celebrate, and we’re always going to achieve anything that we want to achieve.”