Growth, Engagement, and Excitement: 2026 NAfME Collegiate

The 2026 NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week

By Ben Reyes, NAfME Senior Manager of Member Programs

A new year of NAfME Collegiate marks another engaging NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week! Held this year on September 14–18, this special event serves as the primary back-to-school celebration for NAfME Collegiate members and chapters around the country, and provides them with an opportunity to share upcoming chapter activities, celebrate chapter functions, and acknowledge new members.

How Does It Work?

NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week is a social media campaign centered around five daily themes:

September 14: Service Monday
September 15: Musical Tuesday
September 16: Advocacy Wednesday
September 17: Professional Development Thursday
September 18: Chapter Recruitment Friday

Chapters are encouraged to prepare content to share on their chapter social media accounts related to each day’s theme, and use the appropriate hashtag (e.g., #ServiceMonday). It provides a means for chapters to share their successes while also picking up ideas from other chapters around the country. Each theme also matches the five categories of the NAfME Collegiate Chapter of Excellence award.

Continued Growth!

This year’s event saw an increase of more than 20% in chapter participants over last year’s Kickoff Week. With nearly 70 chapters around the country actively engaged in posting, liking, and sharing, there was no shortage of content for each day’s celebrations.

Chapter posts were shared on the official NAfME Collegiate social media channels (@nafmecollegiateofficial on Instagram and Facebook), with content stored in the Highlights section of Instagram for an easy-to-reference recap of each day’s content.

The NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council Leads the Charge

Much of the planning for the event rests with the NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council—a nationwide group of representatives whose purpose is to advise and support the NAfME Collegiate program. Each Council representative was tasked with submitting their own content for each day, and the submissions did not disappoint!

Kati Cox and Steve Kelly (Council co-chairs) offer Kickoff Week greetings
Students of Brett Martinez at (Southwestern Division Representative) at Butler Community College share #ServiceMonday activity ideas
Kathryn Lang (Member-At-Large Representative) celebrates #ServiceMonday with her chapter’s best projects
Michelle McConkey (Western Division Representative) sings for #MusicalTuesday
Students of Debbie O’Connell (Southern Division Representative) at Winston-Salem State University perform on percussion and sing for #MusicalTuesday
James Reddan (Northwest Division Representative) offers advocacy tips for #AdvocacyWednesday
Lorelei Batisla-ong (Member-At-Large Representative) shares advice for #ProfessionalDevelopmentThursday
Jill Wilson (North Central Division Representative) invites members to a professional development event for #ProfessionalDevelopmentThursday
Heidi Welch (Eastern Division Representative) introduces the NAfME Monster for #ChapterRecruitmentFriday

A special thank you to NAfME President Cecil Adderley for contributing to the week’s celebrations by welcoming students to the week’s activities.

The Fall Rally’s Success

This year marked the second annual NAfME Collegiate Fall Membership Rally on September 16. The event brought together NAfME Collegiate members from around the country to hear from special guest speakers amidst the excitement of Collegiate Kickoff Week. A special thank you to these speakers at this year’s rally: NAfME President Cecil Adderley, NAfME President-Elect Judy Bush, NAfME Immediate Past President Scott Sheehan, and Chief Program Officer for Music Will Bryan Powell. A special thank you to NAfME Corporate Member Yamaha Corporation for their video submitted for the event along with an accompanying 36-Week Advocacy Calendar.

Additional thanks are extended to NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council co-chairs Kati Cox and Steve Kelly for hosting the event, and congratulations to the NAfME Collegiate members and advisors who won exclusive NAfME Collegiate door prizes during the event.

Check out the Rally Event Page to watch this year’s event.

Follow These Participants

We encourage you to follow these chapters that participated in this year’s NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week:

Anderson University: @au_nafme
Azusa Pacific University: @nafme_apu
Barton Community College: @bartonccmusic
Berry College: @berrymusiced
Bridgewater College: @bc_nafme
Butler Community College: @butler_cnafme
Central Washington University: @cwunafme
Chico State University: @csuchiconafme
College of Central Florida: @cfpatriots_music
Doane University: @doanenafme
Duquesne University: @nafme159
East Texas A&M University: @nafme.etamu
Eastern Florida State College: @efsc_nafme
Florida A&M University: @nafme.famu
Florida Atlantic University: @faunafmecollegiate
Florida State University: @nafme.collegiate.fsu
Georgia State University: @nafmegsu
Gettysburg College: @gettysburgmusiced
Indiana University Southeast: @nafme_ius
Jefferson College: @jeffco_nafme
Lebanon Valley College: @nafmelvc
Liberty University: @nafme_liberty
Lindenwood University: @lindenwoodnafme
Loyola University New Orleans: @loynomusiced
Luther College: @luthercollegefmea
Marian University: @mu.nafme
Meredith College: @meredith.nafme
MidAmerica Nazarene University: @mnunafme
Montclair State University: @msunafme
Moravian University: @mupcmea
Nazareth University: @naznafme
Nebraska Wesleyan University: @nwunafme
NJMEA Collegiate: @njmeacollegiate
Ohio University: @ounafme231
Oklahoma City University: @ocunafmec
OKMEA Collegiate: @c.okmea
Purdue University Fort Wayne: @pfwnafme
San José State University: @sjsunafme
South Dakota NAfME Collegiate: @sodaksdmeacollegiate
South Dakota State University: @nafme.jacks.sdstate
Susquehanna University: @nafmesu
Syracuse University: @syracusenafme
The Crane School of Music: @cranecollegiatenafme
Towson University: @towson.nafme
University of Alaska – Anchorage: @nafmec_ua_anchorage
University of Arizona: @nafme.uarizona
University of Central Florida: @ucfnafme
University of Central Oklahoma: @ucomusiceducation
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music: @ocmea_585
University of Michigan – Flint: @nafme_um_flint
University of Missouri: @miznafme
University of Mount Union: @ocmea_mountunion
University of Nebraska Omaha: @unonafme
University of North Florida: @unf.nafme
University of Northern Colorado: @unco.music.ed
University of Oklahoma: @ounafme
University of West Florida: @uwfnafmec
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee: @cnafme.uwm
University of Wisconsin – River Falls: @uwrf.nafme
Valparaiso University: @valponafme
Vermont State University at Castleton: @vtsucastleton_nafme
Virginia Commonwealth University: @vcu.nafme
Western Michigan University: @wmunafme32
Westminster Choir College: @wccnafme
Westminster College: @wcpcmea
William Jewell College: @jewell_nafmec
Winston-Salem State University: @wssu_music_education
Youngstown State University: @ysuocmea

Did your chapter participate but is not listed above? Email collegiate@nafme.org for corrections!

This year’s NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week proved to be an astounding success and a special thank you is owed to the NAfME National Executive Board for their support of the program; the NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council for the contributions and planning; and to all our chapter advisors around the country for their support of our NAfME Collegiate students—the now and future of music education.

Please remember to follow NAfME Collegiate on Instagram and Facebook to catch more exciting events and opportunities with NAfME Collegiate. Visit the Annual NAfME Collegiate Events page often to stay informed about other upcoming events!

Students: Please make sure your NAfME Collegiate membership is current (collegiate memberships expire June 30 each year), and if your campus does not yet have a chapter, learn how you can start one.

If you have any questions about the NAfME Collegiate program, please contact collegiate@nafme.org.

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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Connect member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.