The 2025 NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week

A Nationwide Celebration

By Ben Reyes, NAfME Membership & Collegiate Program Manager

This September marked the return of the annual NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week: a virtual, nationwide celebration of NAfME Collegiate chapters and members. This year’s event, sponsored by Let Music Fill My World, engaged members from more than 50 chapters across the country and saw unprecedented growth from its previous iterations.

The event took place from September 22–26 with numerous videos and graphics shared on the NAfME Collegiate Instagram and Facebook accounts leading up to the event to heighten the excitement. The NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council once again took the lead of planning the celebratory week and is thrilled about this year’s turnout.

The virtual campaign seeks to connect chapters across the country with five daily themes, each of which corresponds to a category of the NAfME Chapter of Excellence awards. Chapters shared highlights and activities with #NAfMECollegiate and each day’s respective hashtag (e.g., #ServiceMonday, #MusicalTuesday, etc.) to celebrate their chapter’s recent, current, and planned activities for the academic year. This year’s Collegiate Kickoff Week themes were as follows:

September 22: Service Monday

September 23: Musical Tuesday

September 24: Advocacy Wednesday

September 25: Professional Development Thursday

September 26: Chapter Recruitment Friday

Chapter social media posts were shared through the NAfME Collegiate social media accounts with more than 200 pieces of content displaying a vast range of chapter activities shared throughout the week. The content amplified idea sharing amongst chapters and allowed for recognition of these chapters on a national level.

Content posted by chapters included the following:

Chapters in their local communities for Service Monday

Members sharing their musical talents for Musical Tuesday

Video interviews with students explaining the importance of music education for Advocacy Wednesday

Q&As with faculty members discussing their teaching style for Professional Development Thursday

Group photos celebrating new members for Chapter Recruitment Friday

And so much more!

The week was accompanied by a new event to add to the celebrations: the NAfME Collegiate Fall Membership Rally. This year’s rally sought provide a space for NAfME Collegiate members and advisors to convene and hear from numerous guest speakers: the co-chairs of the NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council Kati Cox and Steve Kelly, NAfME President Cecil Adderley, NAfME Immediate Past President Scott Sheehan, a special video from event sponsor Cayley Tull, co-founder of Let Music Fill My World, and the evening’s keynote speaker Dr. Benny Bolden, Jr.

Attendees were eligible to win door prizes at this year’s rally such as a NAfME Collegiate embroidered tote bag, hat, hoodie, and stickers for their chapter. The energy from the rally will be carried on by chapters throughout the year! Check out the recording to experience the event.

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

Alabama A&M University

@aamu.nafme

Anderson University

@au_nafme

Appalachian State University

@appstate.nafme

Azusa Pacific University

@nafme_apu

Ball State University

@nafmeatballstate

Barton Community College

@bartonccmusic

Berry College

@berrymusiced

Butler Community College

@butler_cnafme

California State University Chico

@csuchiconafme

Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

@ocmea_585

Florida International University

@fiunafme

Florida State University

@nafme.collegiate.fsu

Fort Hays State University

@fhsunafmecollegiate

Friends University

@friends_university_cnafme

Furman University

@furman.nafme

Georgia Southern University

@gsu_cnafme

Georgia State University

@nafmegsu

Kean University

@kunafme

Keene State College

@kscnafme

Lenoir-Rhyne University

@lrunafme

Lindenwood University

@lindenwoodnafme

Luther College

@luthercollegefmea

Mercyhurst University

@mercyhurst_nafme

Missouri NAfME Collegiate

@monafme_c

Moravian University

@mupcmea

Nazareth University

@naznafme

Northern State University

@nsunafme506

Purdue University Fort Wayne

@pfwnafme

Randolph-Macon College

@musicmacon

Rhode Island College

@ric_nafme

San Diego State University

@cmeasdsu

San Jose State University

@sjsunafme

Snow College

@snowcollege_nafmecollegiate

South Dakota State University

@nafme.jacks.sdstate

The Crane School of Music

@cranecollegiatenafme

Universit of Alaska Anchorage

@nafmec_ua_anchorage

University of Arizona

@nafme.uarizona

University of Central Oklahoma

@ucomusiceducation

University of Kentucky

@uknafme

University of Maryland

@nafmeatumb

University of Nebraska Omaha

@unonafme

University of Oklahoma

@ounafme

University of South Dakota

@usdnafme343

University of Tulsa

@utulsa_nafme

University of West Georgia

@uwg_cnafme

University of Wisconsin – River Falls

@uwrf.nafme

Vermont State University at Castleton

@vtsucastleton_nafme

Virginia Commonwealth University

@vcu.nafme

Virginia State University

@vsucollegiatenafme

West Virginia University

@wvunafme

Western Michigan University

@wmunafme32

Westminster College

@wcpcmea

William Carey University

@wmcarey_nafme

William Jewell College

@jewell_nafmec

Youngstown State University

@ysuocmea

And more!

This event would not be possible without the support of the NAfME National Executive Board, Collegiate Advisory Council, and all the chapter advisors across the country who serve as the backbone of the NAfME Collegiate program. Thank you, all, for making this year’s Collegiate Kickoff Week the best year and a special thank you to this year’s sponsor, Let Music Fill My World.

Catch a glimpse of the excitement from this year’s NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week by checking out this special recap video:

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.