The 2025 NAfME Collegiate Kickoff Week: A Nationwide Celebration

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.