APSU welcomed students back to campus for the fall semester during the events last week. For the freshmen class, this meant all sorts of exciting events, from free pancakes and barbecue, to the involvement fair and the Gov Run.  

Four years ago the first annual Gov Run was put on by the APSU Alumni Relations office. It was canceled due to financial reasons after Fall 2015. Now, the Gov Run is back for Fall 2017. 

Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Life and Engagement Victor Felts said he is happy to be able to help bring this event back. 

“We are happy to bring this APSU tradition back to campus,” Felts said. “Especially for the incoming freshman class.” 

The Govs Run which was the last welcome back event of the week, Aug. 27 during APEX weekend. APSU Student Life and Engagement, Student Government Association and the Student Alumni Association sponsored the event.  

Students gathered on the Intramural Field and ran a one-mile route around campus. Along the way, participants were sprayed with colorful paint from various student-organization-sponsored paint stations.  

The finale to the Gov Run was a color drop. Students were handed packets of dry chalk-like powder, gathered into one place, then sprayed with paint and told to rip open their color packets. The powder went everywhere, it even got in some student’s mouths. The paint helped the powder stick to people’s hair and clothes. It was a colorful mess.  

One student, Jacob Roberts, said that while he was excited for classes to start, a part of him wished he could just go back and relive this week again. He was not the only freshmen to share this feeling. Taylor Hoffman also wished that she could go back in time rather than start classes.  

Between all of the free food, the concert, and the Govs Run there is no doubt that the freshmen had an exciting welcome to their new school.