Each August, students starting their first year at The University of Texas at Austin gather in front of the UT Tower the night before classes begin for Gone to Texas. And like everything in Texas, this celebration is big.
“It is grand, it is epic, and it is all things UT,” said Courtney Young, chief experience officer for University Events and Experience (UEE).
But how does this Texas-sized tradition come together to welcome more than 7,000 new Longhorns to campus?
“The production itself takes about a week to build up and put together,” said Kit Flynn, senior director of event production for UEE. “At the peak time, we probably end up with a couple of hundred people — including internal staff, volunteers and student organizations — helping us put on this big production.”
Students are key to Gone to Texas’ grand finale, which includes:
- Specific shades on Tower windows being manually opened by orientation advisors to reveal 29, the graduation year for many of the students kicking off their Longhorn journey at Gone to Texas.
- A performance by the Longhorn Band and the Spirit Squad, as well as an appearance by the Texas Cowboys’ Smokey the Cannon.
- The world’s largest Texas flag being dropped from the presidential balcony of the Tower by members of Alpha Phi Omega.
“It’s an epic moment at the Tower, and there’s nothing like it all year long,” Young added.
