Trojan Café hosts its first online event “Troy’s Got Talent” in an effort to unify students across all campuses.
“Troy’s Got Talent” was started by eTROY, and will feature 29 students from three Troy University Alabama campuses, eTROY, Global Campus, and states from across the country.
Entries will open up for viewing and voting on Friday, Aug. 28, on Trojan Café, and voting will end on Friday, Sept. 4.
Students will be able to submit their votes online, selecting one winner for each category: written works, fine arts and performance.
Winners of “Troy’s Got Talent” will receive the title of Troy’s Got Talent Winner for 2015 and $150 worth of Troy University merchandise.
“Troy’s Got Talent” came to fruition as an idea to give all Troy students, whether on the main campus or across the globe to participate in one event.
“Trojan Café kind of seeks to unify the Troy student body, because we are called Troy’s online student community,” said Amanda Smothers, assistant director of student engagement. “We have the unique opportunity to draw all students no matter what location or program that they’re in.”
“We can bring them together and we can offer them opportunities that students on campus have.”
Smothers also said that a lot of students that aren’t on campus don’t get to attend the events that help them contribute to the university.
“Trojan Café just allows us to be able to do that,” Smothers said. “To get them included, to give them something they can be excited about.”
“Troy’s Got Talent” is that event that can bring students together, Smothers said.
“We sent out a call for talent entries back in May and we’ve been receiving them steadily.”
“The feedback we’ve received from students has been very enthusiastic.”
Smothers said contests like this give students that wouldn’t normally be able to participate in something like this that are from different backgrounds and abilities.
“One thing great about Trojan Café is that there are students that wouldn’t be comfortable standing on a stage in front of a huge audience doing a skit,” Smothers said. “When you give them a chance online to participate it’s a little less threatening, so it kind of opens the doors for a lot of students to participate.
“A student recently told me that she struggles with chronic pain every day, but this contest is giving her a chance to be a part of something that celebrates Troy,” Smothers said.
“We’ve got several international students that are participating,” Smothers said.
Tammy Renée Coakley, a student that is enrolled at Troy University and is taking classes through eTROY, submitted a video of her singing “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe.
“I got an email from eTROY, and I looked at it, thought about it,” said Coakley, a senior hospitality, sports and tourism management major from Kingsland, Georgia. “I decided to go back and do it at the last minute.”
Coakley said she didn’t think much would come from her entry.
“I wasn’t going to do it,” Coakley said. “Then I got another email, saying they needed more people to do submissions to do this kind of thing.”
Students that are interested in participating in the future or have questions about “Troy’s Got Talent” can contact Smothers at 334-670-5877 or ksmothers@troy.edu.
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