Senior Walk a Tradition Unlike Any Other
When Michael Gohari stepped onto the Sun Life Stadium grassfor his final home game as a student back in the fall of 2010, the intensefeelings of pride surging through his body proved a fitting end to hisundergraduate experience.
“I will forever hold the Senior Walk in a special place inmy heart, where the blood is solely orange and green,” Gohari said. “Afterwatching our team battle it out for four years, it was an indescribable feelingto be able to be on that field myself.”
Category 5, the official Spirit Programming Board at the University of Miami, developed and initiated the idea, which allows for seniors totake a lap around the field prior to their final home games.
Chris Freet, the university’s Associate Athletic Directorfor Communications & Marketing, describes Senior Walk as a show ofappreciation for four years of support, and a student-led tradition integral to thecommunity.
“Just as they begin their undergraduate careers togetherwith Freshman Walk, they end it together with Senior Walk,” Freet said. “It’s arite of passage before graduation, and one of our longest standing traditions.”
Dustin Rainwater, who spent all four of his undergraduateyears rooting for the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl, looks back on the experiencewith a similar appreciation. His final home game was also the last time Miamiwould ever take the field at the OB.
“I think it’s a great experience for seniors, to includethem in the game even in a small way,” Rainwater said. “Especially in a situationlike mine, where the Hurricanes were playing their last game in a historicstadium where they had enjoyed so much success.”
Experiencing the game from a unique vantage point, even during a half-lap around Sun Life Stadium, provides a thrill unlike any other.
“Our student-athletes feed off the energy from their fellowstudents,” Freet said. “Not just at football, but all of our sports. SeniorWalk gives fans an opportunity to enjoy gameday from that perspective.”
Gohari agrees.
“To see the fans from their eyes, to feel the energy fromthe crowd…It’s just incredible.”
