KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 15, 2024 – This year’s University of Rhode Island Homecoming promises a few twists.

In addition to friends and football, some new events are happening at the Rhodyville Block Party, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Miss Rhode Island returns to URI

Miss Rhode Island 2024 Alison Hornung — a 2023 URI graduate — will stop by the block party on Saturday for photos with Rhody at 11 a.m. At 1 p.m., she heads to Meade Stadium to participate in the coin toss before the Homecoming football game, when the Rams take on the University of Maine Black Bears.

“It’s extremely exciting to come back to URI as I prepare to represent Rhode Island and subsequently URI at the Miss America competition in January,” Hornung says. She competed in Miss Rhode Island through her years at URI, and says it’s special to be able to celebrate her win as an alumna during Homecoming weekend. “I am very excited to return to my alma mater in this capacity.”

Hornung has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for pediatric cancer research through the Glimmer of Hope Foundation, a nonprofit she founded while at URI. As a student, she triple-majored in global business, German, and human development and family studies, tailoring her academic career in a way that will enable her to continue that work. She also served as a campus tour guide, community service chair and secretary of her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, and was the vice president of philanthropy and service on URI’s Panhellenic Council. These experiences helped her learn to communicate with diverse groups of people, speak to large audiences, and develop community, she says.

Spotlight on alumni entrepreneurs

This year’s Rhodyville pre-game block party will also feature a Rhody Marketplace of alumni-owned small businesses, including:

Christine (Campanella) Woodbine ’82, Crosswynds Traders
Tami ’96 and Matthew ’96 Mullins, Newport Sea Salt
Thomas Walsh ’07, OGM Photography
Sarah Larson ’08 G’09, Ten Thousand Spoons
Heidi O’Grady ’09, Anchored In Clothing Company
Oliver Palmer ’10, Chollie Caps
Jenna Hetzell ’11, Seaworthy Coffee Roasters
Lindsey Moss ’24, For Shore Co.

This comes as URI’s Alumni Engagement team is working to revamp the University’s online Alumni Business Directory. The team is piloting a small live “launch” of the Rhody Marketplace during this year’s Rhodyville block party.

The new Rhody Marketplace is open to all alumni business vendors, whether involved on campus or looking to increase involvement. If interested in being added to the directory, click here or email alumni@uri.edu.

Woodbine, a familiar face on the URI campus, is happy to see other alumni entrepreneurs join together in the pilot event.

“My business literally started 32 years ago on the sidewalk in front of the Memorial Union because of a contact I made back when I was an undergrad!” she says. “I owe a ton of gratitude for my success and longevity to the University.”

Woodbine will have a booth set up at Homecoming and is a frequent seller on the sidewalk outside the Union throughout the year, with weekly sales when weather is good.

“The kids get to know me and I get to know them, as new students arrive each year.”

A journalism and English major, Woodbine found her path to retail entrepreneurship because of her job managing catering in the Memorial Union as a student. One of her hires was a waiter who later went on to sell outlet clothes in those pre-outlet days. After college, Woodbine thought she’d try it, too, and bought some merchandise to sell in the Union.

The retail experiment went well. “I called from a payphone to say I’d sold out that very first day!” she recalls.

While Woodbine’s shop has grown, she’s continued to do pop-ups at URI ever since, even as technology and fashions have changed. Woodbine eventually opened a store in Narragansett, but says her URI following and alumni connections have been key to her business in the years since.

Along the way, she’s also helped foster a new generation of URI grads starting their own career paths.

“I’ve always hired URI students,” Woodbine says. Some have left South County to go on to work at Coach and Ralph Lauren. “But they got their experience right here at Crosswynds! That’s a source of pride for me.”

Not only did she grow a business, she met her original goal of running a business that worked for her family and has enjoyed her career journey ever since.

At this year’s Homecoming, Woodbine will be leaning into nostalgia with vintage pieces that showcase the Towers and landmark experiences people will remember from their time at URI, like a “walk the wall” shirt.

“We want to invoke the things people will remember and the memories people had when here.”

Visit Crosswynds and other alumni vendors at this year’s Homecoming on Oct. 26. RSVP and see here for full schedule information.