Wanted: Glassboro’s most #RowanPROUD family

Bill and Rita Capelli might never get around to writing 500 words or less on why they’re a Rowan proud family.

But make no mistake: The Capellis, married 54 years, Glassboro residents for 52 years, are pleased—and proud--to live in the borough…and to call Rowan University students, faculty and professional staff members their neighbors and friends.

“This is a nice place. We’ve had really great neighbors,” says Rita Capelli. “We have young people all around our neighborhood. They keep you feeling young even when your bones are aching.”

‘#RowanPROUD in the the ’Boro: A Contest for Glassboro Families’

Members of Rowan’s Homecoming Committee are looking for Glassboro residents like the Capellis, folks who exude both Glassboro—and Prof—pride. “#RowanPROUD in the ’Boro: A Contest for Glassboro Families” is asking Glassboro families to explain, in 500 words or less, why they love Rowan University.

The contest, which runs through Oct. 5, will be judged by a panel of Homecoming committee members. The winning family will receive a plethora of prizes and will be honored as part of the University’s Homecoming www.rowan.edu celebration, which runs Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18.

Families can enter the contest online at alumni.rowan.edu/RowanPROUDFam.

PROFtoberfest prizes

The winning family will ride in Rowan's PROFtoberfest Homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct. 18, and will receive a number of other prizes, including, among other gifts, free admission and reserved seating at the Homecoming football game versus SUNY Morrisville, lunch in the PROFtoberfest tent, a family four-pack for the concession stand, Rowan apparel, and a gaggle of gift cards from borough merchants. 

Additionally, the family will receive a family four-pack of tickets to the PROFtoberfest block party on Friday, Oct. 17, from 6-10 p.m. on Rowan Boulevard. The celebration, which is open to all community members, will include German food, music and dancing, craft vendors, a beer garden, horse and carriage rides and a kids' zone featuring face painting, a human hamster ball and roasted marshmallows. 

The winning family will be announced before Oct. 13.

Community-wide Homecoming

Because Glassboro serves as home to 4,000 residential students, Homecoming is the perfect time to honor a Rowan proud borough family, notes Constantine Alexakos, assistant director of student activities.  Alexakos adds that Homecoming will be a more community-wide event this year, highlighted by the Friday evening PROFtoberfest block party and, of course, the annual Homecoming parade on Saturday. The parade begins on Rowan Boulevard.

“Homecoming is a chance for us, as a University, to celebrate Rowan. But it also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the Borough of Glassboro,” Alexakos says. “We'd love to hear from Glassboro residents who are proud that they are our neighbors and friends.”

Count the Capellis, who raised two sons in their Chestnut Ridge home, as part of that group. Each evening, they enjoy their ice cream outside on their pristinely manicured lawn. They also greet their neighbors and sometimes share the bounty of their organic garden.

“The college students on our street always say hello to us,” Rita says. “They all don’t know our names, but every one of them says hello. We just love living here in Glassboro.”  

Proud neighbors

The University’s connection to borough residents http://www.rowan.edu/home/about/our-past-present-future/rowan-history  is extraordinary. In 1917, 107 borough residents raised more than $7,000 to purchase 25 acres of borough land. Recognizing the economic benefits and prestige an institution would bring to their town, the residents offered the land to the state for free if Glassboro was selected as the site for the region’s new normal school to train teachers.

Today, nearly a century since their generous decision, Rowan has grown from a teacher training school into a comprehensive state-designated public research institution with eight colleges. The University, which boasts nearly 14,000 students, is one of only two institutions in the nation with both M.D.- and D.O.-granting medical schools. Altogether, 4,000 students live on campus, calling Glassboro home throughout the academic year.