With plenty of panache and pyrotechnics, EMU revealed its brand-new, fully wrapped charter bus at a ceremony on Monday afternoon.
The event, held at the north end of the parking lot beside University Commons, drew students, athletes, faculty, staff, members of the press, and officials from Varsity Travel. It included remarks from Buck Smith, associate athletics director of operations; Adam Posey, head baseball coach; Sophia Armato, senior field hockey player; and Carrie S Bert, director of athletics.
After their remarks and a brief countdown, the plain white bus that had been blocking the crowd’s view pulled forward to reveal the new EMU athletics bus. As attendees got their first look at the bus’s bold new design, six pyrotechnic machines fired fountains of sparks into the air, cannons launched a flurry of blue and silver streamers overhead, and a snippet of Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” played through the speakers.
The bus wrap proudly proclaims “EMU ROYALS” and “HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA” lettering next to an image of the Royals’ lion mascot, which spans the full height of the bus from its tires to its roof. The design is set in front of a silhouette of Massanutten Mountain in varying shades of blue. The bus will serve as a moving billboard for EMU, promoting the values of the university wherever it goes.
“This bus is going to draw attention. It already did on our road trip to North Carolina this weekend,” said Armato, referencing her team’s recent travels to Meredith College in Raleigh. “It will create conversations and carry a Royal spirit wherever it goes.”
“EMU has a history of doing amazing, awesome work, of putting out tremendous people, graduates, staff, faculty, very quietly,” Bert said. “Well, guess what? It’s time for EMU to make a statement, to be recognized and remembered. As our teams travel, we won’t just arrive at our destinations, we will make an entrance.”
The bus is fully owned and operated by Winchester-based Varsity Travel, and the new wrap is a generous perk of the university’s partnership with the charter service. According to its website, Varsity Travel also provides transportation for Shenandoah University Athletics, Hood College, and Hagerstown Community College Athletics.
EMU alumna and staff member Hannah Beck, senior admissions counselor, said the new bus will also be used to bring groups of local high school students to visit the campus. “I’m really excited for this,” she said. “It’s great to get more name recognition out there.”
View the moment the bus was revealed in our video below:
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