As SGA’s annual Parents’ Day rolls by, it’s nice to see parents come back to college life, reminiscencing and spending the day with their ULM student.

But, it’s a different vibe when the parents are ULM alums– It’s like a “second homecoming.”

Sophomore vocal performance major Allison Newton knows this feeling all too well.

Her mom and dad met, fell in love at and graduated from ULM.

It’s clear that ULM holds a special place in this family’s heart, because this campus is ultimately where the Newton family was created.

ULM is literally a second home for the Newtons and creates a sense of nostalgia for them.

Newton’s parents attended ULM between the years of 1989 and 1995, and things were vastly different.

For starters, ULM was NLU or Northeast Louisiana University.

The mascot was not the warhawk, and Ace didn’t exist.

They were the Indians and the mascot’s name was Chief Brave Spirit.

The university didn’t have the buildings that are present now, and the giant library we all know and love was actually in Sandel Hall.

Although things were different, Newton’s parents met in a similar way that all college sweethearts meet at ULM– partying.

“My whole life they told me they met in Schulze Cafeteria, but recently, they told me they met at a Pike party,” said Newton.

She believes they told her that to make the story sound better.

They began to hang out more frequently and ended up having their first date at a union board ( now known as Campus Activities Board) sponsored movie.

While students at ULM, Newton’s parents were very active on campus.

Her dad majored in rad tech and was a member of the track team as a pole vaulter.

“They were always getting into shenanigans,” Allison said while laughing.

He and the team would drop spiders onto unsuspecting people from the top of the athletic dorms.

Her mom majored in accounting in her undergrad years.

Allison’s life is quite different from her parents’ at ULM. She has participated in all of the musical productions on campus, and she sings with the concert choir.

She is also active in the drama department and plans to audition for the ULM Dance Repertory Ensemble at the end of the semester.

Last year, she even competed in the 2017 Miss ULM Pageant and the 2017 Miss Louisiana Pageant.

Unlike her parents, she plans to become famous and make a career in musical theatre.

Allison says that her parents heavily influenced her decision to attend ULM.

“I had huge scholarships to Tech, Loyola, Northwestern, LSU and Tulan, but my parents convinced me to tour ULM and I fell in love with it,” she said.

Todd Newton wanted his child to go to a great school, not because he is a graduate of ULM, but because he felt ULM genuinely cares about their students and their academic endeavors.

He felt ULM gave their students the opportunity to graduate from a great school without having immense student debt lingering over them.

“Take it from me, I went to ULM on a partial track scholarship in the last recruiting class of coach Groseclose, and even with ULM’s top notch athletics and programs outranking many other schools, the price of tuition is still not inflated with all of ULM’s accomplishments,” Todd said.

And so, the Warhawk legacy continues to this day.

Allison and her family are proud to be Warhawks/Indians and encourage any incoming or continuing students to enjoy their college years, fall in love and become proud alumni.