I Love TU Week returns to campus, April 28-May 2, 2025, marking five days of activities and events intended to spark student engagement with the Taylor Fund.
The Taylor Fund is an annual fund, directly affecting students as the money is allocated toward student programming and residence life. In addition, this fund lowers tuition costs by $1800 per year, per student.
Noah Huseman, coordinator of digital engagement and annual giving, and Madison Slusher, content and special programs developer, have collaborated this year to head up the planning and preparation for this year’s I Love TU Week.
With the matching dollars, last year’s event exceeded the team’s financial goal and brought in nearly $1.9 million. Huseman and the team are hopeful that this spring will continue the positive trend.
“We have a goal of engaging 500 individuals and families in support of the Taylor Fund during this week,” Huseman said, “and we’ve got a bunch of fun on campus with a student residence hall competition called Battle of the Halls.”
Battle of the Halls is a week-long house cup competition inspired partly by the idea of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. The competition will award students points for participating in games, events and service projects throughout the week.
Each point students earn will be credited to their residence hall, offering them a chance to secure the grand prize of $1000 for their hall. Additionally, trophies for the three categories of spirit, service and giving can be won.
Slusher, who worked closely with the campaign last year, is excited about the opportunity to increase student involvement through the competition in a brand-new way this year.
“We’ve got a lot of the classic games, but of course we have to change the names, so we have Trivia, Friendly Feud, our own spin on a Minute to Win It and possibly a game that involves some creepy crawlers at the end of the week,” she said.
Huseman and Slusher have been working to involve faculty and staff like never before.
In planning for this event, they have teamed with a broad number of groups across campus. These groups include academic departments, the student body president’s office, student senate, residence life staff and a small team of student workers dedicated to brainstorm marketing and execution strategies for the event.
The two desire high levels of student engagement and enthusiasm surrounding I Love TU Week.
Ultimately, they hope it serves to deepen their perspective on how their own Taylor experience fits into the university’s greater network.
“Taylor is a philanthropic institution,” Huseman said. “Everything that we know and love about Taylor is enhanced by the generosity of others. The Taylor Fund is one way that thousands of donors every year participate in the Taylor student experience. My hope is that … students can start to get a glimpse of what it is like to live out the Taylor ethos beyond the boundaries of normal campus life.”
Julia Hurlow, dean of campus life, has served as a connection point between the I Love TU team and residence life staff in planning for the week.
She partners with Huseman and Slusher in their hope that this week will lead students to a broader understanding of what it means to be invested in the Taylor community and beyond.
“Each of us have been given opportunities to share our skills, resources and presence with others,” Hurlow said. “I hope that we can value stewarding our gifts and talents to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.”
Students can stop by the I Love TU booth in the LaRita Boren Student Center throughout the week to participate in activities. Visit www.taylor.edu/battle-of-the-h... for more information.
