SUNY Geneseo joins the nation in celebrating the life of Dolly Parton
Photo Courtesy of Madison Jansen
On Sept. 25, pronounced 9-2-5 as a play on Dolly Parton’s 1980 song and movie, “9 to 5,” SUNY Geneseo and communities across the country honored the life and generosity of country music icon Dolly Parton—just a few weeks after her death—through a new day of giving created in her name.
From 1-3 p.m., students were welcome to stop by the MacVitte College Union to join in on the festivities, complete with pink frosted cupcakes, rice crispy treats with pink sprinkles, and even pink lemonade. Some of the cupcakes even had mini pink cowgirl hats or disco balls on top of the frosting for students to take. If students needed some caffeine, there was also a coffee bar that had a whiteboard reading “pour yourself a cup of ambition,” a line from Dolly Parton’s song “9 to 5,” and a large selection of pink decorations alongside it.
Accompanying the snacks and drinks, the celebration also contained a raffle which students could enter to try and win one of three LED signs, two of which read “Howdy Darlin” while the third read “In Dolly We Trust” with a large cowgirl hat in the center. At the same table, students were encouraged to write a short message of thanks on a card to be sent to first responders in the area as a way of “celebrating kindness and generosity of spirit in honor of Dolly Parton,” which is written on the bottom of each card.
Across the nation, the day of celebration was focused on promoting literacy and giving back to children and their communities. Therefore, the part of the celebration that was most important to the legacy of Dolly Parton was the book donation. Students—and anyone able to—were influenced to donate a children’s book into the box next to the coffee bar. This is done in—as is detailed on the Imaginary Library’s website—a commitment to “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library [which] is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.” Any and all books donated to the box during the celebration—and for a period of time after, as the box has remained up over the weekend and into the next week—will be “given out at local literacy nights and events through the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes in Dolly's name” as is stated on the SUNY Geneseo Website.
Of course, all of the festivities were held while Dolly Parton’s music played from the speakers in the Union, ranging from her more popular songs to some lesser known hits, all of which were enjoyed by the students stopping by.
Students were also encouraged to wear something either Dolly-related or sparkly; something that was seen clearly as many of the students that stopped by came wearing bright pink clothes, with some even wearing pink makeup in honor of Dolly.
People Magazine reported that prior to her passing, Dolly said, “I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.” While she may not be able to see it all come to life firsthand, her legacy continues as a product of her life-long commitment through this celebration.
So, even if you were not able to make it to the celebration on campus, you can still honor Dolly’s legacy. Through donating books, giving when you can, or simply being kind to others, you can still honor Dolly by doing your best to achieve what she spent her entire life championing: giving every child the chance to dream.