UT Tyler’s 2024 Homecoming: Fitness & Nutrition Expo

By MEGAN WILLIAMS/Staff Writer and Photographer

The University of Texas at Tyler held its 2024 homecoming health and nutrition expo on Tuesday, March 19 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the University Center second floor.

The Department of Kinesiology hosted the expo, which featured several vendors such as the UT Tyler Herrington Patriot Center Recreational Sports, the The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), and Five Star Nutrition. 

The National Marrow Donor Program

NMDP had a table at the expo to promote and educate people on ways to donate blood stem cells.

“We particularly are with stem cell and blood cancer patients, and so we help the community by eradicating those blood cancers that exist,” said Ryan Dixon, an account manager for NMDP.

According to Dixon, NMDP is partnering with the athletics department and a few fraternities at UT Tyler,  and will be available to students and faculty every semester to save more lives.

Those interested in finding out more about NMDP can reached out to them on Instagram at nmdp_org or via their website.

To join the blood stem cell donor registry, you can text UTTylerFarmhouse to 61474 or go on their website at my.nmdp.org/UTTylerFarmhouse.

Five Star Nutrition 

Five Star Nutrition, another vendor, helps with fitness and health. According to Dakota Lucas, a salesman for Five Star Nutrition, they do this by setting up free meal plans, running through exercises and getting people set up with the proper supplements.

“We’re wanting to spread that knowledge and to help people understand they don’t necessarily have to go into a fitness journey alone,” said Lucas. “They can definitely get everything that they want to get out of it in a shorter time span than what it would take to do it by yourself.”

Available at Five Star Nutrition’s vendor table were various supplements to help with detoxing, sleep, greens, super foods and more.

The vendor gave away freebies to students and faculty to pick up and sample while they educated them on the benefits and uses.

To reach Five Star Nutrition, head to their shop located on 5201 S. Broadway Ave, Unit 104, in Tyler. Or, you can reach out to them at 5starnutrition.com or by phone at 903-534-6220.

Five Star Nutrition’s hours are between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.