A student organization on Mercer University’s Macon campus is building community and creativity through fashion. Now in its third year, MU Runway encourages students to embrace their individual styles and “walk with confidence,” which is the club’s motto.
The group was founded by 2025 chemical commerce graduate Melat Israel, and her sister, Bereket Israel, took the reins as club president this year.
“We’ve always been really into fashion, so it was kind of an inevitable thing that we would bring it to whatever campus we were on,” said Bereket Israel, a junior chemical commerce major. “I know how rigorous classes can be. It’s nice to look forward to something that’s not surrounded by academics but really just about someone’s personality and their own interests. It’s an outlet for students to tap into.”
MU Runway aims to move past the cliques that are often associated with fashion and focus on the creative aspects instead.
“Anybody has style. Anybody has fashion,” said MU Runway Vice President Sebastian Blanco, a junior on the pre-theology track with a minor in philosophy. “It’s not about who’s the most popular kid. It’s just a community of creative minds coming altogether and expressing oneself, really just pushing each other to keep pushing those limits and pushing the boundaries that the world might put on them.”
The club highlights student outfits on Instagram during its popular “What You Wearing Wednesday” posts, which are often themed around upcoming events. Bears were recently photographed on campus in their professional attire on the day of the Job and Internship Career Expo.
The group also hosts regular general body meetings, backdrop photo shoots where students can get their picture taken for holidays and other occasions, and do-it-yourself clothing customization events.
“Students bring their own clothing, and then we supply them with different ways they can customize their clothing, whether it’s bleach and spray bottles, sewing machines, scissors or whatever,” Israel said.
MU Runway has a new video series on Instagram called “Chatting with Charlie” where club historian Charlie Minton, a junior marketing and entrepreneurship double-major, talks about past and current fashion trends. In addition, a fashion panel talk is in the works for later this year.
The organization’s signature annual event is a fashion show, which members plan for all year. The theme for the February 2025 show was “Threads of Revolution,” which was broken into fashion segments related to human rights, climate change, colonialism and capitalism. The year before was “Axis,” which explored “old money” and “new money” outfits. This year’s show will be held during the spring 2026 semester.
“Every fashion show is tailored to something that’s progressive in today’s culture or just something that’s super cool or trendy,” Blanco said. “It’s an ongoing, all-year sort of practice from early summer all the way to right before the show.”
The executive team, which has grown to a dozen students, holds auditions for student models and recruits photographers, videographers, video editors, DJs and creative directors for the show. Wear Macon and Elizabeth’s Vintage Boutique loaned all of the clothing items for the spring 2025 show.
“One of my favorite parts of this club is how we manage to source the clothing,” Israel said. “We collaborate with Macon thrift stores. We don’t buy any of the clothes. We just borrow and spread (the stores’) names as much as we can.”
Students involved in MU Runway have the opportunity to take on a variety of roles and grow in their skills. Blanco said he has been able to improve his graphic design and videography skills through the club. Israel said being on the executive board has allowed her to express herself, be creative and realize her ideas on a larger scale.
“There’s a genuine escape from reality that happens there, so being able to do that on a big level and spreading it around campus, it’s honestly such a good thing for morale,” Israel said. “Getting people out of their comfort zone, that’s probably my biggest goal, and to continue to spread creativity and the happiness that comes along with it.”
In the future, Israel and Blanco would like to expand the organization’s presence, such as at football games and community events. They would also like to collaborate with other schools and see their students at MU Runway fashion shows.
“Our city is very fashion integrated and influenced, and it has a lot of pull and should be recognized,” Blanco said. “I think with MU Runway, we could definitely bring it outside the walls of Mercer. This upcoming fashion show is meant to do that.”
Students interested in getting involved in MU Runway should talk with members on campus during “What You Wearing Wednesday.” Members are usually stationed around the Connell Student Center and Stetson Hall. Follow the organization on Instagram at @mu.runway.
