UCCS spirit shown in weekend festivities

A weekend of activities for students, parents of students and UCCS alumni was dampened – but not extinguished -- by last weekend’s frigid and slippery weather.

A campus bonfire Oct. 8 got more than 600 students enthusiastic for the weekend, according to Brad Bayer, executive director, Student Life and Leadership. A series of student-directed festivities ranging from a comedian to dances showed homecoming-style festivities can happen, even without a football team.

“The combination of Back to the Bluffs and Homecoming with our first Parent’s Weekend festivities was an unqualified success,” Bayer said. “We had 14 events in four days with attendance records repeatedly broken. This is a testament to the staff of student organizations and an example of what happens when groups work cooperatively.”

For Jennifer Hane, director, Alumni Relations and University Events, hopes were high when 120 UCCS alumni pre-registered for a Saturday morning career development workshop which was to be followed by a campus tour. About 65 attended the workshop led by Michael Larson, associate vice chancellor for research and innovation, after many area residents awakened to ice-slickened streets and sidewalks. Hane cancelled the campus tour after reports of slick spots on campus.

“We’re excited about offering career-focused programming to our alumni as there is clearly significant interest in that topic,” Hane said.”In addition, many alumni are excited to return to campus to see the progress since they graduated.”

Hane hopes to reschedule the campus tour within the next several weeks and plans to host a second career seminar and tour.