Mar 26, 2013

Architecture Alum Featured for Bringing UC to D.C.

DAAP alum Todd DeGarmo is recognized by President
Santa Ono for his role in bringing UC to D.C. during the
Proudly Cincinnati campaign.
Following UC's billion-dollar milestone, the March edition of the UC Where You Are Newsletter featured Todd DeGarmo - a DAAP alumnus who has been instrumental in bringing the Proudly Cincinnati campaign to Washington D.C. Since the start of the campaign in 2005, DeGarmo and his colleagues have twice surpassed their regional campaign goals, first moving past $8 million, and then $10 million a short time later.

Other stories in the March edition include a preview of President Ono's #hottestcollegeinAmerica tour, information about UC's new mobile apps, details about President Santa Ono's goal to reach 100,000 donors by June 30, 2013, and a story about an alumnus who is the general manager at The Drake Hotel in Chicago.

If you didn't receive the newsletter via e-mail, check out the full issue online and then update your contact information to ensure you receive the latest version in your inbox every few months.

If you have an idea for the next edition, or know an alum to spotlight, tweet us at @UofCincyAlumni, comment below or send us an e-mail to alumni.association@uc.edu.

Mar 20, 2013

Alumni Weekend: Campus is Calling You Back!

Alumni Weekend 2012
Remember being in college and getting Spring Fever? The weather warmed up, outdoor activities took over, the campus looked better — heck, even your fellow students looked better!

It’s that time again! Springtime is calling you back to campus for Alumni Weekend, the UC Alumni Association’s annual gathering for alums and friends of all ages.

With UC’s conversion to semesters this year, Alumni Weekend has moved up one month — Friday through Sunday, April 12-14. It’s a great opportunity to:

  • Reconnect with your college …
  • Visit with old and new friends …
  • Marvel at what they’ve done with campus …
  • Enjoy being a Bearcat!

There will be plenty of activities offered through the colleges as well as student and alumni organizations, as well as some all-UC fun. Highlights include:

Friday, April 12

  • The MainStreet Stride foot parade through campus at noon — open to everyone in the UC Family

Saturday, April 13

  • Campus tours (walking or by bus) throughout the morning
  • An all-UC Skyline lunch buffet at 11:30 a.m. at the Myers Alumni Center
  • Sigma Sigma Carnival in the evening

Sunday, April 14

  • Golden Bearcat Brunch honoring alumni of 50+ years

Get all the details and make plans to come home to UC for Alumni Weekend!

What are you looking forward to the most about Alumni Weekend? Let us know by commenting below!

Alumni Weekend is presented by your UC Alumni Association in cooperation with GEICO, Skyline and Graeter’s.

Mar 19, 2013

National #HottestCollegeinAmerica Storyteller: Ono? Oh, yes!

President Ono's tour is largely about
hearing what's on the minds of alumni.
 The UC success story deserves to be energetically told all across the country — so that’s exactly what new President Santa Ono is doing during the first half of 2013.

Ono embarked on his #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour in Dayton in January (140 in attendance) before visiting Phoenix in February (another 45). Presented and coordinated by the UC Alumni Association, the tour is named for Ono’s Twitter hashtag that promotes UC in the social media realm. The caravan is unfolding against the backdrop of continual good news, including:

  • Rising institutional rankings (UC is up a dramatic 17 spots in the last two years in U.S. News & World Report);
  • Steady elevation in academics (each incoming freshman class is more academically prepared than the last, with graduation rates on a steady climb);
  • Exciting innovations emerging from all corners of the university community;
  • Crossing the $1 billion threshold of the historic Proudly Cincinnati campaign.

A combination of presidential presentation, “fireside chat” and candid Q&A, each stop finds Ono making his way around the room with a microphone, answering whatever he’s asked. The audience is mostly alumni from that city, but also current students on co-op assignment, prospective students and their parents, and others who are intrigued by Ono’s story and school.

President Ono fielded questions all over the room.
The #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour is fundamental to the work of both President Ono and the UC Alumni Association.

“I’m sharing an exciting look at what UC is doing and where we’re going, which people say they appreciate, especially when they’re far away from campus,” Ono said. “Yet maybe more important is my opportunity to tap into what they’re seeing and feeling. Obviously I hear from alumni and students all the time via Twitter and Facebook, but there’s nothing like being together, and then assimilating those viewpoints into how we advance the university.”

The UC Alumni Association feels the same way, especially in terms of getting that many Bearcats in the same room to talk about the huge common thread in their lives.

“When alumni know more about what’s going on and who’s leading the way, they inevitably want to get more involved,” said UC Alumni Association executive director Myron Hughes, BUS ’86.

Ono connected with the alumni, students, and parents 
who came to learn more about the #HottestCollegeinAmerica — 
and he did so with and without red-and-black neckwear.
 (Minutes before this photo was taken, he had gladly 
surrendered his tie when an alum asked where he
 might find one like it.)
“You wouldn’t believe how many alums I meet in my travels who are thrilled at the opportunity to get reconnected. Many of them say, ‘Myron, let me know how I can help.’ There is a genuine need within most alumni to have this important connection — to somehow be part of it. Working with the president, it’s our job to make these opportunities available and to welcome everyone who steps forward.”

The 2013 Tour is likely only the beginning.

“I’d like to keep doing this, visiting different cities every year,” Ono said. “Life isn’t a snapshot. It keeps changing, and we have alumni all over the world who want to help their university keep climbing higher.

“And I like to stay on the move,” he added, smiling.

Upcoming tour dates include: 

April 4
Atlanta, Ga.

May 29
Los Angeles, Calif.

May 30
San Francisco, Calif.

June 6
Cleveland, Ohio

June 27
Tampa, Fla.

June 28
Orlando, Fla.

Click here to learn more about the #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour — and to register if @PrezOno is coming your way. Have you attended one of the tour stops? Share your experience by commenting below.

Mar 5, 2013

Be a part of the Proudly Cincinnati Campaign

On February 20, 2013, the University of Cincinnati  announced that it surpassed the $1 billion goal of its Proudly Cincinnati campaign, the most ambitious fundraising effort in the university's history.

Though the Proudly Cincinnati campaign has surpassed its billion-dollar goal four months ahead of schedule, there’s still more work to do. Proudly Cincinnati has made a major impact on the University of Cincinnati, but the billion dollars is just the beginning of UC’s fundraising ambitions.

In addition to striving after the goals outlined in UC’s strategic plan, President Ono announced a new goal to reach 100,000 donors by the end of the campaign in June 2013.

Read more about the campaign's positive impact and the future of the campaign. Don't forget to be a part of it!

Have you already donated to the campaign? Share why you are Proudly Cincinnati below.