Community Service Projects Bring UC Alums Together

When you think of UC alumni events in cities across the country, the first image might be a restaurant or bar with dozens of alums hanging out to watch the Bearcats basketball or football team in a big game on the big screen.

While that will always be a staple of UC camaraderie in the UC Alumni Association’s regional alumni networks, there is a concerted effort by UCAA and the alumni in those cities to diversify their activities and, in the process, bring more alumni into the network circle. Two recent examples took place in Dayton, Ohio, and Washington D.C.

 

Dennis Hole, A&S ’06, contacted a Dayton-area Toys for Tots drive and worked with Pete Hilgeman, Bus ’09, who offered his Dayton Beer Company microbrewery as a collection point. Hilgeman’s establishment was also the site for December’s UC-Xavier Crosstown Classic watch-party on Dec. 14. The event was communicated via email and social media. A partnership with Skyline Chili promised “Bring a toy, get a free cheese coney.” Even when the Dayton Beer Company was not hosting a UC event, the collection box filled up repeatedly during the campaign.

“We were surprised at the quality of the toys — how generous people were,” Hole said of the ongoing response. “This sort of initiative appeals to alumni who might not gravitate toward the purely sports-related events. This has really opened up people’s minds to what can be done.”

A different kind of community service event took place right across the Potomac from Washington on the same day as the Crosstown Classic. That morning, 24 UC alumni and family members met at Arlington National Cemetery to participate in the annual Wreaths Across America Day, when grateful and reflective citizens place wreaths on the graves of veterans to remember and honor their service and sacrifice.

“I had done this previously with a fraternity brother of mine and thought it was an amazing event,” said D.C. network leader Adam Thurn, CEAS ’10. “It’s extremely powerful and moving, and offers a firsthand look at the losses sustained to ensure our freedoms. Many of the volunteers brought their children and I’m sure were

able to have a teaching moment with them.”

“I heard many of the participants say they were happy to see our D.C. alumni network do something like this,” Thurn said. “We want to continue providing different options for becoming engaged with the UC Alumni Association."

Time is running out...

If you know an alum that you think deserves recognition, there are only a few weeks left to nominate them for a UC Distinguished Alumni Award! The deadline for the 2014 UC Distinguished Alumni Celebration nominations is December 18^th. The celebration will be Thursday, June 12^th at the Kingsgate Marriott on the UC Campus. The UC Alumni Association holds this annual event to recognize and celebrate the many contributions and overall excellence of UC alumni in countless fields of endeavor, throughout the world.

Each year, four awards are given to the top nominated alumni:

The William Howard Taft Medal Award is given to an alumnus of UC solely for notable achievement in his or her field. The award is in honor of Dr. William Howard Taft, 27^th president of the United States.

 The Alumni Distinguished Service Award is given to a dedicated alumni who make an outstanding contribution to UC by aiding the advancement of the university through their service.

The UC Alumni Association Mosaic Award is presented to an alumnus who has demonstrated leadership while enhancing the community through cultivating collaborations, fostering inclusiveness, championing the cause of the underrepresented and promoting greater equity and opportunity for others.

The Jeffrey Hurwitz Young Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award is given to a UC graduate who is 35 years old or younger for their significant professional achievement in his or her field and continued service to the university and community. The award is in honor of Jeffrey Hurwitz, former president of the UC Alumni Association.

The Distinguished Alumni Celebration is an exciting time for alumni to get together and celebrate those who have truly made a difference. To see videos of 2013 award recipients, click here.

Remember, December 18^th is fast approaching! Submit your nominations before it is too late! 

President Ono Brings UC to West Coast

University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono visited the West Coast for two tour stops on the #HottestCollegeInAmerica tour. On back-to-back days, President Ono and other UC staffers ventured to Seattle and Portland.

Both stops were a huge success with a room full of energetic alumni, prospective students, parents, and friends of UC.  Ono started off the night with an address on the state of the university then followed by a reception and a candid Q&A session. Check out photos from the event on Facebook.

The #HottestCollegeInAmerica tour has solidified and charged UC alumni networks around the country with  an even greater affinity with their alma mater. The tour is presented and coordinated by the UC Alumni Association and is named for Ono’s twitter hashtag that promotes UC as the “#HottestCollegeInAmerica” on social media.

Click here to check out the rest of the #HottestCollegeInAmerica tour schedule. Follow @PrezOno on his journey across the country.

Have you visited with Ono at previous tour stops? Comment below about your favorite part of President Ono’s visit to your city! 

@PrezOno’s #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour takes UC on the road

As is his custom at big group gatherings, the
 president took a picture of the setting and the crowd to tweet later.

During the Q&A portion of the first leg of UC President Santa Ono’s #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour, Michael Wright, CEAS ’93, Law ’96, asked where he could get a striking, red-and-black UC necktie like the one Ono was wearing. The answer led to Ono no longer wearing it — the president quickly took off his tie and gave it to Wright, much to the delight of 140 people in the room. “But I’m not giving away any more clothing,” laughed Ono as he resumed fielding more questions without missing a beat.

The face and voice of the University of Cincinnati have noticeably changed with the ascension of Ono from Provost to President over the past six months. Still, the overarching university message remains much the same: From college rankings, alumni engagement and fundraising to research excellence, academic achievement, and athletic accomplishment, UC is on a significant upward trajectory.

Have microphone, will travel: President Ono
visited all parts of the room fielding questions.

And while social media savant Ono is continuously pushing out UC good news via Facebook, Twitter and other communications channels, nothing beats face-to-face. So he’s carrying that message to alumni, co-op students, prospective students and their parents, and other curiosity-seekers in eight cities between January and June. He is unabashedly sharing his dedication and devotion to his job, which he pledges to continue doing for the next decade. And he’ll even give away his necktie just to emphasize the point!

“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, and then assimilate those viewpoints into how we advance the university.”

The president, post-necktie giveaway. With or without
red-and-black neckwear, Ono connected with the alumni,
 students, and parents who came to learn more
about the #HottestCollegeinAmerica.

The Dayton tour stop constituted the largest Dayton-area UC event in at least a quarter century, and the vibrant roomful of Bearcats was excited to get “up close and personal” with Ono, as well as with deans Lou Bilionis (Law) and Bill Fant (Pharmacy) and Athletics Director Whit Babcock, all of whom made the drive up I-75. Ono led the discussion, touching on such topics as his own personal journey and how it has shaped his professional principles; his view of UC’s top institutional priorities; cooperative education and the conversion to semesters; athletics and conference realignment; and the nature of the college-aged Millennials demographic group and how they tend to see their place in the world.

Alumni and others in Arizona, Georgia, California, northeastern Ohio, and Florida take note: @PrezOno and his #HottestCollegeinAmerica Tour, presented in partnership with the UC Alumni Association, are coming your way. Click here to learn more about the tour and mark your calendar.

Who are UC’s ‘star’ faculty and staff?

Whether five years out of school or 40, it's possible that one of your fondest associations with UC to this day is that favorite professor who left a lasting impression on you. In some way, shape or form, he or she inspired you to chase your dreams. And without a doubt, you wouldn't be where you are today without them.

They span all generations of UC graduates and there's certainly at least one in every major. They're the professors whose classes filled up first during open registration, whose lectures captivated the attention of every student in the room, whose support system extended far beyond the walls of their classroom. It's likely they even received one of UC's distinguished faculty awards when you were one of their students.

At UC, such top notch educators are everywhere...and no one remembers and respects them more than our alumni. By virtue of their long tenure and a strong referral rate among their prior students, many of them have touched countless lives over the years and in many cases, continue to keep in touch with past students even years after they’ve left campus.

"UC Magazine" maintains an archive of "favorite professor" testimonials. Help us build upon this list of “UC’s Star Faculty & Staff” – past and present – who in many cases, are the missing link between alumni who may have lost touch with their alma mater over the years.

Fill out UC Magazine's form or comment below and tell us who stands out above the rest when you think back to your days at UC. How did their influence, both inside and outside the classroom, shape your student and post-graduate life? 

“Where is My Uniform??!!”



Myron Hughes, Executive
Director, UC Alumni Association



The Bearcats' appearance in last night's Sweet Sixteen tournament game was met with unbridled red and black pride from coast to coast. Myron Hughes, executive director of the UC Alumni Association and '86 grad, shares his lingering emotions from the trip to Boston and his heartfelt appreciation for Bearcat alumni and fans everywhere.



Hughes' excitement for Bearcats Basketball
stems from his former days as a UC player.



When I played basketball for the Bearcats in the 1980s, we had some good, tough teams and played some big games, but we never made it to the NCAA Tournament. I’m sure that’s partly why I’ve had the recent urge to suit up and get back on the floor. Last night I actually started to report to the scorer’s table so I could bang against Sullinger for a while. Yes, the atmosphere, excitement and intensity have been that unbelievable!

The outcome of the much anticipated Ohio State rematch wasn’t what we wanted, but the season exceeded our expectations, our team made us very proud, and I’m just as pumped the day after the game as I was before tip-off. That’s because of the UC fans! They came to Boston in great numbers, wearing their Bearcat gear, and ready to roll! There were UC people here from all generations — senior citizens providing “veteran leadership” (including three members of the 1961-62 National Championship teams!), former classmates of mine, young alums, little kids — you name it, they came to support their Bearcats in Boston, just as they had done in New York for the BIG EAST Tournament and in Nashville for our wins over Texas and Florida State.

So my two thoughts today are:  1) How great it is to be at UC right now!, and  2) How grateful I am for the pride and passion of our alumni family. Thanks to all Bearcats everywhere!!!

I am Proudly Cincinnati,
Myron Hughes

How were you feeling throughout the Bearcats' trek to the Sweet 16? Comment below!

New Program Gathers Students and Alumni Around the Dinner Table

Diners take a quick photo break with their host alum,
Myron Hughes, at Clifton's Cactus Pear restaurant.

Nothing brings people together better than good food and great company! Such was the reasoning behind the UC Student Alumni Council's decision to create the all-new  "Dinner with 12 Strangers" program, which brings students and alumni together around the dinner table to make Bearcat connections across varying generations, careers and interests.

The second annual event held  this February included five dinners hosted by alumni all around Cincinnati (up from two last year). 

Even family members got in on the fun at the Uhls' dinner
hosted at their home in Sharonville.

The Student Alumni Council looks to grow the program within Cincinnati next year, and even possibly to include future alumni hosts in networks across the country too.

Thanks to this year’s alumni hosts, including:

• Tom and Missy Uhl (Business, '85)
• Scott and Eileen Tucker (Engineering, '83 and '91)
• Chris and Andrea Zahumensky (Business, '98 and '00)
• Myron Hughes and Diane Lewis (Business, '86; Evening '94 and Business, '99)
• Richard Posey and Jeff Klump (DAAP, '85)

“We really enjoyed the students,” Zahumensky said. “They were so easy to talk to and seemed genuinely happy to be there and engage. We had a nice, diverse group across ages and student groups but still found lots of commonalities to discuss. We’d definitely participate again and would also encourage other alumni to

do the same. What a great event!”

The event provides an opportunity for students and alumni to interact in a fun and relaxing environment, while also expanding their networks and developing relationships with fellow Bearcat mentors.

“The dinner was a great opportunity to step outside my typical Saturday night and spend it with such accomplished and interesting individuals," said Ella Koachway, a current junior majoring in hospitality management. "Hearing one another speak and meeting others who are bound for successful futures encouraged me within my own journey.”

Want to host or co-host a dinner in your city the next time around? Let us know below!



Cleveland sportswriter and alumni network leader brings ‘Wright stuff’



UC Alum Branson Wright’s sports journalism career has
taken him from UC’s News Record to earning his own sports
column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

 In case you missed the first edition of our all-new "UC Where You Are" e-newsletter, we're featuring some of the top-read stories here on our blog. If you like what you see, 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. Comment below if you have the perfect alum in mind for us to feature in our spring edition too!

Branson Wright‘s sports journalism career has taken him from UC’s News Record to northeastern Ohio working for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he still manages to keep a close eye on Bearcats Athletics. He’s also helping keep fellow alumni connected as the new co-leader of the UC Alumni Association’s Cleveland Alumni Network.

Like virtually all alumni, Branson Wright’s professional path was altered at UC, where the aspiring sportswriter leveraged every opportunity available to make his career dreams come true.


Cleveland sportswriter and UC alum Branson Wright poses
with NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swann at the East-West Shrine
College All-Star game in 1989 where UC's Andrew Stewart
was participating.

 “I grew up in Silverton in suburban Cincinnati — right across the street from [major league baseball player] Buddy Bell,” Wright says. “My dad wanted me to go to UC, but I wanted to see other places and ended up going to West Virginia. After a couple years and diminishing funds, I had to leave. An adviser at WVU suggested I go home, enroll at UC for a while, then return to Morgantown. That was my plan.”

But when Wright got to UC and started to work for The News Record, he saw that sports editor Angelique Chengelis, who now covers the University of Michigan for the Detroit News, was about to graduate. “I was ‘next in line’ and decided to stay, and that changed everything for me,” he said.

The News Record promotion helped open doors — from internships, to relationships with people in athletics, to invaluable mentoring from faculty and staff such as Eric Abercrumbie and Ken Simonson. “They knew about my dream to be a sportswriter and urged me to stay focused.”

As a result, Wright covered and became friends with many fellow Bearcats, including basketball player and future UC Alumni Association executive director Myron Hughes, who recently asked Wright to volunteer with the Cleveland Alumni Network.

While Cashmere Wright is dishing out assists for the basketball Bearcats these days, Branson Wright (no relation) notched an unofficial assist on one of the biggest buckets in UC hoops history. The first game ever played in Fifth Third Arena saw new coach Bob Huggins’ undermanned UC team beat 20th-ranked Minnesota 66-64 on a three-point buzzer-beater by Steve Sanders, a Cleveland native who had just joined the team largely on the advice Wright offered to both coach and player.

“Steve’s team of football players was my intramural basketball team’s biggest rivals — they would always beat us in the championships,” Wright recalls. “When Huggins showed up, he needed players and announced he would hold tryouts. I told him, ‘You need to look at Steve Sanders.’ Steve had completed his football eligibility, and I encouraged him to try out. So I take credit.”

When he’s not writing for the newspaper, Wright works on a film project about Dwight Anderson, a Dayton, Ohio, basketball legend who went on to play at both Kentucky and Southern California but never realized his vast potential due to a string of bad choices and personal problems. Working without a budget for three years now, Wright hopes to assemble the film in the near future.

Meanwhile, he’s bringing new energy to Cleveland-area Bearcats. Wright helped organize the most recent Crosstown Shootout game watch and hopes to come up with some creative new ways for Cleveland alums to reconnect with UC and one another. He welcomes help from other volunteers.

“I’m putting out the word — we’re looking for more involvement and some fresh ideas.”

Cleveland-area alumni can reach Wright at bwright11@aol.com.

Dayton Engineering Grad Pays It Forward to Young Aeronautic Enthusiasts

In case you missed the first edition of our all-new "UC Where You Are" e-newsletter, we're featuring some of the top-read stories here on our blog. If you like what you see, 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. Comment below if you have the perfect alum in mind for us to feature in our spring edition too!

It’s not often that a kid can invite friends and family to an Air Show featuring his or her own airplane in flight. But that’s what happens at the end of College of Engineering grad Dale Whitford’s 15-week Model Airplane Building and Flying Program, open to any child in grades 4 to 12.

After 41 years of a remarkable career at the University of Dayton Research Institute, Whitford’s UC co-op experience inspired him to launch his aeronautics education program for youth. For the past fifteen years in a church gymnasium, Whitford and his team of volunteers have taught approximately 600 children about flight and engineering through hands-on weekly classes. Once a year for 15 weeks, children representing 15 different schools in the Dayton area learn how to read mechanical drawings, build a model plane, and study the principles of flight. The program culminates in a final Air Show, where kids fly their miniature aircraft in front of an audience.



Engineering grad Dale Whitford launched his youth model
airplane building program to share his lifelong passion for
airplanes with young aeronautical enthusiasts.

 According to Whitford, “When we first got married, my wife was uneasy about my flying, so I continued my hobby of model building from childhood. I taught my two young sons to build models, and eventually my grandchildren, and then some other kids. In 1998, our church asked the congregation for ideas for uses of the gym other than athletics.  I suggested the model building program to seed engineering interest in kids, and in September of that year I recruited my first class of 23 kids. The church loves it, the kids and volunteers love it, and I’ve never looked back.”

Whitford’s remarkable career and retirement followed a unique college recruitment experience. When the aspiring aeronautical engineer spoke to the dean of Engineering at the University of Tulsa, he told the young Whitford he belonged in a more impressive program than what Tulsa had to offer –the engineering school at the University of Cincinnati. And so it was that yet sight unseen, a mere three weeks after ending his Navy tour, Whitford walked on to UC’s campus.

After graduating from UC in the spring of 1951, Whitford married his (now) wife Sylvia the following day. With 13 job offers to choose from, Whitford accepted a full-time position at a small engineering firm in New Jersey. After six months, Whitford’s last supervisor at Wright Field contacted him and said he had recommended Whitford to University of Dayton officials for employment on a new government-sponsored research project that had been awarded to the University of Dayton.  Whitford and four other engineers launched Project Delta, a nuclear weapons testing project where he was involved in testing the effects of nuclear explosions on military aircraft.

Students of Whitford’s 3-month model airplane building
session at his home in Dayton show off their model airplanes.

These days, in addition to teaching children aerospace techniques, Whitford, the perennial educator, also instructs at the University of Dayton’s Lifelong Learning Institute. Whitford is also a published author on a variety of topics, including nuclear research, the Wright Brothers and jet engine history.

At least three of the Model Airplane Building and Flying Program graduates have gone on to pursue successful engineering careers, two of which attended the University of Cincinnati. UC President Gregory Williams successfully nominated Whitford for a “Co-Op Hall of Fame” award in 2011 by WACE (Advancing Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education), an honor that the dedicated UC alum considers a favorite lifetime achievement.

“I consider myself lucky to have known so early on what I wanted for a career when I grew up and then to have had so many opportunities to make that dream a reality,” Whitford said. “For me, the greatest satisfaction in leading the youth flying program is seeing that same spark of interest in the kids.”