Bearcats Celebrate Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary

University of Cincinnati alumni living in the San Francisco Bay area celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge with a tour of the bridge.  Joseph Strauss, primary engineer and designer of the Golden Gate Bridge, was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati.

Approximately 25 alumni attended the 90 minute guided tour led by a tour group called San Francisco City Guides.

The San Francisco Alumni network hosts events for Bearcats living in the Bay area throughout the year.  Previous events include game watch parties, a Reds versus Giants game, all-Ohio networking event and more! On average, 75-100 UC alumni attend these red-and-black themed events.

For more information on how to get involved, please visit the alumni network website and Facebook page!

UC alumni at the Golden Gate Bridge

Joseph Strauss Memorial

New CEAS Learning Center Provides Students with Collaborative Space

The UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Learning Center, located on the eighth floor of Rhodes Hall, opened its doors at the beginning of Autumn Semester. The new Center provides an academic home for the Department of Engineering Education and first year students. 

Designed to keep students engaged and connected, the center accommodates 175 students and features state-of-the-art wired classrooms, open study areas, mobile tables and chairs, white boards and an inviting social area.

Within the first few weeks of classes, students filled the center on a daily basis, meeting with instructors, other students and tutors. The new space fosters a sense of belonging among students, which is especially important for students living off campus or taking courses outside of the college.

Several UC alumni, including Chicagoans for Cincy! leader, Bob Fealy, were instrumental in raising funds for the Learning Center. Generous support from alumni and donors has helped create a collaborative learning environment for current and future students.

For more information about the center, please click here.

UC Alum Photographs Top Sporting Events

Hansbauer shooting track from the moat at the Olympic Stadium

Think back to the hundreds of photos you saw during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Chances are, you were looking at the work of one of UC's own. UC Lindner College of Business graduate, Brett Hansbauer '00,  attended the 2012 Olympics as a contract digital technician (digi-tech) for Sports Illustrated. During the Olympic Games, Hansbauer photographed BMX and mountain biking, both sports he enjoys himself.

Hansbauer began his career with Sports Illustrated as a photo assistant in 1997. With a major in business and info systems, Hansbauer credits UC for pointing him in the right direction. While attending UC, he was a member of UC's student newspaper, The News Record, which got him involved with sporting events. At these sporting events, Hansbauer made numerous connections, launching his photography career.

While the London 2012 Games were Hansbauer's first Olympic Games, he has worked the Final Four for the past 11 years, the World Series, PGA tournaments, numerous college football bowl games, the NBA Finals and much more.

 How have you made a career out of a hobby? Tell us by commenting below!

Homecoming 2012 Ends, Memories Remain

Representing 1819 in Homecoming Parade

As Cindy (Chiang) Halvorsen said, "Homecoming is the best holiday of the year" for Bearcat fans. Like many UC alumni living around the nation, I anticipated attending Homecoming 2012 months prior to the event. I booked my flights from Eugene, Oregon to CVG and made sure I had ample time in the Queen City to visit the UC community.

My Homecoming 2012 weekend started off with the Homecoming 2012 Kick Off Party at the Myers Alumni Center. Even though the event moved inside due to impending rain, it was a blast! The Alumni Center was packed full of fellow UC alumni. Bearcats fans enjoyed free Cincinnati favorites including Skyline Chili, Graeter's, Montgomery Inn and LaRosa's pizza. Because I live so far away from Cincinnati and can never get my fill of the local Cincy flair, this was one of my favorite things about the event!

Coach Jones, Athletic Director Whit Babcock and the UC Bearcat all made appearances at the kick-off party and pumped the crowd up for game day.

Nippert Stadium under the lights

My red and black themed weekend continued with a walk in the traditional UC Homecoming parade, followed with tailgating at the Bearcat Blitz and the CATWALK. The main event, UC vs. Miami, did not disappoint and the Bearcats defeated Miami 52-14 for a Homecoming victory!

As I waited for my flight to board at CVG on Monday afternoon, my husband and I discussed how far UC has come over the years and what an exciting future UC has to look forward to! I can't wait to visit Cincinnati next year for Homecoming 2013! I hope to see you there!

Mandy Drakeford, A&S '09, '11
New Media/PR Manager
UC Foundation

P.S. Share your favorite Homecoming 2012 memory below!

Take Advantage of Free Career Management Workshops In Person or From Afar!

Julie Bauke

In today’s work world, it’s almost impossible to avoid a “career transition” at some point — probably at many points. Whether done by choice or necessity, navigating these occasional career “course changes” has become a necessary skill, and the UC Alumni Association (UCAA) is offering some valuable assistance.

The UCAA has partnered with noted career coach and strategist Julie Bauke to offer a free, three-part workshop series to help UC alumni dealing with or contemplating a job or career change.

In “Want a New Career? Strategies for Change — at Any Age,” participants will learn:

• How to decide when the time is right to make a change 
• How to look at your skills, your interests and experiences in new ways 
• Developing the career messages that point you toward your new career
• Networking as a core career-change strategy 
• …and much more!

The workshops will take place on three consecutive Tuesday evenings, October 9, 16 and 23, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Myers Alumni Center on UC’s main campus. For those who cannot attend in person, the sessions will be videostreamed live to facilitate remote participation.

Register to attend in person and to access the live, interactive videostream during the workshop sessions. The sessions will also be archived for future viewing.

Read what others said about the two-part career development workshop Julie held in July that focused on the fundamentals of a job search.

RSVP for the October sessions online now!

Homecoming All About Tradition, Togetherness

If you love being a UC alum, you’re probably feeling the tug of Homecoming this week. The big day is this Saturday, October 6 — but Homecoming is more than just one day. In fact, it’s a lot of events over several days that encourage all Bearcats to return to campus.

The students are celebrating Homecoming all week, and the theme they created — “We Love Lucy: A Flashback to Yesteryear” — honors the generations-old Homecoming tradition as well as today’s real-life binturong school mascot. UC Blue Ash starts its festivities on Wednesday and will bring a float to the parade for the first time. The UC Alumni Association’s African American Alumni Affiliate (known as 4A) begins three days of fun on Thursday. And the inaugural Homecoming Kickoff Party will take place Friday evening at the Myers Alumni Center … Coach Butch Jones, an array of “Cincinnati Favorites” to eat, beer-tasting from local brewery Christian Moerlein, a steel drum band, campus tours — and it’s all FREE!

Then comes Saturday, and it will be worth waiting for:

• College-based and other organizations will have events throughout the day.
• The annual Homecoming Parade will start down Clifton Avenue at 3 p.m. This year's Homecoming Parade Grand Marshals are Ernie and Cindy (Chiang) Halvorsen, champions of The Amazing Race in 2011!  Cindy, CEAS ’04, was a UC Honors student, creator of Camp Bearcat, recipient of the 2004 Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence, and Homecoming Queen in 2002.
• The UC Alumni Association’s Bearcats Blitz starts at 2 p.m., part of the vibrant UC Gameday environment.
• Starting at the Blitz and then winding through The Grid tailgate area, the football team’s traditional CATWALK begins at about 4:30 p.m.
• UC meets its longest football rival, Miami, at 7 p.m. in Nippert Stadium, which means the Bearcats should be ringing the Victory Bell shortly after 10 p.m.

“This weekend, UC is the place to be,” said UC Alumni Association executive director Myron Hughes, ’86. “Old and new friends all over the place, great food, winning football, family fun, our old stomping grounds … There’s a reason they call it Homecoming. We hope Bearcats everywhere make plans to come back.”

Check out all the events and activities on the UC Homecoming website.

‘Homecoming is the Best Holiday of the Year!’

After Cindy won Homecoming Queen in 2002
Left to right: Julie Bricker, 2000 Queen, Elizabeth Anderson 

Fromm, 2002 Queen Runner-Up Carrie Foulk Connelly, 

2001 QueenSonya Khera North, 1999 Queen

That headline is a common phrase among my friends. Every Bearcat I know looks forward to this one weekend. It’s a time to celebrate the start of a new school year, to make new friends or catch up with old ones, and to show your Bearcat Pride and sing the fight song until your voice runs out.

Ten years ago, I rode in the Homecoming Parade as an honored member of the 2002 Homecoming Court. I can still smell the crisp fall air and feel the incredible anticipation of halftime when the King and Queen would be crowned. I stood in the middle of Carson Field wearing a brand new red suit with my heart pounding out of my chest … and then I heard my name called as Queen. My Chi Omega sisters erupted in a deafening cheer that echoed throughout Nippert Stadium. It’s undoubtedly one of my most cherished memories as a Bearcat. 

Cindy Chiang Halvorsen (Engineering, 2004) and Ernie
Halvorsen earned $1 million after being named co-champions
of CBS’s19th season of The Amazing Race.

2011 was yet another benchmark year in my personal storybook! My then-fiancé, Ernie, and I raced around-the-world on CBS’s Emmy Award-winning reality show, The Amazing Race, ultimately winning the competition and the coveted $1 million prize. This year, we were quickly thrown into a whirlwind of TV appearances, magazine photo shoots, radio interviews, runway shows, charity events and public speaking engagements. Oh, and we somehow managed to find time to get married. 

But the one thing we have really been looking forward to all year is visiting campus for UC Homecoming! I have always tried to describe to Ernie the feeling of riding in the parade, yet couldn’t find the words to convey my most memorable undergraduate moment to him. On October 6, he actually gets to experience it first-hand as we lead the Homecoming Parade as your Grand Marshals. We feel so honored to have been asked to represent UC in this prestigious position.

Mr. and Mrs. Halvorsen 

I am so thankful for the outpouring of love and support from UC over the past 14 years. My experience on campus has been instrumental in developing the woman I am today, fostering my strong connection and deep sincerity for our university. With deep appreciation we look forward to visiting campus, a place that is very much my home.

See you at Homecoming!

Proudly UC,

Cindy Chiang Halvorsen

An Alumni Network Leader Comes Home

Stephanie and Dan Dodd

A crisp breeze. Blue skies. Hints of yellow and orange on the trees. It must be fall.

The distant sound of the band warming up. The laughter of students and alumni as we head to our favorite Clifton establishment early in the morning. It must be Homecoming.   

The excitement of UC Homecoming Weekend is a celebration of our campus, organizations and success as a university.  As friends and alumni gather, our college years seem so fresh in our minds and the memories come rushing back.

For me, UC Homecoming will always mean something more. I was a student enjoying another Homecoming celebration not knowing it would be a day I would come to treasure.  Just a few weeks earlier I ran into a high school classmate who was beginning his first year as a student at the UC College of Law. I hoped that I might run into him that Homecoming morning and, as it turns out, Dan hoped for the same. Twelve years later, we celebrate seven years of marriage and two beautiful little girls.

As one of the leaders of the UC Alumni Association’s Central Ohio Regional Alumni Network, I come back to campus every year for Homecoming with the opportunity to meet with other network leaders and university officials. Hearing everyone discuss the successes and passion in cities across the nation is a firm reminder that we are united and proud of our university. From game watches to cheering on our Bearcats to educational gatherings on the history of UC’s campus, our regional UCAA networks provide something for everyone. Add some new memories to your great UC memories of days gone by — Get involved with your local UC Alumni Network today!

Go Cats!

Stephanie (Wilson) Dodd

Bus ’02

If you live outside of Cincinnati, and want to get involved with the UC Alumni Association, join your alumni network!