In the reception ballroom of the Commons at UNI, a graduating class from UNI is honored each homecoming. Graduates celebrating the 50th anniversary of completing their degree are able to reconnect with familiar faces and create connections with new ones, on Friday, Oct. 25. They’re honored by the Alumni Association and Connecting Alumni to Students (CATS) in an effort to keep alumni connected to the university.
The Alumni Association’s main purpose is to keep alumni engaged after their graduation. With homecoming, they host events that are engaging for the range of alumni that UNI has, from students who graduated in 2024 to their golden graduates, who graduated fifty years ago. There’s an array of activities specifically designed for golden graduates to celebrate their graduation anniversary.
Tammy Chambers, an event coordinator for the Alumni Association, elaborated on how impactful hosting golden graduates can be during UNI’s homecoming. “This is one of my favorite campus events for lots of different reasons – we might see someone who is regularly back on campus supporting UNI, or it might be someone that hasn’t been back to campus for the past 40-50 years; there will be laughter, and sometimes even tears; and just hearing the stories from the Golden Grads themselves about their memories of campus is fun.”
This year’s golden graduates will have graduated in 1974. They will be welcomed to campus with the opportunity to take a guided campus tour. This tour involves a CATS member leading the alumni on a golf cart around campus. The students will guide the alumni to buildings they would like to visit, and take them to new developments that have happened on campus since they graduated. The almost 100 alumni registered for the event will then make their way to the Commons Slife ballroom for a light spread of appetizers and refreshments. Then, President Mark Nook will address the golden graduates, and help honor them in the pinning ceremony alongside Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, Brain Gabel. The UNI Singpins will also help celebrate the golden graduates, present to sing the UNI Alma Mater and Fight Song for the graduates. According to Chambers, this year’s golden graduates have been especially unique in their involvement. “They’re excited and this seems like a class that has really stayed connected. While processing registrations I’ve been told by a couple different groups that they’ve managed to stay in touch and meet up over the years – one group even meeting yearly for the past 50 years! Those are the stories we love to hear,” said Chambers.
Lauren Bork, CATS president, related to Chambers’s excitement over welcoming alumni back to campus. “Their stories help us bond over the campus experience and help me see campus through different perspectives. While CATS are the people “giving” the tours, the Golden Graduates are the ones really giving us the tours so we can better understand their time on campus. Their stories truly impose the UNI Experience and encourage me to be an engaged alumnus once I leave campus,” said Bork. As a student, Bork finds it important to forge connections with alumni. Through the Golden Graduates reception, she’s able to connect with alumni on a deeper, more personal level. Bork says that speaking with donors and receiving advice from alumni has helped her on her collegiate journey. “Being active as a CATS member during the tours and reception allows me to interact with engaged alumni and build connections that will help me beyond campus life. When I sign up to volunteer to give tours and hand out pins at the reception, I never know who I will run into and make connections with.” The Golden Graduates reception helps to elevate homecoming experiences for everyone involved, from Alumni Association faculty and CATS members to the alumni who return to the Cedar Valley. “In the end, welcoming the graduates from 50 years ago helps build on the campus culture and connects alumni to students, the essence of the student org CATS, in an interactive way,” said Bork.
The golden graduates are also welcomed to the rest of the homecoming festivities, including the Homecoming Bash, and the outdoor Pork Tornadoes concert. The Alumni Association will also welcome golden graduates to the homecoming parade and homecoming football games. The Alumni Association has also reserved a block of rooms for alumni at the Hilton Garden Inn for a discounted rate in an effort to make their stay in Cedar Falls even more enjoyable.
Golden graduates will be able to share stories from their own collegiate experiences now fifty years ago with current students. Golden graduates will be able to share advice and also see what’s changed at UNI since their time as a student at the university, on Friday, Oct. 25.
