Panther Pride, this time in DC

Last week, I attended the UNI Alumni Meet in downtown DC. The meeting was very exciting and it gave me a chance to meet some great people. Graduates from the '60s (President Koob) to '05 (Me) were present at the meeting. Most of the UNI alum here in DC work for the Federal government - in the Department of State, Justice, Etc. It was quite an interesting opportunity to learn quite a few things about UNI, from UNI graduates that belonged to several generations.

President Koob and I



President Koob talked about UNI, Educational Funding, his own experiences at UNI, and his retired life. When he concluded, people started asking questions on subjects ranging from the UNI football team to the out-of-state admission statistics. I asked him about the "Students First" campaign, and he specifically took note of this question. He thanked me for asking the question! He personally thanked me again toward the end of the meeting.


The best moment of the evening came during Dr. Koob's speech. At one point he said (and I paraphrase) "A lot of people do not even wish to say that they are UNI graduates. I mean, who goes around telling everybody that I am from UNI?". I immediately responded with "I do!". The whole room bursted into laughter and people applauded. President Koob addressed me as "The Next Generation" and thanked me again for that answer! Cool, huh?!