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You are invited to the 2019 Nanook Rendezvous!
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Extra, Extra! Lots of new events!
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Don't miss out on our all-class Nanook Rendezvous reunion, set for July 18-20, during Golden Days. Whether you graduated last year, 50 years ago or somewhere in between or beyond, we'd love to have you! Please go online and register now.
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We've got a great lineup of events:
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- Campus Day: Join student ambassadors for a tour to see how much campus has changed! Get a look at the brand new ASUAF Student Media Center in the Wood Center and meet KSUA's student DJs and the Sun Star's journalists. Also, tour the Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization in the new Engineering Learning and Innovation Facility.
- Goldpanners Game: Co-sponsored by the UAFAA and the Fairbanks Chapter. Alumni get free admission to the game!
- The Golden Days Grande Parade: Ride the UAF float or walk along with us. Wear your blue and gold! There's no charge to join the UAF contingent. Sign up in advance to register and get a gold T-shirt. A roster placement and a UAF liability waiver are required for all participants. Participants accompanying anyone younger than 18 must also have a parental consent form.
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NOTE: The welcome picnic at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens on the UAF campus is currently filled to capacity. You can still put your name on a wait list at the registration link. Everyone is invited to come for Music in the Garden with the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival's American roots ensemble afterward.
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UA Strong -- Support UA
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Each year, we participate in a legislative fly-in, meeting as an alumni group with legislators and others in Juneau. This year, we were encouraged to see that almost every single Interior representative and senator we met with was overwhelmingly in support of a strong university, as evidenced by the budget they passed.
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On Friday, June 28, Gov. Mike Dunleavy used his line-item veto to cut the university's operating budget by $130 million, on top of the $5 million cut previously approved by the legislature.
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What can you do?
Gov. Dunleavy’s 41 percent cut to the University of Alaska’s state-funded budget would forever change higher education in Alaska. But you can help stop this cut. Phone or email your legislator and tell them why the university is critical to Alaska’s future and ask them to vote to overturn the governor’s veto.
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- Tell your story about the university’s impact on your life
- The state's investment in UA is essential to our ability to leverage the revenue from student tuition, service fees, research grants, and giving from alumni, private and other philanthropic sources. This veto will reduce our ability to generate revenue from these sources, creating greater impacts.
- The UA Board of Regents has established a working group of business leaders, students and others to find efficiencies and recommend restructuring the university. Recommendations will be made to the legislature by Dec. 1.
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Stay informed by keeping an eye on the University of Alaska's budget newsroom. You can also visit the UAF Chancellor's website for resources to help you craft a message. Visit the UAF alumni office in 201 Constitution Hall to pick up an advocacy postcard like the one below. We also have stickers, buttons and more.
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Contact us at uaf-alumni@alaska.edu for more information.
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Interested in getting all the latest legislative and advocacy information about UA? Subscribe today to the UA Strong e-newsletter to receive the latest legislative, budget and advocacy news affecting the University of Alaska. And use the hashtags #UAStrong and #SupportUA when you advocate for the university online.
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The UA Strong advocacy effort is a privately funded undertaking to promote the importance of full funding for the University of Alaska’s state-funded operating budget.
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Alumni happenings
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Hockey Night at the Goldpanners
Meet former Alaska Nanook hockey player Colton Parayko and North Pole native Pheonix Copley at the Alaska Goldpanners on Wednesday, July 17. UAF alumnus Parayko plays for the 2019 Stanley Cup-winning St. Louis Blues. Copley is with the Washington Capitals, the 2018 Stanley Cup winners.
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Come hang out with Colton and Pheonix in the beer garden during the first two innings! Watch Parayko throw the first pitch! Get autographs, photos, etc., and enjoy the ballgame.
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Nominate your favorite alumni for the UAFAA awards
Know an alum you think should be recognized?
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The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the association's most prestigious award. It was first awarded in 1962 and continues to annually recognize living graduates of UAF. Alumni are selected for the award based on meritorious service on behalf of UAF, distinguished accomplishments in business and professional life, or distinguished human service in community affairs.
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The William R. Cashen Service Award honors a person who has followed the example of its namesake. Cashen, class of '37, was an alumni director, professor and university marshal, as well as a public servant, historian, family man, proud alumnus and friend to many alumni. This award is designed to encourage such service and inspire all those associated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Find more information about both of our annual awards and meet our awardees by following this link to our website. Contact us at uaf-alumni@alaska.edu for more information.
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Stories from Nanook Nation
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UAF's first class of veterinary students makes history
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At age three, Liz Millman knew she wanted to become a veterinarian. Today, Millman is part of the first class of graduates from the veterinary program offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado State University.
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She not only is a veterinarian but also supervises a crew of about 40 people as the race return program director for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
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The first class of veterinary students after their graduation ceremony in Fort Collins, Colorado, in May. Cathy Griseto photo
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UAF-CSU veterinary student Liz Millman takes a break after skijoring with her dogs, Ironman and Annabelle. Photo courtesy Liz Millman
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“I didn’t get into vet school right away. Instead, I got a job in Alaska working for DeeDee Jonrowe, who is a famous Iditarod musher,” she said.
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“I spent two years learning how to run sled dogs, how to race them, how to care for them, and living my dream. And then I found out that the University of Alaska Fairbanks was starting a vet school with Colorado State. I applied and, in 2015, began my first year of veterinary school.”
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The veterinary training program allows 10 students to enroll each year, giving preference to Alaska residents. Students attend veterinary medicine courses at UAF for the first two years and at CSU for the last two years.
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The alumni association threw a graduation celebration in Fort Collins, Colorado, for our first cohort of graduates from the UAF-CSU veterinary program. Many of them are returning to Alaska to put their new skills to work. Theresa Bakker photo
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Weird world of northern dinosaurs coming into focus
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The story of the northern dinosaur is late in arriving because Alaska is late in being explored.
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In the past few decades, paleontologists have filled the basement of the university museum with the world's largest collection of polar dinosaur bones and tracks encased in rock.
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Researchers are using them to write a separate narrative for the creatures who lived in a place of extremes 70 million years ago.
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Upcoming alumni events — save the date
- July 18-20, Nanook Rendezvous reunion, celebrating all classes
- July 31, Microbial Worlds exhibit on display through end of July
- Aug. 2-11, UAF Alumni Hamburger Booth at the Tanana Valley State Fair
- Aug. 26, first day of UAF classes
- Sept. 19, UAF Convocation
- Sept. 20-21, UAFAA board meeting in the Alumni Lounge
- October 14, Indigenous Peoples Day at UAF
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Membership helps our students — join today!
Membership in your UAF Alumni Association helps support alumni outreach and events like the annual Nanook Rendezvous reunion, student scholarships, the Blue and Gold Celebration after-party, Grad Bash, New Student Orientation and many other worthy endeavors.
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We have several types of memberships available, including our lifetime membership. Check it out and join today!
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