...of Living in Panther Village

Hey future Panthers!

The first year or two on the University of Northern Iowa campus might be spent in one of the many incredible residence halls, and if you have any sort of experience like mine, those will be two great years! Living with a new roommate, having that college freedom everyone seems to start to crave senior year of high school, and making some amazing friends that may be with you the rest of your time in college and maybe even in life! I’m so happy I made the choice to live in the dorms my first two years, however now I have the experience as a junior to live in another on campus residence hall… Panther Village!

There are two phases of Panther Village, phase one, new fall of 2012 and phase two, new fall of 2013. I am currently living in PV phase two and couldn’t be any happier! The apartment style living is a great step up from the dorm life with a kitchen and my own room. I currently live in a four-person apartment, but two person apartments are also available.

One of the many perks of living in Panther Village is the work out facility for PV residents only. Although the WRC is a great place to work out, it is nice having one right in the building!

So when you’re deciding where to live at the end of your sophomore year I suggest checking out Panther Village. You won’t be disappointed!

-Jill, STAR

...of Sorority Recruitment 2013!

If you were on campus this last weekend, you may have heard it. The melodious sounds of sorority girls singing recruitment songs as girls walked to and from the sorority houses. Ok, it may not have been all that melodious, but it was supposed to be loud. Nearly 130 girls signed up and went through recruitment this last weekend in a search for their new “home away from home.”

For everyone involved, it was a whirlwind weekend with events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday’s event was house tours. Everyone had the opportunity to walk through each of the four sorority houses and talk to a few girls from each sorority. For girls going through recruitment, it was an exciting day to see where connections were made and to see which house felt most like home.

                          Ladies of Alpha Xi Delta gathered in front of their house on Friday before the house tours event

Day 2 was a long one for everyone, with an event in the morning and in the evening. The second event, referred to as Philanthropy, was for girls to return to the houses they had liked best and learn about those chapters’ philanthropies. A big part of being in a sorority is service and so this event is very important to each chapter. The second event on Saturday is known as Preference. At this point, the girls going through recruitment had narrowed down their choices to two, or maybe even one, sorority. After a break in the day, girls returned dressed to impress and each sorority held a Preference Ceremony to share what makes their chapter special.

Ladies of Alpha Delta Pi before Preference event

After this event, some ladies had a tough choice to make: which sorority did they want to be a part of? Once their decision had been made they faced a night of anxious anticipation, because they would not receive their bid until Sunday. On Sunday they and girls from all four sororities gathered in the union to hear and celebrate each chapter’s new members.

 Ladies of Alpha Phi on Bid Day

                                                  Ladies of Gamma Phi Beta on Bid Day

As a sorority girl myself, I can honestly say it has been one of my favorite experiences at UNI so far! Congratulations to all of the new members, and if you’re interested in Fraternity and Sorority Life at UNI follow this link:

http://unigreeklife.weebly.com/index.html

-Stephanie, STAR

...of Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr

The University of Northern Iowa was proud to host the 50th anniversary for Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This event consisted of a recording of the actual speech in order to commemorate one of history's greatest individuals. Apart from the recording, the Campanile bell was rung 50 times in order to honor the 50th anniversary of the speech. Watch the video that reviews this great event, which also includes a small preview of what is inside the Campanile!

 

 

 

-Javier, STAR

...of a student trying to manage their time!

"There just is not enough time in the day",  can often be heard being said by many college students. With classes, jobs, groups, clubs, volunteering, etc., it is hard to get everything done and still have time to relax and do what YOU want to do. To help you get ahead of the game (and ward off unnecessary stress) I thought I would give all of you panther cubs some tips and hints on time management.

Make lists/use a planner: Writing things down gives you a visual of everything you have to get done. That way you can set aside enough time to successfully get things accomplished. (not to mention crossing things off of a list tends to be somewhat empowering) 

Schedule time to relax: Be sure to ALWAYS give yourself down time and make sure you take it. If you are constantly a busy bee and never take a break, you will eventually burn out and things that were once fun and enjoyable may start to seem like a chore. 

Don't save everything for the last minute: Yes, Netflix and pizza rolls sound really good right now, but they won't seem so great when you are up until 3 in the morning studying for a test and trying to finish a 5 page paper. 

and finally...

as awful as this sounds.. put your cell phone in the other room and stay off of Facebook; You will be pleasantly surprised with how much faster you can accomplish things. 

                                                                                                      -Megan, STAR 

...of Panther Tailgating

Hello Future Panthers!

I hope summer has treated you well!  Us, STARs, are glad to be back in the office blogging and talking to you guys!

The Panther community is also getting back into the swing of things, but we have been able to sit back and enjoy the successes of our Panther Athletics!  I am sure you all enjoyed seeing us eat those birds, stomp the dogs, and pack the mac over the past couple weeks!  Now you can see how we celebrate and enjoy being Panthers:

Next time, join in on the Tailgating Fun!

~STAR Joslyn

...of a Proud LGBT Supporter!

Hey, future panthers!

I have always considered myself to be a very strong supporter of the LGBT community, so I was thrilled when I found out that this week was UNI's Pride Week! UNI's LGBT student organization, UNI Proud, hosts the campus-wide Pride Week and puts on a ton of awesome events!

Members of UNI Proud parading campus!

This year's theme is "Pride and Progress," so the events are focused on the political aspects of the LGBT movement.

Sidewalk chalk (courtesy of the UNI Proud Tumblr page)

UNI Proud put on various events such as monologue performances, a drag show to raise money for AIDS awareness, and an outdoor celebration of Varnum v. Brian, the case that resulted in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Ms. Courtney Michaels at the Drag Ball!

There are also some wonderful guest speakers on campus for Pride Week, including poet/activist Andrea Gibson and former Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, Marsha Ternus.

Finally, the Latino Student Union will celebrate Pride Week with a special presentation by UNI Proud at their annual Latino Ball. All events are free and open to the public!

I am overjoyed to be a part of a college that is so accepting and open to diversity. This week has been filled with so many enlightening events, and I am so proud to be a part of them!

Stay Perfect,

-Emily (STAR)

...of Free $$$

Hey Future Panthers!

I know my coworkers and I have been sharing with you all the opportunities on campus, but they have left out the MOST important aspect of college - FREE $$$!  Yeah, that is right! There is a whole lottery thing, where about half of the student body gets free tuition if they are able to answer several trivia questions!  This year the questions were:

APRIL FOOLS!!!

There isn't any of that on campus unfortunately... Luckily for you, the STARs and the rest of the Admissions Office were in a goofy mood today.  Take a peak at how our day went!

Today, my friends and I pranked my roommate by moving several objects from our room and put them in her car!

All of my friends were really into it!

Our stuffed animals (and fan) decided to take a trip in the cute green car!

Needless to say, my roommate wasn't very happy, but it brought a nice twist to our normal routine.  In the office today, one of our counselors thought it was funny to bring in treats for the office.  He thought it was clever to make "brown-E's" for everyone and deceive our sweet teeth!  In honor of good ol' April Fools, the STARs thought revenge was the only option.  Hopefully he doesn't read this before coming into the office tomorrow, but as you can see from the collage below - he is in for a treat!

Ryan, we expect real treats on Wednesday!

~STAR  Joslyn