UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY-Peacock Tales

Happy Birthday Pete!

Written by Ain Suraya Mior Azri, Intern
UIU Office of Communications & Marketing

March 26, 2013, marked a new tradition at Upper Iowa University as we celebrated the birthday of our beloved peacock mascot for the first time.

The “Peacock” became the official mascot of UIU athletics in September 1920. In his current recognizable form, the peacock arrived on campus in 2003 and “Pete” became the name of the mascot. Being one of the biggest and most prominent figures at UIU, Pete’s arrival on campus is one that should always be remembered and celebrated.

Pete the Peacock is well-known on campus, and has been the life of the party at all home games, student activities and events that are available on campus. Student members of Peacock Alumni for Students & Tradition (P.A.S.T) spearheaded the 10^th birthday celebration with the goal of building a strong tradition that will be carried out for future students. As an effort to infuse school spirit, P.A.S.T created this event during the week after spring break to welcome everyone back and start anew after the short break from classes.

A week before Pete’s birthday, P.A.S.T members and Pete himself went around during lunch hour to promote the event. Pete personally invited every person he saw to his birthday celebration, and was a fun addition to the event.

For the event, the Servery and Student Center were decorated with balloons while P.A.S.T members were busy handing out party hats for students to wear for the big celebration. As the guest of honor arrived at the dining hall, he was presented with a big birthday card that had been signed by the student body wishing him well on his big day.

Pete, who turned only 10 this year, surprised many students as most of them thought that Pete had been around for many years and was very aged.

Being his usual self, Pete went around thanking fellow students for being at his birthday party and took many pictures with celebrants in conjunction of this auspicious day. Not only was Pete having fun, but the entire student body was also enjoying the party.

No birthday party is complete without a cake and singing the birthday song, and thanks to the great work and cooperation of ARAMARK, students enjoyed delicious treats in honor of Pete’s birthday.

Alyssa Joseph, the advisor of P.A.S.T and director of annual giving, said, “It is our hope that these P.A.S.T. students are well on their way of becoming the next tradition-makers of UIU as they celebrate our Upper Iowa history, as well as add new elements that will build and infuse peacock spirit in each UIU student!”

Happy Birthday Pete!

Check out more photos of the birthday celebration at http://www.flickr.com/photos/upperiowauniversity/sets/72157633147826565/!

Go Peacocks!

Upper Iowa University’s ENACTUS group – featuring Samuel Vivas Imparato from Valencia, Venezuela; Rosangel Espinoza from Lecheria, Venezuela; Adrian Sanchez from LaVictoria, Venezuela; Deepa Wai May Sukumaran from Selangor, Malaysia; and Paul Dupeyrat from Meyreuil, France – took first runner-up honors last week at regionals.

This is absolutely phenomenal as this fairly new UIU club was organized just 3 months ago and they have already taken on 3 big projects!

Watch their presentation!

Paul Lamar Hunter ’12 of Racine, Wis., was recently featured on The Morning Blend!

Said Hunter, “I am the 19^th of 21 natural-born children in my family and the first to go to college and to earn a degree. UIU helped me realize my dream “to be somebody.”  My mother and my brothers and sisters are not huge advocates of education, but I saw so many people that were homeless or in need because of bad decisions and I decided that I wasn’t going to make those choices.  UIU has been a great university for me because my classmates and teachers became my family support. Some of the males on campus became my role models, and they didn’t even know it. This is a great achievement in my life. I want to send a message to my children that education is important.

Watch it! 

Check out Paul’s website:

http://www.nolovenocharity.com/