May 11, 2015
50 Year Issue
Kyle Guthrie
[email protected]
UCCS has hosted its fair share of important and exciting events over the years.
Stephen Cucchiara, assistant director of the Office of Student Activities, discussed some of the most well-known events on campus.
The first large scale concert on campus was in 2010. 3OH!3, a band native to Denver, performed.
“It really set the tone for future events, and it was our first really large scale culture event,” Cucchiara said.
Other concerts that OSA and UCCS Radio have hosted include performances from bands Flobots, Air Dubai, Outasight and American Idol contestant Elliot Yamin.
The university has also brought important and influential people to campus for speeches.
The first presenter of the Significant Speaker Series was in 2011 and featured Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s.
UCCS brought Bill Nye the Science Guy in 2012; Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2013; Randi Zuckerberg in 2014; and LeVar Burton for 2015.
“In terms of significant speaker events, [LeVar Burton] had the largest student attendance of any,” Cucchiara said. “Over 50 percent of the folks who attended were UCCS students.”
UCCS is also a prominent component of the annual Colorado Springs Festival of Lights Parade. Former grand marshals include Chancellor Pamela Shockley-Zalabak and first ever UCCS graduate, Arnold Taylor.
This year, the UCCS men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Championship, broke their previous record for wins and won their first RMAC Tournament championship in program history with strong student support.
It was an event that Cucchiara said “highlights a lot of what we have accomplished.”
“That was significant because we didn’t host the championship game. We had to travel, but we beat one of the top seeds in the conference and had such a large student following going to those games.”