All News & Stories

In the late 1980s, Lloyd Yonemura, ’72, helped pioneer the Aloha Program and the Aloha Scholarship. The program helped first-year students from Hawai‘i gain a sense of belonging while settling into campus life at UNC.

This year, State Farm has generously awarded the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) two grants totaling $50,000 as a part of their Good Neighbor Citizenship Grant program.

Growing up in Greeley in the 1960s and 1970s as an only child, Dr. Mary Jo Drew ‘79 had, as she put it, an idyllic childhood. With two encouraging and ahead-of-their-time parents, she was allowed to follow her interests wherever they led. A self-proclaimed “science geek,” she had to know more about everything around her, whether it be rocks, the clouds in the sky or the organs in the human body.

Having a parent who is an alumnus is a unique experience, allowing West and Thorne to bond over their love for the university. That family legacy allows them to share special moments together.

During a Mexican Independence Day celebration, Spring 2023 graduate Cynthia Duarte met Nickie Archibeque, the director of UNC’s Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) Scholars Program. Archibeque saw that Duarte was a perfect fit for the COSI “Finish What You Started” scholarship. The scholarship was created to help Colorado residents who have left university go back to school and earn their credential or degree, Duarte's exact goals.

As the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) embarked on phase two of the institution’s ten-year strategic plan, Rowing, Not Drifting 2030, it set a goal to “create plans, structures and programs that foster an inclusive environment at UNC where all individuals feel welcomed and supported.”

When Lindsey (’10,’14) and Casey (’10) Goodman stepped onto the University of Northern Colorado’s campus in Greeley in 2006, they both felt an immediate connection to the school. Lindsey, hailing from Palisade, Colorado, knew she wanted to teach, and Casey, also from Colorado, wanted to study political science.

Each year, one UNC faculty member is honored for their excellence in teaching, thanks to the generosity of donors Kathleen Sears ’76 and Jim Helgoth.

The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) was recently named one of seven Colorado universities that will receive $10,000 annually from 2023 to 2032 through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s (CHFA) Building the Future scholarship fund. The fund, launched in 2022, dedicates $1.2 million to support college education across Colorado.

For James Bowman, Ed.D., supporting UNC and helping students in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences reflects a deep belief in education and its role in society. “I just think that with an educated society we’re prepared to succeed.”