S CONTEN ECTIONTS (COVER STORY)
VO L . 2 0 • I SS U E 3 • S P R I N G 2 01 4
PEGASUS
MAILBOX
PUBLISHER University of Central Florida
IT WAS WITH GREAT INTEREST that I read the story by Patty Gray Neff, ’74, on the history of the first FTU Homecoming in 1971, as I was her Homecoming queen successor when the event was revived in 1975.
CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Olga Calvet, ’71 UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT John C. Hitt
Like Patty, I was a representative of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. As a freshman that year, I was asked by George Ramsey, ’75, to be his ATO “little sister,” and when candidates were nominated, I was surprised to find my name among them. Jeff Davis, ’76, ATO president, escorted me to the event. Classes were canceled that Friday, and President Millican led a cheer at the pep rally. That evening the Sandy Valley Boys bluegrass band played at the Pegasus Pub. The crowning took place the following evening at halftime during a hotly contested basketball game against our biggest local rival — Rollins College. It was our first-ever win against them. A “Star Trek”-themed dance followed the game, making it a perfect ending to a week filled with Homecoming activities. So to whoever was responsible for bringing back Homecoming, kudos to you! Teri Hinton Yanovitch, ’78
PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Tony G. Waldrop VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OF STAFF John F. Schell
CONGRATULATIONS TO UCF on securing a spot in the American Athletic Conference. The hard work and perseverance is certainly recognized. But now please, someone tell me that those key members of President Hitt's staff and guests of color were sitting to his left. Cindi Burck Alsobrook, ’93 Editor’s response: Cindi, it was an exciting first year as an AAC member. UCF was successful on and off the field. And everyone — students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and family — contributed.
HAVING BEEN THERE when the university changed names and hearing how soft the word “Knights” sounded on TV during the Fiesta Bowl, I wonder: Why didn’t UCF choose the Centaurs as their mascot since the name of the school is the University of Central Florida, and its symbol is the winged horse? What am I missing? Tom Riordan, ’79 Editor’s response: Tom, you stumped us with your question. So we checked with Knightro, but he had no comment.
MAILBOX SUBMISSIONS
Emails to the editor should be sent with the writer’s name, graduation year, address and daytime phone number to pegasus@ucf.edu. After a four-year hiatus, Homecoming was revived in 1975 and Teri Hinton Yanovitch, ’78, was crowned queen.
Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. Due to volume, we regret that we cannot reply to every letter.
Cert no. SW-COC-002556
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4 / SPRING 2014
Pegasus is published by UCF Marketing in partnership with the UCF Foundation, Inc. and the UCF Alumni Association. Opinions expressed in Pegasus are not necessarily those shared by the University of Central Florida.
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VICE PRESIDENTS W. Scott Cole Maribeth Ehasz Deborah C. German Robert J. Holmes Jr. Daniel Holsenbeck William F. Merck II M.J. Soileau Todd Stansbury EDITOR IN CHIEF Terry Helms MANAGING EDITOR Michelle Fuentes CREATIVE DIRECTOR Patrick Burt, ’08 ART DIRECTORS Lauren Haar, ’06 Steve Webb EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Eric Michael, ’96 COPY EDITOR Peg Martin PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael Chen Corryn Lytle PRODUCTION MANAGER Sandy Pouliot ONLINE PRODUCER Roger Wolf, ’07 WEB PROGRAMMERS Jo Dickson, ’10 Brandon Groves, ’07 CONTRIBUTORS Stephen Berman David Dadurka, ’12 Regan Dunnick Lea Patrice Fales Mike Foristall, ’94 Jeff Garner, ’89 Danielle (Lillig) Krischik, ’07 Geoff Levy, ’13 Angie Lewis, ’03 Brian Ormiston Emon Reiser Danny Waters, ’05 PEGASUS ADVISORY BOARD Barb Abney, ’03 Chad Binette, ’06 Anne Botteri Richard Brunson, ’84 Cristina Calvet-Harrold, ’01 John Gill, ’86 Michael Griffin, ’84 Mike Hinn, ’92 Zack Lassiter Gerald McGratty Jr., ’71 Tom Messina, ’84 Michael O’Shaughnessy, ’81 Karl Sooder Dan Ward, ’92