Fan Traditions

Now that football season is officially over, I want to ask UCF fans to tell me their favorite fan traditions. Anything and everything. What sort of traditions and activities did you participate in when the UCF Golden Knights played downtown at the Citrus Bowl? What sort of activities have you participated in since the Knights took the field in Brighthouse Networks Stadium?

Trust me, nothing is too insignificant, and nothing is silly or stupid. There are a thousand small traditions when it comes to athletic events at this university (some forgotten, some still going on today), and a handful of publicized traditions (i.e. Spirit Splash). But in order to tell the entire story of the University of Central Florida, I need to know about all of it.

Send me stories, comments, and photos (of anything from tailgates to games to...whatever...I'll keep it general), at nholic@mail.ucf.edu.

This school has seen a lot in its nearly thirty years of football, and nearly forty years of basketball tradition. UCF has national championships in crew and in volleyball, conference championships in basketball, football, baseball, and softball, and tremendous fan support for such a young university. Show me what you've got, UCF fans.

In the meantime, check out this photo I unearthed of the very first UCF Knight mascot. Yes, this is a real photo.

ROTC

In honor of Veteran's Day, I pulled this interesting story from the November 1973 "FTU Emphasis" newsletter. It's an interesting glimpse into the early years of the ROTC program at the university, something that--like the nation's military, overall--we tend to take for granted.

Enjoy the story, and if you have any old ROTC photos, memorabilia, or even stories of old traditions, please drop me an email. ROTC is as important to the University of Central Florida as any other academic program, or club or organization, and deserves a place in the school's history.


"Air Force ROTC Second Year 'Still Going, Still Growing'"

Air Force ROTC is well into its second year at Florida Technological University and all indications are that Detachment 159 will have an even more impressive year than it had last year.

The first indicator is in the area of enrollment: the cadet corps has increased in size from 47 last June to 87 this September. Among these 87 cadets are 11 women (compared to 8 last year) and 16 AFROTC scholarship winners (there were 5 last year).

A second indication of this growth is seen in the expansion of the curriculum. With the addition of a senior class, both AFR 400 and a flight instruction program consists of a 4 qtr. hour ground school taught by Captain Clark Hoffman and 36 1/2 hours of flight instruction taught at a local flight school, and paid for by the Air Force.

...

With more cadets, an increased curriculum, a larger staff (and, we might add, a new cadet lounge utilized for recreation and study by the cadets and their guests), the Air Force ROTC program at FTU seems well on its way to another successful year.

Brochures, Calendars, Flyers

We're not just looking for old photographs, either! Some of the most interesting items I've seen so far have been brochure, calendars, flyers, and t-shirts. While the University Archives would love to actually receive donated items, of course, I'm fine witha photograph or a scan of any historical documents you come across.

Special thanks to Michaelle Milczanowski, an Alpha Delta Pi from here at UCF, who sent me a wealth of great scanned images. I just wanted to share one of them, from the late 1980s, to get our Homecoming weekend started off right:

University Archives

Throughout our research process so far, we've been lucky enough to have cooperation and help from the University Archives, a sort of living, constantly updated museum of old UCF photos, documents, artifacts, and memorabilia. Because Archives has been so kind to us as we've begun the process of piecing together a university history, they've also asked us if any alumni might possibly have historical memorabilia they might like to donate (anything from sports items, to fraternity/sorority items, to flyers and brochures from old university functions). Below is a brief statement from the Archives, which I'll also post as a sidebar on this web site:

Special Collections and University Archives is on the 5^th floor of the library. The department is charged with preserving the institutional memory of the university by maintaining a complete archive of its history and accomplishments. If you have photographs, posters, programs or memorabilia from any FTU/UCF event, records of fraternities or sororities or similar materials, Special Collections and University Archives would be pleased to consider them for adding to our collections so that others may enjoy and benefit from them.

This web site may be preserved by Special Collections and University Archives so your comments may be used in further publications. By leaving your messages here you grant to the UCF Special Collections and University Archives Department the rights to publish those comments in the future.

Spirit Splash

Homecoming is just around the corner at the University of Central Florida.

And, obviously, it wouldn't be a Homecoming week without "Spirit Splash," that mad frenzy of students swarming the waters of the Reflection Pond.

This has become a staple of campus life at UCF, something spoken about on campus tours and during freshman orientation, something looked forward to by young and old students alike, by faculty and staff, by the community at large...it is a tradition that has come to represent all of student life, and its images have become iconic...But how did Spirit Splash start? How has it grown? What were the experiences of students during the early years of Spirit Splash? And what traditions have, themselves, been formed during the Spirit Splash celebration (from squirt guns, to the fountain guard, to slip n slides)?

As always, leave some comments or drop me an email (nholic@mail.ucf.edu). I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories; I'd love to speak with you; and I'd love to see your pictures of the event.

What Does It Mean to Be Greek at UCF?

It would be impossible to discuss the history and the traditions of the University of Central Florida without discussing the Greek Community on campus. Fraternities and sororities, in fact, have been around almost since the start of classes in the late '60s.

Right now, obviously, the goings-on of the Greek Community are well-publicized. The Central Florida Future covers their every major event, and each fraternity and sorority has a web site filled with news, event listings, accomplishments, etc. It's easy to learn how many members each group has, and what their goals, values, and missions are.

But I want to know more about how each fraternity and sorority was founded at UCF. I want to know about the early days, the years before Greek housing, the years when the "Greek Ghetto" across the street from campus was, actually, the only Greek Row around. I want to know about the struggle to build a Greek Row, the first years of occupancy, the early traditions...In short, I want this book to be able to document how important Greek Life has been to the University of Central Florida, and I need the help of those students, faculty, and administrators who were a part of that history.

If you've got stories, pictures, or would like to chat at all, please contact me as soon as possible. As I said, I can't tell the story of UCF without telling the story of Greek Life.

Did You Go To School At FTU?

This campus history will not just document the school's recent growth, but also the school's early years as "Florida Technological University," and its strange, interesting, and exciting transformation into the "University of Central Florida."

Few who attended school at FTU will recognize the current campus, and while many traditions and campus activities survive, nearly thirty years have passed since the name change on campus. We want to make sure that the culture of FTU is preserved.

If you attended school at Florida Technological University, drop us an email (available at my complete profile, on the right side of the page) to share stories of the old campus. What were the prevailing traditions of the day? Which were the campus landmarks and hangouts? What sort of school was FTU throughout the '70s, and what did students believe it would become? What were your thoughts on the name change, and what do you think of the current UCF campus?

We're interested not just in your stories and your thoughts, but also in your photographs, so if you've got some great shots of the old FTU campus, let us know...your pictures could wind up as archival material in this campus history.

Also, for those of you interested in following along throughout the research and writing process, the Orlando Sentinel recently posted this story about the school's first day of classes:

"University of Central Florida Celebrates 40 Years of Growth"

UCF Historical Timeline