UNO Alumni Publications: Past, Present and Future
For 82 years, the University of Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association has gone the distance to keep its alumni informed.
“I always thought of UNO as a microcosm of the larger world,” said former editor Mary Kenny. “There was always someone or something exciting to write about, whether the story reflected social and cultural trends, diverse viewpoints, artistic expression, political discourse, scientific innovation or the latest technology or research. I still view UNO the same way, all these years later.”
Omaha University published its first alumni newsletter, the Alumni Gateway in 1941, the same year the United States entered World War II. It was patterned after the University’s long-standing student newspaper, The Gateway. The monthly publication included notes from alumni, news on campus construction and updates on Omaha University’s athletic teams. It also had quaint features like “Caught by Cupid,” a list of alumni engagement announcements.
In 1950, the alumni magazine was renamed Injun*, after the University’s sports nickname, the Omaha Indians. It was a quarterly newsletter often featuring artwork or photography on the cover. The title didn’t last long. In March of 1953, the alumni publication changed its name to the Alumni Newsletter. Published bimonthly, it remained in that format until 1971.
In July of 1968, Omaha University became part of the University of Nebraska system and was renamed the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In 1971, the students voted to retire the anachronistic team name, Indians, and replaced it with Mavericks. Terry Humphrey became editor of UNO Alumni News in 1973 and launched the publication into a magazine format.
Humphrey said one of the early untold stories involved UNO’s new mascot, Victor E. Maverick. Inspired by live mascots like Ralphie from Colorado and Bevo from Texas, UNO wanted to parade their
new mascot at the beginning of football games. Unfortunately, the animal proved difficult to handle so UNO recruited an “expert” to help them. Humprey said “Uncle Vinny” recruited a couple of beefy assistants to throw ropes around the mascot in the barn to try and calm him down. Furious, Victor E. Maverick charged the trio. “Fortunately,” said Humphrey, “the steer ran out of rope before Uncle Vinny ran out of the barn.” That ended the live mascot experiment.
The magazine featured stories relevant to alumni. Humphrey broke the magazine into sections: Arts, Focus, Profile and Campus Capsules. He had plenty to write about. The 1970s were an exciting time at UNO. The campus was rapidly expanding with construction completed on Allwine Hall, Kayser Hall, Strauss Performing Arts Center, Roskens Hall and the new Library. The 1980s saw the addition of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER, now Health & Kinesiology (H&K) building, the Thompson Alumni Center and Durham Hall. The magazine had stories on all the new construction.
There were guest editorials and even an occasional point/counterpoint. The summer 1977 issue featured a debate on the question “Is TV Dulling Our Children’s Minds?” Professor Richard Lane from the English department opined that too much TV decreased children’s interest in reading and affected their learning. Professor Warren Francke from the Department of Communication defended TV if consumed in moderation. He believed it kept children entertained and informed. However, he did recommend that parents supervise their children’s TV viewing.
Jim Leslie, UNO’s Alumni Director from 1973-2006, said one of his principal jobs was overseeing the editors of the alumni magazine. “I never got in their way,” said Leslie. “We’d confer and talk about story ideas and what we needed to include in the publication, but the final decision was up to the editor.”
“One of our primary goals was to talk about how successful our alumni have been,” said Leslie. “UNO has not always been given recognition for the excellence of its alumni. At one point, UNO was second only to West Point in the number of its alumni who had reached the rank of General. Our alumni include governors, U.S. senators, prominent businessmen and women, leading educators and famous members of the arts. We’ve told their stories in the pages of our magazine.”
Finding interesting alumni stories may have been the easiest part of the editor’s job. Former editor Kenny stated, “When I was editor, it was a one-person shop, so juggling the many moving pieces of publication production was a challenge.” The duties included everything from creating the story budget, writing the stories, and designing the publication to managing the photography and overseeing the mailing. Kenny added, “Eventually we were able to hire freelancers, which was a great help.”
Former editor Anthony Flott agrees there was never a shortage of story ideas. “There were always eager freelancers and a steady supply of home-grown talent from the School of Communication. Everyone had story ideas.”
Through the years the publication evolved from a basic newsletter, sponsored and written by the alumni association, to a full-color magazine funded by both the alumni association and the University of Nebraska Foundation. No longer a one-person shop, both the alumni association and the Foundation provide staffing support and story ideas. UNO Magazine has become the University’s flagship publication.
Flott says funding was always his biggest challenge. “We started with 50,000 alumni on our list. Over the years that number grew to 120,000. We had to print and mail four issues a year and there was no subscription charge. We’ve had to switch to three issues a year to maintain costs.”
“Our No. 1 goal is to continue to offer free issues to every graduate. We see it as a valuable connection to the university. We provide quality journalism; people want to read a quality product. The university continues to produce research and teaching that is relevant to our alumni.”
Flott remembers so many stories. Stories about former faculty members like Senior Vice Chancellor B.J. Reed and famous alumni like General Johnny Wilson. Wilson came up from poverty to become only the third Black 4-star general. His degree from UNO’s bootstrap program made a difference. “I can still see in my mind the layouts from those great stories,” said Flott, “General Wilson in his crisp uniform and B.J. Reed in front of a red fence wearing a purple suit.”
Alumni Director Jim Leslie knew he had to get the UNO story out there and believed the magazine was the best way to do that. Flott agrees, “We’ve spent millions of dollars over 82 years getting this publication into the hands of our alumni because we know it’s often their No. 1 connection with the university.”
*Municipal University of Omaha/University of Nebraska at Omaha sports team name of “Indians” was abolished in May 1971, along with associated mascots, nicknames and other references to Native American imagery or terms (such as the yearbook name “Tomahawk”). UNO would be briefly without a mascot, until “Mavericks” was selected in October 1971. The university now recognizes that the mascot and associated depictions is offensive. When the university first selected this mascot in 1939, school mascots based on Native American stereotypes were common. Many artifacts, publications, names, and other material from university history from the period 1939 through 1971 depict Native American caricatures, and it is difficult to present materials from this era without showing or acknowledging this mascot. We accept this as a part of our history, as we accept that the 1971 mascot change represented a positive step for the university.