It’s been a milestone year for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The institution celebrated its 150th anniversary all through 2021 and pushed forward despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. The year included a return to in-person commencement ceremonies, athletics springing back to action, the 100th of Homecoming and a community party that brought thousands to the campus to mark the sesquicentennial. UW Oshkosh also saw a first-year class 6.5% larger this fall than a year ago.
As 2022 nears, we thought we’d take a look back at the headlines that grabbed the most attention over the past 12 months. From major University news to a class helping to solve a cold case to connections between UWO and binge-worthy TV shows, here’s a look at the 10 most popular stories on UWO Today in 2021.
10. UWO’s Alabed twins closing out wrestling career the only way imaginable: together
Early this year a pair of twin brothers born in Syria closed out their college wrestling careers together as Titans. The two seniors, Husam and Wesam Alabed, faced a series of challenges to finish out their final year and earn their degrees. As their coach can attest, they also contributed to an overall strengthening of the UWO wrestling program and their dedication won’t be forgotten.
9. Cream Puff, a falcon banded in Milwaukee, spotted on UWO nest cam
While UWO bands and monitors a pair of peregrine falcons every year, it was a visit from an outsider that turned heads late last winter. Cream Puff, a falcon also part of the Wisconsin Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project and with origins south of Milwaukee, nested atop the Gruenhagen Conference Center where UWO’s falcons typically camp out. (You can get a live look at the nesting box anytime you’d like.)
8. Director hired to lead UWO’s new Titan Thunder Marching Band
In the spring the University announced plans to launch a 100-piece marching band in fall 2022. A significant moment in that endeavor came in June with the hiring of Joe Scheivert, the man tasked with making the Titan Thunder Marching Band a reality come next football season. This is a story that no doubt will be even bigger in 2022.
7. From Titan to TikTok: UWO RTF alumna’s social media career goes viral
She might not be a household name, but she’s a big deal in a certain digital space. Christine Juhas, a 2017 radio TV film grad, has built up a TikTok following of more than 5 million people and her YouTube subscriber count now sits at more than 160,000. Known online as Christine Snaps, Juhas has shown that an entertainment career can be a lot of different things in 2021.
6. ‘Be the change’: UWO alumni couple upend careers to help bring equity to healthcare
Married couple Kou Yang, a 2009 accounting graduate, and Sheng Lee Yang, who earned a criminal justice degree in 2010, opened the nonprofit Us 2 Behavioral Health Care in Appleton in September 2019. The two alumni saw the operation grow significantly in its early months of offering culturally sensitive mental health services and training opportunities with regards to inclusivity in healthcare.
5. Familiar face in ‘The Chair’: Netflix series features former UWO professor
The Chair, released on Netflix in August, featured former UWO professor MeeWha Alana Lee in a supporting role. She got the gig thanks to a relationship with show’s lead, Sandra Oh. Lee and Oh got to know each other while working together on Umma, a film coming in 2022.
4. Anthropology professor, students helping hunt for 1980s murder victim
What happened to Starkie Swenson, a man believed to have been murdered near Oshkosh in 1983, baffled law enforcement for years. To give a fresh set of eyes to the cold case, Jordan Karsten, an associate anthropology professor, and a team of his students helped the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office search a plot of land in the spring. And while Swenson didn’t turn up at that site, his remains were later found and identified with Karsten’s help elsewhere in the Fox Valley.
3. UWO applauds the class of 2021 in online midyear commencement
The University’s 56th midyear commencement was held online in December, but readers were interested in learning about the new class of graduates into the new year. Set during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and before vaccines were widely available, the ceremony was a virtual recognition of the achievements of more than 1,000 students.
2. How UWO helped shape the new Marvel series ‘Loki’
Over the summer the Marvel series Loki landed on the Disney+ streaming service and its second episode featured a scene set in Oshkosh. A little history puts such a seemingly odd occurrence in context: Oshkosh native and 1975 UWO graduate Mark Gruenwald had a storied career with Marvel Comics and the character Mobius, played in the Loki series by Owen Wilson, is said to be inspired by Gruenwald himself.
1. COVID-19 vaccinations become available at UW Oshkosh
In a surprise to no one, the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic was of major interest in 2021. That was especially true in the early part of the year, when the rollout of vaccines began—and shots became available for the community on the Oshkosh campus. The public vaccination site opened at the Culver Family Welcome Center in February and helped thousands of people—including many students, faculty and staff—protect themselves from the worst of the virus.
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