Alumni

UNC Charlotte’s Homecoming Committee has planned a number of activities for the week leading up to this year’s Charlotte 49ers football game at noon, Saturday, Oct. 24, against the Southern Mississippi Eagles in Richardson Stadium.

Homecoming highlights include the Homecoming Lights Parade, an appearance by comedian Kenan Thompson and a Day of Service to benefit the UNC Charlotte Food Pantry.

The third quarter 2015 edition of the UNC Charlotte magazine is online. This edition chronicles a variety of University milestones: the 49ers’ entry into FBS and C-USA football, the first season of the Pride of Niner Nation marching band, sensational gifts from alumni donors whose names now grace campus structures, a proud alum leading the Charlotte police force, amazing research by students, faculty and staff and more.

UNC Charlotte leaders, alumni and friends of the University gathered beneath the newly constructed Hauser Alumni Pavilion for a formal ceremony to dedicate the facility prior to the Charlotte 49ers football game against the Florida Atlantic Owls Sept. 26.

The pavilion resulted from a significant gift commitment from longtime UNC Charlotte supporters Nancy and David Hauser.

Following a significant gift commitment from alumni and longtime UNC Charlotte supporters Nancy and David Hauser, a striking new campus facility for football tailgating and other events makes its debut this fall.

Construction on the Hauser Alumni Pavilion was completed in early September. The 8,000-square-foot brick-and-steel structure has enough space to accommodate 700 people.

The Hauser Alumni Pavilion will be dedicated officially on Saturday, Sept. 26, prior to the Charlotte 49ers football game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Jerry Richardson Stadium.

Tim Keane, who earned a bachelor’s degree in geography and a master’s degree in architecture from UNC Charlotte, has been named commissioner of planning and community development for the city of Atlanta.

Keane had served as director of planning, preservation and sustainability for the city of Charleston since 2009 and previously served as director of planning for the town of Davidson.

Derrick Griffith, a UNC Charlotte alumnus who was an outstanding student leader in the early 1990s, has been identified as one of seven people killed in a train derailment in Philadelphia.

Griffith, 42, most recently was dean of student affairs and enrollment management at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y. He joined the college in 2011 and had just earned a doctorate of philosophy in urban education from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

UNC Charlotte alumni Benjamin Collins, Laura Clark, Ryan Doherty and Julie Harris were honored recently by the Charlotte Business Journal as members of its “Forty Under 40.” The listing recognizes “young professionals who are making major strides in their careers and having a positive impact on their communities.”

UNC Charlotte students, faculty and staff members have stepped up to help save lives by participating in the “49ers 4 Life” blood drive. The sixth annual drive will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center; organizers have set a goal of 950 pints.

A campus-wide event coordinated by a number of student organizations, the “49ers 4 Life” blood drive is held in conjunction with the American Red Cross.

Vivian Lord, professor of criminal justice and criminology and director of the Mediation Program, will discuss “Suicide by Cop: Practical Direction for Recognition, Resolution and Recovery” as part of the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association’s “Nuggets of Knowledge” series. Lord will share information about real-world tactics that have successfully resolved “suicide-by-cop” situations.

The UNC Charlotte Alumni Association and Jim Woodward, chancellor emeritus, are hosting “Wayfaring Strangers: A Musical Luncheon with Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr” at noon, Friday, Nov. 14, at Byron’s South End.

Tickets are $30 for the luncheon, and there are packages that include copies of “Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia.” Authors Ritchie and Orr guide the reader on a musical voyage across oceans to capture the stories of the people, the times and the music that many Scots-Irish immigrants brought to the United States.