UAF photo by Eric Engman.
Nook Giving Tuesday Content Shoot on the UAF 久久热视频 Monday, November 3, 2025.
By Theresa Bakker
Ammanilla Bodfish demonstrates power and focus in the Inuit Stick Pull during the 2024 Traditional Games in Juneau, Alaska, a traditional test of strength rooted in Alaska Native culture.
Since its founding, the UAF Alumni Association has grown from a small gathering of graduates into a global network that now serves as a primary engine for student support. At its first formal meeting on Nov. 16, 1927, 11 alumni voted to bestow the university鈥檚 first president, Charles Bunnell, with alumnus status. This meeting set in place a tone of partnership between alumni and university leadership that continues to this day.
In the decades since, the association has advocated at every level of leadership. For example, early alumni asked the U.S. secretary of agriculture to make the Fairbanks Agricultural Experiment Station available for use by the college. Alumni also have consistently advocated for university funding since statehood. Through each era of change, UAFAA has remained a steady voice for students.
Over the past 25 years, the heart of the association鈥檚 mission has been the UAFAA Benefactor Fund. It provides grants to student organizations to enhance the campus experience. These gifts remove financial barriers and help ensure student groups remain active, welcoming and accessible to all.
In 2026, the alumni association gave a record $15,000 to a number of student organizations.
The Sigma Tau Delta, an honor society dormant at UAF since the pandemic, will resume activities after alumni stepped in to cover membership fees. Increased membership will allow the chapter to relaunch academic and professional programs. These include writing workshops, career panels, mentorship opportunities and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Student leader Jamie Simpher said such opportunities strengthen both the English Department and the broader campus community. The funding will allow the group to rebuild the presence and impact of Sigma Tau Delta, one of only a few English language-focused student organizations available to undergraduates.
Members of the UAF Alaska Native Games Club celebrate after earning the Best Overall Team award at the 2024 Traditional Games in Juneau, Alaska. From left: Parker Kenick, Ammanilla Bodfish, Leah Evans, Sara Steeves, Naatanii Mayo and Colin McFarland.
The UAF Tennis Club also received support to purchase essential equipment, including tennis balls and rackets, ensuring players can participate regardless of whether they have their own gear.
Parker Kenick competes in the One Hand Reach at the 2024 Traditional Games in Juneau, Alaska, posting the winning distance of 66 inches and earning honors as Best Overall Male Athlete.
The Biology & Geology Student Association received funding to support its annual Midnight Sun Science Symposium, a two-day event that brings more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students together to present research to the broader UAF community.
To mark its upcoming 100-year milestone, the UAFAA Centennial Committee has launched an ambitious $100,000 Centennial Gift campaign. The initiative is designed to ensure the association鈥檚 ability to support students for the next century. The campaign was sparked by a $1,000 lead gift from past UAFAA President Tom Brice and is gaining momentum as the association moves toward its 2026 kickoff year.
This ability to invest in the future is built on a long legacy of generosity shaped by countless individual alumni who believed deeply in the power of giving back. Recently, the UAF community lost one of those extraordinary voices. Neville Abbott Jacobs, a renowned Fairbanks artist and UAF alumna, passed away on Dec. 2, 2024.
Jacobs was a pillar of Alaska鈥檚 arts community and a founding member of the Fairbanks Watercolor Society. Her work remains in the permanent collection of the Alaska State Museum. In a final act of generosity, her estate hosted an art sale during a celebration of her life in June 2025. Proceeds have been donated to local service organizations, including UAFAA.
Alumni are also giving back by preserving UAF鈥檚 story itself. Through a massive oral history project, researchers are collecting memories from Nanook graduates spanning decades. These stories will be featured in a book slated for release during the centennial kickoff.
Student Learning Art Guild members pose with a finished fused glass piece during the Spring 2025 semester in the UAF sculpture studio. The group received support from the UAF Alumni Association Benefactor Fund. From left: Professor Wendy Croskrey, Sarah Dexter, Mia DenBoer, Keely Vatcher and Terri Berrie.
AUAF student firefighters practice a forcible entry during training in November 2021 at the UAF Fire Training Center, using equipment funded by the UAFAA Benefactor Fund.
As that date approaches, UAFAA and the Centennial Committee are finalizing plans for a series of events leading up to the centennial anniversary on Nov. 16, 2027.
鈥淭he goal is to ensure the first century was merely the foundation,鈥 UAFAA President Rhonda Widener said.
By combining immediate student support with long-term legacy gifts, the UAFAA is carrying forward a tradition of generosity to ensure the next 100 years are shaped by those who came before.