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Alumni Tailgate Rallies College Community

Alumni Tailgate Rallies College Community
Alums toured Howard L. Hawks Hall including Connie (far left) and Wendell (second from right) Peters, who came from Phoenix to attend the tailgate. Also pictured are Rod and Rhonda Peters.
Nebraska Business alumni returned to campus Saturday, September 29, to attend the Alumni Tailgate in the Henrickson Family Atrium at Howard L. Hawks Hall prior to the Nebraska vs. Purdue football game. The visit captured a slice of the vibrant community happening at the college. It also gave alumni a chance to both reminisce about college days and express why they prioritize giving back to the institution that helped launch so many prestigious careers.

Dr. Kathy Farrell, James Jr. and Susan Stuart Endowed Dean of the College of Business, expressed her thanks to alumni and awarded milestone anniversary lapel pins to members of the classes of 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008.

“Our alumni inspire, energize and motivate us to be bigger and better at everything we do. It gives me great pride to look out and see so many incredible people here today,” Farrell said.

Tailgate attendees posed with fellow alums Warren Buffett and Scott Frost.
Tailgate attendees posed with fellow alums Warren Buffett and Scott Frost.
One of the people formally recognized, Connie Peters, ’88, of Phoenix, emphasized the connections she made at the College of Business while earning her accounting degree. Looking back now, she can see how her work at the college helped sustain a successful accounting career.

“The connections you make with Nebraska people throughout the country just keeps coming back around to origins that started at the University of Nebraska and the College of Business. Without that background and education, we would not have had the careers we had,” she said, referring to both her own career and that of her husband, Wendell Peters, ’79.

Wendell noted how moving to Phoenix only enhanced connections with Nebraska alumni. It also motivated them to give back to the university and college.

“We got involved in the Nebraska Alumni Association, including 15 years with the Arizonans for Nebraska. The college and university have given us so much that we want to give back. We want kids now to experience the same things we did. By giving back that’s how you do it,” said Wendell.

“You have to have the best professors you can to become a top notch institution and to attract top notch students,” said Connie, as she talked amidst more than 250 other guests who attended. “This building makes you feel great. It’s amazing – so light and so bright. If we lived in Lincoln, we might have to go back to school,” she joked.

Darren Lunzmann, ’91, of Lincoln, also attended the tailgate. Lunzmann, who earned his undergraduate degree in business administration, had not previously experienced Hawks Hall, which opened in the fall of 2017.

Darren Lunzmann returned to his alma mater for the first time in many years to participate in the alumni tailgate.
Darren Lunzmann returned to his alma mater for the first time in many years to participate in the alumni tailgate.
“This is the first time I’ve been back in many years,” he said. “The building is fantastic and there’s so many renovations going on throughout the university I’ve seen today, it kind of makes me wish I was 18 again.”

Like the Peters, he articulated a link from his current career to his days in college.

“I’m an account executive with Sysco. There’s many things I use daily from my education at the College of Business. My business administration degree appears in the form of accounting and marketing and other little pieces that help me to this day. It’s nice to be back where it all started.”

To learn more about other alumni outreach events and programs, visit: https://business.unl.edu/alumni.
Published: October 1, 2018