Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.

Carl Johnson, an assistant principal at Plainville High School since July 2016, is now principal of the town’s sole high school.

“I was actually nervous before my first practice,” Pieper says. “I was scared. You know, the girls had high expectations, and they were all looking at me, when I was touching the ball, and I was like, ‘You know, I’m also just a hockey player just like you are. I’m not going to do anything different from you.’ I don’t know if that’s how it was, but that’s how it felt for me coming here. Once I started playing, I was just excited to see how the games were going to be.”

“In our view as researchers who focus on the intersection of race and college sports, none of these events will rid big-time college sports of its deepest problems,” says Joseph Cooper. “Those problems include the placing of winning games and generating revenue ahead of the best interests of the student-athletes.”

Scholarships undoubtedly remain an essential source of support for individual students, but in fact they can also set into motion a wealth of other positive outcomes beyond funding an individual’s educational journey. One such student scholarship is the Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award — established in memory of the late Vivienne Dean Litt, former assistant director of the University Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (UPLD) at UConn.

“After several years of teaching, I was fortunate to receive a master’s fellowship in Bilingual Bicultural Education at the University of Connecticut,” says Miguel Cardona. “There I met some mentors and models in education who motivated me to continue my passion for learning and teaching in ways that students enjoy.”

Thumbs up to Brooklyn First Selectman Rick Ives and the town for honoring former Superintendent of Schools Louise Berry by renaming School Street in her honor.

Seeking mental health care can be a hard decision, especially for student-athletes in the spotlight on college campuses. The stereotypes and expectations can weigh heavily on players, putting them in a unique position few understand better than Clewiston Challenger, an assistant professor of counseling in the Neag School of Education and a former UConn football player.

“The last thing I’d want to hear my pilot saying is something like, ‘It’s a routine flight, there’s this body of water here, I thought I could try this creative water landing I’ve been thinking about.’”

“It feels good to be home,” said Jamelle Elliott ’96 (BUS), ’97 MA, after being named UConn’s associate athletic director for the National C Club. The mission of the just-formed C Club is to unite and engage current and former student-athletes with opportunities, such as networking and mentorship.