UB Rolls Out the 'Blue Carpet' For True Blue Weekend, Oct. 16-19

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo will roll out the blue carpet for more than 30,000 people -- more even than gathered at the UB Stadium in 2006 for the speech by His Holiness the Dalai Lama -- when it celebrates True Blue Weekend Oct. 16-19.

Members of the university community -- past, present and future -- will come together for an eclectic slate of events, the likes of which only can be found at a major university: Division I college football, a talk by an internationally acclaimed author, the performing arts and a performance by a nationally known stand-up comedian.

Combining the activities of UB's Homecoming Weekend, the UB Bulls Football game vs. Army, Family Weekend and Open House, True Blue Weekend will bring together UB students and their families, prospective students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members for what may be one of the biggest weekends ever at UB.

"True Blue Weekend is a way to showcase UB's big-time university atmosphere in fun and engaging ways," said Marsha Henderson, UB vice president for external affairs. "It's an opportunity to build relationships that last a lifetime with alumni, students, parents and community members."

As part of the festivities, about 1,500 prospective students and their families will have a unique opportunity to see and learn about UB at the annual Fall Open House to be held Oct. 18. It is UB's largest and most comprehensive on-campus event for prospective students, offering the opportunity to meet faculty and students, find out about UB's comprehensive academic offerings, research opportunities and scholarly communities, and tour the campus and residence halls.

Prospective students from New York, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont, as well as Canada, are expected to attend.

"Historically, over 60 percent of the students who attend Fall Open House go on to apply to UB," said Patricia Armstrong, UB director of admissions.

The families of more than 900 students also will be on campus for Family Weekend, with some parents coming from as far away as California and Tennessee. They will be given a taste of the UB experience and treated to an evening of comedy, an afternoon of music, a jazz coffeehouse, Family Brunch, Family Game Night and a pre-game tent party.

A sold-out stadium of about 25,000 fans is anticipated for True Blue Weekend's main event: the UB football vs. the Black Knights of Army. This would give UB football its third home stadium sellout since going Division I-A in 1999.

As part of UB Homecoming celebration, the traditional UB Alumni Association pregame party will for the first time be held indoors in Alumni Arena, and will include announcement of the first Legacy Scholarship recipients, a program established to assist currently enrolled UB students who are children or grandchildren of UB alumni. Sixty-nine families will participate in an alumni legacy reception honoring UB alumni and their children who attend UB.

To learn more about True Blue Weekend, go to http://www.buffalo.edu/trueblueweekend.

Other events will include:

A lecture by Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner," the international bestselling novel on life in Afghanistan that has been translated into 40 languages, to be presented at 8 p.m. Oct. 16 in Alumni Arena as part of UB's 2008-09 Distinguished Speakers Series. An audience of 5,000 people will include 1,300 Western New York high school students who received free tickets to the event as part of the annual "UB Reads" program.

The UB Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, to be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17 in Alumni Arena on the UB North (Amherst) Campus, will honor trainers, distinguished alumni and an alumna who was a pioneer in badminton and golf, among the seven recipients. In addition, the UB Alumni Association will recognize the Class of 1958 at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 17 in the Center for Tomorrow.

Also on tap is the third-annual DodgeBull tournament at 5 p.m. on Oct. 17, featuring 40 teams of students, alumni, faculty and staff who will "dodge, dip, dive, duck and dodge" their way to the trophy on Homecoming field, located between the Student Union and the Center for the Arts.

Oct. 17 has been named "True Blue Spirit Day" at UB. UB students, alumni, faculty, staff and visitors are encouraged to show their pride by wearing UB apparel. The True Blue Prize Patrol will be on the lookout for anyone wearing UB Blue or a UB logo around campus, and prizes will be handed out as a reward.