Cheerleading alumni return to campus for Homecoming

Above: Stephanie Green Giancola ’77 (CLAS) cheers with fellow alumni at Rentschler Field. Below: Peggy Cassiday, a member of the 1962-63 ceerleading squad, with Jonathan V.

Once a UConn cheerleader, always a UConn cheerleader.

That is the guiding philosophy of the University of Connecticut Cheerleaders Alumni Association (UCCAA), whose membership grows as each UConn cheerleader graduates.

UConn has had an organized cheerleading squad since 1920, when the “Cheer Leaders” were all men. In 1935, women first became UConn cheerleaders. In 1978 the UCCAA began to organize its members to return as active participants during Home-coming activities. More than 350 cheerleader alumni from the classes of 1957 to 2004 are invited to return and cheer during the football game.

We do it all, from dancing with the UConn marching band to building human pyramids, as we did most recently at the Oct. 22 game against Rutgers. Wearing UConn sweatshirts with our class year in big bold numbers, UCCAA members cheered along side the current cheerleading squad.

The opportunity to relive the UConn experience and once again express on the field what other alumni fans feel inside is intensified in a public performance.

In many ways it is a return to our roots and for at least one afternoon, it’s like we never left the University. We can jump and yell and demonstrate our enthusiasm and nostalgic love of our UConn days.  

It’s the ultimate UConn alumni fan experience.  

— Stephanie Green Giancola ’77 (BUS)

The 1962-63 squad members on the sidelines of Memorial Stadium with mascot Jonathan V.