There are two groups of people in the world who can tell you the Latin name for groundhog: UD students and Woodchuck cider drinkers, who regularly see "Marmota monax" inscribed on the cider's label. While the Vermont-based hard cider company celebrates "Woodchuck Day" in February, they have agreed to let bygones be bygones this Feb. 1 and sponsor UD's Groundhog Party in the Rat.
In addition to providing the celebration in the Rathskeller with cases of cider and keepsakes, Woodchuck is sponsoring the music (Richard Fougerousse, BA '72, and his band, House Special) and hosting a cider tasting at 3 p.m. that day.
Additionally, Liberty Mutual, who donated the gift bags for Alumni & Family Weekend, has sponsored security for the Party in the Rat.
Washington, DC, tour attendees are also in luck: Woodchuck has donated cider to the Jan. 31 celebration at ATMTC Wintergreen Plaza.
According to District Sales Manager Justin Bucci, it was an MBA alumna who "first recognized the connection between the Groundhog and Woodchuck. Same animal! I made a few calls, some meetings and the rest is history," said Bucci.
Online registration for the Groundhog Tour and the Irving Party in the Rat and Party in the Park closes on Jan. 24, so sign up now.
UD students not only read St. Augustine's Confessions in Rome, traveling to Ostia to marvel at the place in which, according to Book IX, St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, had a joint mystical vision of God -- they also travel 4.4 miles from the Irving campus to read the text with residents of South Irving.
+ Read MoreAs you know if you’ve read even some of our first UD Reads book, "All the Light We Cannot See," it’s possible to build a radio from random, scavenged parts, as long as you can find the necessary random, scavenged parts, as Werner does in the book. This is also essentially what Assistant Professor and Department Chair of Physics Jacob Moldenhauer did as well: He scavenged parts from the Physics Department, and built a radio.
+ Read MoreThe University of Dallas Board of Trustees announced today that it has unanimously selected Thomas S. Hibbs, Ph.D., BA '82 MA '83, to serve as the university's ninth president. The first alumnus of UD to be president, Hibbs has served as dean of the Honors College and distinguished professor of ethics and culture at Baylor University since 2003.
+ Read More
