Challenge yourself to Tom’s Trivia!
See if you know as much as King of UConn Trivia and University Deputy Spokesperson Tom Breen ’00 (CLAS).
Scroll to the bottom to reveal the answers.
This year, the Covid-19 pandemic forced UConn to hold a “virtual” commencement for graduates. But this wasn’t the first time a commencement ceremony has been canceled at UConn. What was the most recent previous cancellation?
A: 1970, when protests over Kent State shootings led to an abbreviated spring semester
B: 1942, when nearly 40% of the University’s graduating class had enlisted in the armed forces after Pearl Harbor
C: 1914, when curriculum changes made all the graduating seniors back into juniors
D: 1902, when a sudden thunderstorm forced the cancellation of a ceremony that had only 31 graduates
Before it became a central plaza open only to pedestrians, Fairfield Way was a busy, congested road with cars parked along the sidewalks. What was the last year Fairfield Way was known as Fairfield Road?
A: 1998
B: 2001
C: 1995
D: 2000
On Halloween night 1942, UConn students and residents from surrounding towns gathered on Horsebarn Hill for an activity designed to boost wartime morale. What was it?
A: A visit by Eleanor Roosevelt, who toured the agricultural facilities
B: A Halloween-themed war bond carnival, with proceeds going to the war effort
C: A demonstration air raid in which several buildings were destroyed
D: A cow-milking competition staged by the Women’s Army Corps
Before WHUS, there were several student-run radio stations at UConn, including WABL and WCAC. One of these stations, though, didn’t have call letters and went by a different name. What was it?
A: Radio Connecticut
B: The Nutmeg Network
C: The Husky Network
D: The College Broadcast Service
Virtual Commencement 2020
Answers
- C: The same fate had befallen the students who would have been the class of 1911 as the university struggled to revamp its curriculum in the face of new growth. Not only did UConn have no commencement ceremonies those years, but technically, there was no Class of 1911 or 1914, which isn’t true of the nearly 9,000 students who received their degrees this past May.
- A: Following the spring 1998 semester, Fairfield Road — a clogged traffic artery that bisected the Storrs campus from east to west — was closed to traffic. As part of the transformative UConn 2000 initiative, the road was transformed into Fairfield Way, which ever since has been the heart of the campus, full of students studying, organizations making membership pitches, farmers’ markets, and more.
- C: As part of preparedness efforts, and to encourage citizens worried about the possibility of German planes bombing the East Coast, the U.S. Army staged a demonstration “air raid” below Horsebarn Hill, which involved hastily constructed buildings — including a mock hotel — being bombed by military-grade explosives. Thousands of spectators turned out to watch, with some of them comparing the demonstration to a fireworks display.
- C: WABL, founded in 1922, was the first student station on campus, founded by Dan Noble ’23 (ENG), who later went on to invent two-way FM radio and became the chief engineer at Motorola. Three years later, WABL was succeed by WCAC, which lasted until the mid-1930s. After several years with no on-campus radio, the Husky Network launched in 1940, offering three one-hour programming blocks per week from the Community Room of Storrs Congregational Church. Suspended for the duration of World War II, in 1947 the station changed its name to WHUS.
Leave a Reply