Meet the UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration co-chairs
Meet the UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration co-chairs
The University of Northern Iowa is preparing to mark a major milestone — its sesquicentennial celebration, kicking off this fall and culminating during Homecoming 2026. The UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration will honor the rich 150-year history of the institution while looking to the future and recognizing the vision for even greater things to come.
At the helm of planning efforts are Randy Pilkington and Cary Darrah, co-chairs of the sesquicentennial steering committee. Both have deep ties to UNI. Pilkington, a UNI alum, has worked at the university for nearly 40 years, currently serving as the executive director for Business and Community Services, while Darrah, a Cedar Falls native and community leader, has family and professional connections to UNI through her previous roles with Grow Cedar Valley and Community Main Street.
“It’s quite the legacy we’ve created here at UNI,” said Pilkington. “UNI has kept changing and adapting with the times and continues to have a very relevant impact for our state.”
“There are a lot of universities and schools and organizations that don't last this long,” said Darrah. “With the changes happening in education and the workforce, UNI has recognized that if you don’t evolve, you get left behind.”
A celebration too big for one event
The UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration cannot be contained to one day or event. Rather, it will encompass many activities and events to engage students, staff, community members and alumni over more than a year. Just as the impact of UNI stretches throughout the state, so too will the celebration.
“There are a lot of existing things already on the calendar, ready to go, and we can in a very strong way make sure that 150 is all over that,” said Darrah.
Homecoming is the perfect example. The greater UNI community will experience two sesquicentennial-themed homecomings — one in 2025 after UNI’s 150th class has begun their studies and again in 2026 when UNI truly marks 150 years.
“I'm pretty excited about the grand finale: the buildup to the final homecoming during 150,” said Pilkington. “There will be a lot of enthusiasm on campus and beyond.”
The sesquicentennial celebration will create new traditions and build on existing ones. It will be a way to honor the legacy UNI has created while showing how UNI is evolving through innovation and embracing change. No matter how UNI is being celebrated, the institution’s commitment to the success of students past, present and future will be evident.
In addition to the signature events, the sesquicentennial will be celebrated in other ways. Darrah is particularly excited about an effort to spotlight individuals and groups who have shaped or have been shaped by UNI.
“Those stories are going to be really, really powerful,” said Darrah.
While Pilkington believes it can sometimes be easy to take UNI’s longevity for granted, he hopes the sesquicentennial helps people — especially students — take notice of the caliber of their institution. This is especially meaningful to Pilkington, as he was a freshman in 1976 when UNI was celebrating its centennial. At the time, he says he took the observance for granted, but it’s incredibly impactful to him all these years later.
“How do we have students understand the impact of 150 years now?” Pilkington asked. “How do we get this class starting in the fall to understand they're the 150th class? That's what we really need to be doing — instilling in our students a little bit of ‘wow’ factor and pride because they have the ability to say they went to an institution that’s been around for 150 years.”
A vision for the next 150 years
As Pilkington and Darrah look ahead to UNI’s future, they predict the university doing what it has long been known for: meeting the needs of the Iowa workforce and evolving accordingly. They point to some of UNI’s newest programs in nursing and applied engineering as examples of how UNI does this in recent years.
“This university is a little more nimble than a lot of the other state universities when it comes to responding to workforce needs,” said Darrah. “A strength of this university has been our ability to feed the workforce as needed, both now and in the next several years.”
The entire Panther community is welcome to come along for the sesquicentennial journey, with more information being posted to 150.uni.edu as it becomes available.
