University of Northern Iowa Homepage Stories & News

UNI junior Ty DeBondt celebrating his NBA 2K esports win.

UNI junior claims $100,000 esports tournament win

After suffering the most devastating loss of his esports career, Ty DeBondt woke up the morning of Jan. 26 a defeated man. 

The junior University of Northern Iowa physical education major, who specializes in the video game NBA 2K20, had surpassed about 1 million players in the second annual MyTeam Unlimited Tournament to make it to the top 16. He had a 10-point lead on his semifinal opponent with just minutes left to play. The $250,000 grand prize beckoned. 

UNI honors students whose peaceful protest 50 years ago paved the way for the Center of Multicultural Education.

'UNI Seven's' courage honored

Older now but unbowed, nine members of a group that came to be known as the UNI Seven walked across a Maucker ballroom stage Monday night to be honored for their work sparking change on campus some 50 years ago. 

The peaceful protests they were part of led to the creation of what is now the Center for Multicultural Education (CME), UNI’s president said. He said the students also played a role in the formation of UNI’s Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE), which serves minority and low-income students

UNI student Jacey Meier with the service dog, Raven, she is training.

UNI student uses love of animals for a good cause

Most days, first-year UNI student Jacey Meier doesn’t have the luxury of waking up late. Not only does she have to get ready herself, but before she heads out the door, she needs to grab a leash, fasten a vest, and pack up her dog’s lab gear, which includes a protective sweater and goggles. 

You read that right — her dog’s lab gear.

The novel coronavirus

UNI to gather health experts for a community panel on coronavirus

The University of Northern Iowa will host a health panel on the coronavirus featuring experts from the university and Black Hawk County Health Department in an effort to dispel myths about the virus and provide information to the community on how to prevent and combat its spread.

The panel will be held at 3 p.m., March 11 in the Lang Hall Auditorium on UNI’s campus.

UNI chemistry instructor Brittany Flokstra.

What's on my desk? UNI chemistry instructor Brittany Flokstra

The objects people keep on their desks can tell you a lot about them. That’s why we’re visiting offices occupied by some of the talented and creative people at UNI - to hear the stories behind the decor. This time, we’ve asked UNI chemistry instructor Brittany Flokstra - an expert on both weapons-grade chemicals and the works of Joss Whedon - to show and tell.

The novel coronavirus

Risk remains low, but UNI prepares for coronavirus

It’s a pathogen that’s quickly become a household name.

Most of the world had never heard of coronavirus until just two months ago, when a novel version known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, quickly began to spread first in China and then across the globe.

It has since infected tens of thousands, disrupted global supply chains and led investors to predict the onset of an economic recession. Planners from the White House to major cities to Major League Baseball have since formed task forces to coordinate responses. 

UNI professor Doug Mupasiri

5 questions with UNI professor Doug Mupasiri

Doug Mupasiri has a voice that seems ideal for a professor. It’s booming and resonant, the type that can fill every corner of a lecture hall. The UNI mathematics department head is putting it to use advocating for the inclusion of more minorities in STEM fields, where black and Hispanics have been woefully underrepresented. Last month, UNI hosted a regional conference aimed at encouraging diverse students to consider a career in science, technology, engineering or math.

Items on loan to the Grout Museum from UNI Professor Catherine Palczewski.

UNI professor, an expert on women's suffrage, loans collection of artifacts to museum exhibit

As a group of revolutionaries huddled together in Philadelphia to craft what would become the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams made a simple request.

“Remember the ladies,” the future First Lady implored in a letter to her husband John. “And be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”

Steve, the American alligator that lives on the University of Northern Iowa's campus.

Meet the alligators of UNI

A beast resides deep in the bowels of McCollum Science Hall.

This fearsome creature - with teeth that shred and claws that clatter - lurks in a corner of a laboratory behind a formidable gate marked with a sign that warns “enter at your own risk.” 

And this menacing monster’s name is...Steve, an American alligator, who, contrary to his appearance - almost five feet long with black and yellow banding across his boney scales - is harmless.

Erin Brockovich

An interview with Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich, then a single mom and law clerk, became a household name after an Oscar-winning film starring Julia Roberts told the story of her dogged investigation into groundwater contamination in Hinkley, Calif. and the historic class-action lawsuit that followed. On Feb. 25, Brockovich gave her talk “The Power of One” in the Great Hall of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.