You don’t have to look hard to find the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s biggest fans.
The students involved in Maverick Maniacs can be seen sporting their red-and-black bibs and using their contagious energy to create a unique game-day environment for UNO sporting events throughout the year.
Maverick Maniacs president Casey Wells, a multidisciplinary studies major from Omaha, said the club works hard to motivate and energize the UNO community for all its sporting events. In doing so, she said the club has become a team of its own.
“We try to be loud and proud and help spread the positivity to the players,” she said. “Students involved in Maverick Maniacs always have a spirited personality, and it’s not only just for sports and athletics. They’re very positive people to be around.”
Wells said gifts made to the club during Wear Black, Give Back help fuel the Maniacs’ energy. Funds raised during the giving day help the club purchase T-shirts and bibs for students, cover new-member fees and even assist with travel costs for away games.
All of this translates into a unique game-day experience that can be found only at UNO.
“Wear Black, Give Back definitely provides us with more opportunities than we would usually have,” she said. “I’m so thankful for our donors. Not only are they helping our group, but I think they’re also helping UNO in general by helping to provide school spirit and hyping up other events and student organizations on campus.”
That infectious experience drew Wells to the Maniacs as a student. In the beginning, she didn’t see herself as a dedicated Mavericks fan, but her love for the school and its athletics only grew as she became more involved in the Maniacs.
“It’s going to sound cheesy, but Maverick Maniacs kind of gave me a college purpose,” she said.
Before the Maniacs, Wells said her routine was to work, go to school and go home. Getting involved in Maverick Maniacs pushed Wells to become more involved in campus life. Ultimately, Wells said, her experience with Maverick Maniacs has been transformational.
“It made a difference by giving me more confidence in myself,” she said. “When you put yourself around positive people and just create those friendships, you kind of want to become a better person. I feel like I’ve discovered myself as a person since joining the Maniacs.”
Anthony Navarrete Figueroa was a quiet, introverted student when he began his freshman year at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
That changed in his sophomore year when he learned about the Association of Latino American Students. He walked into his first meeting of the club not knowing what to expect. However, it took only an introduction to the club for him to realize that he found his home at UNO.
“After walking into ALAS, it didn’t take me long to find people like me who I could relate to,” Navarrette Figueroa said.
The connections Navarrete Figueroa, now a junior studying architectural engineering, created in his first year as a general member of ALAS drove him to seek a leadership position in the club. As the organization’s current president, Navarrete Figueroa has seen firsthand how ALAS is able to cultivate strong relationships among its members.
“It’s crazy how fast people can connect in this organization,” he said. “Even if you don’t see them regularly, members will pick up a conversation during meetings like they were just talking the night before.”
Those opportunities to come together and deepen relationships within the ALAS community are made possible through gifts made to the club during Wear Black, Give Back. Navarrete Figueroa said the money raised during last year’s day of giving played a critical role in providing programming and resources for the club this year.
In addition to funding programming and resources for the club, Navarrete Figueroa said he hopes to use the money raised during this year’s Wear Black, Give Back to provide ALAS with the opportunity to attend the 2024 United States Hispanic Leadership Institute National Conference.
“We really appreciate all of the support from the donors who have invested money into ALAS during Wear Black, Give Back,” Navarrete Figueroa said. “These gifts are going to really help us.”
By making a gift to ALAS during Wear Black, Give Back, Navarrete Figueroa said donors are able to play a direct role in fostering growth for the Latinx community on UNO’s campus. The impact of their gifts can clearly be seen by looking at the students who call ALAS home.
“I see those genuine connections being made in ALAS,” he said. “I see students walking in as strangers and leaving as friends. We all come from similar backgrounds, and we want our students to know that this is an environment that they can feel comfortable in.”
Growing up, Camden Carmichael was always interested in sports you have probably never heard of.
Carmichael, a junior criminology and criminal justice major at the University of Nebraska Omaha, said his father encouraged him to explore things that fell outside the norm. Instead of playing football and basketball in high school, Carmichael tried sports like pole vaulting and fencing.
“I’ve always been kind of interested in the kinds of sports that are really fun and interesting, but they’re not something you get together every Sunday to watch,” he said. “When I moved to college, I realized that I missed those experiences.”
During his sophomore year at UNO, Carmichael stumbled upon the UNO Curling Club during MavFEST, an event geared toward connecting students with organizations and departments throughout campus.
The club was in its first year, and Carmichael was immediately interested in the sport, even though it was the first time he had heard of it.
“There was something in me that said, ‘I just have to see where this goes,’” he said.
Carmichael knew he was hooked on curling from the first time he was able to push the rock down the ice without falling over.
“I truthfully wasn’t expecting to like it nearly as much as I do,” he said. “You might not realize it until you’re doing it, but it’s really an exhilarating sport.”
Carmichael, now the president of the UNO Curling Club, has seen the organization thrive in its second year on campus. The club has nearly doubled in size and competes with other curling clubs throughout Nebraska and the surrounding area.
Last year’s Wear Black, Give Back was a driving force for the club’s success and continued growth. The money raised from last year’s giving day provided the club with the funds to cover registration fees for bonspiels, otherwise known as curling tournaments, and helped cover the cost of travel.
Carmichael said the funds raised during Wear Black, Give Back were critical in helping the curling club succeed in its first year on campus. More importantly, Carmichael said these gifts have opened the door for more students to discover the UNO Curling Club’s growing community.
“I’m really thankful for all of the donations and contributions, because they have helped us share our love for the sport of curling and really open the door for other people to join our community,” he said. “There are so many people in this club that are great and it’s been amazing to grow that using the gifts made during Wear Black, Give Back.”