Colorado has the fifth most University of Arizona alumni in the U.S. and around a hundred of them showed up for breakfast at Fate Brewing Company Saturday morning, just walking distance from the Coors Event Center in Boulder, Colorado where No. 14 Arizona was set to take on CU at noon.
The group, UA Colorado Cats, typically meets in Denver, but comes out to Boulder whenever Arizona plays at CU. The idea is that Arizona Alumni can meet fellow Wildcats when they are far away from Tucson. It is a nice way to meet people when alone in a new city as many new grads and alumni are after their college days are over.
“Now that UA is actually in the Pac-12, it’s awesome because you get to see your team at least once every other year,” UA Colorado Cats president Matt Wycinsky said.
The group has almost 1,200 followers on Facebook and gets up to 200 people at its events. Wycinsky said it depends on how well UA is playing at the time, but even when Arizona isn’t playing well they still get around 60 people at their watch parties.
They hold watch parties for both basketball and football and throw events such as a golf tournament in July.
In total the Arizona Alumni Association has over 40 chapters in major cities across the U.S., but reaches across the globe with chapters in London and Tokyo.
“Those ones outside the U.S. are definitely passionate,” Alumni Association president Melinda Burke said. “There is no question that we have fans around the world.”
Part of what the association does is raise money for scholarships. The UA Colorado Cats raise money so local Colorado kids can go to school at Arizona.
“It has been growing every year, but as of this year it looks like we are going to be giving out three $2,000 scholarships to kids from Colorado going to UA.” Wycinsky said.
Overall, the Arizona Alumni Association raises over a million in scholarships every year and awards scholarships to more than 400 students.
“We have a lot of Alumni and they love the University of Arizona,” Burke said.
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