Pop-Con 2024 was a hit! The annual event saw its 12th return to the UAF Wood Center from November 14 to 16, bringing together fans of all things pop culture from comics, TV, gaming, and more. This beloved annual event is a highlight for the UAF community, offering cosplay, workshops, gaming, and plenty of vendors and booths.

The Georgeson Botanical Garden, found on UAF’s campus, is hosting a fundraiser to help support the garden. From December 19th, 2024, to January 18th, 2025, the GBG will be open for Botanical Garden light viewing, with a suggested minimum of $8 for the experience. They will be open from 5-9 pm from Thursday to Saturday.

The UAF Art Gallery, located in the Fine Arts Building, showcases a student art exhibition highlighting the diverse talents of UAF’s art majors and students enrolled in current art courses. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity for students to share their work with the campus community and beyond.

There’s nothing quite like tromping through the snow for a night of good music and good times at The Pub. Casey Smith Project’s double-header with Wash Your Hands, was absolutely worth the expedition. The night started with psychedelic feel-good vibes and dove into eclectic headbangers that had every Pub-goer up on their feet.

Stepping into the world of UAF’s Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) Club for the first time, I was invited to join a "one-shot" game of “The Witch Is Dead.” What I found was an evening filled with laughter, creativity and camaraderie. The vibe was solid - so good, so good! This club isn’t just about rolling dice; it’s about building a welcoming community for all.

Established in April 2004, the Community Yoga Club at the University of Alaska Fairbanks fosters a unique connection between students and the broader Fairbanks community.

On October 12, UAF celebrated the 101st Starvation Gulch across the Student Recreation Center’s parking lot. DJs (and fellow students) the Brothers Ramirez, DJ the Arc and DJ Lagosa, opened the night’s festivities with an hour-long set replete with high-energy hits, hyping up the audience for the arrival of the bonfires and the headliner, DJ Siren.

Gordon: Valorant is a tactical first-person shooter (think Counter-Strike) where one team tries to plant a bomb, and the other tries to stop it from being planted or diffused after it is planted. Each person on a team can choose from several agents to play.

Saturday, September 28th, the MBS Hess Recreation Center transformed into a vibrant dance haven as the Student Activities Office (SAO) and Student Media hosted a Silent Disco Extravaganza. Attendees donned headphones, each tuned to their choice of music, turning the space into a captivating scene of synchronized movement and unrestrained joy.

The celebration of Indigenous People’s Day at UAF kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in the Wood Center Ballroom. Round tables were still being filled up as Teisha Simmons, Interim Dean of the College of Indigenous Studies, officially welcomed everyone. 

“I just want to really take a moment to acknowledge this day for what it is and how much gratitude I have for today. You know, it’s not by easy means that we’re here today. I am remembering my ancestors that have been here for 10,000 years and survived in one of the harshest places in the world,” Simmons said.

Clay, wood, potential glazes, and anagama, also known as “tunnel” kiln. These are the materials the UAF ceramics department used to fire the UAF wood kiln on Friday, April 19.

UAF Fencing Club meets on Wednesdays from 7-10 pm and Saturdays from 12-4 pm at the UPark campus (1000 University Ave).

The mission: to traverse all 229 miles of the summer-only road system in and around Nome in forty-eight hours to capture the bounty of a Seward Peninsula summer while it still blossomed around us. 

Crossing all the fingers we could manage for a weekend of pleasant weather, we set off for Council on Friday, August 10, with furry companion Lolo, the yellow lab, in tow.

On Saturday, April 13, Special Olympics Alaska, Tanana Valley hosted a competitive swimming event. This organization hosts athletic events for people with special needs in the Tanana Valley area. Eighteen athletes competed in swimming this year.

On August 8, Guido Grosse, a former professor at UAF and the current head of the Permafrost Research Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany, joined Strait Science via Zoom to discuss his work.

One doesn’t have to follow the sport of dog mushing to know what the Iditarod is. I’ve met people from the East Coast, Sweden, Germany, and the UK who watch the notorious race from behind their computer screens, and every year, thousands of fans congregate at the starting line. However, few could comprehend the amount of effort, money, and planning that comes before even getting to the weather-beaten, moose-infested, 1,000-mile trail. This year, I got a close glimpse of the Iditarod mania that happens before the race starts because my dad, Will Rhodes, is running it.

The UAF Volleyball Club Tournament went off without a hitch on Saturday, March 30th. We dreamed of it when we started getting back into volleyball in the fall.

If Google Maps says you’re fifty feet away from where you are, it might be because the northern lights are disrupting the signal.

On March 13th, 2024, a student media team consisting of Kevin Huo (General Manager of KSUA), Manny Melendez (Staff Reporter, The Sun Star), Mike Degen (Freelance Reporter, The Sun Star), and Autumn McPherson (Staff Photographer, The Sun Star) traveled together to volunteer and report on the Arctic Winter Games taking place. The Arctic Winter Games, in short, is a circumpolar competition containing athletes from across the world's northern regions. The Arctic Winter Games are no small feat, consisting of twenty sports, 2,000 athletes, and eight continents. The teams represented at this year's games included Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta North, Nunavut, Nunavik-Quebec, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sapmi.

Ten days before the 58th annual Ice Arch was set to be done, UAF engineering students still had no ice to build it with. They pulled together and made it happen just in time for the Engineering Open House.