Forever a Husky

Students have painted the Rock in tribute to the life of Jasper Howard.

R.I.P. #6

You Stay Classy, ΣΑΕ

It looks like the 'true gents' of Sigma Alpha Epsilon brightened up the Rock with their old gold and royal purple paint! I like your style, gentleman.

So far fraternities have been represented but what about everybody else? Sororities? Clubs? Sports teams? Get out there and start painting!

"Amazing"

It's official... the students are back on the Storrs campus, all moved in and already through their first week of classes. So.... I expect to start seeing more paintings!

The first "official" painting of the 2009-2010 year goes to Pi Kappa Alpha, aka "Pike", in their garnet and gold colors.

I'm ready with my camera! Keep painting... a year later I'm still watching!

"I'm ready for my close-up..."

It's been a while since we've seen any action around the Rock. The past few months I've seen maybe 2 or 3 paintings. I guess I'm not surprised, since the campus is pretty quiet this time of year!

That is until today!

From what I hear, the university's communication office is filming a sequel to their "Always Part of U" commercial... and it features the Rock! Check out the photos of the crew doing their thing...

Watch the original commercial at AlwaysPartofU.com.

And by the way, I'm baaaaack and can't wait to see what artwork we get up on the Rock this year! Keep painting... I'm back watching.

3 Summers

I'm not too sure what this one is about, but I thought it was a bright, cheery painting! Love the colors. It kinda reminds me of something that would be in a tex-mex restaurant, or in the south-west part of the country... arizona, new mexico, etc.

Alumni Weekend - Welcome back!

It's been a slow summer for rock-watching... with the majority of UConn students gone from campus and enjoying their summers, there hasn't been much activity.

UConn alumni were just welcomed back to campus this past weekend for Alumni Weekend. The Student Alumni Association cleaverly painted the rock with a welcome message, and left the back side blank. I'm assuming that this was to allow the alumni to take part in the tradition and paint the rock themselves!

Keep painting... I'm still watching.

Home run for UConn Baseball

The guys from the UConn baseball team painted the Rock with their signature "C". Looks they can swing a bat AND a paint brush!

Their last regular season home game was this past Monday. They have a few more games on the road this week, and then they head into the BIG EAST conference tournament. Check out their stats and remaining schedule on the UConn Huskies website. Good luck, guys!

I love college

The Rock was painted last week - very colorfully, I might add - with an inspiring message for all UConn students. Simply stated... "I love college". This is graduation weekend for UConn, and I hope that all seniors look back on their days here with fond memories. Congrats grads! Best of luck to you all.

Community Outreach

It looks like the people at Community Outreach are reminding us that it's never too late to check out their volunteer programs, whether for the summer or to make plans for next semester. Have you gotten involved this year? You still have a chance - today through May 10th students moving home can donate their unwanted goods to Give & Go locations around campus, which will then be distributed to non-profits in the area.

A Minor hits a perfect note

What a creative use of The Rock! Not only did the co-ed a cappella group A Minor show off their spirit by painting, they also advertised their May 2nd event at the Student Union Theater. Plus, any A Minor seniors got to use this opportunity to make their mark at the Storrs campus before graduation! There's always a new, fun way to use The Rock - what will yours be?

Only one more week...

The ladies of Kappa Phi Lambda are showing their spirit despite the fact that I'm sure they're loaded with papers and studying so close to the end of the semester! Maybe their Rock will be the one that lasts into the summer break since everyone is soon to be busy preparing for finals. Good luck to all of you - there's only one week left!

PCA paints The Rock

The Portugese Cultural Association has the right idea! Bold colors and clean lines really brighten up The Rock, especially on this dreary day. I think that this eye-catching Rock will definitely help their mission to "bring awareness and togetherness of Portuguese and non-Portuguese students." Will other cultural groups come out before the end of the semester and paint their own Rock? You keep painting, and I'll keep watching...

What every UConn student should do

Every UConn student should paint the Rock before they graduate, and SYE jumped on this chance!

The call has been answered!

AEPi painted a glistening gold rock with a special message to our huskies. The men's basketball team is on their way to the Final Four, and the women's team is playing for their ticket tonight!

Go Huskies!

Love is in the Air

Among all the competitive fraternity and sorority painting it's nice to see some messages of love gracing our Rock. This one brings me back to Valentine's Day when we saw AMS and JDR celebrating two years together (although I must say I'm a little thrown off by the tree on the back of this particular Rock).

For all you Rock painters out there...I'm still waiting on that "good luck" slogan! I have faith in your school spirit though, so I'll keep watching for it.

Support for the B-Ball teams?

UConn is making NCAA history AGAIN with two championship worthy teams heading into tournaments. I wonder if anyone will paint a "good luck" slogan on the rock in support of the Huskies.

Especially since the first round playoffs for the women will be at Gampel on Sunday. What a great way to show visiting teams and fans how much school spirit we have!

Anyone picking up on my hint? Anyone??

I'll be watching...

Bold Gold

Ok, so the title is a bit misleading, since the rock is really blue, but this bold, shimmery gold really caught my eye! AEPi is a frequent painter, and I must say that they always do a neat job.

If I were a teacher, I'd give them an "A" for penmanship. :)

The Color Purple. No, not the movie... it's Relay for Life

The UConn relay for life group painted a purple rock to go with their theme of "paint the campus purple". The event, sponsored by Colleges Against Cancer and co-programmed with SUBOG, was held on campus March 16 and 17. For more info, www.relayforlife.org/Uconn.

We have frequent painters of the rock (which is great), but I always enjoy seeing what new groups will paint the rock in support of their program!

All the colors of the rainbow...

I was thrilled to see this very colorful Rock this morning, advertising the True Colors conference on campus this week. According to their website, "True Colors works to create a world where youth, adults and families of all sexual orientations and gender identities are valued and affirmed. We challenge all forms of oppression through education, training, advocacy, youth leadership development, mentoring and direct services to youth and those responsible for their well-being."

And they paint a great looking rock, too...!

The Rock Watcher on Twitter!

So... admittedly, I'm still trying to figure this thing out. But the rock watcher is now on Twitter. Find me... RockWatcher.

Spring Break

It's spring break here at uconn this week... which means not a lot of activity. That's Ok... I'm sure that everyone is resting their painting arms and will be back in force next week!

I'll be looking for those new paintings...

The Return of AEPi

Well here's AEPi back in action with their bold blue and gold. It looks like the frats are all announcing the new Spring 2009 members (we saw Kappa Sig do just that a few days ago). It seems to me that the sororities on campus have been pretty underrepresented at The Rock - hopefully they'll start showing off their new members too!

UCTV's First Appearance and...

I'm impressed! I love to see new, creative paintings of The Rock, and I think this one takes the cake. I've mentioned before that The Rock can actually be pretty difficult to paint - what a great solution to use stencils and spraypaint to avoid dealing with an uneven surface! I have to admit that I am also loving the way they spiced things up with some bright neons too. You keep painting, and I'll keep watching...

Red, White and...Green?

It's not our patriotic red, white and blue, but the red, white and green of Kappa Sigma that has graced The Rock today. I like their graffiti-style letters; I'm hoping that next time we'll see them on both sides.

ADP Back in Action

Well here's a familiar face... literary society ADP has painted The Rock in the past and now is back for more! This group certainly has a lot of pride and loves to show it, and with the snow today it looks like they'll probably reign supreme for awhile (or at least until tomorrow...) Will it be another student organization who takes their place, or more birthday/anniversary well-wishing? Only time will tell, and I know that as it gets warmer The Rock is going to have a higher turnover than ever - so start your painting (and get your practice in) now!

Pharmacy Pride

For the first time this year the School of Pharmacy is showing off some blue and white pride at The Rock! Considering how competitive the program is it doesn't surprise me that they want to show off a little. I actually saw these PSG future pharmacists painting this the other night - a big Rx on the front and many a mortar and pestle on the back. My insider at the School of Pharmacy is constantly telling me about the new things that they're learning; I wonder if they'll use their lessons as inspiration for future creative paintings! Or maybe APhA, CSHP, ASCP, LKS, Kappa Psi or the many others will step up to the plate and give them a run for their money...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, it may be a day early, but it looks like AMS and JDR are going to share a happy anniversary and happy Valentine's Day with each other! I've seen birthday wishes and declarations of love recently - what do you have to add to The Rock? Keep painting, and I'll keep watching.

Happy Birthday Anne Marie!

Clearly Anne Marie has some dedicated friends here at UConn! I think she must be a lucky girl with that shamrock and horseshoe (or maybe very unlucky and in need of some good luck charms?) Personally I’m loving the use of gold on the Rock – what better way to make your message stand out than to have it shining in the sun?

I’ve also been impressed by the effort put into these recent paintings; you may not realize it but the Rock can actually be pretty difficult to paint! If you don’t already know this from first-hand experience then it means you need to get out there and try it yourself – don’t be shy, anyone can paint the Rock! Check out http://www.greeklife.uconn.edu/docs/Rock.pdf for all the Rock painting rules (don’t worry, there are only a few and easy to follow). You keep painting, and I'll keep watching...

Blue and Gold (and looking good)

Since the return of The Rock in September I’ve seen a lot of fraternities, sororities, student groups and individuals make their mark, but what I saw today really impressed me. The boys of Alpha Epsilon Pi sure put a lot of pride and effort into welcoming members of other New England AEPi chapters to UConn! I think this painting (especially the back, where they actually painted out their entire crest!) is definitely in my top 5 of all-time best paintings – do you think that you can beat them?

I wonder how quickly another group will replace AEPi’s Rock… maybe the ladies of Alpha Epsilon Phi want to show off their skills now! I’ll be keeping my eyes on The Rock to see who else has the guts to brave the snow and show their spirit...