The new spring issue of UConn Magazine is one of the most unique in the publication’s history. The entire issue is a photo essay that chronicles 24 consecutive hours in the life of the Storrs campus.
A team of photographers and editors worked from 6 a.m. Oct. 24, 2024, through 7 a.m. on Oct. 25, collecting photographs from around UConn that capture every aspect of the campus experience, from academics to athletics and student life.
Some of the images are familiar, like scenes at the Student Union, fantastic views of Horsebarn Hill, and daily academic life in classrooms and laboratories.
But photographs of underground water tunnels and middle-of-the-night pastry chefs will be new for even the most frequent campus visitor.
“We were determined to let this be what you’d experience on any given day so, while we asked permission to be certain places, we made sure no one set anything up for us,” says Lisa Stiepock, editor of UConn Magazine. “We wanted readers to feel in the moment with us. We wanted to show what you’d find amid the bustle of campus midday, but also what you find behind doors you don’t typically go through — to see the basketball teams practicing, puppet arts students making masks, DJs broadcasting late at night.”
A bevy of photographers contributed to the issue, led by University photographer Peter Morenus, who has been at UConn for nearly 30 years. That experience was invaluable as decisions were made on who and what to photograph.
“We always talk about the way students can really make UConn their own because of the sheer number of things happening here,” says associate editor Julie (Stagis) Bartucca ’10 (BUS, CLAS), ’19 MBA. “It was so cool to see that in action when planning out the day, with so many classes and clubs happening simultaneously that spanned any potential interest.
“The day of shooting was the most nostalgic I have felt for my student experience in over a decade as an employee. UConn as my workplace has always felt just slightly different from UConn as my school, but being side by side with students as they went through a typical college day really hit me and put me back in the mindset of being a student,” Bartucca adds.
Andrew Janavey ’15 (SFA) is the art director of this project and says he “saw more in 24 hours than he did in four years as an undergrad — from the loudness and intensity of the men’s basketball practice to the incredible silence in the sign language classroom to everything in between.”
The online version of the Magazine is available now and hard copies have been arriving in the mailboxes of thousands of UConn alumni and friends.
