UConn 360: The UConn Podcast

Episode 161: A Children’s Book Author Is a Soon-To-Be Grad

Our guest this episode is Luisana Duarte Armendáriz, who is a doctoral student concluding her studies at UConn this spring. She is already an accomplish author of children’s literature and is a graduate assistant in the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English. She has had an incredible variety of experiences in her life, ranging from graphic designer to high school teacher to an acceptance to medical school. She started writing children’s books when applying for graduate school and has written “Julieta and The Diamond Enigma” with its sequel “Julieta and The Cryptic Rose” set for release in the fall. Before we get started with Luisana, we talked about Izzy’s experience covering the NCAA Men’s Final Four for University Communications.

Episode 160: Final Four(s) Here We Come!

The UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams are the talk of the sports world this week as both teams are head to the NCAA Final Four. This podcast is a media roundtable taking a look at the upcoming games in Indianapolis and Phoenix. We start with the long-time color announcer on the UConn Radio Network Wayne Norman and then we talked to four student journalists – Sam Calhoun and Matt Dimech, who cover the men’s team for The Daily Campus; and Jake McCreven of the Daily Campus and Kaden Knapp of WHUS-91.7 FM radio, who cover the women’s team. The student journalists talk about what it is like to cover a team while still in college and what their future plans are. And we have predictions…Go Huskies!

Episode 159: Dance The Night Away

Our guest on this episode is Pagie O’Keefe, who is the vice president of communications for HuskyTHON 2026. HuskyTHON is a year-long effort by UConn students to raise funds and awareness for Connecticut Children’s, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. This effort culminates in an 18-hour dance marathon that features thousands of Huskes. This year’s HuskyTHON dance marathon took place two weekends ago and over $2.2 million was raised. HuskyTHON is the largest Children’s Miracle Dance Marathon in the country by participants and the second-highest by amount raised. HuskyTHON is entirely student-run, led by a management team of 32 undergraduate student leaders, who work to make it better each year. Over the past 27 years, HuskyTHON has now raised over $17 million.

Episode 158: A Positive Voice at UConn

Jonelle Reynolds is the Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives here at UConn and brings a positive outlook to us on this episode of the podcast. She has been at UConn for over a decade and currently develops, manages, and supports culture, engagement, and inclusion strategies across the university. Jonelle’s work blends strategy and operations, identifying gaps in resources and training and partnering with faculty, staff, and students to design programs, streamline processes, and strengthen community. She also has a background in marriage and family therapy and gives us some good ideas on how to make those relationships successful in our lives. A native of Guyana, she earned her doctorate degree from UConn, her undergraduate from Baruch College in New York City and has a master’s from Oklahoma State.

Episode 157: Inclusion and Civil Rights at UConn

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jeffrey Hines, who leads the Office for Inclusion and Civil Rights for both UConn and UConn Health. The office ensures the University’s commitment and responsibility to foster equitable and inclusive working and learning environments. Jeff has an amazing background as he earned his undergraduate degree and medical degree from Brown University. He then did his residency in obstetrics and gynecology and served as a battalion surgeon during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. In January, he was the keynote speaker at the Connecticut Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission Commemoration. In the podcast, he reflects on King, Black History Month, and the recent passing of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Episode 156: A New Look at Resiliency

Keith Bellizzi is a professor of gerontology in Human Development and Family Sciences here at UConn. He has spent the last two decades studying resilience, cancer survivorship, healthy aging, and behavioral change. Keith recently published a new book entitled “Falling Forward: The New Science of Resilience and Personal Transformation.” Bellizzi was diagnosed with cancer in his early 20s and has faced the disease four times. The book explores how experiences can change the terrain of one’s life and how you move forward on different ground. Keith takes a look at the topic of resiliency and what it means today and how it is perceived differently in previous decades. It’s not pushing through and being tough all the time, but more about vulnerability and honesty. Keith also talks about living longer in a healthy way and what caretakers for the elderly need to do to keep their own piece of mind.

 

Episode 155: Baking For All the Huskies

Eric Merkle is the long-time Bakery Manager for UConn Dining Services and oversees a staff of over 20 full-time bakers and student workers. The UConn Bakery produces thousands of muffins, cookies, and baked goods each week. The bakery starts each day at 3:30 a.m. – long before the rest of campus is awake. Eric studied bakery and pastry at the world-famous Culinary Institute of America. Each year, the bakery holds a pie sale for Thanksgiving, where members of the public can leave their Thanksgiving baking up to Eric and his staff! Everyone can get a taste of UConn by ordering from the online bakery. Eric’s cupcakes were also featured prominently in the recent UConn holiday video! Eric brought sample of a lemon chiffon cake (see the photo) and we all gave it a try!

Episode 154: Starting 2026 With Women’s Ice Hockey

Happy New Year to all of our UConn 360 Podcast listeners. Women’s ice hockey coach Chris MacKenzie is our guest on this episode and his team is currently ranked fifth in the country. He is in his 13^th year in charge of the Huskies and has led UConn to the Hockey East regular season championship in each of the past two years. Chris was the national coach of the year in 2024 as he led UConn to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. He talks about this year’s team, what he looks for when recruiting a student-athlete, and how the new Toscano Family Ice Forum has changed the program. Chris also gives us an Olympic preview and a look into his family life. Check out a UConn game this season!

Episode 153: Healthy Rounds Moves to Podcast Format

Our guest on the final UConn 360 podcast of the year is a familiar one to listeners of the Healthy Rounds radio show. Dr. Anthony Alessi of UConn Health is a neurologist specializing in general neurology, neuromuscular diseases, EMG and sports neurology and the long-time host of the show. It is moving to a podcast format in January and listeners can reach out to Dr. Alessi with questions at info@alessimd.com . Dr. Alessi also talks about his experience working in athletics with UConn teams, the New York Yankees, boxers, and Professional Bull Riding. In addition, co-host Izzy Harris shares how she and her University Communications co-workers finished in first place the annual UConn Gingerbread House Decorating Contest. Happy Holidays to all from UConn 360!

Episode 152: Thanksgiving with UConn Dining Services

Rob Landolphi is the Director of Culinary Development for UConn Dining Services. In his role, he and his team develop the menus to the over 200,000 meals served to students each week in Storrs. Rob joins us on his episode to talk about how student tastes have changed over the years and how everything from social media to the Cultural Centers on campus affects what is served in dining halls. For those of you that are getting ready to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, Rob provides some great tips on cooking turkey and getting sides dishes done in advance. We also discuss the 25^th Annual UConn Culinary Olympics, which takes place on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, and the public is invited to attend!