March 22-24, 2012 @ Robertson Stadium | www.uh.edu/fiesta 1

Frontier Fiesta 2012: Make Your Mark

1st Annual Joe Koppel Military Appreciation Night

March 24, 2012

Purpose: This night is to memorialize and

honor those men and women not just from the

UH community but all of the Houston commu-

nity, past, present and future, who have made

the sacrifices of defending our Constitution

from World War I all that way through the

Global War on Terror.

About Joe Koppel: In July of 1944, while

practicing landings on an Aircraft Carrier off the

coast of Virginia, a young man, rather than risk

the lives of others, crashed his plane into the

Atlantic Ocean, never to be recovered.

That young man was JOE KOPPEL.

Joe was one of the founders of the Fiesta. He

worked as a staff member in the initial produc-

tion in 1940, and was elected by the student

body as a general chairman for the second

production the following year.

Under his

direction, the

fabulous

beard-

growing

contest was

born and his

energetic

leadership

inspired the

production of

many musi-

cal shows

that year.

Needless to

say, the success of the 1941 production was

on the minds of thousands of Houstonians and

its 21-year-old director was the most respected

and loved student on campus that year.

When the war broke out some seven months

after the show closed, Joe entered the Naval

Air Force and soon earned his wings.

In honor of Joe Koppel, the University of Hous-

ton Alumni Association gives an award in his

name to the show judged best on the midway.

No Fiesta has been presented since 1941

without the name of Joe Koppel respectfully

and consistently entering the conversation. As

long as there is a Frontier Fiesta that name will

live.

And that prized possession, the JOE KOPPEL

Award, will forever eagerly sought through the

competitive spirit which has truly made the

Frontier Fiesta "The Greatest College Show on

Earth."

The History of

Frontier Fiesta and UH:

Frontier Fiesta was founded in 1940 as a way

to build school spirit in the absence of a formal

athletics program.

The early Frontier Fiesta’s goal was to raise

money for a Recreation Center

Fiesta was halted on December 7, 1941 due to

the Pearl Harbor attacks

By September 1942, enrollment had dropped

65% in response to the war

The University of Houston played an important

part in the US’s efforts during WWII

The war effort helped make the Recreation

Center a reality as the University’s solution was

to develop civilian and military training pro-

grams. The university was the first school in

the nation to house a Naval School.

The Recreation Center was built as a NERMS

(Navy Electricity and Radio Materiel School) to

serve five thousand Navy trainees and several

hundred Army & Navy pilots

By the end of the war, UH lost a total of 77

students, former or current, out of approxi-

mately 1,200 who had enlisted.

No deaths were recorded among faculty who

served

Following the war, many of the nation’s ser-

vicemen and women returned to colleges and

universities to take advantage of the Service-

men's Readjustment Act of 1944 - better

known as the GI Bill of Rights

By the fall of 1944, enrollment nearly doubled

to 2,000, due to GI’s and their families return-

ing to campus with the aid of the GI Bill.

Dr. Walter Kemmerer, Sr. VP for Academic

Affairs, determined that UH should be a GI’s

university in this region, so he built temporary

housing for their families, developed admis-

sions programs to eliminate red tape, and

worked closely with the Veterans’ Administra-

tion to expedite the students’ enrollment.

By 1945, a steady influx of veterans created a

shortage in student housing. The Board of

Regents realized the university needed more

housing and on November 9, 1945 allotted

$194,000 for temporary quarters. A week later

UH accepted a gift of three hundred trailers.

The converted navy barracks and the trailers

formed a nucleus of ex-servicemen's housing

known as the Veterans Village.

The Veterans Village became a community in

itself, complete with a constitution, governing

council, regular newsletter, and nursery school.

A veteran's club also formed on campus and

drew many of its members from those living in

the Village. The Veterans Club and Veterans'

Council concerned themselves with veterans

rights and even petitioned Congress for an

investigation into local bureau of veterans

affairs in late 1945 and early 1946 when nu-

merous UH students did not receive their dis-

bursements. In 1956, due to deteriorating

conditions, the last trailer was removed as the

Veterans Village yielded to the expanding

campus.

The University of Houston & Houston Now

Fall 2010: 1,313 veterans enrolled at UH under the Hazelwood or VA benefits.

UH is an approved training facility for veterans and a Military Friendly Institution.

Two offices support vets: VSO & Office of Registration & Academic Records

Harris County is home to over 193,000 veterans of the 1.6 million in Texas

Greater Houston & surrounding areas estimate over 304,000 vets

About 16,000 are GWOT vets, one of the largest populations in the country

Texas supplies over 11% of all US recruits

Houston supplies over 25% from those Texas recruits

March 22-24, 2012 @ Robertson Stadium | www.uh.edu/fiesta 2

Notable Veteran

Frontier Fiesta & UH Leaders:

Joe Potter: the first Chair in 1940

John Sargent: founder

Jack Valenti:1941 Vice Chairman,

long-time president of Motion

Picture Association of America,

creator of MPAA film rating sys-

tem, President LBJ’s speechwriter

& advisor, and honored by the

Jack J. Valenti School of Commu-

nication at UH in 2008

During WWII, he was a Lt. in the

US Army Air Corps, flew 51 com-

bat missions as the pilot com-

mander of a B-24 medium bomber

and received four decorations

Johnny Goyen: founder & 1947

Chair, 1958 City Councilman, one

of the originators of the beard-

growing contest along with Joe

Koppel

He was a former President of the

Students Association which re-

vived Fiesta in 1947

“The eight year man” interrupted

his education in 1943 to spend

three years in the Army Air Corps.

He became a gunnery instructor at

Eagle Pass Air Field.

Welcome Wilson, Sr.: 1947 pro-

gram manager & 1948 business

manager, a Defense Battalion

Commander in Yokosuka and

graduated first in his class at Naval

Officers School.

Harry Scott: 1949 Chair

Dave Halphen: 1950 Chair, Ser-

geant in the Army Air Force for

three and a half years, two and a

half spent in the Aleutian Islands

General AD Bruce: 3rd UH Presi-

dent & first UH Chancellor, AD

Bruce Religion Center was dedi-

cated to his vision, WWI & WWII

vet, founded Fort Hood, Shortly

after arriving, Bruce noted that the

university was missing something

which he considered fundamen-

tal—a chapel for student use lo-

cated on campus. He remarked to

the Director of Religious Activities

that if you "[e]xclude religion en-

tirely from education...you have no

foundation upon which to build

moral character."

Jason Voth: 2009 Director of

Operations, OEF veteran

Terry Chung: 2010 Graphic De-

signer & 2011 Director Produc-

tions, OIF veteran

Military & Veterans

Organizations at UH:

Veterans Collegiate Society

Veterans Services Office

Navy, Army & Air Force ROTC

Kappa Sigma: Military Heroes Campaign

Military & Veterans Organizations in Houston:

City of Houston: Office of Veterans Affairs

Marine 4 Life

Houston Military Affairs Committee

VA Region Office & Medical Center

Houston National Cemetary

American Legion

VFW

Recruit Military

Lone Star Vets

DAV

Texas Veterans Commission

Vets Center

Businesses that Support

Veterans Day

Applebee’s

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

Champp’s

Chili’s

Denny’s

Golden Corral

Hooter’s

Krispy Kreme

Little Caesars

McCormick & Schmick’s

Outback Steakhouse

Subway

Spaghetti Warehouse

Texas Roadhouse

TGI Friday’s

Olive Garden

Twin Peaks

What We Need

Help transport the piece of the World Trade Center acquired by SGA to Fiesta City for display.

Sponsor the Buffalo Soldiers exhibit.

Sponsors static aircraft display from places such as the Commemorative Air Force.

Sponsor a military-themed art exhibit.

Provide the Military Appreciation tent.

Provide food, entertainment, supplies, prizes, special celebrity guests, etc.

Sponsor karaoke from Boyte Booking (ran by an Air Force vet & his Navy SEAL brother).

Recruit military & veteran organizations to help put on this event.

Sponsor a jet flyover.

Host a silent drill team or marching band competition HS or college.

If you are a veterans organization, consider bringing info material to hand to vets.

Help the restaurants above get involved in this event.

Make a display to honor the vets that were or are students at UH.

Monetary sponsorships, advertising, general donations and volunteers.

Anything else you have to offer is more than welcome!

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