In last weeks University Spotlight we talked about Hofstra University, this week we’re going to talk about another university in the State of New York: the University at Buffalo! Not only because it is an awesome university but also because one of our Slamstox-athletes recently joined the group of student-athletes!

Marij van der Mast, a hard-working swimmer and student, left for the USA in August this year to make her dream come true. In the Netherlands, Marij trained at swimming-club PSV and that was not just for fun: Marij made 25 training hours a week! Swimming is a sport that requires hard work and all Marij’s hard work was not without success. Marij was part of the Dutch selection and became Dutch Champion in 2016. In addition, she achieved a top-3 place twice during the Dutch Championships in 2017 (4x 200 free and 5km). That same year she swam her first European Youth Championship in Open Water: here begun the ultimate drive for her to take great steps in swimming. Those big steps started to get serious when Marij, with a VWO-diploma in her pocket, transformed into a Buffalo Bull earlier this year.

The American Dream for Marij has only just begun, before writing this article we asked her for a first impression about her very new University. She said the following:

“The best thing about UB is the team! Everyone is super supportive and brings positive energy to every practice!”

Marij van der Mast – Slamstox athlete

Emmy van den Bergh, another talented slamstox-athlete, is also leaving for Buffalo next year! She joins the Buffalo Bulls track & field team. You go girls!

So, reason enough to put this university in the spotlight. Curious about more? Keep reading!

The Campus

Buffalo New York: That’s where the University at Buffalo can be found. The university has existed since 1846, quite a long history! UB is the State University of New York State. Buffalo is a city in the west of the state with more than 250,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state (after NYC). Buffalo is a special and beautiful city that is on the list of many tourists who visit New York every year. And while looking at the picture below, we now understand why!

The campus is located in the center of the city and can accommodate about 32,000 students annually. The entire campus complex can be divided into 3 different campuses: North, South and Downtown. To get a good impression of the entire campus, you can watch the video below.

But not only the school buildings on campus are special, the sports facilities are also pretty cool! The ‘Buffalo Bulls’ are clearly pampered with the beautiful sports facilities at the University, below we show just a number of them!

The ‘Alumni Arena’ is the home stadium for the basketball, wrestling and volleyball teams. The stadium contains seating for 6,100 spectators. In 2004 there was a record number of spectators: 8971! So the match was exciting enough for many spectators to even follow it while standing! The men’s basketball team won against Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

‘UB Stadium’ is the largest stadium at the University, it can seat more than 30,000 spectators! This stadium hosts matches of the American Football Team, the soccer team and the Track & Field teams. That makes ‘UB stadium’ Emmy’s new home, cool!

The Alumni Arena, where Marij trains and swims competitions, is also pretty cool! The pool is 50 meters long and 25 meters wide. In the summer months, the pool is set up as a long track, so long track competitions can be held. During the winter months, the pool is converted into a short course: with a shot in the middle, the pool can eventually hold matches on both at the same time. Quality is enhanced by Colorado Timing Systems technology: there are two scoreboards that are accurately tracked by automatic timing.

This again shows that American Universities really do everything they can to facilitate student athletes with the very best..

Athletics

Buffalo Bulls Athletics, the official name for the varsity teams at UB! The Bulls all play within the NCAA Division 1, they compete in the Mid-American Conference. The Buffalo Bulls consist of seven men’s sports and nine women’s sports. The American Football team participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), this is the highest attainable level for College Football!

The UB mascot bears the name ‘Victor E. Bull’. As the name probably suggests, Victor is a bull, and not just a regular one! You can see him, including his big biceps, in the photo below. It’s no coincidence that Victor has a blue color: blue and white are the colors for UB!

If you ask us, Victor makes far from a modest impression, but he has every reason for that. Victor E. Bull can now be seen as one of the most popular mascots within all Division 1 Teams. In 2002 he was featured in an advertisement on national television, along with 11 other selected mascots. Victor had a chance to become ‘Capital One Bowl mascot of the year’, unfortunately without success: Monte, from the University of Montana, turned out to be the big winner.

But Victor’s career does not stop here: in 2013 he reached the final of the SUNY Mascot Madness contest. Here he lost close to Baxter the Binghamton Bearcat, seen in the photo on the left. Well Victor, we would have chosen for you big boy!

Of course, an impressive mascot requires impressive teams. The male basketball team, led by coach Bobby Hurley, made great strides in 2015. The team won the conference title and thus achieved the Division-1 Tournament, it was the first time in the history of the school! The same thing happened in 2016 and 2017, with the team entering the second round of the Division-1 Tournament in 2017. This made the Buffalo basketball program in the AP Top-25 for the first time! Watch some of the highlights of this team in the video below.

The American Football team of the Bulls has been part of the FBS since 1998, which is relatively short. In 2008 the team won the first Conference Title! The deciding game was won against the previously unbeaten Ball State Cardinals.

The university’s Varsity Teams are cheered on by the public, victor and the cheering teams led by the university’s fight song. The lyrics are as follows:

Fight, Fight for Buffalo, be proud to fight for your dear Blue and White
So, thunder through, Go Blue! Give a Cheer, never fear!
Don’t stop ’till we have won!
Cheer, cheer for Buffalo, our spirit will be with you ’till the end
So show your colors proud and true for the glory of our dear Buffalo!

Earlier this year the university made a nice video about all Athletic Facilities. It provides a glimpse into the special life that the student-athletes live. Check it out! Gooo Bulllls….

Academics

Numerous degree programs within the university are divided into six different categories: architecture, economy, health, law, medicine and social work. Well-defined concepts in which a lot is possible, so check this link to see which courses are offered exactly.

As our loyal readers will know by now: Americans love lists and numbers! And we regularly find the University at Buffalo in those lists. Here’s three of them:

  • UB is in the top 25 of American universities with the most international students!
  • UB has been placed in the list of 20,000 high level universities from all over the world by ‘The Center for World University Ranking’. According to them, the University deserves a 269th place. That means that they are almost among the best 1% (!).
  • According to Us News & World Report, UB is the best public school in New York State and number 34 in all states!

In addition, UB offers the special opportunity to put together your own major in collaboration with sponsoring companies of the university. Here you can integrate specific types of knowledge in a tailor-made program: this way you can optimally work on your future!

Did you know that…

  • Every year, UB kicks off the new school year with a grand opening, where hundreds of students together form the ‘UB logo’ on the American Football field?
  • UB’s ‘Homecoming and Family weekend’ is a big event lasting 4 days? Employees, alumni and current students with their families come together to enjoy sports matches, food and drinks, live music and activities for an entire weekend. The biggest and most important activity is the annual ‘Homecoming football game’, the American Football Team is cheered on by 25,000 spectators in the stadium
  • There is a festival organized at UB for every season of the year? The university organizes 4 events every year, the Fall, Spring, Summer and Winterfest. We should also do this in the Netherlands, right?
  • The favorite event of UB is the ‘Oozefest’? Every year 1500 students and alumni come to join this crazy event. Are you afraid of getting dirty? Then you better stay at home! The Oozefest is a volleyball tournament in the mud! It is getting bigger and more popular every year.

Students come from all over the world to study and play sports at UB, but we think the university is not only popular for its beautiful location and good reputation: those crazy annual events must also be very attractive to students worldwide!

Have you gotten excited about American universities and the life of a student athlete? Contact us and we will look at your options together!