Colin Kubarych started the bowling competition with a strike, putting his team of chemistry graduate students in the lead.
The group of graduate students participated in a bowling challenge at Texas Union Underground during part of Graduate Student Assembly's annual appreciation week, which features free food, workshops and a happy hour to honor graduate students at UT.
"Graduate students have a stigma of being lab rats," Kubarych said. "We're real people too; we like to bowl and eat free food."
Assembly Program Director Pradeep Khanal said the group is always trying to enhance graduate student life at UT.
"We want graduate students to get involved outside their area of study, and that's what we're doing here," he said. "We provide an outlet for students to intermingle with each other and administrators in the graduate department."
Khanal said that the turnout has been great; 400 graduate students attended a pizza party at Austin's Pizza on Monday.
Dean of Graduate Studies Victoria Rodriguez said there are more than 12,000 graduate students on the UT campus and approximately 5,000 who serve as teaching or research assistants and assistant instructors.
"Graduate students play a key and vital role in research and teaching undergrads," she said.
Chemistry graduate student Lauren De Pue said that mingling with graduate administrators during the open house breakfast Tuesday morning provided her with helpful funding information.
"It's good to meet administrators in a setting where they can recommend fellowships that we wouldn't ordinarily get wind of," she said.
Terry Newman, assistant vice president of graduate studies, said appreciation week has many benefits.
"Building a community is important in such a big school environment," she said. "They really come together."
Khanal said the highlight of appreciation week is their two showcases. Graduate students will showcase their films, photographs and research Thursday and Friday. Cash prizes totaling $1,000, from Geico Insurance and the Texas Parents' Association, will be awarded to first- and second-place winners for best film, photograph, presentation and poster presentation.
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