September 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ill., – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder asked Illinois Wesleyan University students to be more inspired than he was in his youth.

“Now, I’m 61, it’s too late for me,” joked Kidder, addressing the IWU President’s Convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 26, in a speech punctuated with humor and a message – do what you love and use it to change the world. “For most of you the question of what you’re going to do with your lives has not been answered, though it is the one question you cannot stop asking yourself.”

Hear the address.

Kidder’s speech, titled “One Way to Live a Meaningful Life,” followed the subject of his novel Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Could Cure the World. The book was the focus of Illinois Wesleyan’s 2007 Summer Reading Program, which all first-year students were assigned.

“Dr. Farmer’s message, it would seem to me, is a plea that we pay attention to the world as it really is,” said Kidder, who followed Farmer for several months as the world-renown physician worked tirelessly to fight illness and establish “poverty with dignity” for people in Haiti, Moscow and Peru with clean water, livable housing and medical attention. “If we see a bag lady or a drunk sleeping in a doorway, our first reaction is to get as far away from them as we can,” said Kidder. “Farmer’s message is don’t do that. Don’t join what seems to be America’s collective amnesia to human suffering.”

Telling stories of Farmer’s adventures, Kidder spoke of his eclectic upbringing, his days among the wealthy at Duke University and his struggles to create Partners In Health, a not-for-profit organization. Contending that Farmer, with his boundless energy and determination, is unique, Kidder still believes he is an inspiration to guide students not to “forget the forgotten people” of the world.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In a joint effort, the Illinois Wesleyan University International Society Student Organization (I-Society), and the International Office will launch “World Piece,” a series of hour-long student-led discussions focusing on current global issues.

The first discussion, on Monday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., will be led by junior international studies major Anna File, who studied in China last year. It will take place at the International House (Kemp Hall, 1207 N. Main St., Bloomington). IWU students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the community are invited to attend.

I-Society is a student organization that promotes cultural awareness on the IWU campus, brings together students of various ethnicities, and encourages IWU students to study abroad. I-Society also sponsors the I-Carnivale, an annual festival that celebrates the multiple cultures on campus.

President of the organization, Hoang Nguyen said, “With an increase in international students [at IWU], the time is right to expand the scope of I-Society. In recent years, we have focused our energy on the I-Carnivale in the spring, but we’re taking time this year to do other activities and ‘World Piece’ is one of them.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Soprano Dawn Upshaw, a four-time Grammy-award winner and a 1982 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University has been named today (Sept. 25), by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of 24 MacArthur Fellows for 2007.  Upshaw, along with the other Fellows, will receive a $500,000 in “no strings attached” funding over the next five years for support of their current activities or to take their work in new directions.

Since its inception in 1981, the Foundation has named 756 Fellows, including this year’s honorees, who range from 18 to 82 years of age.

“The MacArthur Foundation supports highly creative individuals and institutions with the ability and the promise to make a difference in shaping and improving our future,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “These new MacArthur Fellows, extraordinary men and women of all ages and in many fields, honor and inspire us with their talent, their courage, and their deep commitment.  With the gift of time and unfettered opportunity to create and explore, we are confident that the Fellows will follow their hearts and their minds wherever they lead, making new discoveries and making a difference in the world.” 

The Fellows, selected for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future, include a forensic anthropologist, spider silk biologist, short story writer, inventor, biomedical scientist, nanotechnologist, public health physician, choreographer, as well as Upshaw.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Jack Waddell’s low baritone voice quickly commands any room he enters, whether in his vocal studio in New York, where he coaches Broadway stars to perfect their song, or in Tommy’s Grill on Illinois Wesleyan University’s campus, where he reminisces about his days as a Titan.

“When I look around, it seems like yesterday,” said Waddell, walking across the University’s Eckley Quad. “Ah, Presser Hall. I lived in Presser!” he said of his days as a music voice major practicing for hours in the hall where music classes and performances thrive.

The 1963 Illinois Wesleyan graduate returned home this week to Bloomington to be inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame. His 50-year career has spanned the stages of Munich, New York, Amsterdam and around the world, but it started in Bloomington and with Illinois Wesleyan.

Waddell sang for the Bloomington High School choir, and joined a local community choir established by Illinois Wesleyan Professor of Voice Henry Charles. “He was amazing,” said Waddell, tapping a finger at a photo of Charles in the 1963 Illinois Wesleyan yearbook. “He volunteered his time and came down to the Twin City Community Center to start a choir for young, black men. Most of the other boys there would have rather played ball or hung out, but I listened and I sang,” he said with a deep laugh.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— One Illinois Wesleyan staff member and two alumni have been named to the Pantagraph’s 20 Under 40, recognizing accomplished and dedicated individuals in the community under 40 years of age.

“It’s really an honor,” said Deborah Halperin, coordinator of the Action Research Center at Illinois Wesleyan University. Halperin, Brian Beam, vice president and art director of Business Builders, and plastic surgeon Chad Tattini appeared in a special section of the Pantagraph on Sept. 19, and will be celebrated with others chosen as 20 Under 40 at the Community Leaders Breakfast on Nov. 8 at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington.

An active volunteer, Halperin was the general coordinator for building of a playground for Washington Elementary School in Bloomington, which raised more than $100,000 and took the work of more than 1,000 volunteers.

Halperin’s dedication to community service, however, reaches past the playground. As president of the board for the Day Care Center of McLean County, she helps to ensure quality childcare for underprivileged youth. She also serves on the board of directors of the Founders’ Grove Neighborhood, where she helps with community assessment efforts.

Giving back is a natural to Halperin, whose position at Illinois Wesleyan helps boost local not-for-profit organizations. At IWU’s Action Research Center, she connects students to internships and research projects at local agencies.  “It’s great to be able to match students who are filled with energy and promise to groups who need them,” said Halperin, who has worked with social organizations for more than 15 years. “I understand not-for-profits. I can come in and ask about logic models and strategic plans, and it helps get the best fit for the organizations and the students.” 

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