News

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Mortar Board has announced that Illinois Wesleyan University has been selected to host the 228th chartered chapter of Mortar Board, a prominent national honor society for college seniors.

The group will officially become a chartered chapter at a special installation ceremony held on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. in the Davidson Room of the Memorial Center (104 E. University St., Bloomington). Twenty-two collegiate members and will be inducted into the society.

Mortar Board is a prestigious national honor society that recognizes college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Since its founding in 1918, the organization has grown from four founding chapters to what will soon be 228 chartered collegiate chapters with nearly a quarter of a million initiated members across the nation. The chapter will be named “Egas,” in honor of IWU’s inactive senior women’s honor society, established at the University in 1937. All of the chapter’s 220 former members will also be invited to become full members of Mortar Board at this time.

More

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Pratt Music Scholars of Illinois Wesleyan University’s Preparatory Music Program have been invited to the White House on Nov. 3 and 4 to participate in activities surrounding the Classical Music Performance. The performance is a part of the White House Music Series organized by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Members of the community are encouraged to attend the trip’s send-off on Nov. 3 from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Supporters will meet in the Bloomington-Normal Airport visitor waiting area where there will be a banner, signs, balloons and treats. All are encouraged to wear something red, white or blue to help students identify their supporters.

While in Washington, D.C., the students will take lessons from musicians Awadagin Pratt, Joshua Bell, Alisia Weilerstein and Sharon Isbin, after which they will attend an afternoon concert at the executive residence.

Awadagin Pratt, the award-winning concert pianist with roots in Bloomington-Normal, helped arrange for the students to be invited to the event. He founded the Pratt Foundation in 1997. The Pratt Music Scholars are supported by funds provided by community members as well as corporate sponsor State Farm® and the foundation has raised about $200,000 to date. These funds provide music lessons with Illinois Wesleyan music instructors through the Illinois Wesleyan Preparatory Music Program as well as make certain that the students have music and instruments as needed.

More

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University has been awarded a nearly $162,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs for expanding Asian studies on campus.

“The 21st century has been called the Pacific Century, which is why it is so important that we increase students understanding of the area,” said Professor of Sociology Teodora Amoloza, who was the co-coordinator for the grant application. She is directing the grant along with Associate Professor of History Tom Lutze and Associate Professor of German and Eastern European Studies Sonja Fritzsche. Others who worked on the grant application were International Studies Director and Professor of Political Science William Munro, Associate Dean Irv Epstein and Asian Studies Team Coordinator, McFee Professor of Religion Brian Hatcher and Director of Sponsored Programs and Foundation Relations Jo Porter.

The grant, which will be paid over two years, will expand courses across the curriculum to include units on Asia, develop new courses, and support Chinese language classes – which started last fall at Illinois Wesleyan and are offered through the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department.

Professors in diverse areas such as the humanities, theater, art and business are proposing new Asian segments to their classes. New courses in religion, history, and Asian culture will also be developed. “It is interesting to note that many of the courses being revised do not fall within Asian studies,” said Munro. “This grant is not just about building Asian studies on campus. It is about building a global curriculum campus wide.” Funds for library materials relating to classes are also available through the grant.

More

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Homecoming 2009 will be a weekend of reunions and Titan pride.

Homecoming events will run from Thursday, Oct. 8 to Sunday, Oct. 11.

Thursday, Oct. 8

A special screening of Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen will be hosted by actor and alumnus Kevin Dunn, who appears in the movie, will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 in the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington). After the film, Dunn will host a question and answer session along with his mentor, Professor Emeritus of Theatre John Ficca.

The screening is free and open to the public. The movie is rated PG-13.

Friday, Oct. 9

Titanium Pep Rally will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Wilder Field. The night will begin with the football team leading the crowd in the fight song, followed by the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen by President Richard F. Wilson. Comedian Kyle Cease, featured on the one-hour comedy special “Kyle Cease: Weirder. Blacker. Dimpler.” last year on Comedy Central, will perform as a part of the pep rally. His performance may not be suitable for children, but childcare will be available at Rogy’s Learning Place (900 Franklin Ave., Normal). Childcare registration can be done at Rogy’s Web site. A fireworks display will follow this performance.

Back to College classes will be on Friday in the Beckman Auditorium in The Ames Library (1 Ames Plaza, Bloomington). The classes, which are free and open to the public, will include:

• Abraham Lincoln’s Reading – a lesson in the Liberal Arts; Presented by Robert Bray, R. Forrest Colwell Professor of American Literature; 1 p.m.

• Universal Jurisdiction; Presented by Arman Dabiri ’94, Robert M. Montgomery, Outstanding Young Alumnus Award-winner; 2 p.m.

• Will China dominate the world’s geo-political balance by 2050, or will it happen sooner than that?; Presented by Lawrence Herbolsheimer ’72, Distinguished Alumnus Award-winner; 3 p.m

More

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University annually honors three alumni as part of its Homecoming festivities. This year Lawrence Herbolsheimer, class of 1972 will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award; Chet and Helen Sheldon, class of 1943 and 1940 respectively, will receive the Loyalty Award; and Arman Dabiri, class of 1994, will receive the Robert M. Montgomery Outstanding Alumnus Award. The awards will be presented Saturday Oct. 10, at 11:30 a.m. at the Alumni Awards Lunch in the Shirk Center (302 Emerson St., Bloomington).

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes Illinois Wesleyan graduates who have achieved professional distinction, demonstrated civic leadership or contributed to society in a remarkable way. Lawrence Herbolsheimer graduated with an economics degree from Illinois Wesleyan, where he was Vice President of Student Senate, Treasurer of IFC and a member of Phi Gamma Delta (a social fraternity) and Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business fraternity). Herbolsheimer went on to earn his MBA from Harvard in 1980. From 1983 through 1985, Herbolsheimer served on the staff of President Ronald Reagan. From 1985 through 1991, he worked as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of NASA’s Office of Commercial Programs.

In 1991, Herbolsheimer made a move back into the business world, working as CEO of United Pacific Holdings, Ltd., a holding company for investments in manufacturing companies of China and other East Asian nations. Since then, he has aided in the creation of other businesses in which he continues to play a significant ownership role or participates on the Board of Directors. He was also a director of a management company of third-party direct investment funds with assets in excess of $350 million.

Currently, Herbolsheimer is the Co-Chairman of Comway Capital Group, a Shanghai holding company of 14 Chinese companies. He is also a Managing Director of The McLean Group of Virginia, a middle market investment-banking firm. Herbolsheimer lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife, Pia, and their two children.

More