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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a day of beginnings and welcome for Illinois Wesleyan University students of the class of 2013. Celebrating their first day on campus, 526 new students and 31 transfer students gathered in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall on Tuesday for the New Student Convocation, part of the annual “Turning Titan” week on campus.

“This is a very talented and diverse group that comes from across the nation and around the world,” said President Richard F. Wilson at the Convocation. Wilson noted students sitting in Westbrook had come to Illinois Wesleyan from 21 states and from 11 different countries. “You hail from China, Spain, Nepal, Ghana and Israel, just to name a few. The diversity of your background, interests, talents and ideas adds to the vitality of our campus community.”

Wilson led the students in their first recitation of the campus motto, “Scientia et Sapientia” (which translates to “knowledge and wisdom”). “You should do more with your time here than simply acquire facts and information,” Wilson said. “You must learn how to use that knowledge wisely for the benefit of others.”

Keynote speaker Associate Professor of English Wes Chapman said he could envision the excitement and nervousness new students experience on their first day. Still, he encouraged students to “have confidence. Have confidence that it is going to be okay, but try to have the right kind of confidence – a genuine confidence rather than a false one.”

> Hear Chapman’s address (mp3 file)

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Humorous radio personality Steve Cochran entertained and informed the audience at the annual IWU Associates Luncheon on Thursday, May 7 at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center. Cochran, known for his drive-time show on WGN Radio, spoke of the lessons that could be learned from what he called “a lack of vision” in the media.

“I don’t know if you have heard, but there is this thing called the Internet. I hear it’s really catching on,” joked Cochran, who attributed the current struggles in the newspaper industry to owners who refused to take the new online medium seriously as it emerged in the 1990s. “That was back when the Internet was something fun and cute. People in the newspaper business missed the memo that the Internet was going to be here to stay. And it cost them.”

Cochran addressed more than 300 members of the IWU Associates at the luncheon. Formed in 1953, the Associates is a group of business and professional leaders interested in the advancement and support of private higher education. The Associates invest in the University, provide internships and job opportunities for Illinois Wesleyan students, and financial support for students from McLean County.

He urged those in attendance at the luncheon to take advantage of what their young interns could provide. “The new generation will help you be better with what they know best,” he said. “Take the time – so they understand what they need to do with you. And let them show you what they can do,” Cochran said.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University graduates and their families gathered to celebrate the 159th Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 3 on the Robert S. Eckley Quadrangle.

President Richard F. Wilson congratulated the 516 graduating seniors of the 2008-2009 school year, saying this day marks a new beginning. “Today, we honor you and wish you well, wherever your journey may take you,” said President Wilson. “We know what you have accomplished here and what you are capable of accomplishing as you move forward with your lives.”

Board of Trustees President George A. Vinyard ‘71 welcomed the graduates into the family of Illinois Wesleyan alumni, and 2009 Student Senate Professor of the Year Sarah Riehl offered her own congratulations.

“The class of 2009 is filled with stories of success, and to them we say bravo,” said Riehl, a visiting assistant professor of business administration at Illinois Wesleyan. “We want to thank you for sharing your talents.”

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> See the Commencement Photo Album

> Watch the Ceremony on Video

> Read Commencement speeches

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a chance theater students do not have when they perform Shakespeare – to hear what the playwright thinks of their performance, and to offer suggestions of their own.

On Saturday, April 25, successful composer, lyricist and librettist Lawrence Rush attended the Illinois Wesleyan University performance of Winter in the Fall, his musical drama. The next day, Rush spoke with students of the Music Theatre 483 class, who performed in the show under the direction of their instructor, Assistant Professor of the Theatre Arts Scott Susong.

“You did an incredible job. It was thrilling to sit in the audience and watch how you interpreted the show,” said Rush, speaking to students in the E. Melba Johnson Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre. “You are helping to bring the show to a whole new place.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - As we celebrate the iconic Abraham Lincoln during the month of his 200th birthday, it can be difficult to imagine the monumental task he faced eliminating slavery in America.

“It was not easy to be Abraham Lincoln, especially not easy to be Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States in the mid-1800s,” said James O. Horton. The Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian delivered an address titled, “Abraham Lincoln: Slavery and the Civil War” for Illinois Wesleyan University’s annual Founders’ Day Convocation in Westbrook Auditorium. Hear his address (mp3)

“Slavery is an old institution, around more than 150 years before there was a ‘United States,’” said Horton, an historian emeritus with the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. “Slavery and race have been part of America from its beginning.”

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