Hello everyone! What have you all been doing the last 43 years? Have you enjoyed your life’s journey? I sure have. I recently retired after a 40+ year career of teaching and serving as a school administrator. My journey began as an American Studies major where Paul Bushnell and Bob Bray somehow found a way to guide me through the challenge of higher education. After a earning a degree in Jr. High Education at the big school in Normal, I began my teaching career in Pekin, Illinois being a part of a brand new school, Broadmoor Jr. High. I concluded my career by opening and serving as principal for ten years at Desert Meadows School, in Laveen, AZ.

I want to encourage you to share your life’s journey with the Class of ’74 and all of the other great alumni and staff that call Illinois Wesleyan home. I know for a fact that our lives have not always been as we thought or planned when we entered our dorms for the first time. Two great examples are my friends Ned Carter and Roger Lirely. Ned told me in the spring of 1974 that he was going to study in Sweden for a year. He has now earned multiple degrees and raised a wonderful family in Sweden. He visits family and friends back here in the states. Roger was a pre-med student. Today he heads the Department of Accounting, Finance and Business Law at the University of Texas, Tyler. Those are great journeys full of twists and turns. Let’s hear yours! I can be reached at scooterv@icloud.com

Robin Roberts ’79 just retired as a teacher and coach from Tri-Valley Middle School (Downs, IL) on September 22nd of 2016 after 33 years of service.

He taught 7th grade World Geography, coached track & cross country, and was a bus driver. He also coordinated a large Civil War Day event each May, since 2005, with over 50 re-enactors from across the state participating. Many area schools attended this annual event.

Robin was honored by the McLean County Museum of History with a plaque in May of 2016 in honor of his students displaying 40 Illinois History Fair Projects for over 20 years at the museum for the general public to view. Many of the projects researched a historically significant person, place, or event from McLean County or Central Illinois. These projects went on to compete at the regional and state levels.

Robin received numerous teaching honors which included the following: 2002 Illinois History Expo Governor’s Award, 2008 Golden Apple Award Finalist, 2009 Bloomington Walmart Teacher of the year, and the 2009 Illinois State Historical Society Olive Foster Teacher of the Year Award.

Robin also officiated high school basketball for 41 years and football for 25 years. He was selected to work the IHSA State Finals in Peoria for boys basketball in 2001, 2002, and 2004. Robin was selected and inducted into the Hall of Fame for basketball officiating by three different organizations: the BNOA (Bloomington-Normal Officials Association), the IBOA (Illini Basketball Officials Association), and the IBCA (Illinois Basketball Coaches Association).

Robin has participated as a chaperone for the McLean County Diversity Project since its inception in 2001. Each year he helps supervise a group of 25 local junior high and high school students on an annual week-long summer trip with the theme varying but always concentrating on the issues of diversity. The group has traveled in the past to such places as New York, Boston, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Wyoming, Colorado, and Costa Rica. In late June, they will be visiting the Nazi Death Camp at Auschwitz, Poland.

Enjoy your retirement! Look me up at a reenactment. I’m in the 33rd Illinois  Regimental Band.

Chip Scholz ’78 has turned a few new bowls. Take a look.

Many promotion recipients would be quick to unpack into a new office, but new associate vice president for Academic Affairs Bonnie Campbell has yet to completely settle in. She was previously the dean of Health Professions and director of Nursing before she was hired into this new position last fall.

The Utica native explained that when she was in high school, women typically became either a teacher or a nurse. Campbell enjoys both those fields, and she had the chance to combine the two here at IVCC.

Originally, Bonnie went to school to be a nurse. She obtained her bachelor’s from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. Then studied for her master’s degree at Loyola Medical Center as she worked there. At that time, she and her husband decided to move back to Utica.

“I was lucky enough [to find] a position open for teaching faculty here at the college and I immediately moved and started teaching nursing,” she said. She quickly progressed to the director of Nursing, then the dean of Health Professions, before she left to run a garden center.

Campbell said that her previous positions have helped prepare her for her new position.

“Being a nurse has always been my first and most wonderful passion. I love the idea of helping people,” she said. She was excited to take her compassion, problem-solving skills and ability to seek compromise and transfer it into her teaching and now administrative position.

“I like the opportunity that I’m hoping to have in this position as Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs that I’ll be able to affect change at a larger level.”

Deborah Anderson, Campbell’s coworker as the vice-president for Academic Affairs, added, “[Campbell’s] previous experiences as a clinical nurse and small business owner give her a rounded perspective about the type of leadership that is necessary to build strong organizations.” Anderson praises Campbell’s ability to serve others and her loyalty to IVCC through her twenty years at the college.

One of the issues that Campbell has had to deal with is the lack of state budget. She said that it has made thing “much more challenging. Without a state budget… it’s just very difficult to do what you want to do when you don’t have the money that’s been committed to do what you want to do.”

Bonnie acknowledged the challenges faced by everyone in the institution, but also commended IVCC’s ability to make changes financially while still having the students and community in mind.

In addition to being the associate vice president of Academic Affairs, Bonnie is also the dean of Workforce Development. She hopes that one day she can drop that title and focus solely on Academic Affairs.

“I would love to have one hat as opposed to two,” she said, but that depends on the state budget. “Then I could focus in on the things that I really want to focus in on and make positive change.”

Congratulations, Bonnie.

Col. Mark D. Griffith, MD was recently involved in a full-scale mobile field hospital exercise in northern Indiana. During this exercise, a multi-agency team was implemented to respond to natural disasters in the state of Indiana, such as tornadoes, floods, and earthquake relief.

Col. Griffith was the Incident Commander (IC) for the operation which included local fire, police, EMA, as well as a helicopter evacuation unit from Fort Wayne. Col. Griffith is the commanding officer of the Medical Command (MEDCOM) of the Indiana Guard Reserves.

Dr. Griffith is an Illinois Wesleyan University graduate (SP ’77) and received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He currently serves as the Medical Director of Advanced Wound Care at Franciscan Health Lafayette.

The Rev. Douglas Albert Williams ’79 is the new pastor at Salem United Methodist Church in Barrington.

Rev. Doug has served at churches throughout Illinois, including the Harmon/Eldena United Methodist Church in Dixon, First United Methodist Church in Normal, Earlville Methodist Church, Pierce Community United Methodist Church in Maple Park, Evangelical United Methodist Church in Ottawa and, most recently, Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Rockford.

An article from the Chicago Tribune has an in-depth article about Doug at this link.

Illinois Wesleyan’s Distinguished Alumna Award for Excellence in Nursing will be presented to Nancy (Jenkins) Johnson ’78 at Homecoming 2016. Homecoming is Sep 30 and Oct 1, 2o16.

For more information about the award follow the link below:

 – https://www.iwu.edu/news/2016/johnson-named-distinguished-nursing-alumna.html

Marsha Guenzler-Stevens ’78 was surprised on Friday, September 23 with the dedication and naming of a new room in the Adele Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Ann Stroink ’76, a neurosurgeon with Central Illinois Neuro Health Sciences in Bloomington, will be among three doctors presented 2016 Rock Doc Awards by the Illinois CancerCare Foundation.

The 7th annual CUREageous event will be 6 to 11 p.m. Nov. 11 at Par-a-Dice Hotel in East Peoria.

Rock Doc Awards are presented to Central Illinois doctors who exhibit outstanding patient care and support research. Tickets are $125. Call 309-243-3437 for tickets.

The annual early August picnic of the Network (Minority Alumni Network) celebrated this year’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) students and SEP alumni in addition to welcoming incoming students to IWU. Eugenie and David Darling ’79 hosted more than 100 alumni, students, faculty, staff and parents. Inez Kitty White ’16 (left) photographs her son Malachi being held by SEP alumna Kamaya Thompson ’12. Myia Thompson ’11 is at far right.