All fellow 1976 graduates! This year is our 40th reunion celebration at Homecoming. There are a myriad of events at Homecoming this year. Check the Homecoming web page at this link.
I hope to see you there.
Bob Jackson
bob@jazzbob7.com
Michael Chivell ’76 was elected chairman of the law firm, Armstrong Teasdale. He was previously a managing partner.
Chivell served as managing partner since 2007. He joined the firm in 1983 as an associate and in 1990 was elected partner. As chairman, Chivell focuses on client relations, strategic planning, community relations, and lateral recruitment.
Armstrong Teasdale is a law firm with offices across the United States and in China.
Jan Peterson ’78 recently held her 60th birthday celebration at her condo in Evanston. Among the attendees were three other Wesleyan music school graduates, Kirby Gosnell ’79, John Pescitelli ’81, and Gregory Davis ’82.
Kirby Gosnell ’79, Jan Peterson ’78, John Pescitelli ’81, and Gregory Davis ’82
Bob Grimes is retiring at season’s end after fifteen highly successful years as Normal Community High School’s head coach. His record through Monday stands at 420-109-1 with one state championship (2007 Class AA), one state runner-up finish (2002 Class AA), nine Big 12 Conference championships, nine regional titles, three sectional crowns, and three state tournament appearances.
For additional information, you can go to a Pantagraph article.
Myra Travin ’79 is now a post-futurist and woman entrepreneur. She has recently been published in two major U.S. newspapers and appeared at SXSWedu as well as conferences in the area of technology and learning. This year, she developed an algorithm called INSense AI and launched a new startup company. She pitched it at FundAmerica last month — one of her startup tech products. She was the only woman who pitched an idea.
Her book, School of You: Stop the Overload, Become a Guerrilla Learner and Change Your Life teaches you how to personalize your own learning, to discover your potential, and to exceed expectations. For more about her book or to purchase it, go to Amazon.
My Turn: Why Artificial Intelligence should freak you out is an article about why we should worry about Artificial Intelligence. It was published in the Arizona Republic. Click on the title if you want to read the article.
Saying goodbye to the future is an article Myra which appeared as an opinion article in the Austin American Statement. The article discussed how technology has short-circuited many of the paths to effective learning.
Myra wanted to share her email address in the class newsletter so that her classmates could chat with her about her work or anything else. Her email is myratravin48@gmail.com.
For Phill Wilson—long-term HIV-survivor and founder of the highly-regarded Black AIDS Institute featured in the CNN docu-series, “The Eighties” celebrated his miraculous 60th birthday on April 23—the poem, “Where will you be when they come?” holds profound meaning:
“Citizens, good citizens all
parade into voting booths and in self-righteous sanctity
X away our right to life,”
Pat Parker
The Black AIDS Institute held a fundraiser in celebration of Phill Wilson’s 60th birthday on Saturday, April 23. There was a surprise celebrity guests and a roast at the event. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, Wilson said:
“I want to raise a lot of money for the Black AIDS Institute. I would like for all of my friends, family, and anyone who I’ve ever touched in anyway over the last 60 years to help the Black AIDS Institute finally end the AIDS epidemic in our community.”
Go to Phillwilson60.com to see photos of Wilson through the decades and learn more.
For more about Phill you can go to The Pride.
Congratulations, Phill.
Michael Schoening ’79 was featured by Indystar about his day job being a lawyer and his weekend job as a Connor Prairie interpreter.
Here is a link to the story:
Craig Hill ’78 was named Dean of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
Here is a link to an article about Craig –
http://www.smu.edu/perkins/News/News_Archives/Archives_2016/PerkinsNewDean
Thank you for being All In For Wesleyan in so many ways.
You’ve Done Well, and Done Good!
What do students bouncing off each other while encased in an inflatable “ball,” tricycle races, and jumping over a moving bar in a game called the Wipeout Eliminator have to do with raising money for Illinois Wesleyan University?
It’s all about building school spirit, shared experiences and a strong connection to the university, organizers of All In For Wesleyan said.
While many students were laughing, cheering and competing in the Quad Games on Thursday, other students and staff member were making phone calls and sending emails as part of a daylong fundraising drive. The event, which ended at midnight, raised $539,882, or 107 percent of its $500,000 goal, from 1,940 donors, according to its website.
All In For Wesleyan is “a one-day giving campaign, but it’s also become sort of a spirit day,” said Van Miller, director of annual giving. It started late Wednesday, shortly before midnight, when students gathered in the Hansen Student Center wearing white T-shirts with the All in for Wesleyan logo. President Eric Jensen and other administrators sprayed students — and others — with various colors of washable paint, part of this year’s theme of “Soaked in Spirit.”
Emerging slightly out of breath after a round of Knockerball — a game in which people encased in giant inflatable spheres run at each other in pursuit of a ball — on Thursday afternoon, student body President Lane Bennett of Oakwood said students enjoy the games but they have a serious side, too.
“It’s a great way to get students excited so when they graduate they give back to the university,” said the sophomore in political science. “They’ll remember this as a day when they had a lot of fun.”
The plan is working. This is the fourth year of All in for Wesleyan and the third in which students have been involved.
During last year’s campaign, graduates in the class of 2014 — the first to experience All in for Wesleyan as students — gave more gifts than any other class, according to Miller. The size of the gift doesn’t matter as much as keeping alumni engaged and connected with the university, Miller said. That was particularly true with the challenge from the Alumni Board of Directors to collectively donate $24,000 if 1,200 people donated — in any amount — by midnight.
The hub of fundraising activity, the Joslin Atrium in the Memorial Center, was filled with more green — a Wesleyan school color along with white — than at a St. Patrick’s Day party. There were green balloons, green candy, green foam fingers, green streamers and a lot of people in green clothes.
“Social media have played a big role in building the excitement,” said Miller. In addition to Facebook, the campaign was using Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to reach out to potential donors.
Even coaches, faculty and administrators got involved. Women’s lacrosse coach Lindsey Rosecrans still had a smile on her face after being knocked to the ground by one of her players, sophomore Claire Quist, who later found herself upside-down in a rousing game of Knockerball.
“It’s not just the teams doing it. Everyone is intermingling,” Rosecrans said. “That’s what so cool about it.”
“We get to be playful,” Carney-Hall said. “Sometimes in higher education, we can take ourselves too seriously.”