Left to Right: Bonnie Salm Schaafsma ’78, Brenda Maurer Dannewitz, Dianne Schafer Schaafsma ’77, Vicki Jordan Geiger ’78, Denise Lakis Foote ’77, Gig Weuthrich Ehrlich ’77, Liz Janke Nichols ’77.
Alumnae members of Omicron chapter of Kappa Delta from 1977-1978 have a get-together for lunch every summer. They always have a great time!
Left to right:Brenda Maurer Dannewitz ’77, National Advisor,; Lou Ann Fillingham ’78, Zeta Eta alumnae delegate, collegiate members and Jennifer Klafeta ’88, past national President
Members of Sigma chapter of Delta Omicron, alumnae and collegiates, recently attended the national conference of Delta Omicron in Bloomingdale, Illinois.
Andrea Huber ’81; Michael Ramach ’78; and Lauren Shafer ’15
Three generations of IWU alums are united by the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria.
Pictured are Andrea Huber ’81 Director of Development and Intendantin, AIMS Festival in Graz; Michael Ramach ’78 University of Louisville School of Music Co-Director Opera Theatre and Stage Artistry Coach at AIMS (First person to graduate with a BFA in Music Theatre); and Lauren Shafer ’15 Administrative assistant for AIMS.
They are in the Stefaniensaal performance space during one of the many orchestra concerts that were held by AIMS in the summer of 2015.
Steve Thomas and Bert Baker
Merrifield addresses the first cohort of the College Prep Program in 2014 as Rob Wild, associate vice chancellor for students, looks on.
Leah Merrifield has had many titles but one mission: to make WashU a more welcoming place. Leah leads the College Prep Program, which recently wrapped up its second summer. She is supported by her assistant director, Courtney Brewster, and a team of Washington University students who serve as program assistants.
The free program helps high-achieving high school students with limited resources get ready for life on a college campus. Students must commit to attend three consecutive summers living on the South 40, taking courses for college credit, learning how to craft an admissions essay and preparing for the ACT. And yet, Merrifield will not measure success in college acceptance letters, but in college diplomas.
Leah sees herself in these scholars. She attended Chicago public schools and got good grades. But she arrived at Illinois Wesleyan University in downstate Bloomington, Illinois, without some of the requisite skills to thrive.
“I had so much to learn,” said Leah, whose parents did not attend college. “I had to learn how to ask for help. I had to learn how to actually study. I had to learn time management. Like many first-generation students, I needed help with many things when I arrived at college.”
Washington University always planned to expand College Prep after its pilot year, but the unrest made it clear just how urgent the need this program had become. The second College Prep cohort nearly doubled in size with one-third of its members coming from Ferguson or nearby north St. Louis County communities.
“My fervent hope and prayer is that St. Louis institutions are awake now,” Leah said. “I don’t kid myself. I don’t think everything will be wonderful with rainbows and unicorns, but perhaps institutions like Washington University and others will take stock and do all they can to be a force for good.
“Do I wish we had done something like this sooner? Of course. But I feel blessed to work at a place that’s willing to put its resources behind the students of this region.”
Paul Runyon ’76 was inducted into the Downers Grove South Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
Paul and his wife, Nancy Montgomery Runyon ’78, have played golf in all fifty states from June 2009 to September 2013. Now, he winters in Goodyear, Arizona, and summers in Zionsville, Indiana, close to his five grandchildren.
Longtime Prophetstown coach Don Robinson ’76 is retiring after 38 years. Don became the seventh high school coach in state history with 700 girls’ basketball wins this year. Placed in the spotlight, the longtime Prophetstown coach was not seeking the limelight.
(The athletes) were the ones who deserve the credit,” Robinson said last week. “It wasn’t about me. It was trying to get the best out of them. I’ll be honest — I really had fun. The effort the girls put forth made it fun. Thirty-eight years went by fast.”
Don started his trek a few months after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan in 1976. The first job was at Dixon-based Jefferson Elementary School as a science teacher. A year later, he went to Prophetstown as a science teacher and girls’ basketball and girls’ track coach.
Being a basketball coach always was the plan, but “I didn’t know it would be girls’ basketball.” The title remained the same for 38 seasons. Coaching track continued in the spring throughout his tenure, too. Upon reaching Prophetstown, Don built both programs into consistent winners. The secret was creating an enthusiastic environment that was fun and positive.
Memories came from all the games and meets, making it easy for Don to reflect on the moments. Not once did he take credit for all the wins and hardware. The players were responsible for the 705 wins and four State trophies. Of the four State trophies two were in track, 2nd in 2000 & 2013. The other two State trophies were in basketball, 2nd in 2A 2014 & 3rd in 1A 2015.
All Don did was relish the ride. Looking back, it was a good one.
Ross Fraser (’78) is in his eleventh year as the director of media relations for Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization. Feeding America is the network of most of the food banks in the country. It distributes food to soup kitchens and food pantries across the nation. This network feeds more than 5 million people each week and will distribute more than 4 billion pounds of food this year.
Feeding America’s mission statement is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.
Feeding America is a nationwide network of food banks and food pantries and meal programs that provides food and services to people each year. Together, it is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization. Their network serves virtually every community in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.
But Ross is not the only IWU graduate at Feeding America. Sam Harris (2010) works with the food industry to help get donations of food, and Tim Sunzeri (2011) is a senior budget analyst in the philanthropy department.
Forbes Magazine rates Feeding America as the third largest charity in the U.S.
For more information, go to Feeding America’s web page at Feeding America.org.
Ross receiving a check for $100,000 from Rachael Ray on her show.
Ross also relates:
Last summer I was in New York, meeting with some producers at NBC Nightly News. And who happened to be standing in the security line in front of me? Lea Delaria, one of the stars of “Orange is the New Black,” who attended the IWU School of Drama roughly 1975-1976. (She did not graduate from there.) I had not seen her in more than 35 years!”
Stew Salowitz
Illinois Wesleyan University Sports Information Director Stew Salowitz ’76 was featured in the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) April E-Digest. In the article, Stew is asked five questions about his job as Sports Information Director.
One of the questions he was asked was: In an increasingly 140-character-limited world, do you think writing skills in athletics communications are undervalued? Part of his answer was:
…we’ve become a society that is too busy, or lazy, to spell out the words are and you, using r or u instead. I’m trying to steer away from long stories these days, concentrating on bullet points and key performances.”
To read all five questions and Stew’s answers, go to the CoSIDA Digest. You need to page down to page 38.
Congratulations Stew. Great Article!
After 25 years in uptown Normal, Brian Simpson, owner of Babbitt’s Books, expects to close his shop by June. The store’s cat, Babbette, will also be looking for a new home as Simpson is unable to keep her.
After more than two decades as a fixture in uptown Normal, Brian Simpson ’79 is selling Babbitt’s Books.
Brian opened the uptown Normal bookstore 25 years ago and planned to close it in June until he got an offer from Seth Wheeler. Simpson said Wheeler, who has his doctorate in history, is at about the same stage in his life as he was when he started the store: degrees they couldn’t do anything with but still needing a job to make money.
For more details on Babbitt’s Books and the sale, go to this Pantagraph article.
Brian is adjusting to his new-found freedom by going to his art studio a few times. He will also teach art classes at the McLean County Arts Center later this month. Good luck, Brian.