Congratulations to Jim Barnett ’82, director of the Senior Songsters of Kirksville, Missouri, who are set to begin their Christmas concert tour on December 8th. You can read more, and an interview with Jim, here.

Congratulations to Maureen Skerda ’82, who spoke at the November meeting of the Warren County (Pennsylvania) Well Armed Woman chapter.

Thank you to Beth Messina ’81 for representing Northwest Community Healthcare at the IWU Nursing career fair on November 13th!

Thank you to Bruce Cather ’80 for participating in the Hart Career Center luncheon with students on November 13th, which included alumni of finance, accounting, business, and computer science backgrounds.

In April Patty completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, implementing screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a mobile pediatric clinic. After teaching nursing at Goshen College since 2016, she has just begun teaching Palliative Care at the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Her husband Tim ’89 moved to the UK in August.

Keep up the great work, Patty!

Joe Ruffolo ’88 is a finalist for the Illinois State Board of Education’s 2020 Teacher of the Year Award. Click here to read more about the award.

Congratulations, Joe!

Renee McGinnis
“In Search Of Symmetry”
New Paintings 
Nov. 1st – Dec. 21st  2019                                       Zg Gallery, Chicago

Butterflies, birds, flora, atoms and pearls abound in Renee McGinnis’ second solo exhibition at Zg Gallery, “In Search of Symmetry.” For McGinnis, each of these symbolic images embodies the essential state of symmetry that ensures the stability of virtually all physical forces and living organisms. Not only does the presence of symmetry bind together this vast spectrum of subject matter both conceptually and formally, it also imbues the artist’s paintings with pervasive tension; without this inherent design, everything –even our solar system– would fail.

Here, the perfection and cruciality of symmetry is underscored through the contrast of asymmetry, particularly that of civilization’s imbalance between male and female. Research shows that high birth rates occur in places where women’s status in society is low, and the subsequent volume of humanity breeds more and more industry to support the population’s needs. In McGinnis’ work, this failed symmetry and its subsequent byproduct is illustrated in the manmade towers and ships infringing on the lush, natural landscapes.

“In Search of Symmetry” also features a series of paintings on small circular or long rectangular supports, themselves a literal manifestation of the Morse code dots and dashes that make up the maritime distress signal, “S.O.S.” In this exhibition, McGinnis continues to harness her masterful aptitude for rendering realism to both revel in the beauty of nature, and also underpin this perfection with the threatening aura of mankind’s faults and hubris.

Edie Yakutis (Hook, 1984) retired after twenty-three years from the Microsoft Corporation in 2018. She is in her second year (of five) as a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She completed her first year of the program living and studying in Jerusalem, Israel. In June. After the summer as the rabbinic intern at Temple Sholom in Cincinnati, she is continuing her studies in Cincinnati, OH and serve as the student rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom, visiting the congregation monthly, in Marquette, MI.

Karen Nesius Roeger ’83 and her husband Mike Roeger celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on September 1, 2019.

Congratulations to Karen and Mike! Wishing you all the happiness in the world!