Matthew Melick ’03 and alumni Brian Rawlins ’01,  Van Miller ’04 (aka “IronVan”), and Gena (Rawlins) Melick ’05 completed the 2013 Ironman Louisville competition, held on Aug. 24 in Louisville, Ky.  Competitors swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran a marathon. See the results.

I’m thrilled to finally be able to report that, as of November 13, I’ll be taking on the role of Research Manager at FUSION, a new TV network that launched TODAY as a partnership between ABC and Univision. The network will air news and entertainment programming targeting Millennials, Hispanics, and generally diverse viewers. It has a great new lineup planned, and by now you may have seen launch coverage on any of the three networks. I’m really excited about the opportunity, and the chance to get in on the ground floor of such a new and exciting venture! You can read more about FUSION on the new website, http://fusion.net/

Taking this position also means that a move is in my near future, and that as of November I’ll be saying goodbye to Chicago and the cold winters and heading south to sun and Miami!  I’ll send out the new address soon, but in the meantime my cell number and email will be the same.

I hope you’re all doing well!!

If you took a double take in seeing a full sized teacup you’re not alone. Kristin plays the crowd favorite – Mrs. Potts – in the national tour of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. She performed at the Bloomington Arts Center, Oct 26, and now is back on the road. To read her lively bio please click on the hyperlink provided!

Liz Jurcik  hosted two current students visiting the Seattle area to do research on the Tool Library.

Laban recently earned his Ph.D. in mathematics education in August 2013 at Illinois State University. His dissertation was titled Development and Use of Internal Representations When Solving Algebraic Tasks. Laban is a math teacher at Tri-Valley High School in Downs.

On July 17, over 2,500 alumni and friends made gifts to IWU totaling over $450,000. Unless otherwise specified by donors, all the money raised went to student scholarships and financial aid.  The “All in for Wesleyan” challenge began when Illinois Wesleyan Trustee John Horton ’82 and his wife, Joann, offered a gift of $100,000 if alumni and friends could raise $50,000 in one day.  When that challenge was met, several more challenges followed — and each was fulfilled.  Howard ’60 and Sharon ’60 Fricke offered a $10,000 gift if 600 donors participated.  Ed ’62 and Lin Phelps then offered $25,000 for 1,000 total donors.  Korey ’00 and Heidi Coon offered a $15,000 challenge for 1,200 donors.  Dr. Mike Sombeck ’83 offered $25,000 if we could reach 1,500.  Finally, at the end of the day, Dr. Randy ’73 & Jodie Reed offered $25,000 and Ed ’62 & Lin Phelps added $10,000 more to match every new gift, dollar for dollar…up to a total of $35,000 in gifts before midnight.

It was an exciting day to be a Titan.  The challenge became about so much more than numbers and dollars and donors.  It provided our alumni and friends with a chance to share their pride and explain how much IWU means to them.  If you weren’t following these conversations on social media, you can click here to read them now.  THANK YOU to all of our loyal alumni and friends who made July 17 an incredible day for our school and our students.