Titans Supporting Titans

Ways to Support Fellow Titans
    1. To share a word of support for your classmates at this time, submit a post to your class newsletter by emailing your editor or if your class does not have an editor, send your post to classnews@iwu.edu.
    2. You can provide support to the Titan Student Emergency Fund. This fund will provide relief to students with needs such as housing, travel, moving and storage, transportation and vehicle repair, and technology needs related to remote learning.
    3. If you have expertise or a career opportunity that you can share with students, please connect with a Hart Career Center staff member for a phone or video appointment through a Handshake account here. You can also post job and internship opportunities on the site. View FAQs here.
    4. University Archives & Special Collections wants to hear your experiences and reflections to keep a historical record of the impact of the pandemic on the Illinois Wesleyan community, you can learn more here.
    5. Assist the IWU Admissions team in student recruitment efforts. Our alumni are the best and most qualified to meet with prospective students to share your IWU experience. Sign up here: Titan Alumni Ambassadors.
    6. You can see more ideas here.

TAG Day 2020

Thank-A-Giver Day (TAG Day) is Monday, February 10. This day provides the IWU campus community with the opportunity to thank donors who support Illinois Wesleyan. IWU celebrates each year in mid-February because it marks the symbolic point during the academic year – about 70% of the way through – when we rely on support from alumni and friends, our endowment, and external grants.  

If you would like to be celebrated as a donor today, you can make a gift at iwu.edu/give

Maggie Bertram ’05

I, Maggie Bertram, your very own newsletter editor, married my long-time partner, Rachel Krausman, on September 21, 2019. Megan (Adams) Folkerts ’05, Katie (Forristall) Hermann ’05 and Katie’s two eldest daughters stood by my side.

Rach is Senior Director of 2-1-1 at United Way Worldwide, I am Team Lead, Learning & Development at HubSpot, and we live in the greater Boston, MA area.

Maggie and Rachel's wedding party

Lauren Jensen & Charles Tanner Hughes ’05

Lauren Jensen (’05) and Charles Tanner Hughes (’05) married on November 11, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Katie (Jurgens) Bishop (’05) served as Matron of Honor. After several years of practicing and working along the Gulf Coast, Lauren and Tanner moved to Chicago this past fall.

Tanner is a Urologist with UroPartners and Lauren serves as a library consultant following time in academia.

Jonathan Charak ’05

Earlier this year, Jonathan Charak ’05 was named a Zurich North America Innovation Champion, one of six representatives charged with participating in exploratory and innovative projects. Also this year, Charak was appointed vice president and emerging solutions director, a role in which he works closely with Zurich’s line of business heads, business leaders and product developers.

To read more about Jonathan’s work with Zurich North America, click here.

Congratulations, Jonathan!

Jonathan Charak ’05

Since 2014, Jonathan has won three awards for the Casualty Actuarial Society: 2014 new Members Award, 2016 Above and Beyond Achievement Award, and the 2018 Young Researcher Award! He was also featured on the Business Insurance website as one of the 2019 Break Out Awards. You can read more here.