My Suburban Life

Nicholas Reinhart ’11 wrote a musical that will premiere

at the Madison Street Theatre in Oak Park,

featuring three fellow alumni in the cast:

Kyle Blair ’09
Erika Lecaj ’11
Elizabeth Schwarzrock 

Congratulations on your recent achievements!

Natalie Cummings wins District and Region Met Opera National Council Auditions,

and advances to Semi-Finals on March 23, 2014.

Here is a picture of Natalie and Rafael Moras, the other Region winner!

Congratulations, Natalie!

“Charlie Sell is currently working for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as the Grants Management Officer for the Organization’s Emergency Operations in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Eastern DRC is home to a protracted conflict that dates back to the Rwandan genocide in 1994.  IOM, along with the broader humanitarian and UN community, has remained present in the conflict zones in order to provide basic humanitarian assistance and conduct return and reintegration of those displaced by the conflict.  Charlie was previously a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Switzerland where he completed a Master’s degree in International Relations.  Prior to his time in Geneva, he worked in Washington D.C. as a Federal Liaison for the Office of Governor Pat Quinn as part of the Dunn Fellowship program.”

Click the photo to see what exciting memorabilia Meg Miner – University Archivist & Special Collections Librarian – has requested.

Travis Williams wins art contest with Ulysses drawing.

Check out post the post about Travis in the blog written by English Professor Wes Chapman

Congratulations, Travis!

TangleKnot Theatre in Chicago presented Joan Holden’s Nickel and Dimed as its inaugural production July 19 through Aug. 11.

TangleKnot’s Artistic Director Dani Snyder-Young is assistant professor of theatre arts and head of the Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts program at Illinois Wesleyan. She also directed Nickel and Dimed, with alumna Britnee Ruscitti ’10 who served as assistant director. Curtis Trout, director of the School of Theatre Arts, was the production’s scenic designer. Alumnus Tristan Meredith ’12 was lighting designer, and Celeste V. Kelley ’13 designed Nickel’s costumes. Antonio Gracias ’12 was the production’s sound designer. Current student Sarah Menke ’15 received an Eckley Summer Scholar fellowship to serve as assistant stage manager and audience development and outreach associate. The project was funded in part by an Illinois Wesleyan Artistic and Scholarly Development grant to Snyder-Young and Trout.

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.