Author Archives: Ann Aubry

Alumna Honored by United Way

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University alumna Deb Bowers, Class of 1978, received the 2010 Hoot Gibson Award from the Heart of Illinois United Way. The award seeks to recognize the “unsung heroes” of the Peoria, Ill., community.

Bowers, who graduated from IWU with a degree in accounting, has volunteered with the Heart of Illinois United Way since the early 1990s. She has served on the board of directors, the campaign cabinet and as a campaign ambassador.

The United Way recognized Bowers for her essential role in the strategic planning behind the organization and for her determination to resolve the health and human care issues confronting central Illinois.

Alumni Perform at Civil War Sites

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Five Illinois Wesleyan University alumni are recreating music history. C. Roland Hill ’51, Marie Ann Hill ’52, Sara Simpson ’70, Bob Jackson ’76 and Mark Lareau ’93 are all members of the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band, an authentic recreation of a Civil War Era band from McLean County.

The 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band is a not-for-profit group that performs for historic programs, civic and school events and military balls. In 2005, they performed at the 55th Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. The band has performed at Illinois Wesleyan twice: for University’s sesquicentennial in 2000 and again in 2007. This past summer the group made another trip to Washington, D.C. to tour the nation’s capital, also playing at the Gettysburg National Battlefield Visitors Center in Gettysburg, Pa. and in the Dunker Church at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md. They band was accompanied by several members of the Central Illinois Civil War Dance Society, a group that regularly joins them to perform period dances to the “hits of the 1860s.”

Student, Alumnus Receive Rotary Scholarships

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In August 2011, Illinois Wesleyan University student Megan Winkeler, ‘11 and recent graduate Charlie Sell, ‘10 will jet halfway across the world to become goodwill ambassadors for one year. Winkeler and Sell are two recipients of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, a $25,000 grant to complete post-graduate studies in another country.

The scholarship program, founded in 1947, has sponsored over 40,000 men and women from 100 nations to study in other countries. Last year alone, The Rotary Foundation awarded nearly 700 scholarships to recipients from 70 countries to study in over 80 nations.

“The program is an opportunity for students to build friendly relations in other nations and help foster international understanding,” said Winkeler, a political science and philosophy double major.

Alumnus Named Ford Chair in Liberal Arts at Wabash College

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University alum Tobey C. Herzog was recently named the first holder of the Anne and Andrew T. Ford Chair in Liberal Arts at Wabash College, located in Crawfordsville, Ind.

The Board of Trustees at Wabash College established the chair after the retirement of President Ford, who served that university for 13 years. The chair celebrates the Ford’s leadership of Wabash College, their passion for students, and their belief in vitality and enduring importance of a liberal arts education.

“Tobey is a great choice for this prestigious chair,” said Wabash President Patrick E. White. “His wide-ranging teaching, his commitment to the highest ideals of the gentleman student-athlete, and his modeling of positive leadership in many aspects of Wabash life shows a teacher/scholar living out the liberal arts in his way of being in the world.”

Herzog graduated magna cum laude from IWU in 1968. He went on to earn his doctorate in English Literature from Purdue University and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest honor society. While at Illinois Wesleyan, Herzog was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and served as junior varsity basketball coach under then head coach Dennie Bridges.

10th Anniversary of Hispanic Studies is Call for a Fiesta

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – ¿Habla español? For the last 10 years, the Hispanic Studies Program at Illinois Wesleyan University has been helping students learn more than the Spanish language. It has aimed to help students develop an awareness of the Hispanic culture, heritage and history. On Oct. 9, Illinois Wesleyan will celebrate the anniversary of the Hispanic Studies Department during this year’s Homecoming festivities.

Alumni, faculty and friends will gather for a reception from 4:30-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Joslin Atrium in the Memorial Center (104 E. University St., Bloomington).

Spanish has long been a major for students at Illinois Wesleyan, but the program began to evolve in the 1990s, reflecting the needs of students. “Our program was growing exponentially with the increased interest in Spanish in the United States,” said Department Chair and Professor of Hispanic Studies Carolyn Nadeau. “Our needs were changing, as were the needs of the other languages.” By 1998, University faculty and officials recognized the need for Hispanic Studies to stand alone, and founded the program, which began in the 1999-2000 academic school year.

Jazz Band Alumni Celebrate 40 Years of Swing

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 2010 Homecoming at Illinois Wesleyan University is called Homecoming and All That Jazz for a reason. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Illinois Wesleyan School of Music’s Jazz Program, and part of the events will include the kickoff of the 2010-2011 tribute to the program in honor of the man who founded it, Professor Tom Streeter. This year marks a double celebration as Streeter, who founded the Jazz Program at IWU in 1971, plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

Celebrations will begin with a Jazz Bands Reunion concert on Friday, Oct. 8 at 9 p.m. in Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington), led by Professor of Music Tom Streeter. “We’ll have four bands, with former students from each of the four decades performing. Dancing is definitely encouraged,” said Streeter.

Illinois Wesleyan Hosts MUSE Undergraduate Literature Conference

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – On Saturday, Sept. 25, Illinois Wesleyan University will provide 13 students from four universities with the opportunity to present undergraduate work in literature during the sixth annual MUSE Undergraduate Literature Conference. The event will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the first of two sessions to begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Center for Natural Science (CNS) (201 Beecher St., Bloomington).

Sponsored by the Alpha Eta Pi chapter of the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta (STD) with the assistance of IWU’s Department of English, the conference will consists of two undergraduate sessions, an address by keynote speaker Srikanth Reddy and a panel of English graduates speaking on a variety of topics.

Reddy, an assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, received his master’s degree from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He has been featured in a number of publications such as the Chicago Tribune and American Literature, working primarily in the field of poetry and poetics. “I am particularly interested in the intersection of critical and creative practice and the institutional history that has come to segregate these endeavors,” said Reddy, who teaches creative writing workshops and literature seminars.

McPherson Theatre Presents “Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)”

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University School of Theatre Arts will present “Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)” by Shelia Callaghan Sept. 21-25 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. in the McPherson Theatre (2 Ames Plaza East, Bloomington).

Tickets will be available for purchase on Monday, Sept. 13. General admission ticket prices are $12 for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday performances and $14 for Friday and Saturday performances. Tickets are available to seniors for $1 off the general rate. Students may purchase tickets for $2 with a valid Illinois Wesleyan ID.

This one-act comedy depicts the relationship between cynical 11-year-old Janice, her anxious mother and their deteriorating, yet verbal, apartment. After receiving an unusual Christmas list from her daughter, Janice’s mother must wait until Christmas day for the truth behind Janice’s troubling requests to be revealed. The only comfort available to Janice and her mother throughout this time are fantasies of their respective celebrity crushes, Justin Timberlake and Harrison Ford.

Homecoming Highlights Include 40th Anniversary of Observatory

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – At this year’s Illinois Wesleyan University Homecoming alumni will gather to mark the 40th anniversary of students peering toward the heavens from the Mark Evans Observatory. Tours of the observatory will be from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, with a reception at 4:30 p.m. in the Commons of the Center for Natural Science Learning and Research (CNS) (201 E. Beecher St., Bloomington).

When it was completed in 1970, the Mark Evans Observatory – like space exploration itself – offered hope in a turbulent time. Even the building of the observatory brought excitement to campus. In March of 1969, Col. Frank Borman, commander of the Apollo 8 space mission, arrived on campus for Founders’ Day to lay the cornerstone of the observatory and receive an honorary degree.

“He piloted his own jet into Bloomington,” then-University President Robert S. Eckley recalled in his memoir, Pictures at an Exhibition: Illinois Wesleyan University: 1968-1986. “He generated more interest and excitement than any other visitor to the campus during my years at Wesleyan.” Though he was not the main speaker for Founders’ Day, Eckley noted that Borman, “captivated the audience and the campus,” by offering a message of hope during a time when racial tension and war gripped the nation. “For a man who just returned from circling the moon, nothing was impossible,” wrote Eckley.

0-0-1-3 Campaign Urges Responsible Drinking

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – As part of an alcohol program, Illinois Wesleyan University students and college students throughout the Bloomington-Normal community will see the 0013 logo across their campus this school year, to remind them to drink responsibly. This program, orchestrated by the Bloomington-Normal Community Campus Committee (BNCCC), aims to decrease alcohol-related consequences at Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State University, Heartland Community College and Lincoln College, Normal campus.

The 0013 logo stands for 0 driving under the influence, 0 underage drinking, 1 alcoholic beverage per hour and 3 drinks a day max if you choose to drink. The slogan is meant to encourage responsible alcohol consumption among Bloomington-Normal residents in order to create a common social norm.

The program will be promoted through a series of on-campus ad campaigns at IWU including flyers and table tents around campus, commercials on Titan TV, WESN, campus radio and announcements on pipeline.

Darcy Greder, associate dean of student affairs and co-curricular programming, describes the program as non-judgmental. “The 0013 program is not dictating what students should and should not do,” said Greder. “Instead, it provides students with an alternative way of thinking about alcohol use and it puts the responsibility in their hands.”

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