Author Archives: Ann Aubry

Speaker Sees Hope for Graduates Facing Challenging Times

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Cloaked in green robes that matched the beauty of the Eckley Quad on a spring afternoon, 472 students attended ceremonies for the 158th Commencement at Illinois Wesleyan University on Sunday, May 4.

Actor Kevin Dunn, a 1977 Illinois Wesleyan alumnus who has appeared in more than 80 movies and television roles, delivered the Commencement speech after being conferred an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. For the class of 2008, Dunn offered both his recollections of the past, and words of hope for the uncertain future today’s graduates face in his speech titled “Into Your Waiting Hands.”

Watch the address, see a Commencement photo album or read Commencement remarks.

“I have memories, vivid memories of freedom, of camaraderie, of invulnerability, and an endless stream of pranks, impromptu parties and cramming for exams,” said Dunn, who was a theatre major at Illinois Wesleyan. “There were late nights at the theatre, building sets, rigging flies and focusing lights. Performing in plays on the McPherson stage, wildly cheering on [Illinois Wesleyan basketball player] Jack Sikma and the rest of Dennie Bridges’ Titans as they barnstormed through the league.”

Dunn revealed that he almost did not return to Illinois Wesleyan for his senior year after his father was laid off. Recalling a meeting with Professor Emeritus of Theatre John Ficca, Dunn said, “Dr. Ficca listened, intently, with an occasional nod, as I told my story, and after what seemed to be an eternity he told me, ‘If you leave school now, sport, you won’t come back. And years from now you’ll look back on your decision and wonder if you could have succeeded in becoming an actor.’”

Students Pursue Study Abroad in the Developing World

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – When junior Jacob Weis decided that he must study in Uganda, he looked to Illinois Wesleyan for his opportunity. “I transferred from another university to Illinois Wesleyan so that I could spend a semester in Africa,” said Weis, who will study this fall in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, and will also visit Rwanda as part of an Illinois Wesleyan-affiliated study abroad program, School for International Training (SIT).

SIT offers field-based, experiential programs for undergraduate students in nearly 50 countries on six continents. Weis chose Uganda after viewing the film Invisible Children, a documentary about the effects of the on-going civil war on the people of Northern Uganda.

Weis has spent his time at Illinois Wesleyan preparing for the trip, during which he will focus his studies on the Ugandan educational system. “I hope that through my studies I will be able to see what needs to change to help Uganda progress as a country,” said Weis. He plans to research Ugandan culture, educational opportunities, teaching style, opportunities for higher education, and how middle schools are run.

Illinois Wesleyan junior Angela Rumsey was also inspired to travel to Uganda after seeing the film Invisible Children. A Lombard, Ill. native, Rumsey traveled to Kampala, where she attended classes and completed a six-week internship through SIT during the Fall 2007 semester.

“I lived with a Ugandan family in Kampala, which is a very modern city, went to school on weekdays, hung out with friends—both Ugandan and American—and went out to eat,” said Rumsey. “In theory, all these things seemed like home, but they were still very different.”

The anthropology and international studies double major with a concentration in development studies chose the SIT program because “I was more interested in being active than just sitting in a different university,” said Rumsey. “I interned with Child Restoration Outreach, an organization that works with disadvantaged children, where I worked with them in classrooms, counseling sessions and just playing outside. It gave me experience that I could have never received just by going to class, even if it was in a different country and culture.”

Senior Offered Fulbright Grant to Teach in Germany

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Jessica Olsen, a senior at Illinois Wesleyan University, has been offered a Fulbright grant to teach in Germany.

Operating in 150 countries worldwide, the Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Envisioned by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1945, the program promotes a mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries of the world. Since its inception, nearly 103,000 Americans have studied, taught or researched abroad with the program.

Olsen received a grant through the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Program to help improve English language abilities and knowledge of the United States abroad. Through the program, she will spend 10 months teaching in a German high school.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity to explore what the German education system is like,” said Olsen, an English literature major with a concentration in secondary education and a minor in German. “I hope to share ideas and experiences that I can bring back home.” After her time abroad, the Rockford, Ill., native plans to teach junior high or high school in the United States. “Whether I end up teaching English or German, the Fulbright gives me a chance to combine all of my interests and work with students,” said Olsen.

The third Illinois Wesleyan student awarded a Fulbright in the last five years, Olsen was given the prestigious honor of being awarded two Fulbright grants – one to Germany and one to Austria – before choosing to travel to Germany. “To be able to have a choice is a unique and fantastic opportunity,” said Sonja Fritzsche, associate professor of German and Eastern European Studies and Fulbright advisor for Illinois Wesleyan. “The Fulbright application is a rigorous process and extremely competitive – with Germany being one of the toughest spots to land. This is a very high honor for a graduating senior.”

Undergraduate Journal Showcases Student Research, 16 Years and Counting

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Taking its name from the street that runs through Illinois Wesleyan’s campus, The Park Place Economist is a well-established economic journal published by Illinois Wesleyan undergraduates, and is one of several undergraduate journals at the University.

Students are responsible for gathering submissions, choosing articles, editing and proofreading and planning the layout for publication. Available in print and online, this annual journal is an opportunity for student work to be published, along with the experience to have an active role in the creation of an academic journal.

This year’s edition will feature nine articles discussing a range of issues including financial aid amounts affecting academic performance, gender inequality affecting growth, and capital investment and rural-urban migration in China. Senior economics major and The Park Place Editor-in-Chief, Elizabeth Taylor, worked with a team of 16 students and faculty advisor, Economics Department Chair and Associate Professor of Economics, Robert M. Leekley, to successfully publish its largest edition thus far.

Junior to Study in India on Critical Language Scholarship

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – With the intent to pursue advanced studies of the Hindi language, Illinois Wesleyan University junior Kari Irwin will study at the American Institute for Indian Studies (AIIS) for 10 weeks this summer in Jaipur, India.

A religion and philosophy major from Palatine, Ill., Irwin took a course in intensive Hindi last summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she learned about the program in Jaipur.

In addition to her acceptance to the AIIS program, Irwin also received a Critical Language Scholarship, which is sponsored by the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.

Critical Language Scholarships are awarded to American students and recent graduates who wish to pursue various levels of intensive overseas study in “critical need” foreign languages. Recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills in their professional careers.

Irwin believes that a mastery of Hindi will “not only be useful, but will be necessary” for her research and desired profession. “Following my graduation next year, I hope to research the expression of popular religion in India before beginning by graduate studies in South Asian religions,” said Irwin, who hopes to eventually complete a Ph.D. in South Asian religions with the intent to become a professor.

Political Science Students Traveling to Greece to Present Research

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Seven Illinois Wesleyan students will attend the annual International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) Academic Conference & General Assembly in Greece from May 5 through May 11.

The IAPSS Conference is hosted by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Macedonia in Serres. During the conference, the group will present their research entitled, “The Disparity of Knowledge in the Global Context” and attend a series of workshops with students from around the world.

Students attending the conference are: Babawande Afolabi, a sophomore business and economics double major with a minor in political science from Nigeria; Arielle Cassiday, a sophomore international studies major from Spring Grove, Ill.; Andrew Clott, a sophomore political science and sociology double major from Chicago; Maria Gobbi, a first-year international studies major with a French minor from Evanston, Ill.; Charlie Sell, a sophomore political science major from Wauconda, Ill.; Monica Shah, a sophomore international studies major from Downers Grove, Ill.; and Monica Simonin, a first-year anthropology major from Belleville, Ill.

Other students involved in the research, though not attending the conference, are Erica Podrazik, a sophomore political science major from Lombard, Ill. and Nathan Wheatley a sophomore political science major with an economics minor from Glenn Ellyn, Ill.

The students’ conference presentation culminates work that began on the first day of a course taught by Juan Gabriel Gómez Albarello, visiting assistant professor of political science. In the syllabus for his class “The Politics of Developing Societies,” Gómez Albarello asked his students to work on a paper that they could eventually submit to a conference. Under their professor’s direction, the students began to collect data to construct a preliminary version of the paper, which investigated the inconsistency of sources that scholars cite in political science research articles.

Their research revealed that in political science articles, citations of scholars writing in Western nations vastly outweigh citations of scholars from developing countries. After compiling their research into a formal report, the students discovered that, of the 53 articles included in the study, 86 percent of the cited sources were from the United States and the United Kingdom, rather than citing sources produced in developing nations. This vast source disparity between Western countries and developing nations in scholarly articles is “not just a bias,” said student Nathan Wheatley. “It’s a reflection of a neo-colonial relationship that mirrors the relationship between the former colonies and their former colonizers on every level— economic, social, political and now educational.”

The Phoenix Lives On as Haven for Student Expression

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Double the age of most current IWU students and the result will be the number of years the Phoenix, a student performance space located in the basement of the Memorial Center (104 E. University St., Bloomington), has been a part of Illinois Wesleyan’s campus.

Aptly named the Phoenix after a mythical bird that dies and is reborn out of its own ashes, the space has been through its own set of rebirths. Continuously evolving throughout its 42 years as a campus fixture from use as a coffeehouse to its current operation as a small theater, at one time the Phoenix even hosted disco-dance nights. Currently, the Phoenix is configured as an adaptable black-box theater, comprised simply of bare, black walls with minimal furnishings.

In recent years, the Phoenix has supplied a space for students of any major to stage a variety of creative presentations, particularly short plays and musicals. Unlike other performance spaces on campus, the theater is open for use by any student or faculty production, not reserved solely for use by the School of Theatre Arts.

Shows staged in the past school year have included everything from two short operas, A Hand of Bridge and Gallantry, to a musical, Edges. Other shows have included student adaptations of literary works in particular, James Billings’ The Nutley Papers and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

Born in 1966 as a student-run coffeehouse, the Phoenix provided entertainment including poetry readings, folk singers, speakers, and student performances. Reminiscent of the “beat” generation, the coffeehouse catered to an independent and expressive minded audience.

“It was a place for students to talk about issues and exchange their own ideas,” according to Professor Paul Bushnell, who began teaching at IWU the same year the Phoenix opened.

Students Organize Campus Book Drive

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University students will be conducting a campus book drive to raise money for Alternative Spring Break and the organization, Books for Africa.

The book drive began April 16 and will continue until May 30.

Students can bring new and used college-level books to the green and white bins labeled “Book Drive,” which will be placed in the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington), IWU Bookstore in Hansen Student Center, The Ames Library (1 Ames Plaza East), Center for Natural Sciences (CNS) (201 E. Beecher St., Bloomington), Center for Liberal Arts (CLA) (310 E. Beecher St., Bloomington), Shaw Hall (1312 N. Park St., Bloomington), Memorial Center Main Desk (104 E. University St., Bloomington) and at the steps of the Bertholf Commons in Memorial Center.

Alternative Spring Break began in 2007, offering Illinois Wesleyan Students the opportunity to spend their spring break helping those in need. This spring 60 students and staff aided with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief in New Orleans.

Books for Africa, which began in 1988, is an organization that collects textbooks from publishers, schools, libraries, individuals and organizations to distribute to children in Africa. Books for Africa has shipped over 18 millions books and is the largest provider of donated textbooks in Africa.

For more information on the book drive contact Gulick Residence Hall Director Jacob Meltzer at (309) 556-3129. For more information on Alternative Spring Break of Books for Africa contact the Student Volunteer Center at (309) 556-3850.

Students Vote Theune Professor of the Year

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan students have voted Associate Professor of English Michael Theune the 2008 Professor of the Year in the annual election run by Student Senate.

Since joining the faculty in 2002, Theune has served as faculty advisor of Illinois Wesleyan’s award-winning chapter of the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta. The chapter organizes the annual undergraduate literature conference MUSE and produces The Delta, a journal of undergraduate academic literary essays. He recently received the 2008 Elaine W. Hughes Outstanding Sponsor Award from Sigma Tau Delta for his contributions to the chapter. He is also the faculty advisor of Tributaries, which produces a student fine arts magazine by the same name and organizes the annual Tongue and Ink Undergraduate Writing Conference.

Theune earned a bachelor of arts from Hope College and from Oxford University, a master of fine arts from the University of Iowa, and a doctorate from the University of Houston. He is a working poet and scholar who, in 2007, published his first book, Structure and Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in a variety of journals, including The Iowa Review, The New Republic, Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing, and Verse.

Technos Prize Awarded to Student Heading to Africa

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Camille DeLisi, a senior biology major at Illinois Wesleyan University, has already been to the refugee camps of Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, and seen the horrors produced by war. And more than anything, she wants to go back.

DeLisi was named the recipient of the Technos International Prize through the Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust in Japan. The trust, founded by Japanese businessman and honorary Illinois Wesleyan trustee Kenji Tanaka, honors those who are committed to improving and promoting international relations around the world. The announcement of the prize, which is given annually, was made Tuesday, April 15, at a luncheon at Illinois Wesleyan.

“The prize is such an honor and has given me further motivation to help people in nations ravaged by war, and also to help others understand what they are experiencing,” said DeLisi, who has a minor in African Studies and journeyed to East Africa in 2006 with School of International Training. “I met people in the camps and saw the unbelievable challenges they face. I promised them I would tell their story, so living a life of apathy is not an option for me.”

Since her return from Africa, the Crystal, Minn., native has been educating others on campus about the conflicts in East Africa and the plight of the refugees. She lectured at the annual John Wesley Powell Research Conference in the spring of 2007, and helped organize the Displace Me Event at Illinois Wesleyan, bringing light to the horrific conditions of the camps.

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