Category Archives: Alumni

Political Internships Offer Proving Ground

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— With the 2008 presidential election only a few months away, the world of politics is earning an even brighter spotlight than usual. This summer, some Illinois Wesleyan University students are a close look at that spotlight through political internships.

An internship for Illinois State Sen. Bill Brady [R-44th District] is offering IWU senior Dan George insights. George, a music major from Schaumburg, Ill., said he is learning that government has less to do with political wrangling, and more to do with understanding the needs of people. “As an intern for Senator Brady, I am usually the first contact for his constituents,” said George. “If a resident of the district calls the office to comment on the quality of the roads, I will see that the message gets to the Senator. If someone stops into the office to advocate for the elderly, I will talk with the person to make sure his or her needs are met.”

Brady, who is a 1983 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, said he has found interns vital for research as well as providing another means of support for constituents. “Our interns assist constituents on a day-to-day basis with issues and solving their needs,” said Brady, who has utilized the research of interns on projects such as enhancing retired teacher pensions and promoting higher education projects.

This summer, Illinois Wesleyan junior Monica Shah is seeing not only how political offices run, but campaigns as well. Shah began the summer as an intern for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s [D-Illinois] Chicago office, working with day-to-day operations. Now she is an intern with his presidential campaign. “The word ‘excitement’ does not quite cover it,” said Shah, who is from Downers Grove, Ill. “It’s amazing to speak with so many people who call in to voice their opinion on different decisions or acts, and to know that people are not apathetic, and really are concerned with issues.”

An internship in politics is the first step toward a career in government after graduation, as Illinois Wesleyan alumnus Clint W. Sabin can attest.

Alumna, Students Offer First-Hand Insights Into Ecuador’s Challenges

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The small, South American country of Ecuador made the news last week as the government seized nearly 200 businesses to collect debts from a bank collapse. This move has given rise to fears of a dictatorship surfacing in the democratic republic that has substantial petroleum resources and draws in millions of dollars in foreign investment. However, the news did not shock Illinois Wesleyan University student Rachel Hodel, who spent this past spring studying abroad in the coastal village of Olon, Ecuador.

“It does not surprise me at all,” said Hodel. She believes many of the nation’s problems stem from a high percentage of people there who live in poverty. “In a country that deals with poverty everyday, everyone is struggling and people talk of corruption everywhere,” she said.

For nearly 30 years, Ecuador has been ruled by a civil government that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook said is “marred by political instability.” The economy has suffered as well, with a bank crisis in 1999 that led to the adoption of the U.S. dollar as currency in 2000. Although the move helped stabilize the economy and attract more foreign investors, there was also a downside, according to Kim Priebe. A 2003 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, Priebe taught English classes in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, from 2005 to 2006 as an instructor for World Teach, an organization out of the Harvard Center for National Development.

Once a retreat for Incan royalty, Vilcabamba is a village in the southern region of Ecuador, located in a scenic area known as the Valley of Longevity because of the wide belief that its residents commonly reach 100 years old and beyond. When a New York Times article on Vilcabamba referred to the village as “a jewel,” “suddenly English-speaking investors were pouring into the place,” said Priebe, along with a wave of international settlers who were older and wealthy.

Kevin Bryant’s Funeral Scheduled Friday in Batavia

Kevin Bryant, 21, who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan last month and was a three-year varsity basketball player for the Titans, passed away on Sunday, June 8, as a result of injuries suffered in a whitewater rafting accident in Colorado last week. He was taken off life support Sunday at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo.

Bryant, a Batavia High School product, finished his IWU playing career in March and averaged 1.9 points in 28 career games and started two games in the 2006-07 season when he averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds.

Bryant’s visitation will be Thursday, June 12 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Healy Chapel, 370 Division St., Sugar Grove. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 13 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 2300 Main St., Batavia.

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.’”

Alumnus Stars in “The Visitor”

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — There was a little bit of Illinois Wesleyan amid the glitz and glamour of the April 1 premiere of The Visitor. The film’s leading man, Richard Jenkins, appeared on the red carpet at the New York City Museum of Modern Art alongside wife Sharon (Friedrick) Jenkins. Both are theatre arts graduates from Wesleyan’s Class of 1969.

But the Wesleyan connections don’t end there: Jenkins’ co-star Danai Gurira is the daughter of 1967 IWU graduate Josephine (Chiza) Gurira, who now lives in Zimbabwe. The Visitor is Danai Gurira’s first film, although she has guest-starred on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”

Early reviews for The Visitor were positive, with Variety’s John Anderson calling the film “a perfect vehicle for Richard Jenkins” and predicting that it “could be this year’s humanistic indie hit,” adding “Jenkins has hooked us early and reels us in like fish.” Paul Brownfield of the Los Angeles Times praised Jenkins’ ability to portray characters whose “dry, even ordinary qualities” strike a “countervailing note in a larger, more hectic world.”

“Oddly for Hollywood, Jenkins seems — just now, at 60 — to be hitting his movie prime,” Brownfield concluded.

Alumna Receives Toxicology Award

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Kylee Eblin, a 2003 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, received the Society of Toxicology’s Women in Toxicology Student Achievement Award on Wednesday, March 19.

Currently a pharmacology and toxicology doctoral student at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, Eblin is focusing her research on the potentially carcinogenic effects of low-level arsenic exposure on bladder cells.

Eblin is one of three students nationwide selected for the award given by The Society of Toxicology, the leading organization dedicated to creating a safer and healthier world by advancing the science of toxicology.

Alumna Fulfills Her Artistic Dreams

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Amanda “Gwydhar” Bratton, a 2004 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, is beginning to make a name for herself in the Chicago film community. With her new film The Persephone Project in its finishing stages, Bratton hopes to progress into a promising future as a director and producer.

An inherent interest in art brought Bratton to Illinois Wesleyan University as an art major. She quickly learned that she was able to foster her curiosity for cinema while attending the University, and made a film for an independent research project titled Anti-Hero. Illinois Wesleyan graduates Liz Schroeder, class of 2006, and Daniel Vendt, class of 2005, assisted Bratton with the movie. She recently collaborated again with both for The Persephone Project, with Schroeder acting as costume designer and Vendt composing the original score.

The film’s story revolves around the Greek myth of Persephone, who was captured by Hades and made goddess of the underworld until she was rescued. Using an experimental interpretation of the myth, the film focuses on a visual representation of the story. Each character wears a mask that was specifically designed and handmade for the film.

The production company behind the film is Blue Damen Pictures, founded and operated by Bratton. The organization, she explains, is a nonprofit Chicago-based ensemble of individuals dedicated to promoting and nurturing up-and-coming talent within the film community. “Our mission statement is to give anyone interested in learning or getting involved with filmmaking the opportunity to work hands-on on a film,” she said. Bratton felt that to really establish herself as a player within the film community, she would have to create her own production company so people would take notice. While The Persephone Project will be the first major short film Blue Damen Pictures has produced, they have created several smaller shorts, such as Man Jam, Big Brother and Single’s Awareness Day.

Alumnus Honored by NAACP

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Erwin Davis, a 1980 Illinois Wesleyan University graduate, has been named the recipient of the 2007 Community Service Award for the Bloomington-Normal Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was honored Thursday at the annual Freedom Fund Banquet in Bloomington.

“Really, the honor has not sunk in,” said Erwin, speaking on his cell phone last week as he stepped off an elevator in Washington, D.C., where he was working with legislators on behalf of the National Urban League. “I think of the work I’ve done as being part of a group effort, and we all have good reasons for giving back.”

Davis, a manager with State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington, said he has four good reasons for giving to the community – his four children. “I take education personally because of my kids,” said Davis, who sits on the Bloomington-Normal Education Achievement Gap Task Force, and serves on the boards for the McLean County Urban League and Tri-County Urban League. “I consider education the key to one’s success. An intelligent ability in today’s society is critical. I wanted that for my children, and that’s why I have always put an emphasis on educational achievement.”

Alumna Fighting Disease One Germ at a Time

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Emily Richter admits her childhood fantasies differed from other children. “I’ve been thinking about going off and fighting diseases since I was about nine years old,” said Richter, a 2005 Illinois Wesleyan University graduate with a degree in biology. Unlike many who dreamed of being ballerinas or rock stars, Richter’s dream is coming true.

Currently a graduate student in microbiology at Arizona State University in Tempe, Richter is part of a team at the Biodesign Institute housed at ASU, which is studying the effects of Salmonella typhimurium, the bacteria known for causing food poisoning. The team, headed by Dr. Cheryl Nickerson, recently made international headlines with research that sent samples of the bacteria aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Recently published data found the bacteria became more virulent after the trip into space.

According to the research, spaceflight conditions, including fluid shear dynamics, can affect the genetics of the bacteria, making it more virulent. “When you get into space, there is less gravity, so there is nothing pressing on the sides of the bacteria,” said Richter. “Bacteria tends to grow in the intestinal track for the same reason, there is less fluid shear on the bacteria slowing it down. In space, without that weight of gravity that pulls on all human, the fluid shear is even less, and the bacteria can grow faster.”

Richter, who utilizes novel 3-D tissue culture models to study how Salmonella attacks human tissues, revels in the chance to work on the team. “This is an incredible experience, both with the research and meeting people who work in the space program,” she said. “Dr. Nickerson’s work is so fantastic and has a chance for a real, global impact.”

Soprano Dawn Upshaw Named a MacArthur Fellow

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Soprano Dawn Upshaw, a four-time Grammy-award winner and a 1982 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University has been named today (Sept. 25), by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of 24 MacArthur Fellows for 2007. Upshaw, along with the other Fellows, will receive a $500,000 in “no strings attached” funding over the next five years for support of their current activities or to take their work in new directions.

Since its inception in 1981, the Foundation has named 756 Fellows, including this year’s honorees, who range from 18 to 82 years of age.

“The MacArthur Foundation supports highly creative individuals and institutions with the ability and the promise to make a difference in shaping and improving our future,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “These new MacArthur Fellows, extraordinary men and women of all ages and in many fields, honor and inspire us with their talent, their courage, and their deep commitment. With the gift of time and unfettered opportunity to create and explore, we are confident that the Fellows will follow their hearts and their minds wherever they lead, making new discoveries and making a difference in the world.”

The Fellows, selected for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future, include a forensic anthropologist, spider silk biologist, short story writer, inventor, biomedical scientist, nanotechnologist, public health physician, choreographer, as well as Upshaw.

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