Category Archives: Events

Illinois Sustainable Living & Wellness Expo to Explore How to Live Well, Live Green

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Sustainable Living & Wellness Expo will bring new opportunities for people to discover how to live well and live green. The Expo will include educational workshops, food demonstrations, music performances, a kids’ carnival, an artists’ venue, a mother/daughter class on Middle Eastern dance and the local premiere of the movie No Impact Man.

A kickoff for the Saturday event will be held on Friday when Jay Truty, founder of Ecosystem Capital, LLC, will be the keynote speaker. Truty, a 1996 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan, practiced environmental and natural resources law for almost 10 years before creating Ecosystem Capital in 2008, which specializes in providing assistance to landowners, corporations, financial institutions, conservation organizations and government entities to develop innovative and market-based ecosystem services. His kickoff speech, titled “Creating Ecosystems of Nature,” will be at noon in the Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington) on Friday, April 9.

The Expo, slated for Saturday, April 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be in the Shirk Center for Athletics and Recreation (302 E. Emerson St., Bloomington) at Illinois Wesleyan University and is free and open to the public.

Alumni Mark Celebration for 50th Anniversary of Nursing Degree

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In April, the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Nursing will host an event that celebrates more than an anniversary. It will celebrate the field of nursing. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Illinois Wesleyan offering a four-year bachelor of science degree in nursing. To commemorate that date, the school is hosting “Celebrate Nursing, Celebrate Gold,” a day of events on campus on Saturday, April 17, 2010.

“We wanted to create an event that will not only allow our graduates and current students to look back, but also allow them to look towards the future,” said Vickie Folse, director of the School of Nursing.

Registration for the event is due by March 30. For registration information, go to the School of Nursing Web site.

The Argus Honored by Illinois College Press Association

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s student-run newspaper, The Argus, garnered 11 awards at the recent Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) convention in Chicago.

The Illinois College Press Association serves 40 member schools and honors the work of student journalists whose newspapers are members of the ICPA. Entries to the annual ICPA Contest are judged by professional journalists. The students earned awards for the 2009 issues of The Argus.

“We made a lot of changes to the newspaper last year,” said junior Nicole Travis from St. Charles, Ill., who was news editor in 2009, and is currently editor-in-chief of The Argus. Under then-Editor-in-Chief Garrett Rapp, a senior from Harvard, Ill., and Managing Editor Laura Spradlin, a senior from Morton, Ill., The Argus changed size, added color and poured focus into the content, said Travis. “Getting the recognition for all that work meant a lot to us,” she added.

Author to Offer Tips on Getting a Job in a Bad Economy

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Bestselling author, speaker and consultant Lindsey Pollak will offer tips on finding employment in these rough times with a talk, “Getting from College to Career: How to Get a Good Job in a Bad Economy,” on Tuesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington).

The event is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow. This event is rescheduled from January.

Specializing in Generation Y career and workplace issues, Pollak has a decade of experience teaching young professionals how to build successful careers. She also works with advising organizations, helping them to maximize the potential of the new workforce.

A graduate of Yale University, Pollak is the author of two books, Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World (Harper Collins, April 2007); and The Saavy Gals’ Guide to Online Networking (or What Would Jane Austen Do?) (Booklocker, October 2007), that she co-authored with Diane K. Danielson.

Pollak’s advice has been featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, CNN.com and National Public Radio and NBC Nightly News.

“Lindsey Pollak is an engaging speaker with a wealth of knowledge about the career issues of Generation Y,” said Warren Kistner, director of the Hart Career Center at Illinois Wesleyan. “She is a perfect blend of approachability and experience with the added benefit of knowledge in the world of social media, specifically LinkedIn, used by many job seekers today.”

Founders’ Day Celebrated With Donation, New Atrium, Expert’s Talk on Environmental Justice

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a day top celebrate the new and honor traditions past at Illinois Wesleyan University during Founders’ Day on Wednesday. This year marks the 160th anniversary of the 30 founders who gathered to sign Illinois Wesleyan’s charter.

At the Founders’ Day Convocation, President Richard F. Wilson said he believes the University is on course to fulfill the vision of the founders. “We must keep in mind their admonition which appears on the Founders’ Gate: ‘We stand in a position of incalculable responsibility.’ That instruction requires us to be vigilant about our work as teachers and scholars,” said Wilson.

In carrying on a responsibility to the founders, Wilson announced University alumnus and benefactor Byron Tucci has established a new endowed professorship for Illinois Wesleyan University. The 1966 graduate has created the Byron S. Tucci Endowed Professorship in honor of the faculty who assisted him. “Byron views this gift as a way to acknowledge the caring faculty members who make students the center of their attention and whose accomplishments over an extended period are key to the stature of the University,” said Wilson.

Speaking in Westbrook Auditorium on Wednesday as part of the Convocation, Dorceta Taylor connected struggles for sustainability with the history of inequality in the United States.

bullet Hear her remarks (mp3)

“To have a sustainable society, one has to have a just society,” said Taylor, an associate professor of environmental sociology and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan, who helped to develop one of the nation’s first environmental justice programs.

IWU to Celebrate African American History Month

January 28, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Student Senate and the Black Student Union have planned events for the month of February in honor of African American History Month.

African American History Month, which was extended to the entire month of February in 1976, was first celebrated through a weeklong celebration in 1926. According to The Library of Congress, the month is an opportunity to pay “tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.”

Campus events will include the annual Soul Food Dinner with speaker Jeff Johnson, musical entertainment, a poetry night, the Black Student Union’s annual banquet and a speaker on the birth of the NAACP.

Contemporary Flameworking and Photography on Display at Art Galleries

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The works of glass maestro Emilio Santini, among others, and the photography of Sarah Stonefoot will be displayed from Tuesday, Jan. 12 through Thursday, Feb. 4 in Illinois Wesleyan University’s Merwin and Wakeley Galleries, located in the Joyce Eichhorn Ames School of Art Building (6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington).

All exhibits are free and open to the public.

The opening reception for both exhibitions will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 12 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Santini’s works will be featured in the Merwin Gallery, as well as the artwork of: Micah Evans, Kari Russell-Pool, Robert Mickelsen, Kaori Koike, Dorie Gurthie, Milissa Montini, Jay Musler, Nathan Purcell, Christopher McElroy, Caitlin Hyde, Paul J. Stankard, Mike Shelbo, Marshall Hyde, Elizabeth Ryland Mears, Matt Eskuche and Shane Fero. Stonefoot’s photography exhibition, Suspension, will be featured in the Wakeley Gallery.

Celebrated Author Louise Erdrich to Speak at IWU, ISU

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University will welcome esteemed author Louise Erdrich on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Presser Hall (1201 N. Park St., Bloomington). She will speak as part of the eighth annual Ames/Milner Visiting Author Program, a joint venture between The Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University and Milner Library at Illinois State University.

Following is the schedule of the Ames/Milner Visiting Author program:

• 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Presentation followed by a question and answer session at Milner Library (201 N. School St., Normal), Illinois State University

• 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.: Presentation in Westbrook Auditorium at Presser Hall (1210 N. Park St., Bloomington), Illinois Wesleyan University. A book signing will follow in the John Wesley Powell Rotunda on the entry level of The Ames Library (#1 Ames Plaza, Bloomington), Illinois Wesleyan University.

The author of 12 novels, as well as volumes of poetry, children’s books, and a memoir on early motherhood, Erdrich is a prolific writer who has been compared to renowned American authors such as William Faulkner.

Faculty Biennial on Display at Merwin & Wakeley Galleries

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Faculty Biennial Exhibition will be on display from Oct. 6 through Nov. 5 at Illinois Wesleyan’s Merwin & Wakeley Galleries. The galleries are located in the Ames School of Art building (6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington).

An opening reception will be held in the galleries on Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. This exhibit, held every other year, offers a unique opportunity for the Illinois Wesleyan School of Art faculty to show their latest work to IWU students and the University community.

Regular gallery hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings and 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. All Merwin & Wakeley Gallery events are free and open to the public. Extended hours for Homecoming Weekend are Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11 from 11 to 5 p.m. As part of the homecoming festivities, a special reception for IWU Alumni will be held in the galleries on Saturday, Oct. 10 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Actor, Alumnus Kevin Dunn to Host Q&A on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Actor Kevin Dunn, alumnus of the Illinois Wesleyan class of 1977, will be on hand for a special screening of his film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington) as a part of this year’s Homecoming festivities.

Following the film, Dunn and his mentor, Illinois Wesleyan Professor Emeritus of Theatre John Ficca, will host a Q&A session. The event is free and open to the public. The movie is rated PG-13.

Dunn has appeared in more than 80 movies and television roles. Along with his role as the affable father to Shia LeBeouf in the Transformers movies, he has been seen as the speech writer with a crisis of conscience in Dave (1993) with Kevin Klein, and as a foil for Charlie Sheen in the spoof Hot Shots! (1991). He did battle in the blockbuster Godzilla (1998) as the straight-laced Colonel Hicks and has given dramatic turns in such movies as The Black Dahlia (2006) and Lions for Lambs (2007) with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. His career on the small screen has been equally illustrious, making appearances on popular shows such as Samantha Who?, Seinfeld, LOST, Law & Order and Boston Legal.

In May of 2008, Dunn received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Illinois Wesleyan, and delivered the speech at Commencement. During his talk, “Into Your Waiting Hands,” Dunn said he has great hope for students of this generation. “[You have] developed an unquenchable thirst for disparate points of view, and different sources of information, and this search to find the truth has created an audible rumble across this nation,” he said.

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