Category Archives: Speakers

Environmental Justice Activist to Address Founders’ Day Convocation

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Dorceta Taylor, environmental justice activist and program director for the Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative at the University of Michigan, will be the speaker for the 2010 Founders’ Day Convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall (1210 Park St., Bloomington).

Taylor’s talk entitled “Environment, Social Justice and the Challenge of Sustainability,” is free and open to the public. The event honors the 30 founders who signed the charter for the University in 1850. In celebration of Founders’ Day, an anniversary cake celebrating the University’s 160 years will be served from 3-5 p.m. at Joslin Atrium of the Memorial Center. The Ames Library will hold its annual exhibit highlighting the documents from the University’s founding, including Illinois Wesleyan’s “birth certificate.”

Named in 2007 to Who’s Who Among American Teachers and Educators, Taylor has spent her career shedding light on the connections between nature, race and gender, making her a pioneer studying environmental justice. An associate professor of environmental sociology and Afroamerican and African studies at the University of Michigan, she helped to develop one of the nation’s first environmental justice programs at the university.

20th Anniversary of Gospel Festival Prompts Look Back at King Speeches on Campus

For two decades, voices have been lifted in song as a tribute to the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Gospel Festival on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University on January 18.

Founded by the late Corine Sims and her husband, the Rev. James E. Sims, the festival found a home at Illinois Wesleyan, and attracts gospel choirs from all over the state. The University was seen as a fitting place for the festival, as it was the place that King graced twice.

“[In the early 1990s then-Illinois Wesleyan] President Minor Myers, jr. said Wesleyan would be the perfect place to host the event, because of Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr. spoke at the University,” said Barbara Sims Malone, daughter of James and Corine. “He saw the festival as a special opportunity to invite the community to Illinois Wesleyan.”

King came to speak at Illinois Wesleyan at two important junctures during his short but illustrious life. The first in 1961, when standing on the cusp of international recognition, and the second in 1966, when his reputation as a proponent of non-violent protest for the Civil Right Movement was known throughout the world. King’s visits to Illinois Wesleyan reveal the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement and his place within it.

Celebrated Author Louise Erdrich Speaks at Illinois Wesleyan

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – As celebrated author Louise Erdrich read from her story The Red Convertible Thursday night at Illinois Wesleyan University, her voice rose and dipped with the humor and emotion infused in the tale of a Native American mother and daughter, and carried the audience at Westbrook Auditorium along with each word.

“What if, just as sure as we are pulled toward Earth and destined to go down into it at last, we are also at the same rate pulled toward heaven. No wonder we are stretched top to bottom, pulled at both ends of our being. No wonder the soul cannot decide where to wedge itself,” read Erdrich, who called The Red Convertible a “love story about middle age and the difference between generations.”

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 – Erdrich’s Thursday evening reading was followed by a question and answer session, and an autograph session at The Ames Library.

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.

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.

Mortenson: Education is a Path to Peace

Humanitarian Greg Mortenson Addresses President’s Convocation

September 9, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Education is more than a way to better an individual, it is a path to peace, said humanitarian Greg Mortenson in his address at the President’s Convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday.

bullet Hear excerpts: Clip 1 | Clip 2

Mortenson is the executive director of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which works to provide education and promote literacy for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to Mortenson, many people ask if his work building schools and training teachers is about combating terrorism and the Taliban, but he answers that his mission is peace. “Promoting terrorism is really about fear, but promoting peace is based in hope. And the real enemy that we all face is ignorance. Ignorance breeds hatred.”

Since 1996, Mortenson and the CAI have constructed more than 400 schools in impoverished rural areas. He detailed his work in the New York Times bestselling book Three Cups of Tea. The book, which has sold 3 million copies and has been published in 34 countries, was chosen for the 2009 Summer Reading Program for all incoming Illinois Wesleyan first-year students to read and discuss.

Humanitarian Greg Mortenson to Speak at Illinois Wesleyan

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Greg Mortenson, the co-author and subject of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling book Three Cups of Tea, and founder and executive director of the Central Asia Institute, will speak at the President’s Convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University at 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 9, in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall.

The annual Convocation ceremony is focused on the campus community as it celebrates the start of the academic year. The general public is invited to view the Convocation via remote from Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington).

Mortenson’s book about his efforts to build schools for children in poverty-stricken areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has sold 3 million copies and been published in 34 countries, was chosen for the 2009 Summer Reading Program for Illinois Wesleyan first-year students. Co-authored by journalist David Oliver Relin, Three Cups of Tea was named a Time Magazine Asia Book of The Year, won the Kiriyama Prize Nonfiction Award, and has spent 120 weeks on the bestseller list since its release in 2007.

New Students Urged to Find “Right Kind of Confidence”

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a day of beginnings and welcome for Illinois Wesleyan University students of the class of 2013. Celebrating their first day on campus, 526 new students and 31 transfer students gathered in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall on Tuesday for the New Student Convocation, part of the annual “Turning Titan” week on campus.

“This is a very talented and diverse group that comes from across the nation and around the world,” said President Richard F. Wilson at the Convocation. Wilson noted students sitting in Westbrook had come to Illinois Wesleyan from 21 states and from 11 different countries. “You hail from China, Spain, Nepal, Ghana and Israel, just to name a few. The diversity of your background, interests, talents and ideas adds to the vitality of our campus community.”

Wilson led the students in their first recitation of the campus motto, “Scientia et Sapientia” (which translates to “knowledge and wisdom”). “You should do more with your time here than simply acquire facts and information,” Wilson said. “You must learn how to use that knowledge wisely for the benefit of others.”

Keynote speaker Associate Professor of English Wes Chapman said he could envision the excitement and nervousness new students experience on their first day. Still, he encouraged students to “have confidence. Have confidence that it is going to be okay, but try to have the right kind of confidence – a genuine confidence rather than a false one.”

> Hear Chapman’s address (mp3 file)

> Story continued

WGN’s Steve Cochran Tells Business Leaders to Learn from Today’s Youth

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Humorous radio personality Steve Cochran entertained and informed the audience at the annual IWU Associates Luncheon on Thursday, May 7 at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center. Cochran, known for his drive-time show on WGN Radio, spoke of the lessons that could be learned from what he called “a lack of vision” in the media.

“I don’t know if you have heard, but there is this thing called the Internet. I hear it’s really catching on,” joked Cochran, who attributed the current struggles in the newspaper industry to owners who refused to take the new online medium seriously as it emerged in the 1990s. “That was back when the Internet was something fun and cute. People in the newspaper business missed the memo that the Internet was going to be here to stay. And it cost them.”

Cochran addressed more than 300 members of the IWU Associates at the luncheon. Formed in 1953, the Associates is a group of business and professional leaders interested in the advancement and support of private higher education. The Associates invest in the University, provide internships and job opportunities for Illinois Wesleyan students, and financial support for students from McLean County.

He urged those in attendance at the luncheon to take advantage of what their young interns could provide. “The new generation will help you be better with what they know best,” he said. “Take the time – so they understand what they need to do with you. And let them show you what they can do,” Cochran said.

Graduates Urged To Go Beyond Greed

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University graduates and their families gathered to celebrate the 159th Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 3 on the Robert S. Eckley Quadrangle.

President Richard F. Wilson congratulated the 516 graduating seniors of the 2008-2009 school year, saying this day marks a new beginning. “Today, we honor you and wish you well, wherever your journey may take you,” said President Wilson. “We know what you have accomplished here and what you are capable of accomplishing as you move forward with your lives.”

Board of Trustees President George A. Vinyard ’71 welcomed the graduates into the family of Illinois Wesleyan alumni, and 2009 Student Senate Professor of the Year Sarah Riehl offered her own congratulations.

“The class of 2009 is filled with stories of success, and to them we say bravo,” said Riehl, a visiting assistant professor of business administration at Illinois Wesleyan. “We want to thank you for sharing your talents.”

> Continued

> See the Commencement Photo Album

> Watch the Ceremony on Video

> Read Commencement speeches