BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University has announced senior Gwen Robinson as the 2010-2011 Peace Fellow. The Peace Fellows Program, created in 2007 by IWU alumnus John Stutzman and his wife, Erma, annually awards fellowships to students interested in peace, social justice and conflict resolution.

In addition to taking Illinois Wesleyan courses in these areas, students selected to participate in the Peace Fellows Program are required to further explore their commitment to peace by completing an independent study and participating in an off- campus internship in the United States or abroad. The program offers $1,000 to each student in order to help them complete these personal projects.

In her pursuit of the peace fellows program, Robinson has chosen to focus on the violence imposed upon women, a kind of violence that she believes is “quiet, private and cultural.”

“I believe that anywhere women are denied autonomy they are at risk of violence. In fact I would argue that the denial of autonomy is itself a form of violence,” said Robinson. Her independent study will center on exploring the role of women throughout Francophone history and literature. Robinson, who is a theatre arts and international studies double major with a French and Francophone studies minor, is pursuing her studies in Pune, India. “The intense social and economic stratification of society makes India a great place for me to learn about development,” said the native of Elmhurst, Ill.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Kari Grace, a senior from Winnetka, Ill., has been selected as Illinois Wesleyan University’s recipient of the 2010 Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Award. The award recognizes outstanding academic achievement and extracurricular activities among college seniors.

On Saturday, Nov. 6, Grace and fellow student laureates were honored in a ceremony at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield, Ill.  Accompanied by Chair and Professor of Hispanic Studies Carolyn Nadeau, Grace received a Student Laureate Medallion, along with an honorarium check and certificate of achievement.

Chosen from a pool of qualified Illinois Wesleyan seniors, Grace is a sociology and Hispanic studies double major with a minor in environmental studies. A member of Kappa Delta, she is currently the sorority’s leadership chair. In her four years at IWU, she has been a member of the Sierra Student Coalition and has helped the group organize events on campus.

Since her sophomore year, Grace has played an active role in IWU’s GREENetwork and is currently a co-chair. She is also president of Sigma Delta Pi, the Hispanic Honor Society on campus, as well as a member of the following: Phi Beta Kappa, the Liberal Arts Honor Society; Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society; Phi Eta Sigma, the First Year Honor Society; Gamma Sigma Alpha, the national Academic Greek Honor Society and Phi Beta Delta, the Honor Society for international Scholars.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Nick Kogelman had an integral part in helping the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity land a $30,000 grant from Google Foundation (Google.org). The Plainfield native was the main author of the grant, which will help the McLean County branch of Habitat for Humanity create and post ads on Google and all of its affiliate websites.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Kogelman, a business administration major. “It’s great to think you can work and reach out, and that work will mean something to so many other people.”

Kogelman spent the summer as an intern with the University’s State Farm Internship Program. The program pairs students in Illinois Wesleyan’s Action Research Center (ARC) with concurrent internships at State Farm Insurance Companies® and a local not-for-profit organization during the summer. “I came to college with an interest in studying business ethics, so the concept of putting together the corporate world and not-for-profits appealed to me,” Kogelman said of the ARC Program.

When paired with McLean County Habitat for Humanity, Kogelman worked on the organization’s website and helped promote events online. ARC Director Deborah Halperin suggested he assist Habitat with a grant proposal, and he immediately thought of Google.org, the the foundation side of the search-engine giant Google, Inc. “We learned about Google.org in a class I took with [Assistant Professor of Business Administration Sascha] Vitzthum,” said Kogelman.  The course also introduced him to AdWords, the program Google uses to place advertisements. “It’s the program that allows sponsored ads to be matched with certain search words that are entered into the engine,” he said.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – This summer, the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) named Illinois Wesleyan senior Phil Adeleye the NABA man of the year and NABA student of the year. Adeleye is an accounting major with a minor in economics and a native of Osu-Accra, Nigeria.

In June, Adeleye attended the NABA national convention in Houston, Tex. and was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. He also gave a speech at the scholarship luncheon and had the opportunity to join one of the founders of NABA in a book signing.

“It was a great learning experience. I was honored to get such an opportunity and plan to utilize my learning experiences to improve Illinois Wesleyan’s NABA chapter,” said Adeleye, who also in June attended the Chicago Scholarship Banquet and was awarded a $2,500 NABA Chicago chapter scholarship.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – – Illinois Wesleyan junior and music composition major Scott Keegan will have one of his pieces performed by a professional group in Hanover, Germany, on Oct. 17.  Keegan’s composition, Episodes, was chosen from many scores presented to the performers, Plathner’s 11.

According to Professor of Composition and Theory David Vayo, the highest achievement for a composer is having their music performed in concert by musicians.

“This is one of the few times in my 20 years of teaching at IWU that a current student has had one of their compositions performed at a professional venue, and the very first time that a student’s work has been performed internationally.”

Vayo credits Keegan, a St. Charles, Ill., native, not only for his talent, but also for his professional savvy. “For some time he has made a point of entering competitions and seeking opportunities to send his music to interested performers.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State Universities’ joint student chapter of Habitat for Humanity has been selected for the 2010 Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter of the Year award.

Impressed by the universities’ creative partnership, the selection committee chose to award the chapters jointly, noting that the collaboration of the chapters allows for an increased impact on the community. Through the generous support of State Farm Insurance Company, the chapters will receive $4,500 together to participate in a Collegiate Challenge trip.

“The work you have done to provide simple, decent and affordable housing and spread Habitat for Humanity’s mission is extraordinary and serves as an outstanding example for other chapters,” said Manager of Youth Volunteer Engagement Cody Logsdon in a letter to the chapters.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Kristy Hosack is the recipient of the Community Partnership grant from the University’s Action Resource Center (ARC) and State Farm Insurance®.

ARC Coordinator Deborah Halperin announced the grant recipient Wednesday at Beckman Auditorium of The Ames Library during the wrap-up of the ARC Community Partnership Program with State Farm. “ARC students create collaborations within the community. They fill in the gaps,” said Halperin, who works to connect Illinois Wesleyan students with area not-for-profit organizations.

Through the partnership program, Hosack, a Spanish and history double major from Bloomington, worked this summer with State Farm’s public affairs department and volunteered for the Hispanic Families Work Group and Western Avenue Community Center. Part of the internship program required students to write an application for the ARC grant. Hosack plans to use the $500 grant funded by State Farm to support outreach efforts for Illinois Wesleyan’s “Radio Latino” program on the campus radio station, WESN 88.1. “This is one of only two Spanish-speaking programs in Bloomington-Normal,” said Hosack. “It is a way to reach an audience where language differences might make them unreachable. Radio Latino offers music and a feeling of community, and a way to connect to people about services and resources in the community.”

With the ARC Community Partnership Program, 10 Illinois Wesleyan students are chosen to work two internships in the summer – splitting their week between State Farm Insurance Companies and an area not-for-profit organization in town.

“We don’t think of this as an internship program, State Farm thinks of it as a leadership program,” said Alex Cardona, who works with State Farm’s Community Relations. “They are not only meeting this community’s needs, but gaining an understanding of the needs of every community.”

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