Drake University Blue Magazine Fall 2016 by Drake University

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THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF DRAKE UNIVERSITY | FALL 2016

The Strength in Our Abilities Inclusion is a powerful thing.

ALUMNI FOODIES | ATHLETICS ROUNDUP | DOGS OF D.C.

34 NE

T BUL LD O

52 PL

FAL L 201 6

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THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF DRAKE UNIVERSITY | FALL 2016

Are We Done Dissing Ability?

Bulldogs with disabilities discuss identity, inclusion, and how schools, businesses, and communities are stronger when people come first.

By Jill Brimeyer

editor Beth Wilson

Cartography of Care

The changing landscape of rural health is transforming the way independent pharmacies do business as well as their role as health care providers.

By Jennifer Krane, Class of 2017, and Beth Wilson

Forks in the Road

Two Bulldogs take unconventional paths that eventually intersect to create culinary excellence and turn the tables on how people think about eating.

By Brian Taylor Carlson, jo‘16

art director Kristin Dunn, jo’92 contributors Jarad Bernstein; Jill Brimeyer; Libby Burns; Brian Taylor Carlson, jo’16; Aaron Jaco, as’07, jo’07, gr’14; Ann Hinga Klein, jo’86, gr’86; Jennifer Krane, Class of 2017; Tim Schmitt, gr’08, ’10; Niki Smith, jo’08, gr’15; Alyssa Young, gr’14 executive director, university communications Dave Remund, jo’91, gr’08 president Marty Martin vice president, university advancement John Smith, as’92, gr’00

departments 2 3 3 4 14 22 38 40 52

welcome inbox said & done along the avenues school notes scoreboard now & then class acts the b-side

associate vice president, university advancement Diane Caldbeck, ed’72 Blue is published twice a year and mailed to alumni, parents, and other friends of Drake. The views expressed in Blue do not necessarily reflect those of the staff or the University. Send correspondence to: Blue, University Communications Drake University 2507 University Ave. Des Moines, IA 50311-4505 e bluemag@drake.edu Submit news or update your alumni profile: t 1-800-44-drake, x3152 e alumni.update@drake.edu w www.alumni.drake.edu © 2016

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| welcome

It’s not me. It’s you. For more than two years I reflected on our relationship. We’ve had occasions of deeply gratifying connection, but I wanted more. And I suspected you might, too. So, I asked. In October 2015, many of you answered through our online reader survey, offering compliments, critiques, and suggestions. Overwhelmingly, the response was, well, assorted. Unlike consumer magazines that target a specific demographic, Blue communicates with a rather diverse bunch. Typical Blue reader? No such thing.

updates about themselves? Can Blue help us reach out to former classmates? Can Blue alert me to opportunities to connect with Bulldogs in my own community?

A few commonalities, however, rise to the surface. You read this magazine to stay connected to classmates and your alma mater, to keep current on happenings at the University, and to recall your own experience while at Drake.

And so it is. The publication you hold in your hands is our response to your invaluable feedback. We hope you find it easier to navigate. We hope you discover content that engages you. We hope you are inspired by the new Class Acts—beginning on p. 40—and use those pages to build new connections with your fellow alumni.

You connect most with Drake history and updates on your classmates, and many of you welcome more coverage of faculty research, athletics, and campus events and programs. Book mentions and puzzles you can get elsewhere, you said, and why the nontraditional size with binding that prevents the opened magazine from lying flat while reading? you asked. You told us that the magazine often focuses too much on the extraordinary and could do a better job of revealing the richness and meaningfulness found in the many facets of all Bulldogs’ lives. And you’d very much like to connect with those lives. How can Blue encourage more alumni to submit

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One reader summed it up succinctly. “It’s not about you. It’s about us.”

And if you don’t, we hope you’ll let us know. The survey is long closed, but we encourage you to share your comments with us at any time. While further modifications may be in the magazine’s future, I aim to maintain the sentiment shared by one reader regarding Blue’s arrival twice a year: “It feels good to get it in the mail.”

Beth Wilson, Editor bluemag@drake.edu

| inbox

| said & done

Ready for His Close-up! Dear Griff, You are the DUDE! I do not often read “The Blue,” quite candidly, but your article (“A Dogged Spirit,” p. 6) is the best I can recall. Please pass on my thanks to writer Jill Brimeyer and of course your family, the Bells. Someday, I will stop by and give you a good scratch.

“Africa is the next frontier for global capitalism. We need to be ready for that future.” —Mimshach Obioha of Nigeria, participant in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, and one of 25 of the continent’s emerging leaders to spend six weeks learning with Drake faculty and engaging with the Des Moines community over the summer

Tim Schimberg, lw’80, Denver

So enjoyed your Spring 2016 issue and cover story (“A Dogged Spirit,” p. 6). The photos brought a fond memory and a cautionary tale. We were asked to bring our English bulldog, Limey, to a Drake homecoming game in the early ‘70s. Our daughters, age 10 and 8 at the time, walked Limey from the east side of the track to the west side, where the cheerleaders were chanting away. There was a pile of pom-poms lying on the track, and Limey promptly walked over to it and relieved himself. Moral of the story: Cheerleaders, keep your pom-poms where you can see them when Griff is around!

“That’s a great question. Why don’t you freakin’ go to college and answer it?!” —Bill Nye the Science Guy quipping on a Drake student’s complicated query about the Big Bang—and demonstrating his faith in the next generation of scientists; Nye delivered the 36th Bucksbaum Lecture in April (see p. 11)

Pat Kelso Knott, ed’53, former Drake cheerleader, Kansas City

Good Work Just a quick email to tell you what a fantastic job I believe your team does on Drake Blue. It’s informative, targeted, compelling, and beautifully designed. Keep it up, and pass my praise on to your entire staff! Jim Stafford, jo‘73, West Des Moines

From the Editor: We are hopeful you’ll have even more good things to say about the redesigned magazine, Jim. We’ll eagerly await your feedback.

Clarity, Please I was reading my Spring 2016 issue and looking at “Cracking the Class Code” (p. 18). The last sentence is written differently now. I’m comparing it to an earlier issue I have that reads more clearly. (Since the la, fa, as change, it was written like this for many years.) Just wondering. Mary Bartman , fa‘86, Mundelein, Ill.

From the Editor: Seems that our strategy to simplify and clarify was ineffective, Mary. See if we did any better in this issue—p. 40.

“The gamification of life is a very exciting trend that is changing how we interact with school, businesses, and all of the products and services around us.” —Matthew Mitchell, associate professor of international business and strategy, commenting on the Pokémon Go craze

“It is highly unlikely … that a court would say (password sharing) is a violation of federal law. It might be a violation of Netflix policy, but it’s not a violation of federal law.” —Shontavia Johnson, director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake Law School, in The Des Moines Register responding to concerns regarding potential jail time and fines after a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stoked fears among millions of Americans

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| along the avenues

Pint-Size Pipeline Twelve years from now their footprints will be much larger, but the 55 pairs of small feet exploring Drake’s campus last March were already carrying some big dreams. Findley Elementary School’s first-grade class came to get a taste of college life; and faculty, staff, and student volunteers delivered. Learning activities in Olmsted, a dorm room tour in Carpenter Hall, lunch in Hubbell, a trek along Painted Street, drills with student-athletes in the Field House. Not surprising, a spirited visit from Griff was a big hit. Drake will host Findley first-graders again next spring as the University continues its partnership with the Des Moines I Have a Dream Foundation. Drake is one of five area institutions of higher learning supporting the nonprofit’s efforts to mentor local disadvantaged students, and develop mindsets and skillsets for postsecondary opportunities and success.

Adult Literacy Center turns 40! “When you can’t read, you keep it hidden,” says Karen Walker, a former Adult Literacy Center student. “Learning to read brought me out of my shell.” From understanding the directions for medication to the joy of reading a bedtime story to a child, 40 years have changed the lives of thousands. Learn more: www.drake.edu/adultliteracy

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THIS JUST IN

Class of 2020 As it does each fall, the Bulldog pack expanded with the latest group of incoming first-year students.

775

members

relatives of alumni

states represented

countries represented

play the saxophone (2 of them twins)

Top 10 Major Picks 1. Pre-Pharmacy 2. Undeclared 3. Actuarial Science 4. Business Studies 5. Biology 6. Law, Politics & Society 7. Psychology 8. Health Sciences 9. Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology 10. Marketing

Did You Know?

•

• When Drake last made it to the NCAA Tournament, they were in fourth grade.

musical theatre majors from Washington state have studied voice and sung opera in Italy

built a 3-D printer from scratch

competitive rock climber

spent a gap year in Israel

lives in a haunted house (Oh, believe us—we’re going to explore!)

These students were just taking their first steps when former Drake president David Maxwell took office.

•

They are the first Drake class to apply, enroll, and sign up for housing without killing any trees.

•

Since the time they entered first grade, Facebook has always been a thing. And many of them met their Drake roommate there.

To the Victor Goes the Spoils Mere minutes after rescue pup Vincent had donned the cape and crown as winner of Drake’s 37th annual Beautiful Bulldog Contest, the pretty pooch’s smiling mug spread across the globe. The contest appeared in nearly 600 news articles, bringing smiles to animal lovers in China, Brazil, Italy, Singapore, and many other countries. As Metro, a tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom, wrote: “Drake University held a Beautiful Bulldog Contest, and everyone’s a winner.”

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Canopy Care Before construction could begin on Drake’s two newest buildings (part of the emerging STEM @ DRAKE complex), the land had to be cleared of more than three dozen trees. But ongoing architectural efforts are supporting both structure and landscape. Drake’s grounds staff is collaborating with the Des Moinesbased firm Confluence on a planting plan that addresses not only campus aesthetics but also energy use, water runoff, and wildlife habitat. Campus-wide planting over the next 5–8 years aims to add 70 new, diverse trees. And all was not lost with the trees felled last fall. Five centuryold oaks and one Norway spruce have made their return to campus in the form of milled wood to be sourced for future possibilities.

Lip Service For Kelsi Ziemann, bn’15, innovation is always in fashion. She’s owner of Kelsi Ziemann Artistry, a cosmetics business that offers on-location makeovers. After thousands of customer requests, the company is in the final stages of developing a patented lipstick and lipliner kit that makes it easier for customers to shop for and store long-lasting lip products.

Don’t worry, little buddy.

Stewardship in a Dynamic World The first Bulldogs to complete a degree in sustainability and resilience will graduate next spring, prepared to think holistically, quantitatively, and qualitatively about solutions to environmental challenges. The new major, which replaces environmental policy, is unique in incorporating resilience into the discipline. Drake students are discovering how to create systems that not only enrich the world but also withstand constant change.

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The Lorentzen Student Hatchery at Drake supported Ziemann’s entrepreneurial endeavors with the resources she needed to research, develop, and market her products and services in a highly competitive industry. She took home $5,000 as one of Iowa’s top young entrepreneurs during the spring 2016 Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition, hosted by Iowa’s five John Pappajohn entrepreneurial centers, including the one at Drake.

United State It’s been a tumultuous time for race relations in the nation. High-profile shootings of young, unarmed African American men in Ferguson and Baltimore sparked protests and national debate. “I wanted to be proactive about the programming that Drake and Des Moines had in place—before something like Ferguson happened here,” recalls Carol Spaulding-Kruse, professor of English.

Outstanding Bulldog and Parent Brytani Cavil was a force for equity and inclusion during her time at Drake, serving as the president of the Coalition of Black Students and as a member of the core planning team for #UniteIowa on Race at Drake (see “United State,” this page). She also served her community through work as an AmeriCorps Youth Service Learning Coordinator with local nonprofit Children & Family Urban Movement. Before graduating in May, the marketing major and single mother of two received the Oreon E. Scott award, given annually by Drake University to one outstanding senior student. Her name and image will be engraved on a plaque outside the Wells Fargo Career and Professional Development Center in Aliber Hall. But the greater recognition, she says, will come from her 2-year-old twins. “They’re really my motivation,” says Cavil, who plans to pursue a graduate degree in community and regional planning. “I’m doing everything so I can be a positive role model for them.”

She partnered with a columnist at The Des Moines Register to launch a community dialogue—#UniteIowa on Race at Drake. Hundreds of University and Des Moines community members participated in public forums in spring 2016. Six student interns worked on the project, which also served as a cornerstone of learning for 18 students in Spaulding-Kruse’s First Year Seminar, Talking with the Enemy. “There’s a lot Drake can do as a university to increase the community conversation around race,” she says. “It’s important that we, as a society, develop the capacity to discuss—and to disagree— with each other, face-to-face, productively and respectfully.”

Road Scholar In February Andrea Prince-Gomez, P3, traveled with medical students, dentists, physicians, and other health care practitioners to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Orleans to inspire high school and college students from underrepresented populations who might not otherwise be considering careers in health care. The Ferguson, Missouri, native draws on her own experience to serve as the Tour for Diversity in Medicine’s first representative from the field of pharmacy. She worked 60 hours a week while pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Missouri, becoming the first member of her family to earn a bachelor’s degree. Now, as she prepares to earn her Doctor of Pharmacy, she applies that tireless work ethic to serving others. She’ll be on tour again in spring 2017.

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From the Archives The handwritten notes are as legible as if written yesterday, but the ornate script on brittle paper betrays their age. Together with news clippings, press releases, wedding announcements, and photos, they make up the scrapbook that became the personal undertaking of Vava Sandy, a 12-year employee in the Office of Alumni in the 1940s, to document her extensive correspondence with some 900 Drake service members (including Paul Morrison, JO’39, aka Mr. Drake), their spouses, and their families during WWII . See more: Search “WWII Scrapbook” online at photos.library.drake.edu.

Have a Vava Sandy story or memory?

Email it to us at bluemag@drake.edu. 8

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Acting the Part STAFF PICK

Drake Symphony Orchestra Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Studies Akira Mori conducts the Drake Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in a free program featuring the works of Russian composers. Settle into your seats in Sheslow Auditorium for an invigorating performance of “Dawn Over the River Moscow” from Mussorgsky’s opera Khovanshchina. The Drake String Ensemble will perform Vasily Kalinnikov’s “Serenade for Strings.” The evening concludes with RimskyKorsakov’s Symphony No. 1.

Taking the stage on Broadway is the dream of many theatre students, but the competition is fierce. Fourteen Drake thespians gained an advantage in Associate Professor of Theatre Karla Kash’s J-Term course that took them to New York to work with actors, composers, and agents, as well as attend master classes and audition for performances. Such unique opportunities led OnStage Magazine to name Drake’s theatre program one of most underrated programs in the Midwest, citing remarkable on-campus training, opportunities for establishing career ties, and an impressive list of guest artists. “We have alums who have won Emmy awards and appeared on Broadway and in regional theatre, in movies, television, and more,” says Kash. The week in New York was more than a learning experience. Some students gained agency representation, some returned for auditions with prestigious on- and off-Broadway productions, and one has since received final call back for a major motion picture in development.

Accolades Amass Chalk up another “Best” for Urban Plains, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s online magazine that launched as a senior capstone in 2015. Twenty-six students collaborated on the website to earn a “Best of Festival” award in the interactive multimedia category at this year’s Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts in Las Vegas. Only 18 such awards were presented at the April 2016 annual convention from among more than 1,500 entries from 175 institutions. Previous honors earned by Urban Plains include “Best Online Magazine” by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; “Best Online Edition” by the Iowa College Media Association; and multiple awards for writing, design, photography, and video. www.urban-plains.com

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Pop Goes the Culture Human activity often amasses into broad brushstrokes on our cultural canvas. Songs, hairstyles, TV shows, apps, books, movies, technology, food, politicians, even nostalgia can take hold of the threads of our common existence in ways that surprise and dumbfound. If we are what we consume, surely all that is produced and widely experienced (sometimes in an escalating cycle) tells us something significant about ourselves.

Craig Owens

Lenore Metrick-Chen

Renee Ann Cramer

Professor of English/ Department Chair

Associate Professor of Art History

Professor Law, Politics and Society/Department Chair

Our fascination with Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga suggests, to me at least, that culturally we find ourselves pulled in two directions. Gaga, with her monstrous transformations, fluid shape-shifting, and unconventional identity performances, along with her often rowdy, disruptive public behavior, allures us, asking us to imagine a world of complete freedom, even anarchy, where the desires, tastes, and whims of the impulsive individual are the only law. By contrast, Swift, the paradigmatic nice girl, the innocent, outgoing, charming lover of all things girly—dresses, kittens, cookies—beckons us toward the safe conservatism of established cultural norms. As a society, then, we harbor inherently contradictory attitudes toward contemporary womanhood.

Our time is one of paradigm shift. The ubiquity of digital technology changes our public space from one that is solely physical, in which events are unique and must be seen on-site, to a culture that extends into virtual space where events are recorded and can be seen repeatedly and from a distance. The changes to public space change public knowledge and power. We see this in movements such as Black Lives Matter, which arise from the testifying capacity of smartphone videos. My classes experiment with the participatory opportunities of such popular media and examine the changes in our democracy they occasion.

Popular culture signals shifts in contemporary understandings that predate law’s progressive changes. Though it is often misogynistic, homophobic, and racist, popular culture can also be a magic mirror that enables elites—producers of pop culture with the safety of a Hollywood paycheck, and a community of like-minded people—to reflect progressive ideals back to the general public. Lucille Ball’s televised pregnancy pre-dated anti-pregnancy discrimination legislation. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was in production before Loving v. Virginia. Will and Grace and Ellen were famous years before Obergefell v. Hodges. Pop culture can show us our better selves, and so facilitates progressive legal change.

What piece of pop culture—current or past—do you think has had a big impact?

Tell us about it: bluemag@drake.edu

blue | along the avenues

Too Good to Lose During her final semester at Drake, Laura McGuire, lw’16, was putting the finishing touches on a Note for the Drake Law Review. “In my research, it was really shocking to see how the juvenile court system was not designed to serve girls.” Female delinquents are often victims of sex trafficking, McGuire wrote in the Note, in which she recommended a Girls Court designed to address gender-specific needs. Rather than placement in the formal court system, Girls Court participants enter a program emphasizing mental health, family, and substance abuse counseling.

Consider This Bill Nye is seemingly on a tangent. After greeting the at-capacity Knapp Center crowd with the acclaimed Blue Marble photo and his signature entreaty “Please consider the following,” he takes a circuitous storytelling path that weaves through his parents’ early adult lives (his father a WWII prisoner of war, his mother a code breaker on the Enigma project), sun dials and celestial mechanics on Mars, Nirvana’s second album, and carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. He’s arrived at climate change, and the Science Guy presents his collected evidence—studies cited, data graphed. The challenge, he says, is real. Denial, he contends, is political.

Her analysis caught the attention of three state judges who reached out to McGuire, and together they formulated the proposal for the Polk County Girls Court—dubbed Too Good to Lose— which opened March 2016. “I hope the Girls Court changes the perception of young women who have been charged with prostitution—we need to identify them as victims instead of criminals—and I hope it helps them reintegrate back into society.”

Then he teases through the thread connected to his parents. They were, he underscores, part of the Greatest Generation, a generation that faced grave circumstances, acted, and changed the world. His engaging family history becomes a call to action. “That’s why I want you, Drake University Bulldogs, to—dare I say it?” says Nye, pausing before delivering his directive in a thunderous voice, “Change the world!” Bill Nye delivered the 36th Bucksbaum Lecture on April 14. Visit www.drake.edu/bucksbaum to learn more about the remarkable speaker series.

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Glimpsing Africa’s Future Young professionals from countries across Africa spent six weeks at Drake this summer growing their leadership and entrepreneurial skills as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. Drake was one of 36 institutions—Ivy League schools and top-ranked state universities among them— selected to host the fellows.

Stargazer Preservation Built in 1894 on commission by Francis Marion Drake, the telescope in Drake Municipal Observatory is more than a tool; it’s a meticulously crafted work of art. Charles Nelson, associate professor of physics and astronomy, spent a summer sabbatical giving some TLC to the optical instrument, which had begun to show its age. New parts and technical adjustments improved its functionality—but it also had cosmetic needs. “At some point, who knows how many years ago, someone figured they’d spray-paint the whole thing,” laments Nelson. Several days with a rag and paint stripper uncovered beautiful copper and brass fittings, and even a pair of mechanical setting circles that help astronomers locate specific points in the sky. 12

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Drake’s 25 Fellows (among 1,000 selected from more than 40,000 applications) were architects, doctors, CEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs. But those titles do no justice to the passions they pursue, from women’s health and job creation to advocating for individuals with disabilities and sustainability. The initiative was another feather in Drake’s cap as the University continues to be a hub of global activity and engagement for the Greater Des Moines community. Learn more: www.drake.edu/yali

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WORKPLACE

306 Aliber Hall As one of Drake’s more prolific researchers and passionate student advocates, C. Kenneth “Ken” Meyer, the Thomas F. Sheehan Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, keeps an office overflowing with worldly wonders.

Model sailboats—some he’s built from kits, others he purchased while on international travel. “Unfortunately, I rarely have time to sail,” says Meyer, who was trained on the water while serving in the U.S. Army. “In 50 years of teaching, I’ve never taken a sabbatical leave.”

2 Framed copies of Meyer’s 26 books, each with an airline-sized bottle of the drink he consumed upon their completion. Aspirations of teaching, research, and service, he says, have shaped a life largely consumed with writing books, monographs, academic articles, and case studies.

3 Towering troll bears the Drake insignia on the breast plate of its lederhosen. Daughters Heidi and Elizabeth commissioned the figure from a Minnesota artisan; although the mythological creatures have a reputation for being solitary and dim-witted, this particular troll is intended to bring luck to Meyer’s office. 4 Handmade wooden Kokeshi dolls, acquired during Meyer’s many trips to Japan. He’s been to Tokyo 86 times since 1980, always on business. A perpetual globetrotter, Meyer has led 20-plus annual trips to Europe with students from Drake’s Master of Public Administration program—compensating for a lack of time to sail.

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| school notes College of Arts & Sciences Joseph Lenz, Dean www.drake.edu/artsci

After my walkabout as interim provost, I’m back! I return to the college with a much deeper appreciation for the University. After 34 years at Drake, I thought I knew the campus pretty well, but the provost’s perch provided a broader perspective and more informed understanding of the talent, effort, and dedication needed from our staff, faculty, and administrators to make Drake the very special place that it is. It was also a privilege having a front row seat for President Martin’s inaugural year. His enthusiasm and ambition for the University are contagious and inspiring. Similarly, over the past six months I have gotten to know Sue Mattison, our new provost. She is grounded, curious, genuine, humane, and, like President Martin, attuned to the potential of this University. Thus, I come back not only better informed but convinced that the best for Drake is yet to come. Deputy Provost Summerville Keith Summerville did an outstanding job this past year as interim dean of the college. His many accomplishments include developing a continuous improvement plan for the dean’s office; successfully collaborating with search committees to expand efforts to diversify the faculty; exceeding college enrollment targets; reinvigorating the college’s National Advisory Council; and securing donor support for a variety of projects across the college. A & S will leverage the important momentum and continue these initiatives as Keith moves over to Old Main in his new position as deputy provost.

blue | school notes

Onward Israel Jackie Heymann, senior politics and sociology major, was accepted to participate in Onward Israel’s Diversity and Pluralism program. This summer Heymann interned with two organizations in South Tel Aviv, Israel. In the morning, she assisted in a summer camp for children of refugees and asylum seekers, primarily from Eritrea. In the afternoon, she interned with the African Refugee Development Center as a higher education case worker to assist asylum seekers who wish to pursue a postsecondary education. When Heymann returned to Drake this fall, she did so as a National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Undergraduate Fellow, working under the mentorship of Melissa SturmSmith, associate provost for academic excellence and student success. Neurosurgery Internship Alec Wieker and Joe Herba, junior biochemistry, cell and molecular biology majors, participated in a six-week summer internship in neurosurgery and neuroanatomy at Boston University School of Medicine. Wieker and Herba were hosted by Dr. James Holsapple, as’80, who is the chief of neurosurgery at Boston University. Their time in Boston was divided between clinical experience in the hospital and a research component in the Department of Neuroscience. The internship was facilitated by Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Brian Sanders and Interim Dean Keith Summerville and was supported by the Office of the Provost. Other Summer “Vacations” Nya Makaza—junior biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology and rhetoric, media, and social change double

major—completed a summer internship with the Middleton Center for Children’s Rights at Drake. Sirena Olivan, sophomore sociology major, served in the Public Allies Iowa AmeriCorps summer program. Seven A&S students participated in the Drake University Summer Research program, conducting research under the mentorship of faculty members. Those students were Amanda Muir (biology and psychology), Dheeraj Pulyala (chemistry), Hayley Petras (chemistry), Katrina Sletten (physics and astronomy), Kathryn Carano (psychology), Kelsey Panfil (psychology), and Sufyan Hamouda (biology). Fulbrights Abroad May graduates Emily Enquist and Taylor Donaldson were selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2016–2017. Enquist, an international business major with a minor in anthropology, will be teaching in Bulgaria. Donaldson, a religion and law, politics, and society double major with a concentration in women’s and gender studies, will be teaching in Morocco. She also studied in Morocco during a semester abroad in her junior year. Elizabeth Robertson, associate professor of English, recently was selected as the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant. Robertson will be teaching English in Burkina Faso for the 2016¬2017 academic year at the Université de Ouagadougou. She will be teaching courses in 19th- and 20th-century British literature and American literature. She plans on using the opportunity to continue writing non-fiction essays based on her own travels to colonial sites. Robertson previously held a Fulbright to teach in Benin, which shares a border with Burkina Faso.

a supplement from the six colleges and schools

Exit, Stage Right William S.E. “Doc” Coleman was part of the Drake Department of Theatre Arts from 1966 until his retirement in 2002. He also was one of its most beloved faculty members. This past June, Drake dedicated the William S.E. Coleman Studio Theatre, formerly known as Studio 55 and Studio Theatre, in honor of the professor who changed so many lives. Nearly 250 former students donated more than $60,000 to renovate the space in honor of Doc, who died in 2015.

Top: Two BCMB students spent the summer at Boston University School of Medicine, hosted by Dr. James Holsapple, as’80. Bottom: Former theatre students, including Michael Emerson (right, The Practice, Lost, Person of Interest), fa’76, honored the late “Doc” Coleman (left) by supporting renovations for the William S.E. Coleman Studio Theatre, recently dedicated in his honor.

College of Business & Public Administration Terri Vaughan, Dean www.drake.edu/cbpa

The College of Business and Public Administration and I are looking forward to another exciting year, with new faculty, programs, and students. Mark your calendar for next year’s Drake Relays (April 26–29), when we will once again host events for our CBPA alumni and students. In the meantime, here’s a brief overview of some of our activities. Curriculum Revamp New technologies, globalization, and constant innovation are changing the world of business. It is not enough for our graduates to be proficient in their chosen fields. They must be effective communicators, strategic problem solvers, ethical stewards, and global and multicultural citizens. Our curriculum has long fostered these traits, but enhancements this fall will strengthen it even more. Thanks to a generous donation from Dave Schulte, bn’83, we have a new Business Communications Center, which will ensure our students have strong business writing and presentation skills when they graduate. Other changes include new courses that will develop data-driven, strategic problem-solving skills; increased focus on experiential learning; and continued growth in international opportunities for students. Keeping the Peace Tara Ely, current MPA student, was chosen to join the “48 Hours as a Diplomat” peace-building workshop organized by the Rotary International France-USA Inter-Country Committee. Five students from France and five students from the United States are selected and given 48 hours to draft an innovative solution to prevent threats to peace within the context of “safe-

guarding cultural heritage as a tool for peace building.” In support of their efforts, students will participate in discussion and feedback sessions with mentors and professionals on various aspects of diplomacy. The workshop will be held in Paris Sept. 29–Oct. 2. Launching Dreams Our third Lorentzen Student Hatchery cohort is hard at it, ramping up new ventures. Flipped Art had a successful pop-up at the Des Moines Arts Festival and got some nice TV coverage. They will roll out their mobile maker studio shortly. The team behind the app Seec hosted a tent at the 80/35 music festival as they build their mobile guide to cool happenings in art, culture, and music. AceShakers flew to Florida to meet with Kevin Harrington, an original shark from the popular TV show Shark Tank, and other entrepreneurs for advice on marketing their innovative liner bottle for protein shakes. MBA for the Future Our new hybrid MBA program, launched this fall, has four distinctive features. (1) It combines online delivery with face-to-face classroom engagement in a hybrid experience, providing both flexibility and personal engagement with faculty. (2) It places particular emphasis on data-driven leadership in response to increased demand for strategic use of data in a business context. (3) It offers real-world learning experiences, implemented through a core project management course that involves students in solving real problems for business and nonprofit organizations. (4) It allows students to personalize their degree by selecting an area of specialization targeted to their career goals.

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Emerging African leaders spent six weeks at Drake focused on business and entrepreneurship.

African Visionaries This summer we hosted 25 of Africa’s brightest emerging leaders for a sixweek academic and leadership institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Mandela Fellows are young professionals age 25–35 who were selected to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. Drake’s institute focused on business and entrepreneurship, catering to fellows aspiring to become leaders in the private sector or start their own business ventures in Africa. The Drake cohort was part of a larger group of 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 36 institutions across the United States. Teamwork Our undergraduate finance students won the state CFA Investment Institute Research Challenge, beating five graduate and undergraduate teams from four schools. Drake’s Enactus team traveled to Arkansas to present the results of their entrepreneurial service projects, and they were selected as one of the regional championship teams. Marketing students won a competition sponsored by The Principal Financial Group.

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Murphy Cup: Yahoo! Drake CBPA and Creighton’s Heider College of Business joined forces for the third annual Murphy Cup Marketing Competition. Working on a real-world problem for client Yahoo!, students were joined by faculty and administrators from both schools as well as representatives from the technology company. Each team was made up of students from both Drake and Creighton, a fun change from typical student competitions. Top Young Entrepreneur Drake alumna Kelsi Ziemann was honored as one of the state’s top young entrepreneurs during the John Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition. Ziemann graduated in December 2015 with degrees in marketing and entrepreneurship. Thanks, Travelers! Unfortunately, we missed the annual Travelers-sponsored actuarial science case competition because it conflicted with an on-campus recruiting event. (We won it the previous year!) Instead, Travelers came to Drake, and 45 CBPA actuarial science and data analytics students were able to work on a realistic actuarial problem using teamwork, communication, research, and analytics skills in an event organized by Travelers actuaries. Bulldogs Breaking Records According to the AfterCollege Career Insights Survey, on average less than 50 percent of U.S. college students have a job lined up by the time they graduate. Our May 2016 graduating class surpassed all previous records, with 84 percent of students placed by graduation. While laudable, our goal continues to be placement for every student by the time they walk out our door.

College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Renae Chesnut, Dean www.drake.edu/cphs

The fall semester has already been productive for our faculty, staff, and students. We continue to make significant progress as we focus on our mission of education, service, and scholarship. Over the past few months, new faculty have joined the college, new and renovated facilities are taking shape, the first OTD students have transitioned into our college, and a number of our faculty and students have been recognized for their outstanding leadership. We look forward to the future successes of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni and their work toward our vision of being a diverse community of learners leading the way to a healthy world. Inaugural OTD Class The first 26 Occupational Therapy Doctorate students have begun the second term of their three-year, year-round program. Nearly half (46 percent) of the students are from Iowa and most are female (92 percent). All possess a bachelor’s degree, with 20 different institutions represented. The students have already made an impact in the community with visits to Easter Seals and work with Mosaic, an organization serving people with intellectual disabilities. Opioid Abuse, Heroin Addiction While prescription drugs are important for patients with acute or chronic pain, the increase in usage of medications like opioids have led to abuse, addiction, and overdose, which has created a serious public health issue. CPHS faculty partnered with the Iowa-based U.S. Attorneys offices as well as the governor’s office to host more than 80 professionals for an Aug. 2 summit to discuss opioid

abuse and heroin addiction, prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies. An evening community forum was held to educate and inform the public. Tour for Diversity Andrea Prince-Gomez, a P3 from Ferguson, Missouri, has been accepted to the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, a program that advocates for students from underrepresented populations to join healthcare fields. Gomez-Prince was the only pharmacy student selected. IPA Leadership Award Elizabeth Bald, a P4 from Freeport, Illinois, received the Iowa Pharmacy Association’s 2016 Karbeling Leadership Award. In tribute to the service provided by the late Jerry Karbeling, the award recognizes two student pharmacists (one from Drake University and one from the University of Iowa) for their contributions to professional organizations and the political process. Welcome, New Faculty! Steven S. Bowen, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy—Bowen earned his OTD at Creighton University and BS in health promotion from Brigham Young University. His clinical practice experience is in the area of older adults. He has been a laboratory instructor/ teaching assistant in the Occupational Therapy with Elders courses, and an adjunct instructor in the Disability and Health Care Policy course content. Bowen has also served as the lobbyist for the Nebraska Occupational Therapy Association. Megan Brady, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences and Director of Health Sciences Experiential—Brady has an EdD from the University of Northern Iowa; a MPE from Idaho State University; and a BA in health, physical education, and recreation from Briar Cliff College.

Brady has served as a preceptor in UNI’s CAATE-approved undergraduate athletic training program for the past 14 years and received their Preceptor of the Year award three times since 2008. Her doctoral project studies the validity and reliability of an artificial knee as a teaching model to enhance student ability to detect various degrees of ACL injury.

precepts pharmacy students and Mercy’s pharmacy residents. The IPA award recognizes a health-system pharmacist who demonstrates service to the pharmacy profession, specifically hospital pharmacy; contributions to pharmacy programs; cooperation with the entire health care team; and service to the community.

Jon Hurdelbrink, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences–Health Economics Hurdelbrink’s academic training includes a PhD, an MA, and a BS in economics from the University of New Hampshire. His teaching and research interests include health economics, environmental economics, applied econometrics, and public economics. While completing his graduate studies, Hurdelbrink also completed a teaching certificate.

NGP Health-System Pharmacist of the Year Professor of Pharmacy Practice Geoff Wall was recognized as the 2016 Next-Generation Pharmacist HealthSystem Pharmacist of the Year. This award recognizes a pharmacist who works in a health-system setting, such as a hospital, long-term care facility, home care, or a health maintenance organization, and has demonstrated improvements in the coordination of care.

Molly Wuebker, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy and OTD Academic Fieldwork Coordinator—Wuebker received her OTD and BS in Health Sciences from Creighton University. Since 2013 Wuebker has been a clinician and administrator at Courage League Sports. Her clinical background is in school-based and developmentally based occupational therapy with a pediatrics focus. While at Courage League Sports, she served the college as a health sciences preceptor. IPA Health-System Pharmacist of the Year Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice Erik Maki was honored as the Iowa Pharmacy Association Health-System Pharmacist of the Year. Maki specializes in the area of internal medicine and is a clinical specialist at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, where he is a consultant for the hospitalist program and rounds with the internal medicine teaching team. He also

New APhA Academy Member Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice Wendy Mobley-Bukstein has been elected to the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APPM). Officers will be installed at the national meeting in San Francisco March 24–27.

The inaugural OTD class spent part of their May orientation helping Easter Seals Iowa Camp Sunnyside prepare for summer participants.

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Drake Law School

Jerry Anderson, Dean www.drake.edu/law

I have been busy during my first few months as dean, working with our administration, faculty, and staff to shape the future of the Law School. In the ever-changing world of legal education, we are focused on several exciting initiatives, including a new Master of Jurisprudence in the area of compliance and risk management. We are continuously working to attract the best and brightest students from around the country, and we welcomed an outstanding class of students to the Law School this fall. This success is due in part to our reputation for providing an excellent legal education with an emphasis on practical training. I’m excited to lead this great institution that is built on tradition, quality education, and producing successful legal professionals. I welcome ideas from alumni on how to make us better, and I rely on your support to make our goals a reality. I can’t wait to see what we achieve together. New IP Law Center Director We are pleased to announce that Shontavia Johnson, professor of law and the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law, took over as director of the Drake Intellectual Property Law Center on July 1. She succeeds Ed Sease, lw’67, who served as interim director for the past year. Johnson brings to the center her expertise in intellectual property, entertainment law, and entrepreneurship, as well as a renewed focus on agriculture and biotechnology. She has published numerous articles and blog posts, and was named one of the inaugural Top 40 Young Lawyers by the American Bar

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Association and one of 40 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Bar Association and IMPACT . Food Law Summit Drake Law School will hold the 2016 Food Law Student Leadership Summit Sept. 30–Oct. 2, bringing together about 100 students from law schools around the country to hear from leading academics and experts, tour local farms and farmers markets, and work to develop creative solutions to today’s most pressing policy challenges. This is a unique opportunity to showcase Drake’s Agricultural Law Center and be part of the national discussion on the important topics of food law and policy. The center is co-hosting the event with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Food Law Student Network Leadership Committee. International Exchange Students from the Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL ) in Chongqing, China, are visiting Drake Sept. 4–Oct. 1. The students are staying in campus dorms and attending courses on American law at the Law School. Led by Professor Emeritus Russell Lovell, the program includes excursions to the Iowa State Capitol, Polk County Courthouse, World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, and more. Drake and SWUPL have a long-standing relationship, with students from both universities participating in exchange programs. This group of 29 is the largest ever to visit Drake from SWUPL. Employment Among Top in Nation According to data recently compiled by Drake Law School’s Career Development Office, 92.3 percent (well above the national average of 84.6 percent) of the Class of 2015 was employed 10 months

after graduation, ranking Drake Law School 36th out of 204 law schools nationwide. In addition, 86.3 percent of Drake Law graduates reported being in jobs that require bar passage or prefer a JD degree—placing Drake in the top 30 law schools in the country. Lecture: Constitutional Decisionmaking The Drake Constitutional Law Center will host Reva Siegel, the Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law at Yale Law School, as part of the center’s Constitutional Law Lecture Series on Oct. 27 in Cartwright Hall. Siegel’s writing draws on legal history to explore questions of law and inequality, and to analyze how courts interact with representative government and popular movements in interpreting the Constitution. Her books include Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, Before Roe v. Wade: Voices That Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court’s Ruling, and The Constitution in 2020. CLEO Pre-law Summer Institute Drake Law School was busy this past summer as host of the 2016 Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (CLEO) Pre-law Summer Institute. The institute, which was held June 5–July 2 and

Students tour the Polk County Courthouse during the CLEO Pre-law Summer Institute hosted by Drake Law School.

School of Education directed by Assistant Dean Erin Lain, prepares students from minority or disadvantaged groups for the law school experience. More than 300 students apply each year for 40 spots in the institute. Students participated in law school classes taught by Drake Law professors and learned how to read and brief court opinions, prepare for law school exams, manage stress, and more. The institute concluded with a graduation reception on campus, where the Hon. Odell McGhee, lw’77, gave inspiring remarks to the students. Ducks and Drake Last spring, the University of Oregon Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center named Professor Jonathan Rosenbloom its Distinguished Visiting Professor. Rosenbloom taught his innovative course Sustainability and the Law, and served as Expert in Residence for the Sustainable Cities Initiative. This fall, the University of Oregon selected Professor Melissa Weresh as its Galen Distinguished Guest. Weresh, president of the Legal Writing Institute and past chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Teaching Methods, will give presentations to both law school and undergraduate faculty. 2016–17 CLE Events Don’t miss Drake Law School’s 2016–17 Continuing Legal Education programs. The Drake General Practice Review is Dec. 8–9, 2016, at the Iowa Events Center. The Drake Real Estate Transactions CLE is March 24, 2017, at the Neal & Bea Smith Law Center.

Jan McMahill, Dean www.drake.edu/soe

The best educators understand that, in order to excel, students must do more than master the curriculum. They must learn about themselves. They must develop both responsibility and resilience. And they must expect success. That’s the powerful message in a textbook recently co-authored by our own Wade Leuwerke, associate professor of education. Connections: Empowering College and Career Success fueled the content of a unique six-day campus workshop in August, with both Drake and Des Moines Public Schools students leading explorations of strengths and weaknesses, the skills and habits needed to be successful in advanced placement courses, and the unique challenges that students of color face when preparing for college. The event included retired Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Academic Excellence Wanda Everage, la’72, who many of you may remember from your own time at Drake. She was an Iowa teacher, a high school administrator, and eventually a powerful force serving the University for 24 years. Her tireless advocacy for students from underrepresented populations is honored in the name of what we hope will be an annual event: The Wanda Everage Academic Success Symposium. Doctoral Program Expands The SOE doctoral program now includes an EdD and a PhD option. To date, more than 60 students are enrolled in various phases of the program that is designed for advanced degree work for those leading schools, businesses, healthcare organizations, or government agencies. Several SOE doctoral students attended and presented posters and

roundtables at the Iowa Education Research and Evaluation Association Conference last December—two of them winning awards. Anne Franklin presented “An Analysis of Parental Experiences in Interpreting Standards-Based Grades.” Erin Lain, assistant dean in Drake’s Law School and the very first student to receive a PhD from the SOE, presented “A Phenomenological Case Study: The Law School Environment as Experienced by Academically Dismissed Black and Latina/o Law Students.” Metro Models Over the last two years, the SOE has formed partnerships with regional schools to deliver master’s degrees and additional content endorsements for teachers and prospective school administrators. Professor of Education Jill Johnson coordinates our off-campus degree programs currently offered to elementary and secondary teachers in Ankeny, West Des Moines, Johnston, Waukee, and Des Moines. Associate Professor of Education Thomas Buckmiller arranges partnerships for elementary and secondary school principals and has a “metro model” that started in Alleman, Ankeny, and Johnston and now enrolls students in Waukee. While admission standards, credit-hour requirements, faculty qualifications, and content standards remain the same, the partnerships enable effective customization: • • • •

Classes are designed with local school input. Cohort groups enroll using a schedule set by Drake in conjunction with partners. Classes are held in the respective school district. Faculty from the partners often guest lecture, team teach, and add additional expertise to the program.

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Toward Urban Success Drake has been awarded a three-year contract to provide a 32-credit-hour master’s degree to cohort groups of teachers in Des Moines Public Schools. One of the firsts of its kind in the nation, this project enables teachers new to the school district to commit to working in the district for eight years, join a professional learning community, and in the last phase receive a master’s degree at the district’s expense. The first cohort of 80 students started their degree work last spring, and in January 2017, 80 more will begin. This reshaped degree focuses on cultural competence and strategies to build success in urban settings where the number of non-English speaking students continues to grow. Elementary Math and Science Assistant Professor of Science Education Jerrid Kruse and Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Technology Education Tonia Land were awarded a $525,000 grant through the Improving Teacher Quality State Grant Program. This three-year project—titled Developing Content, Pedagogy, and Mentorship Capacity for Improving Elementary Math and Science—will deliver yearlong professional development opportunities to increase the content knowledge that elementary teachers can translate into improved teaching in their classrooms. Partners include Grandview University and Des Moines Public Schools. The Math Science Partnership grant is funded by NCLB Title IIA funds. New Faculty Extending warm welcomes to: Jennifer Thoma, assistant professor of literacy and early childhood education, was previously an instructional coach in Ankeny. She holds a BA in psychology from Wartburg College and obtained her teaching degree from the University of

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Northern Iowa. Thoma is in the final stages of her doctoral program at Iowa State. Thomas Davis, assistant professor of teacher education, received his BA in elementary education from Luther College, and obtained both his MA in developmental reading and his PhD in elementary education from the University of Iowa. He has been an adjunct professor in the SOE since 2014, and for the last two years has directed a research project to study new aspects of student teaching in Iowa. Jesse Wilcox, assistant professor of teacher education and graduate studies, received his BS in biology, MAT in science education, and PhD in curriculum and instruction from Iowa State University. He is currently the director for the Association for Inquiry Science Teaching and the director-elect of the North Central Association for Science Teacher Education. New Digs More than 150 faculty, staff, students, and supporters witnessed the groundbreaking for Collier-Scripps Hall, soon to be the SOE’s new home. Construction is on schedule, with a target completion in fall 2017. Watch for news of an upcoming open house celebration!

Drake and Des Moines Public Schools students led the first Wanda Everage Academic Success Symposium.

School of Journalism & Mass Communication Kathleen Richardson, Dean www.drake.edu/sjmc

When I moved out of Morehouse in 1976, I never anticipated that 40 years later I’d end up schlepping my stuff into a Drake residence hall again! But under the category of “SJMC Dean: Other Duties as Assigned,” this summer I helped chaperone the 40 high school students who attended our inaugural Media Now Drake summer camp. The event was the brainchild of Assistant Professor Chris Snider and Associate Dean Kelly Bruhn. The students and advisers traveled from as far away as California and Massachusetts for the three-day camp, which featured field trips around Des Moines and classes in photography, design, writing, leadership, and multimedia, taught by some of the best high school journalism teachers and media professionals in the nation. As usual, Drake faculty, staff, and student counselors made the event a resounding success! If you know any budding media professionals, have them reserve July 9–12, 2017, for Media Now Drake II! (Or email Chris.Snider@drake.edu to be added to the contact list.) Madam President Senior Thalia Anguiano, public relations, was elected Drake student body president for 2016–2017, the first Latina to hold the position. “Wow” Drake students had another strong showing in the summer’s Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) magazine contest. Drake Magazine, edited by senior Melissa Studach, won first place for general excellence, as well as first place in design under art director Susanna Hayward, jo’16. The judge commented,

“I’m gobsmacked by how great this entry is—every bit the equal of many professional city magazines … I mean seriously: Wow. Are you sure you all aren’t professionals?” More Magazine Mentions The Annual, with editor-in-chief Emily Gregor, jo’16, won first place for editorial, and Drake Magazine won second place. The senior capstone website, Urban Plains, won honorable mention for online magazine. In addition, Colton Warren, jo’16, and Cole Norum, jo’16, won writing awards, and junior Katie Bandurski won an award for her magazine prototype. Urban Plains was named Best of Festival in the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts last spring. The website also won three awards at the regional Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence contest: best online publication, best use of multimedia, and best online in-depth reporting. It also won a bronze Telly and eight Iowa College Media Association awards, including best online edition. Accolades Keep Coming Drake Magazine and The Times-Delphic also won awards in the Associated Collegiate Press and Iowa College Media Association contests for writing, photography, design, social, and multimedia. Three Drake students took home awards in the local American Advertising Awards contest earlier this year: Marketing major Vicki Chai, bs’16, won a gold award, and advertising students Paityn Langley, jo’16, and Kelsey Rooney, jo’16, won silver awards. Drake PRSSA was named a national star chapter at the PRSA convention late last year. At the PRSA of Central Iowa Institute, Laura Plumb, jo’15, won student of the year; Abby Delaney, jo’13, was named outstanding new member, and the

PR Planning class won PRIME awards for their class projects. Two News-Internet students landed highly competitive Dow Jones News Fund internships for the summer. Seniors Tim Webber interned at The Kansas City Star and Sarah LeBlanc at The Philadelphia Inquirer. About 85 students were selected from more than 700 graduate and undergraduate applicants nationwide. Faculty Accomplishments Associate Professor Lee Jolliffe served as the first guest editor of Journalism History last spring. Jolliffe has conducted extensive research into media coverage of slavery and escaped slaves. Assistant Professor Jeff Inman was featured in an article on MediaShift, which bills itself as the “premier destination for insight and analysis at the intersection of media and technology.” The article, “Teaching Magazine Students More Than Magazines,” examined the changing nature of magazine journalism education and the challenges facing teachers attempting to replicate in the classroom the breakneck pace of online journalism. Catherine M. Staub, the Fisher-Stelter chair of magazine journalism, was chosen to judge the prestigious American Society of Magazine Editors national magazine awards. SJMC multimedia professor Chris Snider teamed up with entrepreneurship professor Tom Swartwood from Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration to open a “maker space” to encourage student creativity in Meredith Hall. The duo hosted a series of pop-up maker spaces around campus last year, in which dozens of students experimented with creating videos, podcasts, photographs, Lego sculptures, and artwork.

Photography comes full circle as students gather around a 360-degree camera for a group photo during the inaugural Media Now Drake summer camp.

Scholarship Honoring Lytle Approximately 75 SJMC graduates and current and former faculty members gathered in Meredith Hall on the Saturday evening of Drake Relays in April for the annual alumni reception. This year, electronic media alumnus Bob Gillies, jo’89, announced the creation of the John Lytle Endowed Scholarship, honoring the Levitt Distinguished Professor of Broadcast News. Gillies said he was inspired to create the scholarship because of the values Lytle imparted to his students: excellence, hard work, and upstanding character. To contribute to the scholarship, contact major gift officer Doug Lampe at Doug.Lampe@drake.edu. Mark Your Calendars! The 2017 SJMC Reunion is scheduled for the evening of Saturday, April 29.

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Home Track Advantage 7.5 laps. 3,000 meters. 35 barriers. 7 water pits. Drake senior Robert McCann, actuarial science, completed this grueling course on a cold, rainy Saturday in April during the 107th running of the Drake Relays. He crossed the finish line in 8:49.14—faster than his 18 competitors who came to the Blue Oval from across the country to compete in the steeplechase, one of the most unforgiving events in all of track and field. With victory his, McCann became the first Drake athlete to win any Relays event since 2013—and only the second to ever win the steeplechase, following Vern Iwancin, bn’82, who topped the field in 1981.

All Athletics, all the time: GoDrakeBulldogs.com

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SCOREBOARD WINTER AND SPRING SPORTS WRAP-UP

BASKETBALL (m) 7–24, 2–16, MVC: 10th A team featuring nine underclassmen battled through a rigorous season as its young core continued to develop. The team led the MVC and was one of the top teams in the nation for three-point percentage. Sophomore Reed Timmer earned All-MVC honors for the second straight season and was named the MVC men’s basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. (w) 23–10, 14–4, MVC: 2nd For the second straight season, the Bulldogs finished as runnersup in the MVC. The team earned a spot in the WNIT and defeated Sacred Heart at The Knapp Center before falling in the second round of the postseason tournament. The 23-win season was the most for the program since 2007–2008 and marked the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2001–2002.

TENNIS (m) 17–12 The Bulldogs faced 17 nationally ranked teams as part of a demanding schedule and ended the season ranked 49th in the nation. Four student-athletes— senior Ben Lott, sophomore Calum MacGeoch, and first-years Vinny Gillespie

and Tom Hands—earned All-MVC honors. MacGeoch and Gillespie each recorded more than 20 individual wins during the season.

(w) 15–12 The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of the MVC Championship, with senior Maddie Johnson earning All-MVC and CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Johnson led the team with 25 singles wins and a 17–3 record in dual matches to finish her career with 102 singles wins, tying the school record.

GOLF (m) MVC: 7th The Bulldogs finished the season in seventh place at the MVC Championship and were paced by sophomore Matt Lavery, who finished tied for seventh, earning his second straight top-18 flag honor. All five of the team’s scorers finished the year with a sub-77 average, with sophomore Drew Ison leading the way with an average score of 75.2 over 32 rounds. (w) MVC: 10th Under first-year head coach Rachael Pruett, the Bulldogs ended the fall on a high note,

winning the Creighton Classic—with sophomore Madison Glennie winning the individual title. In the spring, the Bulldogs recorded their best finish at the Bulldog Invitational, placing fourth. Glennie led the team with an average score of 77.8 over 27 rounds.

SOFTBALL 30–24, 17–8, MVC: 2nd The softball team recorded runner-up finishes in both the MVC regular season and MVC Tournament. Sophomore pitcher Nicole Newman was named MVC Pitcher of the Year, with a school-record and league-leading 286 strikeouts. Six other Bulldogs, including MVC Elite 18 Award winner Kaitlyn Finneran, joined Newman on All-MVC teams.

ROWING MAAC: 3rd The Bulldogs finished third at the 2016 MAAC Championship for their highest finish since the 2012 season. Academically, Drake placed 14 student-athletes on the 2016 MAAC Rowing All-Academic Team. One of the program’s biggest accomplishments was the groundbreaking and

construction of its future home, the $1.3m BrightBeckwith Boathouse in Prospect Park on the Des Moines River.

TRACK & FIELD (m) MVC-Indoor: 7th MVC-Outdoor: 6th Four Bulldogs earned All-MVC honors during the outdoor season, with a pair of MVC titles from Robert McCann and Bas Van Leersum. Reed Fischer capped the season with a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. During the indoor campaign, a pair of Bulldogs collected three All-MVC honors. (w) MVC-Indoor: 8th MVC-Outdoor: 7th The Bulldogs earned a total of six All-MVC honors at the MVC Outdoor Championship, with Emma Huston winning an MVC title to cap a season that saw her break four school records and win the MVC Elite 18 Award. The team collected six All-MVC honors at the indoor championships, plus Kayla Bell claiming the MVC Elite 18 Award.

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Illustrations by Libby Burns

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Are We Done Dissing Ability? BULLDOGS HARNESS THE POWER OF INCLUSION.

By Jill Brimeyer IT WAS, HE RECALLS, THE BIGGEST SHOCK OF HIS LIFE. Zach Mecham, a bright, ambitious education major and theatre minor who “tends to take on too much,” had just moved into his new digs in Stalnaker Residence Hall. He was beyond eager to dive full-speed into life as a Bulldog. Of course, there were the first-year challenges of learning to balance life and academics. But Mecham, who has Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy and gets around with a motorized wheelchair, also had to plan out the minutest details of living on a college campus. “My first year of college was a long series of learning from mistakes and correcting them,” says Mecham, now a senior set to graduate in December 2016. “People didn’t think I should be living on campus. And there was no way I was going to prove them right.” That first year in the dorms, Mecham had a live-in personal attendant to help him get in and out of the chair and complete day-to-day dining, showering, and other tasks. Still, some things he just couldn’t plan for. “There were times I was still up at 3 a.m. because my personal attendant didn’t show up, and I didn’t know what to do,” he recalls. “Being a student is a fulltime job in itself,” he adds. “You balance that with being disabled, which, in the very best of circumstances, is its own part-time job.” Missing Pieces Born in the years after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, Mecham and his Drake peers have always lived in a world with access ramps, accessible parking, closed captioning, and service animals. The country is a far more inclusive place than it was 25 years ago. So is Drake.

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“We provide the piece that may be missing—accommodations to level the playing field,” says Michelle Laughlin, gr’08, student disability services coordinator and go-to person when Drake students need support or simply a sounding board. “We ensure that they’re getting the same education as anyone else getting a Drake degree.” Accommodations could include anything from hiring sign language interpreters, note takers, and transcription services to offering testing in a different location or textbooks in a different format to figuring out logistics for service animals and off-campus snow removal. When Laughlin came to Drake in 2005 to pursue a master’s degree in secondary school counseling, she found that the road toward accessibility in higher education still had a few bumps. “My first class was in Medbury on the second floor,” recalls Laughlin, who uses a motorized chair. “I went in and asked where the elevator was. There was no elevator.” Today Drake’s physical facilities are much easier to navigate, with elevators, ramps, power doors, and accessible first-year residence halls, but hurdles remain; Laughlin is set to conduct a physical survey to plan further modifications. “Even though we may not have to do something, it’s about going that extra step and doing it anyway,” she says of a focus on people, not mandates. “This campus has improved greatly, but there’s still a long way to go.” Annika Grassl has already gotten to work on improvements. “The need and demand for disabilities services is growing on campuses across the nation,” says Grassl, a public relations and law, politics, and society double major who helped launch and now leads a new student organization: Disability Awareness Action Community (DAAC ). “The strong program we have at Drake needs an increase in funding as well as staff.” The organization is focused on inclusion and advocacy, helping remedy the isolation that students with disabilities can experience, explains Grassl, who lauds her internship opportunities with now-retired Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Handicap International in London, and Iona Senior Services in Washington, D.C. Grassl says DAAC also seeks to help educate the campus community on the “why” behind accommodations, such as requests for extended testing time. “We need extended time to process information,” explains Grassl, who has limited vision. “When I need a 24- to 36-point font, it takes longer to process. That extra time gives me a level playing field so I can do the best I can.” The Drake senior’s ultimate goal is a culture shift. “Above all, I would like the campus community to know that students with disabilities are all around them,” she says. “It’s important to see the person, not the physical, mental, or emotional disability. It starts with person-first language, and extends into daily interactions.”

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Not Needs but Rights Daniel Van Sant’s Senior Capstone was eye-opening. “We each picked a topic for our research based on ‘How We blank,’” says Van Sant, as’11, recalling how each student had to complete the statement. “I’d noticed through the coursework we’d covered marginalized populations—racial struggles, feminist theory, and LGBT rights—but in none of my classes did we ever talk about disability as a cultural identity or even a civil rights struggle.”

130 to 145 students a semester request accommodations from the Student Disability Services office.

The result was a paper titled “How We Overlook,” addressing the largest minority population in the United States—the 54 million people with disabilities— and examining the stigma and sense of invisibility often experienced by people with disabilities from different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and economic means. While at Drake, Van Sant cut his teeth on policy and advocacy with Disability Rights IOWA and the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. He took on more disability rights work in the nation’s capital as a grad student, and handled cases on disability discrimination as a student attorney. A 2016 law graduate from Syracuse University and a new hire at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Van Sant is now putting his passion and determination to work in the area of disability law—using his position and voice to advocate for those who may not have had the same advantages he had. “We weren’t rich, but my parents had government insurance,” says Van Sant, who has hip dysplasia and identifies as disabled. “Surgeries were covered; I had physical therapy and occupational therapy for 13 years. Those are resources that a lot of people don’t have. I also hold a certain amount of societal privilege thanks to my gender, race, sexual orientation, and educational opportunities. I should take that where I can, and make sure I take the other people who couldn’t get there with me.”

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Inclusion at Drake The need to change perceptions and reframe conversations is at the very heart of Drake’s new Statement on Diversity and Inclusion, created by members of the campus community in spring 2016 (www.drake.edu/about /diversity-inclusion). “The statement commits Drake to going beyond classroom accommodations for students with disabilities,” says Melissa Sturm-Smith, associate provost for academic excellence and student success. “It gets us thinking more broadly about all the ways that our community provides an exceptional learning environment for all students.” Sturm-Smith adds that declaring diversity fundamental to Drake’s excellence and success rings true for her in her role, as well. “I have been challenged to think and act differently as a result of opportunities to work with students with disabilities,” she says. “I have been stretched to get outside my privileged sphere as an ble-bodied person. And I believe I am a more effective administrator as a result of those experiences.”

Secrets of Success Intellectual disability and mental illness are often hidden challenges compounded by stigma. Susan (Atkinson) Johnson, as’99, kept her struggles under wraps as a sociology major at Drake. “When you’re bipolar, your brain processes differently,” explains Johnson. “It takes longer for me to learn and memorize material, and it’s hard for me to organize my thoughts when someone is giving me information orally.” Her path wasn’t easy. She cycled through four colleges—two community colleges and two private universities—before finally landing on a fifth where she could be successful: Drake University. “I felt that the professors were really there for me,” she recalls. “They made the time to meet with me one on one.” Today, Johnson pays that time and support forward as an instructional assistant for students with disabilities at a school in Las Vegas. She also laid bare her experiences in a 2015 book, Some Dreams Are Worth Keeping: A Memoir of My Bipolar Journey, sharing how her life changed dramatically at 19 when she was diagnosed with bipolar manic depression. “I wanted people to hear a success story,” she says. “It’s okay to have a mental illness. You can still earn a BA. You can still have a great life.” Leading by Example Education and employment contribute to successful lives, yet only 16 percent of people with disabilities are college graduates (compared to 34 percent of those without disabilities), and 11 percent are unemployed (versus 5 percent). A 2007 DePaul University study found that employees with disabilities were just as dependable and productive as employees without disabilities, and stayed on the job longer than their counterparts. U.S. Department of Labor and Oﬃce of Disability Employment Policy statistics show that employing people with disabilities correlates with lower costs, higher revenues, and increased profits—not to mention the problem-solving skills and enhanced corporate culture that result from such workplace diversity. “Living with a disability, I’m a pretty creative guy,” says Mecham. “I carry a drumstick everywhere I go on campus and use it to press buttons. And when I hit an obstacle, my first instinct is to find a way around it, over it, or through it. That’s valuable. People should want to hire people like that.”

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Mecham has just one semester to go before he hits the real world. He’s had an active, meaningful Drake career—a computer technician with the Drake help desk; drummer in the Drake Marching Band; founding member of ATO , one of Drake’s service fraternities; youth leader at his church; and now a new intern with Disability Rights IOWA doing video and social media. He wants to work as a special education teacher after graduation, but if he does, he’ll lose the subsidy that pays for an attendant to help with personal care, among other Medicaid and Social Security Income benefits.

220 Drake students identified themselves as having a disability during the 2015–2016 academic year.

“No matter what job I have, unless I’m making $100,000 a year, if my chair runs down, I can’t afford to replace it,” he says. “Yet, if I had a job, I could pay taxes and pay a premium for my own care, just like everyone else does. I would be off Social Security Disability. How does not doing that help our country?” Mecham doesn’t see himself as heroic, or even particularly special. He also doesn’t see himself in the media that so powerfully molds public perception. “When you see portrayals of disability, it’s either someone who climbs Mount Everest, like, people with disabilities are the most special people in the world, or the sad, pitiful ones,” he laments. “Where are the regular people with jobs and families and happy relationships? That’s what we need to see.” The solution, he believes, begins with leadership and representation within the disability community. “We’re not seen as leaders, and if we are, we’re seen as anomalies,” says Mecham. “The more we see community leaders who have disabilities, the more people see it as something that isn’t foreign. Because we’re capable. But it starts with me ... And all of those people who are disabled but living fulfilling, successful lives.”

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Cartography of Care INDEPENDENT PHARMACIES NAVIGATE THE LANDSCAPE OF RURAL HEALTH.

By Jennifer Krane, Class of 2017, and Beth Wilson

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FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES, TERRY CARLEY, PH’65, OWNED AND OPERATED CARLEY DRUG IN AVOCA. THE WESTERN IOWA TOWN OF 1,500 BECAME HOME WHEN THE PHARMACIST WAS A NEWLYWED. IT’S WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE RAISED THEIR TWO CHILDREN. IT’S WHERE HE EVENTUALLY SAT ON NEARLY EVERY LOCAL CIVIC ORGANIZATION AND EVEN TOOK A TURN AS MAYOR FOR SIX YEARS. IT’S WHERE HE WATCHED THE BALLGAMES OF THE KIDS HE SERVED, AND LATER THEIR KIDS—AND EVEN THOSE KIDS’ KIDS. Carley sold his business to a Nebraskabased drugstore company in August 2014 so he could retire at age 72. The transaction included the buyer’s commitment to keep the Avoca pharmacy open, but in January 2016 a Wisconsin-based retailer with an existing pharmacy 13 miles north in Harlan (population 5,000) bought the business. Carley Drug shut its doors January 29. “Everybody was terror stricken,” recalls Carley. “Our location was right on the corner in the middle of town. We lost an anchor of the community.”

Mapping Access According to a 2014 study by the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) at the University of Iowa, 924 independently owned rural U.S. pharmacies closed between 2003 and 2013. Nearly 500 rural communities with one or more retail pharmacies in 2003 had none a decade later. The trend is mirrored in state-specific data sets collected by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. The number of independent Iowa pharmacies fell from 524 to 351 between 2004 and 2014. The number of counties with independent pharmacies decreased from 91 (of 99) to 71 in the same time frame. Commonly, explains Michael Andreski, associate professor of social and administrative pharmacy at Drake, a multi-pharmacy organization purchases a rural independent pharmacy—or rather access to its prescription files—and encourages patients to seek services at the organization’s nearest existing location, which is more economical for the new owner but may be less convenient for patients.

“It adds to pressures of quality of life in rural counties by having services become more remote,” says Andreski. Pharmacies provide not only prescription and over-the-counter medications but patient consultation, medication management, and often a range of clinical services including blood pressure checks; blood glucose testing; immunizations; and screenings for osteoporosis, asthma, hearing, cholesterol, and obesity. In medically underserved areas and populations (found in 72 of Iowa’s 99 counties, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health), a pharmacist may be a town’s only health care provider. A pharmacist intimately familiar with his or her community is able to offer more personalized care. Without this connection, medication compliance can decline, leading to additional heath issues. Elderly patients, often with multiple conditions and medications, are particularly vulnerable. Exacerbation or progression of disease, complications, additional illness, and hospitalization affect not only individual well-being but health care expenditures ($105 billion annually

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Over & Above the Counter Rural areas have a higher proportion of residents age 75 or older—who are more likely to have chronic diseases and disabilities. Medicare currently allows many different health care professionals to bill directly for services, but pharmacists are excluded. A bill introduced in January 2015 would amend Title XVIII in the Social Security Act to include pharmacists as providers and enable Medicare beneficiaries to access their services.

in avoidable costs due to patients taking medicines inappropriately, according to some sources). Nearly 80 percent of independent pharmacists in Iowa work in communities of less than 15,000; nearly 50 percent in communities of less than 5,000. An independent pharmacy’s closure can mean not only the loss of patient care services but also the decline of a small town’s well-being. Andreski likens the centralization of pharmacy services to the consolidation of school systems across Iowa. “When a town loses its school, it’s a blow to its vitality,” he says. “Families with young children are hesitant to live in a community where, if their child needs an antibiotic, they have to drive half an hour. What if that half-hour drive is in the middle of January in a blizzard?”

The Terrain of Sustainability Independent pharmacies face formidable challenges. One is economic. Up until the 1980s, most patients paid for prescription medication out of their own pockets. In the ’80s and ’90s, health insurance companies began adding prescription coverage as incentive for patient medication compliance, which could help avoid health complications that might result in costly hospital visits. During the same time period, pharmaceutical manufacturers were expanding investment in research and development, bringing to market more

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effective medications with fewer side effects and giving rise to the era of blockbuster drugs. Costs soared. Health insurance companies (and eventually public programs) sought cost containment through newly formed Prescription Benefit Managers (PBMs), who work to more efficiently connect pharmacies to patient networks. Resulting competition reduced dispensing rates, and pharmacy profit margins shrunk further whenever insurance reimbursement didn’t keep pace with rising medication costs. While multi-pharmacy organizations can better weather lower rates by spreading operating expenses over a much larger business volume, and by realizing profits instead in retail sales (groceries, magazines, photo services, etc.), small, independent pharmacies don’t have the same economies of scale or alternate revenue sources. So the growing number of closures in rural Iowa, says Andreski, is not surprising. “It’s just a natural outgrowth of reimbursement policies … that were putting these pharmacies in a situation where they were not economically viable—an outgrowth of a race to the bottom.” Another substantial challenge facing independent rural pharmacies is an aging workforce. Nearly half of Iowa’s independent pharmacists are age 50 or older; 24 percent are 60 or older. The number of pharmacists 55 or older in communities with a

Alumni for Avoca Terry Carley helped Bill Robinson, ph’75, set up Oakland Pharmacy in 1984. While the nearby independent pharmacy is currently filling prescriptions and delivering them to a number of Avoca patients, Robinson and Carley hope to see greater service arrive soon. New

legislation has opened possibilities for a telepharmacy—with a technician on site and Robinson supervising from 13 miles south— or even a hybrid model, with the reopened corner anchor operating with a pharmacist on site part of the week.

population of 10,000 or less has increased nearly 60 percent during the past two decades.

taught him a lot about his community and its needs. He returned to Eagle Grove Pharmacy as a summer intern in 2014, and he plans to hang his shingle in the town of 3,500 soon after graduation, partnering in a succession plan with the pharmacist who’s served the community for more than three decades.

A 2013 RUPRI study found that while financial challenges play a role in rural pharmacy closures, the most common cause is pharmacist retirement and the inability to recruit a successor. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (CPHS) Dean Renae Chesnut says fewer than 10 percent of Drake PharmD graduates in the past few years have chosen independent community pharmacy. The additional debt that would accompany a pharmacy purchase, she explains, can be a deterrent for those concerned about student loan obligations. A career path that was tenable for graduates in earlier decades may no longer be so.

Expanding Horizons Andrew Wagner is prepared and optimistic. The fourth-year PharmD student says the future includes pharmacy as yet one more specialty in the expanse of health care providers. “You have your cardiologist, your pulmonologist, your orthopedic surgeon. [Pharmacists are] also doctors. We’re specialists in medication.” Wagner grew up in Eagle Grove, Iowa, and while in high school worked for the local independent pharmacy making deliveries. It was a peoplefocused experience that Wagner says

He’ll bring with him not only advanced knowledge of medication and use, not only wide-reaching clinical practice experience, but also a new business model. A pharmacist can still make a good living as a rural independent, says Wagner, but only by being an entrepreneur. Through the resources and experiences of Drake Entrepreneurial Leadership Tools for Advancement (DELTA Rx), he has honed skills in networking, marketing, securing better pricing through buying groups, and developing centralized care plans that are efficiently executed by a health care team (and hold promise for reducing overall health care costs).

vaccinations, cholesterol screening, blood thickness testing, travel consultation. Wagner sees new possibilities for diagnostic tests (e.g., confirming strep throat or bacterial sinusitis). Responding to what he describes as an epidemic, Wagner is combining his degree with a concentration in diabetes, a rapidly growing concern in rural Iowa. Pharmacists, he says, can play a critical role in monitoring and regulating the disease. “Right now we have two physicians [in Eagle Grove], and they don’t have time to be seeing the patient every month. But, as a pharmacist, I see you every month,” explains Wagner. “I’m checking your blood sugar logs ... and if a change needs to be made, why am I not making that change? I’m trained to do that. Why shouldn’t I, and improve your health instead of having you wait two more months before you can see your doctor to make that change?”

Wagner highlights the Iowa Pharmacy Association’s New Practice Model pilot “If you are just dispensing medication, project, in which the CPHS’ Andreski is a lead researcher. By employing you’re not going to make it,” says a pharmacy technician verification Wagner of the traditional role of pharmacists. “You’ve got to differentiate process for dispensing, pharmacists can spend more time on clinical services yourself and make yourself of even and the coordination of chronic care. greater value to the community.” Greater value comes through expanded “Independent pharmacists,” says offerings such as customized monthly Wagner, “can bring the whole rural health care landscape together.” medication packaging, prescription compounding, and home health equipment, as well as clinical services provided as part of collaborative practice agreements with physicians—

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Forks in the Road BULLDOGS FOLLOW THEIR PASSIONS, ALL IN GOOD TASTE.

By Brian Taylor Carlson, JO‘16

JORGE GUZMAN TAKES A SPOONFUL OF HIS SPECIAL MASA—A CORN-BASED DOUGH—AND PRESSES A JUICY MORSEL OF ROASTED PORK INTO ITS MIDDLE. HE ROLLS THE MIXTURE INTO A BALL AND DROPS IT INTO A CORN HUSK THAT’S BEEN SOAKING IN HOT WATER OVERNIGHT. AFTER TWISTING THE ENDS TIGHTLY AND SECURING THEM WITH THIN STRIPS OF HUSK, HE PLACES THE MINIATURE TAMALE ALONGSIDE HUNDREDS OF OTHERS IN A STORAGE CONTAINER FOR REFRIGERATION. These small delicacies are about to make their way across town from the kitchen at Surly Brewing Company, where Guzman, jo’03, is executive chef, to a prep station at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel, where they’ll star in his showcase menu that includes unique adaptations of pozole, pâté en croûte, porchetta, and more. Aficionados from across the country will soon gather to taste Guzman’s creations and the specialties of four other chefs as they compete in Cochon555, a fine-dining match-up promoting pork from heritage breed pigs. The “nose-to-tail” cooking competition pairs five accomplished chefs with five family farms providing five heritage breed pigs. Launched eight years ago, Cochon555 (“cochon” is

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French for “pig”) visits major cities across the country each year to not only showcase culinary excellence but also raise awareness, helping farmers reach chefs who reach consumers through their dining rooms—and grow the market for pork from heritage breed pigs. Guzman’s gastronomic tour de force enlists two powerful components: a culinary influence from his upbringing in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, and the pork of a Large Black. “When you’re able to use a breed like a Large Black, it’s very special, and you should take advantage of that. And we did,” says Guzman, praising the heritage pork’s meat-to-fat ratio and flavor. “The fat is super-creamy and very delicate. The meat is red, almost like steak. It’s just gorgeous and well-marbled, and it eats really well.”

The Business of Dreams Angela Johnson parks her old Ford pickup at the corner of a gently rolling pasture and pulls back a wide metal gate. More than a hundred solid-black pigs dot the southcentral Iowa landscape, lazily grazing on grass until Johnson unloads tall bags of corn and begins tossing handfuls of the special treat. Even those topping the scale at 275 pounds are quick to come, their long, protruding ears flapping as they run.

This Little Piggy

Johnson, bn’01, operates the 25-acre Lucky George Farm with her husband, Jason, and their six children. Together they are raising one of the largest herds of Large Blacks in North America, and helping sustain a traditional livestock breed that thrives on farming practices from an earlier era. Johnson talks in such detail about Large Black behavior, dietary requirements, breeding, and even butchering, you’d assume she and her family have been at this for generations. In fact, they’ve been farming less than three years.

Originating in southwestern England, Large Blacks have solid black skin and fur and floppy lop-ears protruding forward to cover and protect their eyes. While most pigs dig for sustenance, nabbing roots and tubers from the soil, Large Blacks are grazers, preferring shoots, stems, and leaves of grasses and weeds. They have a high growth-to-calorie ratio—meaning they can thrive on very little food or food that is low in calories and nutritional value. Capable of reaching 600– 800 pounds, they are known for their docile temperament and prized for their flavorful, lean meat. Large Blacks nearly became extinct due to agriculture’s shift to intensive farming practices, but interest in pasture-raised pork has halted the decline.

Born and raised in Des Moines, Johnson transferred to Drake at age 24 with an associate’s degree, a husband, and their first child. She started in actuarial science and ended up a double-major in finance and accounting. “I wanted an understanding of how money works,” recalls Johnson, a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. That knowledge would later become a critical asset in starting a farm business. “Input, output, cash flow, what is our rate of return on investment ... the language of business—all of that I learned at Drake.” The family’s trajectory led to graduate studies—a law degree for Johnson, an MBA for both her and her husband—and career moves and even health crises

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before leading them to a patch of Iowa farmland and a dream of growing their own food. The Johnsons first agreed on the way they wanted to farm—hands off, everything outdoors—then they chose animals to match. In a place that heralds breaded tenderloins four times the size of the bun and grilled chop on a stick reminiscent of The Flintstones, pork is familiar. Pork from heritage breed pigs is not. “We believe that if people eat the meat, they are going to taste the difference,” says Johnson, explaining Lucky George’s strategy of conservancy through consumption— consumer demand increasingly supporting small family farms devoted to heritage breeds. “That’s what we’ve seen, and, as we grow our customer base, it’s been because they’ve eaten our pork, and they can’t go back.”

Feasting on Passions Guzman cooked his way through high school and college. “I always had a passion for it.” he says. “The food where I’m from in Mexico is just amazing, and the influences I had were great.” In 1984 his family moved to St. Louis, where Guzman discovered American football, and it was the sport that led him to Drake. He set out to study business, then discovered more creativity in advertising. And still he cooked.

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He became best friends with a fellow Bulldog who shared his passion for food, and during their junior year the two talked about the possibility of culinary school. His friend’s untimely death prevented them from ever cooking together, but three months after graduation, Guzman turned talk into action at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. After kitchens in South Carolina, Colorado, and Minnesota, Guzman now leads Brewer’s Table, an 85-seat restaurant at Minneapolis’ Surly Brewing Company. His menu earned the chef-driven experience a spot on Food & Wine’s 2016 list of 10 best restaurants in the country, and Guzman was tapped this year as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest by the James Beard Foundation. Cochon555 organizers took note. Guzman had locally raised heritage pork on his menu. He promoted local food events and connected his customers with local farmers. The contest invited him to compete, proposing he work with a Large Black. “When I was at another restaurant, I got one from a local farmer, and it was just really great pork,” says Guzman, stressing the influence of farmers on the dining experience he creates. “But it was tough to find that breed. When it came up as part of the competition, I jumped at it.”

The Taste of Competition Raising heritage pigs in their natural environment is a critical part of a successful heritage pork business. Networking, stresses Johnson, is another. Lucky George Farm is an active member in the International Slow Food Movement, the Livestock Conservancy, and the Large Black Pig Breeders Club in the United Kingdom. When Johnson discovered a heritage pork happening that didn’t involve her, she quickly shot off an email to Cochon555 organizers. Hey, we raise Large Blacks! A few minutes later, her phone rang. A few weeks later, Lucky George took its first pig to Cochon555 in Minneapolis. That Large Black became part of a 2015 winning regional team, and another soon took national honors. As plans were laid for events in 2016, Cochon555 organizers contacted Johnson. We definitely want one of your pigs again.

Crowning Achievements It wasn’t until after the tamales were considered and consumed, after the votes were cast and tallied, after the Cochon555 regional crown was bestowed on the Surly chef and the Lucky George pig in Minneapolis, that Guzman and Johnson discovered another common thread in their paths. “We were talking, and he said something about Des Moines, that he had lived there,” remembers Johnson. “‘What brought you to Des Moines?’ I asked. ‘Work?’ He said, ‘No, I was a student at Drake.’” The fortuitous culinary encounter revealed not only a Bulldog bond and competitive spirit but also a connected pursuit: influencing the way food is grown, the way food is experienced. Guzman and Johnson teamed up again in the national competition—Grand Cochon—and while they didn’t come home with that crown, they did return as champions.

This Bulldog Foodie Brian Taylor Carlson, jo’16, has been a waiter, a mixologist, a banquet manager, and an event planner. Over the course of 25 years in the restaurant industry, he’s served and tasted pork prepared many ways, picking up cooking techniques from chefs and even creating his own dishes. His passion for the dining experience has persisted through and even driven a career shift; with degrees in English and magazine media, he graduated from Drake in May ready to serve up narratives. Every ingredient in a beautifully crafted entrée, he stresses, is the result of countless hours of work and care by farmers and chefs alike, and he celebrates their commitment bite by bite. He wants to help others understand how amazing food happens.

“I love walking around in the crowd, hearing people talk about what they just ate, knowing that it’s our pig,” says Johnson of the competition. “It’s a chance to see people on the receiving end of what took years of hard work.” The chef creations take center stage, but Guzman underscores his larger mission. “Anything we can do as chefs to spread the word [about small heritage farms] is important.” Together they raised awareness—and the bar on remarkable food.

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now Students take a break during May 2016 finals week to sign structural beams that will become part of the permanent structure in the emerging Collier-Scripps Hall.

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Here We Grow Again The one constant on a dynamic campus is the promise of new beginnings. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s palpable each fall as a new first-year class arrives, and each spring as new graduates go forth. And throughout this year, it will continue to be evident near the corner of Forest and 27th. Bulldogs are always eager to put a stamp on their time on campusâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to proclaim their part in making Drake history. Learn more about the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest chapter online at www.drake.edu/buildingstem.

& then Students pose with a bulldozer in front of the construction site that would eventually become The Knapp Center in 1992.

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| class acts

Editor’s Note: Information listed was submitted prior to June 1, 2016, and may be edited for clarity and space.

Robert Snater, fa’53, gr’70, ’77, Santa Rosa, Calif., wrote the book A Life of Gratitude.

1960s William Hahn, ed’64, Muncie, Ind., was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Class Codes as* Arts & Sciences bn Business & Public Administration dv Divinity ed Education fa* Fine Arts

1950s

gr Graduate Studies jo Journalism & Mass Communication la* Liberal Arts

John Spencer, la’65, San Antonio, Texas, wrote One Blue Ribbon: Childhood Remembrances, an accounting of a track race and growing up during the 1950s in the Midwest. Ronald Read, jo’66, Carmel Valley, Calif., is the co-founder of ReadAboutGolf.com.

ph Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Karen Crawford, ed’68, gr’95, Newton, Iowa, became the rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church of Newton.

*The reorganization of Drake’s colleges and schools in 1987 combined liberal arts and fine arts. Pre-1987 alumni are identified with la or fa; post-1987 with as.

Sharon (Messick) King, as’68, Fountain, Colo., retired after 43 years of teaching vocal music and computers in Iowa and Colorado.

lw Law

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Richard Treptow, bn’68, Fishers, Ind., received his Master of Arts in theological studies, graduating with distinction from Liberty University School of Divinity. Robert Blitz, la’69, St. Louis, received the Attorney of the Year award from Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

1970s Greg Lemmer, la’70, Lexington, Va., retired from the Boys Home of Virginia after 23 years of service. He was inducted into the Boys Home Hall of Fame for his leadership building projects and funding endeavors.

John Hall, la’71, gr’75, Ventura, Calif., became the deputy public

guardian at the Human Services Agency of Ventura County. Janet (Stout) Lemmer, ed’71, Lexington, Va., retired from the Boys Home of Virginia after 20 years of service. She was inducted into the Boys Home Hall of Fame for her leadership in building projects and funding endeavors. Dean Powell, la’71, lw’74, gr’74, retired after a 40-plus year legal career, the last 23 as assistant general counsel at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He received NSF’s Distinguished Service Medal, which recognizes singularly exceptional service that has had a profound impact on NSF, its mission, and the nation.

Gold & White & Blue All Over Bulldogs from the classes of 1957 and 1967 can reconnect and enjoy Blue Oval action as our 50/60 Reunion moves to spring during the 2017 Drake Relays. More details coming soon!

(Left to right) William Hahn, ed’64; Joseph Brisben, gr’76; Joyce Daniels, ed’78, gr’88

J. Paul Blake, jo’72, Renton, Wash., was the recipient of the Donald C. Stone Service to ASPA Award. This award pays tribute to American Society for Public Administration members who have contributed outstanding services to the Society. Bill Thompson, bn’72, Ashland, Mo., will be retiring at the end of the year from the Supreme Court of Missouri after 38 years of service. Kenrie (Lane) Reeves Lane, jo’75, Southfield, Mich., received her Master of Arts in teaching from Wayne State University. Gayle (Ricklefs) Mayer, ph’75, Spirit Lake, Iowa, was granted fellowship status in the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. Joseph Brisben, gr’76, Iowa City, Iowa, wrote his first novel, Marvin’s Garden, a story about an abused housewife in Pond Creek, Okla.

THE YEAR WAS

1972

Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” spends six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. M*A*S*H premieres on CBS. The VW Beetle dominates the small car segment of the U.S. auto market.

Were you on campus in 1972? Share your favorite memories: #DURemember or bluemag@drake.edu Diane (Heim) Parker, fa’76, McDonough, Ga., retired from the Henry County School System in McDonough, Ga., after 29 years of teaching in Iowa and Georgia. Michael Pierce, bn’76, Houston, was included in the Chambers USA 2016 legal directory by Chambers & Partners, as “Leaders in their Field.” Jon Boyden, fa’77, Long Beach, Calif., was promoted to management

analyst, risk management and safety, for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. Thomas Henderson, la’77, lw’80, Des Moines, was recognized for 30 years of service with the law firm Whitfield & Eddy. Stephanie Garry, fa’77, Stamford, Conn., became the chief administrative officer for the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel.

Patricia (Bartels) Knutzen, bn’77, Raymore, Mo., became the director of consulting at Huron Consulting Group, Inc. Joyce Daniels, ed’78, gr’88, Iowa City, Iowa, wrote the book, Quick Walk to Murder. Anne Holmquest, fa’78, Aberdeen, S.D., wrote the book, Visual Talk: How to Speak Anywhere with Graphics, which demonstrates how to speak publicly in the digital age. Wendy (Batten) Havemann, ed’79, gr’11, Ankeny, Iowa, is the leadership development manager of the FFA Foundation’s Enrichment Center. Robert Litz, la’79, St. Louis, was named president of United States Arbitration & Mediation and serves on the Mediator and Senior Arbitrator panels. He will lead national and international arbitration and mediation services from USA&M’s St. Louis headquarters.

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(Left to right) Mary Mayrose, fa’80; Mary Ellen Kimball, gr’89

1980s Judith (Eggerling) Cunningham, gr’80, Estes Park, Colo., received the Katie Speer Individual Philanthropist of the Year Award in November 2015. Mary Mayrose, fa’80, Phenix City, Ala., is executive director of the Phenix City Housing Authority. She is working to redevelop a 1940s public housing project and create self-sufficiency programs for low-income residents. Rich Hendricks, la’80, Davenport, Iowa, received the Outstanding Service Award, given by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches for justice work in advocating for immigration reform, climate action, and racial healing. Sylvia (Garcia) Novakoff, jo’80, Fullerton, Calif., joined the team at Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County as family connections coordinator. Family connections helps find and create a

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’83

Dave Schulte rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in January.

supportive network of family and friends for children currently in the foster care system. David Beall, bn’81, Orange, Calif., is co-founder of Serious Social Media, a social media software solution for insurance agents and other industries. Serious Social Media was selected to join the second class of the Global Insurance Accelerator, the prestigious business accelerator focused on developing and growing innovative insurancecentric startups. Linda Plevak, la’81, Boerne, Texas, received a 2016 National Institute for Staff and Organization Development (NISOD) award. NISOD promotes and celebrates excellence in teaching, learning, and leadership at community colleges. She was recognized for

demonstrating an outstanding commitment to students and colleagues at Northeast Lakeview College in Universal City, Texas.

of Johnson Consulting Services, an award-winning management consultant specializing in strategy development and developing strategies for growth.

Gregory Dockum, bn’82, gr’83, Urbandale, Iowa, was re-elected for a second term to the Johnston Community School District Board of Education.

Jane Burns, jo’83, Mount Horeb, Wis., joined the staff at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a writer.

Robert Graziano, bn’82, East Lansing, Mich., retired from Ford Motor Company after nearly 33 years of service. He is currently a member of the board of regents for Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia, where he also serves on their Board of Trustees. Jill Johnson, bn’82, gr’83, Fridley, Minn., has been named the new chair of the Homes for Heroes Foundation. Johnson is the president and founder

Linda Biermann Hoobin, gr’83, Johnston, Iowa, retired from Heartland AEA after 38 years in the field of education. David Schulte, bn’83, Mission Hills, Kan., rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Jan. 26. David is the chief executive officer of CorEnergy. Jennifer (Lawrence) Butler, fa’87, Crockett, Calif., successfully completed the requirements for the Certified Financial Planner and was

SHADES OF BLUE

The Business of Politics

promoted to associate advisor at her firm, Summit Wealth and Retirement Partners in Walnut Creek, Calif. Marketa Oliver, as’88, gr’90, Norwalk, Iowa, became the division administrator for IowaWorks, a re-employment division for Iowa Workforce Development.

The job market was red hot when Sara Taylor Fagen, bn’97, graduated from Drake, and she set her sights on the business world, landing a lucrative offer from a Midwestern grocery chain. It seemed like everything she should want. There was just one thing: Fagen loved politics, first as a Dubuque high school student and then as a finance major at Drake, where in addition to business she studied political science—even taking a year off to volunteer in the 1996 presidential race. Now, she hesitated. “I just couldn’t quite give up the politics,” she recalls. So she packed up and moved to Washington, D.C., to manage research and media buying for a prominent Republican polling firm. Around the same time, the Republican National Committee began to explore using complex data sets—big data—to reach voters. “Doing that type of data targeting was new,” says Fagen. “But my background allowed me to see its value immediately. It took some convincing to sell it internally, but my time at Drake and [the polling firm] —focusing on data—really helped.” Her work was considered key to George W. Bush’s successful re-election campaign, earning her a role as White House director of political affairs. John Haskell, who taught political science at Drake from 1990 to 2000, was impressed but not surprised. “What she was able to do, better than maybe any student I’ve ever had,” he says, “was to marry political instincts with an ability to handle statistics.” Since leaving the White House, Fagen has launched three companies that assist legislative, public affairs, and corporate clients in better targeting their messaging. She’s also a regular contributor on CNBC. “Drake’s business program—with its heavy focus on data, finance, and analytical classes—forced me to think differently,” she says. “That helped prepare me for my career, certainly in politics but ultimately in business.”

Mary Ellen Kimball, gr’89, Osceola, Iowa, is the chair of the Iowa Cultural Trust Foundation, and is an active member of the Stage West Theater Board of Directors. She also has an art exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center.

1990s Nancy (Goeser) Bell, ph’90, West Des Moines, Iowa, was selected by Pfizer, Inc. to receive the We Work for Health Champions Award. This industry-wide award recognizes Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)-member company employees who have been exemplary advocates.

class acts | blue

SHADES OF BLUE

Seen and Heard

Emily Lang thought she would love college. After graduating from Oskaloosa High School, she attended a private college, planning to study theatre. “I had acted in shows from the time I was six years old,” she recalls. But when her dream of acting began to slip, she did, too. “I had been a good student,” she says, “but inside, I didn’t have that self-worth. I wanted to find a community so badly, but I no longer fit.” She dropped out and tried a university but continued to lose her way. She saves the details for her closest confidants, but she’s open about one thing: “I was going down a dangerous path.” Rebuilding began with community college and a job waiting tables at Drake Diner. Eventually, she gathered her courage and applied at Drake. That’s where faculty saw how her passions for performance, reading, and writing—as well as credits already earned—could fit into degrees in secondary education and English with endorsements in rhetoric and theatre. “They scooped me up and helped me navigate those two years,” says Lang, as’07, ed’07, gr’12 (who would return to Drake for her master’s). “They helped me love learning again.” Now a teacher with Des Moines Public Schools, Lang—with husband Kristopher Rollins, also a teacher—builds skills in reading, writing, urban studies, and public speaking. Students in Lang and Rollins’ innovative programs have become known throughout Des Moines for their powerful rhetoric about social issues. This year, six of them earned Drake admission. “A lot of our kids, even though they live in the Drake neighborhood, never thought Drake would be an option for them,” says Lang. She’s confident they’ll be in good hands. “Drake cared about me as an individual. That’s where I learned how important it is when one person says, ‘I see you. I hear you. I am going to help you.’” Visit www.rundsm.org to learn more about programs developed by Emily Lang and Kristopher Rollins.

44 blue | class acts

John August, jo’92, Beverly Hills, Calif., was named the recipient of the Writers Guild of America, West’s 2016 Valentine Davies Award, in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and civic service, as well as his pivotal role in fostering a community of writers. Duane Magee, ed’92, Waukee, Iowa, has been hired to be the next superintendent in the Norwalk Community School District. Rinky Parwani, bn’92, gr’93, Tampa, Fla., was published in the American Bar Association’s GPSOLO magazine in the March/April 2016 issue with her article titled “Residential Foreclosures: Helping Your Client with Options.” Chris Rupp, as’93, Prairie Village, Kan., has been honored by the Society of Insurance Counselors for maintaining his certified insurance counselor designation for 25 years.

(Left to right) John August, jo’92; Michelle

(Bowlin) Cronk, as’97

Andrew Holmes, bn’94, Urbandale, Iowa, was recently promoted to senior vice president of center store for Hy-Vee, Inc. Marti Ryan, gr’94, Decatur, Ga., is the co-founder of Telematic, a stand-alone smartphone solution for usage-based insurance for cars. Telematic was selected to join the second class of the Global Insurance Accelerator, the prestigious global business accelerator focused on developing and growing innovative insurancecentric startups. Matthew Damschroder, as’96, Huntingdon, Pa., became the vice president for student life/dean of students at Juniata College. Darren Henson, bn’96, Chicago, completed a PhD in

’98

theological ethics, specializing in health care ethics. In December, he began working at Presence Health in Chicago as the regional officer for mission and ethics. Amy Schmelzer, jo’96, gr’10, Des Moines, became the operations manager at KCCI-TV on June 1, 2016. Michelle (Bowlin) Cronk, as’97, Kansas City, Mo., has been honored by her peers and the Missouri School Public Relations Association as the Tina Zubeck Award winner for 2016. The recipients of this award are dedicated, positive, and have high energy as well as a dedication to serve the children of their school district. Will Johnson, gr’97, Ankeny, Iowa, is the director of development at the Iowa State University Foundation.

Your Commitment. Our Honor. Thanks to the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends who ensure Drake University continues its meaningful work. Visit www.drake.edu/donors to view the complete list of 2015–2016 contributors. Timothy Schelwat, lw’97, Cedarburg, Wis., has been selected to renew his membership as a National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Lawyer, an invitation-only organization composed of the most exemplary trial lawyers who meet a strict number of qualifications, exhibit extraordinary trial results, and display leadership.

Ian Tullberg, as’98, Colorado Springs, Colo., was promoted to medical director of one of University of Colorado Health’s busiest urgent care clinics. Ryan Johnson, jo’99, West Des Moines, Iowa, earned his accreditation in public relations from Public Relations Society of America.

Angela (Weakland) Morales, as’98, lw’01, Des Moines, was promoted to counsel at Faegre Baker Daniels.

Ian Tullberg directs one of UCHealth’s busiest urgent care clinics. class acts | blue

T BUL LD O

FALL 2016

I N G TO N

THE DOGS OF D.C. There are more than 70,000 Bulldogs across the planet, and more than 900 are nestled in the nation’s capital. Some of these D.C.-based alumni work in politics or in the private sector as lawyers. Others are journalists, teachers, or pharmacists—the same professional diversity reflected by Drake across the globe. Alumna Leah Shimp Vass, as’99, has been involved in the Regional Advisory Board (RAB) in D.C. since it started in 2010. Each year, the group organizes a Drake Me Out to the Ballgame event and a service project on DU Good Day. A summer networking event for Drake students and recent alumni—created in response to the nature of the D.C. job market—connects them with established area alumni. “The key to getting a job in D.C. is networking and who you know,” says Shimp Vass, assistant vice president, government relations, CIT Group Inc., a financial holding company. “That’s how I got my last job. It’s very much a key to getting ahead here.” Paul Doucette, bn’97, has been in D.C. for 19 years and credits part of his success to the network of alumni in the area. “It’s a great asset and has benefited me professionally,” says Doucette, now vice president of government relations and public policy at Battelle, a nonprofit research and development organization. “That’s why I’m so interested in helping students

46 blue | class acts

get established here. Those connections can be a well-placed phone call or the knowledge of a job opening before it goes public.” Doucette, who also serves on the Drake University Board of Trustees, commends the strength of the D.C. alumni network but wants to see area Bulldogs work harder to spread information about job opportunities and support students or recent alumni in the area. A recently created Facebook group—Drake University Alumni of Washington, D.C.—provides an additional way to connect. Associate Professor of Political Science Rachel Paine Caufield was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution prior to coming to Drake, and she connects with alumni every time she brings students to the capital. Students in her 2015 J-Term course met with Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison Lanon Baccam, as’11, who then set up an hour-long meeting with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “They are an amazing group,” says Caufield of D.C. Bulldogs. “We ask a lot of them, and they consistently go above and beyond.”

How do Bulldogs run with the pack in your place on the planet? bluemag@drake.edu

(Left to right) Michael Heaston, fa’02; Eric Morse, as’00; Adam Morris, jo’04

2000s Eric Morse, as’00, West Des Moines, Iowa, earned his master’s degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University. He is now the guest experience manager at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Matthew Woodley, ed’00, Urbandale, Iowa, has been named the head coach of the Iowa Energy, the NBA Development League affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. Megan (Baron) Grandgeorge, jo’01, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Adam Justin, bn’01, gr’06, Eden Prairie, Minn., was promoted to business intelligence engineer at US Bank. Michael Richards, lw’01, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

’02

Natalie Graziano achieved professional competitive status in the International Federation of Bodybuilding.

Natalie Graziano, as’02, Trinity, Fla., achieved professional competitive status in the International Federation of Bodybuilding, allowing her to compete all over the world with the best in the sport. She placed 7th in Vancouver, Calif. Michael Heaston, fa’02, Silver Spring, Md., was named one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America in its special report, “The Influencers.” He is the executive director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Zach Nunn, as’02, Bondurant, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

Cecily (Dubusker) Wiswall, jo’02, Springfield, Mass., graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine and has secured residency placement at Baystate Medical Center. Jessica Whitfield, fa’02, Kansas City, Mo., became a cast member of the new mini-series Midget Mafia of Kansas City. She also wrote Back in Time for Murder, a play that ran at the Mystery Train dinner theatre. Neal Fisher, as’03, Leavenworth, Kan., graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy. Erin (Larsen) Edlund, jo’04, Farmington, Minn., was elected to the board of directors of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations, an affiliate of

the American Association of Community Colleges. She also joined Minnesota State Colleges and Universities as director of marketing. Crystal (Kemp) Kebnartz, ph’04, gr’04, Lewis Center, Ohio, became the chief pharmacist at Health Mart. Adam Morris, jo’04, staff photographer for Milwaukee Magazine, was chosen for publication in American Photography 32, the annual award book of AI-AP. Judges from publications across the country selected Morris’ photo (above, far right) along with 334 others (out of 8,909 entries). Blake Campbell, gr’05, Ankeny, Iowa, became the state director of Best Buddies Iowa.

Beth (Schuman) Jones, gr’06, West Des Moines, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Izaah Knox, jo’06, gr’11, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Noreen (Bush) Otto, lw’06, Newton, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Leslie Arenson, lw’07, Chicago, was named a 2016 Leading Lawyer in Illinois. Carter Casmaer, as’07, Minneapolis, is a practicing emergency physician working clinically at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby, Minn.

class acts | blue

SHADES OF BLUE

Iowa Stories, Well Told Join fellow Bulldogs online! alumni.drake.edu /socialmedia

Michael Gilmer, lw’07, Des Moines, joined the Davis Brown Law Firm as special counsel in the Business Division. He practices tax law, including complicated tax controversy, and also has experience in general business matters, advising clients on incorporation, mergers and acquisitions, and estate planning. Michael Pelke, as’07, Woodbury, Minn., was elected president of the St. Paul District Dental Society, which serves more than 700 active dentists. Courtney (Fronk) Perry, bn’07, Fremont, N.H., received her MBA in healthcare administration from University of Colorado. Ben Bingle, gr’08, Sycamore, Ill., earned his PhD in public administration and American government from Northern Illinois University. Jonathan Brendemuehl, jo’08, gr’10, Des Moines, was selected by Juice and the Young Professionals Connection to receive the Central Iowa Young Professional of the Year Award.

48 blue | class acts

In 2015, Rachel Vogel Quinn, jo’10, was working the most boring job she’d ever had after the two worst years she’d ever had when she hatched the best idea she’d ever had. It’s a lot like the stories she now explores in “Middle of Somewhere,” the elegant podcast she produces with four other Drake alumni who live and work in Des Moines. Quinn’s challenge started a few years into her career, when she began experiencing migraines so severe she had to leave her job as a college publications editor. Two years later, after a seemingly unrelated surgery, the migraines dissipated. Cautiously optimistic, Quinn began working as a technical writer for an insurance company. And while she was grateful for the job, she was bored. Really bored. Driving home one day, tuned in to Iowa Public Radio, she experienced an aha moment. “I heard an advertisement for IPR’s River to River, and I was thinking, ‘It’s so great that Iowa has this show. But it’s focused on politics and issues.’” Personal storytelling—that’s the kind of broadcast that inspired Quinn. “And I thought, ‘Why hasn’t anyone done that in Iowa?’ Then it occurred to me: ‘Well, why don’t I do that?’” It was part inspiration, part appreciation. “I really felt I needed to seize life now that I was healthy again.” Jess Hoffert, jo’11, immediately came to mind. One of Quinn’s closest friends since they met on Drake’s Honors Council, he majored in magazines and broadcast news and went on to work as an editor at Meredith. “He’s a natural storyteller,” says Quinn. “And he has a Midwestern ethos while also living a very modern, progressive life.” “I definitely have my old lady side,” says Hoffert of a lifestyle that includes clipping coupons and watching Wheel of Fortune. “But I’m also very interested in trends, getting out of my comfort zone, trying out new places.” The team asked friends Mario Rossi, jo’15, and Annelise Tarnowski, jo’15, to handle sound editing. Both had grown up on public radio, and at Drake had transformed interviews and music into powerful stories. Investing just $250 for equipment, the team began traveling the state on weekends, producing stunning narratives Rossi describes as “some of the rawest stories you can tell.” In their first season, they attracted 700 subscribers. Recently, Quinn—now marketing communications manager for United Way of Central Iowa—and Hoffert asked marketer Mary Honeyman, bn’14, to spearhead promotion. “They’re showing that right in our own backyard, we have amazing stories,” says Honeyman of her decision to join the team—which wasn’t a decision at all. “I feel incredibly lucky just to be around them.” Listen online at www.middleofsomewhereiowa.com.

IN MEMORIAM

1940s John Hodges, ’45, Carroll, Iowa

• Raymond

1960s

John Holland, bn’60, Seguin, Texas • Maralyn

Stephens, ed’45, gr’46, Des Moines • Dolores (Peterson)

(Robertson) Kloweit, bn’60, Rockford, Ill. • C. Robert Langbehn,

Taylor, bn’45, Des Moines • Ruth (Howard) Boyvey, fa’47,

gr’60, Des Moines • Delmo Piagentini, la’60, Urbandale, Iowa

Des Moines • Kenneth Johnson, bn’47, Savannah, Ga. • Twila

• William Rhoades, la’60, Hot Springs Village, Ark. • Clinton Wolf,

(Boone) Larssen, fa’47, Clive, Iowa • William Barclay, bn’49,

dv’60, Waukee, Iowa • Neal Leas, fa’61, Redfield, Iowa • Richard

Clive, Iowa • Harry Dennis, ed’49, Boise, Idaho • Jack Jones,

Rose, gr’61, Des Moines • Margaret Ann (Merrill) Grassley,

ed’49, gr’56, Urbandale, Iowa • Robert Kiser, bn’49, gr’54,

ed’62, Boone, Iowa • Herbert Murphy, bn’62, Conover, N.C.

Winter Park, Fla. • Shirley (Heebner) Rendleman, jo’49,

• Loren Stecker, bn’62, Urbandale, Iowa • Erlene Fett, gr’63,

Westport, Conn. • Robert Sandblom, la’49, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Atlantic, Iowa • Alice (Hall) Jenkins, ed’63, Woodward, Iowa

• Paul Varde, bn’49, Clive, Iowa

• Jerry Poffenberger, bn’64, gr’70, Orlando • Marian (Greenfield)

1950s

Flora, ed’66, Marshalltown, Iowa • Tim Foshe, bn’66, Windsor Richard Greene, la’50, Des Moines

Heights, Iowa • John Jenkins, bn’67, gr’72, Flagler Beach, Fla.

• Geneva (Cowden) Knudson, fa’50, Des Moines • Raymond

• Marilyn Nelson, ed’68, Urbandale, Iowa • Leone (Laughery)

Lloyd, jo’50, Winchester, Va. • John Payne, la’50, Council

Fritz, ed’69, Jefferson, Iowa • Jean (Bernard) Henrichs, ed’69,

Bluffs, Iowa • Glenn Raudabaugh, ph’50, Coppell, Texas

Osceola, Iowa • Roger Hudson, jo’69, lw’72, West Des Moines,

• Ernest Summers, la’50, Millersville, Md. • Barbara

Iowa • Lowell Linder, la’69, Louisville, Ky. • Pennee (Fitzgerald)

(Brookman) Wennerstrum, la’50, Des Moines • Marie

Nelson, ed’69, Adel, Iowa

(Gambardella) McKinley, ed’51, San Diego • Arlene Riggert, ed’51, Seattle • Ruth (Powell) Stout, ed’51, Des Moines

1970s Roger Dial, bn’70, Des Moines • Karen

• Norman Gustaveson, la’52, Chapel Hill, N.C. • Roland

Hunzelman, la’70, Storm Lake, Iowa • Alyce Siegel, ed’72,

Rasmusen, ph’52, Scottsdale, Ariz. • Anthony Zaputil,

De Soto, Iowa • Cecil Brewton Jr., ed’73, gr’75, Des Moines •

ph’52, Centerville, Iowa • Marilyn (Soule) Herrick, ed’53,

Donald Coon, gr’74, West Des Moines, Iowa • Enid (Burns)

gr’68, Des Moines • Thomas Hyland, ed’53, lw’59, Clive,

Gillihan, ed’74, Rowley, Iowa • Henrietta (Davis) Huddleston,

Iowa • Joseph Ryan Jr., bn’53, West Des Moines, Iowa

ed’74, Las Vegas • Lonny Kerman, ed’74, Des Moines • Curtis

• David Wallace, la’53, Clive, Iowa • James Van Ginkel,

Mackie, bn’74, Norwalk, Iowa • Marlene Fresco, ed’76, Des Moines

lw’53, Atlantic, Iowa • Howard Klobnak, ph’54, Norwalk,

• Richard Bachman, gr’77, Des Moines • Kathryn (Cunningham)

Iowa • John F. Smeltzer, gr’54, Rutland, Iowa • Richard

Billings, ed’77, West Des Moines, Iowa • Catherine (Johnson)

Fedson, bn’55, Kingwood, Texas • Janet (Green) McKeon,

Prall, fa’77, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. • Loren Belkin, jo’78,

bn’55, gr’68, Osage Beach, Mo. • Roger Stetson, bn’55,

Waukesha, Wis. • Bernita (Sinderson) Stiles, gr’79, Fort Dodge, Iowa

West Des Moines, Iowa • Gregory Walsh, ed’55, West Dundee, Ill. • John Hummel, la’56, Colorado Springs, Colo. • Janet (Risvold) Wisdom, fa’56, Sun City Center, Fla. • Paul

1980s Jack Abramson, bn’80, Des Moines • Sylvia Simansons, gr’80, Des Moines • Lloyd McMullen, bn’81,

Riggert, gr’57, Seattle • Janet (Speaker) Still, ed’57, Des

Copperas Cove, Texas • Ann (Estes) Short, gr’81, Des Moines

Moines • Carolyn (Essington) Chesterman, ed’58, gr’64,

• Marlene (Triggs) Gresh, lw’83, Castle Rock, Colo. • Boni

Des Moines • Merle Grimm, bn’58, Fort Wayne, Texas

(Morehart) Jacobs, ed’84, Waukee, Iowa • Ingrid (Hart) Mazie,

• James Kalny, la’58, West Des Moines, Iowa • Bill Reese,

la’84, gr’87, San Diego • Renee Verssue, jo’87, Sterling, Colo.

bn’58, West Des Moines, Iowa • William Benskin, bn’59,

• Rick Caudle, gr’88, Waukee, Iowa

West Des Moines, Iowa • Rolland Ensley, gr’59, Des Moines • Philip Halverson, bn’59, Des Moines • John Parsons, ’59, Washington, D.C. • Philip Seitz, la’59, Fremont, Neb.

1990s

Michael Ostrander, ph’92, Chicago • Edwin

Ratashak Jr., gr’92, Osceola, Iowa • Bruce Strutzenberg, gr’93, Somers, Iowa • Nathan Goecke, fa’99, State Center, Iowa • Cynthia (Ezell) Main, ph’99, Newton, Iowa

class acts | blue

SHADES OF BLUE

Second Act Wanda Everage, la’72, was crossing Drake’s campus on a June afternoon in 2008 when she spotted a young man and his parents outside Cowles Library. The mother beckoned her, so Everage—vice provost for student affairs—joined them. Laura Martin introduced her Little Rock, Arkansas, family—herself, her husband, Kenneth, ed’81, and their son, Ken-Matt, who was enrolling at Drake on a musical theatre scholarship. “I don’t want my baby to be so far from home,” Laura professed. “But now I’ve met you, and I want you to take care of him.” And so, for the next four years, Everage was there for Ken-Matt Martin, stretching him in the classroom, letting him vent about challenges, nudging him toward leadership. “Little Rock has a huge, strong black community,” explains Martin, as’12, jo’12. “At Drake, for the first time, I was a minority. And for the first time, I felt like an outsider. It took a long time to learn to navigate that world.” Everage understood, but she also pushed. “He was developing into an adult,” she says. “I was there to observe and nurture that skill set. And he was skilled in so many ways.” Martin founded Pyramid Theatre Company in Des Moines in 2015 with alumni Freddie Fulton, as’13, Nana Coleman, bn’13, and Alexis Davis, jo’13. This spring, the team asked Everage—four years into retirement—to audition for the role of Mama in A Raisin in the Sun, a powerful drama based in 1950s Chicago. She hadn’t acted since her Sunday school days and was stunned to be selected over two experienced actors. “Wanda is a public speaker, she’s motherly, and she has plenty of things to say,” explains Martin. “Getting her to transfer those skills as an actor is ultimately what I was interested in.” Everage recalls her first rehearsal in Harmon Fine Arts Center and the emotions she took home that night: the weight of the play’s themes of segregation and dignity, her insecurity in an unfamiliar world, the fear of forgetting her lines and letting others down. That’s when it hit her: “What I used to inflict on students— I’m getting it back now!” Martin chuckles. “A big thing Wanda pushed with her students, especially black students, was making sure we were visible. To that point, I want to push her to the level of visibility she deserves for being a mentor and the brilliant woman she is.” She’s vowed to never do this again. He’s not buying it—especially after a recent rehearsal had the entire room in tears. “I’ll give her a year or so off. But I’ll put her back in.”

Peter Cownie, gr’08, West Des Moines, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Jamie Letzring, gr’08, Oelwein, Iowa, became the deputy city manager for the city of West Des Moines. Stacy Meyers, bn’08, Fredericksburg, Va., received her Master of Education from University of Mary Washington. Cuong Phan, as’09, Johnston, Iowa, graduated from Kent State University with a degree in podiatric medicine.

2010s Kara McKeever, as’10, Elk Horn, Iowa, is the genealogy center manager at the Museum of Danish America. Britt (Provence) Brady, ph’11, Dwight, Ill., became the pharmacist in charge at Doc’s Pharmacy of Henry. Kaitlyn Cooper, gr’11, Winston-Salem, N.C., became the assistant director of integrative student services

blue | class acts

NEW ACTS

weddings Carl Jakopec, ph’69, to Bonnie Michaels, May 31, 2015 Denise Chuick, as’89, to Marcus Doss, July 27, 2014

Got News?

Rachel Bard, jo’91, to Mike Mitchell, July 4, 2015 Lauren Price-Polson, as’01, to Robert Walker, June 6, 2015 Cecily Dubusker, jo’02, to Kyle Wiswall, April 1, 2016

Tom Florian, bn’14

Brett Myrick, as’06, to Stefani Leigh Johnson, April 23, 2016

Share what’s happening in your life—professional and personal—by submitting a class note and photo: Visit alumni.drake.edu/update.

Kari Gronemeyer, as’09, to Ian Ceicys, Dec. 31, 2015 Melanie Woolsey, gr’09, to Michael Hatch, July 5, 2014 Britt Teply, bn’07, lw’10, to Charles Carlson, lw’10, Aug. 22, 2015 Ann Schnoebelen, jo’12, to Nathan Baggett, as’12, Sept. 19, 2015 Erin Schroeder, jo’12, to Marc Landes, ph’14, Nov. 7, 2015

’12

A Bulldog competing on Jeopardy! in the 2016 Teachers Tournament: Who is Jill Gilbert?

Caitlyn Schaapveld, ph’13, to Charles Davis, Oct. 10, 2015

at Wake Forest University School of Business.

births

Brittney Miller, as’11, Minneapolis, joined the family law department of Moss & Barnett.

Lisa (Porcello) Knapp, ph’05, and Chad, lw’02, Urbandale, Iowa, a son, Aaron Ashley (Andrews) Mills, bn’07, and Brandon, Milan, Ill., a daughter, Megan Rose Dr. Sejal Patel, ph’08, and Jayesh, Westminster, Colo., a daughter, Jiya J. Patel Ryan Nimtz, ph’11, and April, Tampa, Fla., a son, Owen Stacie (Garmon) Leinen, gr’12, and Kyle, Des Moines, a son, Calvin Lauren (Frain) McNace, ph’12, and David, Fort Wayne, Ind., a daughter, Haylee Marie

Matt Vasilogambros, as’11, jo’11, Washington, D.C., was hired as a senior associate editor by The Atlantic, a magazine based in Washington, D.C.

Alex Duong, bn’12, Clinton, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Emily Toribio, gr’12, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. Sunni Swarbrick, gr’14, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

Brooke Miller Axiotis, lw’12, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

Sara (Scallon) Bonney, gr’14, Polk City, Iowa, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

Jill (Sporleder) Gilbert, gr’12, Des Moines Public Schools English teacher, competed on Jeopardy! in May.

Tom Florian, bn’14, West Des Moines, Iowa, was recognized as the 2015–2016 Drake University Athletics Leader of the Year for distinguishing himself on and off the field in living the vision and values of the Bulldog Way.

Dylan Lampe, gr’12, Des Moines, was named a Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree.

class acts | blue

| the b-side

This art history and graphic design alumna lives life full throttle. Meghan Moorlach AS’09

“Riding really is the best feeling out there,” says Meghan Moorlach, director of events management at Bow & Arrow Productions in Adel, Iowa. “You can feel the wind, smell the smells, even feel the change in temperature. It’s just a very surreal feeling as you’re cruising down the road.” In a sport that remains largely male-dominated, Moorlach created a group in which women can feel comfortable, accepted, and encouraged to approach the motorcycling community. The Burnout Babes—members of an all-female motorcycle club in Des Moines—ride together and share a passion for the experience. Moorlach became a serious rider a couple years ago when she purchased, tore apart, and rebuilt a 1971 Honda CL350. She’ll steer a 2014 Triumph Thruxton 900 this fall as she traverses more than 3,200 miles roundtrip from Des Moines to Joshua Tree, California, where she’ll attend the Babes Ride Out—an all-female motorcycle campout in the desert that draws about 1,500 women each year. Follow Moorlach’s adventures and learn more about the Burnout Babes on Instagram and Facebook: @theburnoutbabes.

What’s spinning on your B-side? Tell us about your hobby, passion, volunteer gig, favorite pastime, diversion, or obsession: bluemag@drake.edu 52

blue | the b-side

| alumni calendar september

october

Homecoming Weekend Sept. 23–25, Drake campus

Let’s DU Lunch: Mark Jacobs, Reaching Higher Iowa Oct. 5, Des Moines Francis Marion Drake Dinner Oct. 14, Drake campus

National Alumni Board Meeting Oct. 14–15, Drake campus College of Business and Public Administration Luncheons Oct. 17, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis

november

Let’s DU Lunch: Stephen Quirk, Youth Emergency Services & Shelter Nov. 2, Des Moines Scholarship Luncheon Nov. 11, Drake campus

january 2017

Alumni & BOT Event Jan. 13, Chicago

Drake at the Playhouse: West Side Story Oct. 26, Des Moines

december

Philanthropy Week Nov. 14–18, Des Moines

Drake Night at the Theatre: Heathers Nov. 18, Des Moines

Drake v. DePaul Bucksbaum Pre-game Party Lecture: On Being’s Nov. 30, Chicago Krista Tippett Nov. 15, Drake campus

Happy Holidays!

2507 University Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50311-4505

Conversation Starter Krista Tippett is an American journalist who created and hosts the Peabody Award-winning public radio program and podcast On Being. She was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2014 for â&#x20AC;&#x153;thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.â&#x20AC;? On Being is home to the Civil Conversations Project, exploring and encouraging civil discourse in a politically charged time. Tippett will be signing copies of her New York Times bestseller, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, following the lecture.

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The 37th Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture

An Evening with Krista Tippett

Tuesday, November 15, 7 p.m., The Knapp Center