Regardless of which side of the presidential election coin you find yourself, the past 18 months have brought out the best and the worst of humanity on each side. We are all wounded from the political shrapnel of 2016. However, after the dust settles and the reality of laundry, grocery shopping, and paying the Vectren bill settles in, we would do well to live into the future borne on the wings of the better angels of our nature, rather than drawn down and apart by the demons of division.

We are fortunate to live out our vocational calling in higher education, even with its challenges, where every day we work to transform lives. We aspire to communicate what it means to live together in a global society as educated people and to model that life together on the UE campus. As diverse, educated people, we know that we must not become the evil we abhor. Let us serve as the archetype for civil discourse, compassionate collaboration, and forgiveness when we fail. Let us work together with gracious intentions and peaceful solutions so that all who learn and teach here are inspired to love the world and all those who dwell in it. I am grateful for the UE community and an alma mater, which bids us to face the future unafraid.

I leave you with the 1934 text written by poet, Lloyd Stone, often sung to the tune, Finlandia. (Georgia Harkness wrote a third stanza five years later.)

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

Peace,
Tammy
 

The University of Evansville will be closed during the holidays to allow our employees to enjoy this special time with their families. The following November-December-January holiday schedule will be observed:

Thanksgiving                          
Wednesday, November 23 – close at noon
Thursday, November 24
Friday, November 25

Christmas/New Year’s           
Friday, December 23, through Monday, January 2 – returning on Tuesday, January 3

UE faculty/staff/student veterans are invited to enjoy a free Cafe Court lunch TODAY. Please show your past/current military ID and UE ID to the cashier to redeem your free lunch.

The UE Department of Chemistry is honored to host the Jean Dreyfus Boissevain Lecturer Elizabeth Nolan. She will be giving a general science lecture titled, “Humans and Microbes: Understanding How a Gut Peptide Entraps Bacterial Pathogens” TODAY at 12:15 p.m. in Room 162, Schroeder School of Business Building. At 4:00 pm, she will be giving a community outreach lecture at the Koch Family Children’s Museum. On Friday, November 11 at 6:00 p.m., she will be giving a talk titled, “Metals and Immunity: Bioinorganic Explorations of the Host-Defense Protein Calprotectin.”

The entire campus community is invited to any and all of these lectures.

Nolan graduated magna cum laude from Smith College in 2000 and she earned her PhD in inorganic chemistry from MIT. She pursued her post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School. She joined the Department of Chemistry at MIT in 2009. Her current research involves synergies between metal ion homeostasis and immunity.

Some of Nolan’s most recent awards include being selected as an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow in 2013 and a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar in 2014. 

The campus community, alumni, and friends are invited to celebrate Veterans Day on campus at our annual Veterans Day service set for today from 11:00 a.m.–noon in Wheeler Concert Hall. A light luncheon reception will be served immediately following in the lobby of Krannert Hall of Fine Arts.

The special guest speaker will be Air Force veteran Craig Bryan ‘01, executive director for the National Center for Veterans Studies. Bryan earned his PsyD and MS degrees in clinical psychology from Baylor University, and his BS degree in psychology from UE.

Bryan is a board-certified clinical psychologist in cognitive behavioral psychology, and is executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

This event is being sponsored by UE’s Office of Veteran Affairs.
 

The University of Evansville Department of Theatre proudly presents its second production of the season, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! in Shanklin Theatre.  Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on November 18 and 19, and at 2:00 p.m. on November 20.

This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical has the distinction of being the first collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, thus ushering in the Golden Age of American musical theatre. Set against the hardscrabble life in 1906 Indian Territory, the endearing story of a rocky romance between a lovesick cowboy and headstrong farm girl still garners wide appeal and is sure to have audiences tapping their toes to the catchy lyrics, buoyant melodies, and soaring score.

Oklahoma! is directed and choreographed by Seattle-based guest artist Ruben Van Kempen, with additional choreography by Ricki Smith Newman, and features a 16-person student orchestra led by musical director Patrick Ritsch. 

Grace Guarniere, a senior from Katy, Texas, is the scenic designer; professor of theatre Patti McCrory is the costume designer; Avery Reagan, a senior from Conyers, Georgia, is the lighting designer; Richard Ingraham, a guest designer from Euclid, Ohio, is the sound designer; professor of theatre Chuck Meacham is the technical director; professor of theatre Diane Brewer is the dramaturg; and Mary Claire Smalley, a junior from Nashville, Tennessee, is the stage manager.

The cast features Davis Brinker, a junior from Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Curly; and Braden Wilkerson, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas, as Laurey. The 24-person cast also features David Aaron Evans, a senior from The Woodlands, Texas, as Will Parker; Demi Davis, a senior from Leesburg, Georgia, as Ado Annie; and Nate DeCook, a senior from Holland, Michigan, as Jud.

Ticket prices are $18 for adults and $15 for senior adults, students, and UE faculty and staff. UE students may obtain one free student rush ticket beginning at noon on the day of the performance they wish to attend.

Tickets may be purchased by calling 812-488-2031, Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m.

Roger Pemberton is a well-known name in jazz circles. He has performed with Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett, among others, and he has done arrangements for the Merv Griffin TV show and been a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra. On Sunday, November 13, this jazz great – and University of Evansville graduate – will return to play at his Alma Mater. Pemberton will perform at 4:00 p.m. in Wheeler Concert Hall.

A 1953 graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, Pemberton is an Evansville native, a graduate of Reitz High School, and the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Music degree from UE. He has recently been inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

“Roger is widely recognized among jazz musicians as a world-class performer,” said UE professor emeritus of music Edwin Lacy. “We are very fortunate to be able to have him come back and perform for us.”

After graduating from UE, Pemberton became the first jazz instructor at Indiana University before joining the Army as a musician. After his discharge, he moved to New York to establish himself as a jazz performer – a feat that didn’t take long – and he spent the next 20 years playing with nearly every well-known jazz musician of the era. Today, he is a professor emeritus of the University of South Carolina, where he spent several years as a jazz artist-in-residence. He still lives in South Carolina, where he frequently performs with his own groups.

For his performance at UE, Pemberton will be joined by popular local favorites, pianist Luke Gillespie, bassist Tyrone Wheeler, and drummer Chris Parker.

“Roger is as personable as he is talented,” Lacy said. “That’s why he has such a loyal local following.”

Pemberton’s appearance is part of UE’s Jazz Guest Artist Concert Series, co-sponsored by the Evansville Jazz Society.

Admission is $15 for the public, $10 for jazz society members, and $5 for students. For ticket information, contact the UE Department of Music at 812-488-2754. For further information, contact Lacy at 812-488-2227.
 

The annual International Bazaar is Friday, November 18, in Ridgway University Center! The doors to the event open to students at 4:30 p.m., and to the community at 5:00 p.m. Food will be served until 7:00 p.m. and the interactive cultural booths will be open and entertainment will be available until 8:00 p.m.

From now until November 17, tickets are $7 (cash or check only) through the Office of Cultural Engagement and International Services, located in Room 220 in the Student Life Center upstairs in Ridgway University Center. You can also purchase tickets with a credit card by going to the University’s ticket sales website.

Admission is FREE for UE students and children under five. All proceeds will go to support the Friends of Dago community in Kenya.

Dylan Beal, lead quantitative analyst at OneMain Financial, will give a talk to the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) student chapter today. The lecture will begin at 4:00 p.m. in Room 101, Koch Center for Engineering and Science. There is one internship opening on the data science team at OneMain Financial. UE math alumni Miranda Voegel will bring more details during the talk.

The definition and application of data science to motivate decision making and profitability in a modern business environment with examples from marketing, operations, and risk.
 

Psychology Club and PSI CHI will be hosting a guest speaker on campus, Liana Peter-Hagene, assistant professor of psychology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. She will present a research talk titled "Jury Decision Making: How Emotions and Race Shape Individual and Group Judgments" at 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 16, in Room 162, Schroeder School of Business Building. All are welcome to attend.

Leonard Bernstein, composer of West Side Story, provided music in American styles for the grand opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in a theater piece of huge proportion called Mass. The music includes rock, jazz, blues, folk music, marches (one with kazoos), scat singing, and hand clapping.

This Saturday, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra will host a mammoth presentation of Mass, which includes a rock band, blues band, street chorus of ’60s protesters, the EPO chorus, a children’s choir, and eight UE student soloists all performing with the orchestra.

The performance is Saturday, November 12, at 7:00 p.m., at the Victory Theatre. Tickets for students with UE IDs are $10 for the best remaining seats after 6:00 p.m. Non-student tickets are $25-$49.

All are welcome to join us for Mass this Sunday at 1:00 p.m., in Neu Chapel. Fr. Tony Ernst will be our celebrant. Hope to see you there! For more information contact Olivia Voegerl at ov4@evansville.edu.

UE employees are invited to attend one of the informational workshops presented by Emeriti Retirement Health Solutions on Monday, November 14, in the J. Henry Schroeder Boardroom (Room 203) in the University Libraries.

The workshops are scheduled for:

• 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. – primarily geared to those already retired or close to retirement
• 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. – for active employees considering retirement

The Emeriti Retirement Health Solutions program provides important benefits such as:
• A tax-advantaged way for you to invest and accumulate assets for your future retiree medical expenses.
• A retiree health insurance program for you and your eligible dependents that builds on the foundation of Medicare.
• A tax-free way for you to pay for other qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement.

A representative from Emeriti and Aetna health insurance will be on campus to provide information about Emeriti and what you need to do to take full advantage of the program. The meetings will cover such topics as why you need to save for retiree health care, the unique tax advantages of the program, and your options available under it. 

For more information about the program, please visit the Emeriti retirement health website.

The United States Postal Service is closed today for Veterans Day. Please note that because of this, UE will not be picking up mail from USPS today Any mail picked up from UE areas by distribution services/mail services today will be transported for processing and mailing on the afternoon of Monday, November 14. For mail related questions, please contact Mail Services at ext. 2197 or mailservices@evansville.edu.

The remaining 2016 dates for TIAA individual counseling sessions are Tuesday, November 15, Wednesday, December 7, and Thursday, December 8.  To schedule an appointment, call TIAA-CREF at 1-800-732-8353 or 317-706-6200.  Please note that the location of these meetings has been moved to room 208 of the University Libraries.

If you have any questions, call Carol McCraney at 812-488-2943.

The University of Evansville, in pursuit of excellence in service, wishes to recognize a non-faculty employee displaying records of achievement as a leader.  Leadership may be demonstrated in any of the following areas: service to the University, service to students, job performance and attitude towards fellow employees.  To be eligible, an employee must be a full-time member of administration or staff. 

Nominations for the December 2016 Employee of the Month nominations are due no later than Wednesday, November 16.

To nominate someone, please go to AceLink and click on Areas, and then select Human Resources. The nomination form can be found under Forms on that page.

A section of BIOL 100 with two possible laboratory sections will be offered during Spring 2017. BIOL 100 lectures are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. The lab sections for the course are scheduled for Tuesdays from 1:00-2:50 p.m., or Thursdays from 1:00-2:50 p.m. BIOL 100 is course option for students needing to partially fulfill Outcome 8 of the University's Enduring Foundations General Education Program.

The residence halls will be closed for winter break from noon on December 15 to 3:00 p.m. on January 6. Students participating in official University functions or other approved activities have the opportunity to apply for winter housing. Simply submit an online winter request form by noon on Reading Study Day to be considered. For more information about winter housing, contact the Office of Residence Life or see the winter housing website.

A reminder- the last day to withdraw from a class and receive a W is November 11. You must have your completed add/drop slip with all required signatures turned into the Office of the Registrar by Friday at 5:00 p.m. Slips turned in after this date will not be processed. No exceptions.

The University of Evansville Honorary Degree Committee is now soliciting your recommendations for honorary degrees to be conferred at the May 2017 Commencement.  According to the UE Faculty and Administrator Manual, the committee is charged with requesting and reviewing honorary degree nominations made on the basis of individual service to the University and individual achievement.  An honorary degree may also be awarded to individuals who exemplify the University’s mission. Selected persons have excelled in a variety of areas--law, medicine, education, business, literature, politics, and entertainment.

The committee will forward nominations to President Kazee so he can make his recommendations to the faculty.  The faculty will vote on the final list of nominees.

Please e-mail the following information to Robert Dion, committee chair, at rd35@evansville.edu, by Friday, November 11:

1. Nomination by (include name, phone and e-mail address)
2. Name of person nominated
3. Title and/or profession of nominee
4. Rationale for the nomination (see criteria above)
5. Any biographical or background information on the nominee
6. Address information for contacting the nominee

The University of Evansville’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) computer programming team members Kane Catt, Evan Higgins, Asher Trockman, William Johns, Kudzaishe Mandingwa, and Keenen Cates - all computer science and computer engineering students – recently competed in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. They competed as two teams representing UE against over 150 teams at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.

The teams placed seventh and eighth out of 17 teams at the Louisville site of the Mid-Central Region of the International Programming Contest. They placed 58th and 67th overall the entire region.

The ACM International Contest is an activity that provides college students with an opportunity to demonstrate and sharpen their problem-solving and computing skills.

The ACM International Programming Contest consisted of 10 questions which must be solved with computer programs within a five hour time limit. Other schools competing were University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Northern Kentucky University, and Eastern Kentucky University.

Congratulations to both University of Evansville teams!

Professor Lorena Andueza and Jamelyn Wheeler presented the results of their research project on the pragmatic strategies to express refusals in American English and three varieties of Spanish (Peninsular, Venezuelan, and Argentinian) at AMPRA. Andueza is an assistant professor of Spanish at UE. Wheeler, a 2016 UE graduate, was an education and English major.

The conference took place at Indiana University, Bloomington, on November 4-6.

I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for your outpouring of love, prayers, and concerns on the recent passing of my beloved son Jesse Thomas Lechner. He passed away on his birthday after being hit from behind by a drunk driver.

He leaves behind a loving family, Tom and I, sisters Carime Ann and Rachel Elizabeth, and his only son Andrew Thomas Lechner, age eight.

I miss you all and am sincerely touched.

Christine Lechner

Swimming and diving are back this weekend for another two-meet outing on the road. Today’s start against Eastern Illinois is set for 6:00 p.m., while Saturday's meet against Indiana State in their inaugural season begins at noon CST.

The women's team competed last weekend at Little Rock. Danielle Freeman was the top scorer for the Aces yesterday afternoon. She took victories in the 50 and 100 freestyle, touching in at 24.23 and 52.99 respectively. She took the top spot in the 50 butterfly as well at 26.39. Teammate Emma Hennessy followed closely behind for second place with a 26.58, with sophomore Kristen Myers in fourth place at 27.58. Freeman also teamed up with senior Michaela Kent, junior Kayla Aitken, and Myers to earn second place in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:49.42.

Kent performed well in her own right. She clocked in at 26.80 in the 50 backstroke. Sophomore Sam Gowdy followed in third place with a 28.55. Kent won the 100 backstroke as well at 58.24, a solid 2.02 seconds ahead of second place. Gowdy once again followed suit in third place with a 1:00.78. In addition to the 200 Medley Relay, Kent closed the day out with the 200 Freestyle Relay. Her efforts combined with Hennessy, sophomore Madi Jones, and Gowdy took second place with a time of 1:39.52.

Courtney Coverdale second in both 1-Meter and 3-Meter. Her score of 271.57 was a mere point and a half behind first place and was yet another NCAA Zones qualifying score. She scored 246.66 on the 3-Meter. Freshman Alyssa Vonder Haar earned fourth place on 1-Meter with 159.75. She took third in the 3-Meter with a 142.05. Junior Kasey Rein scored 160.19 for third place.

The men last competed at the Indiana Intercollegiate at Purdue on October 22.

Paul Cozzens led the team in his events. His 200 IM efforts earned him a time of 1:57.49 and tenth place. He timed in at 53.03 in the 100 butterfly for seventh place.

Zach Sagan led the Aces in 100 freestyle. He earned 18th place with a 50.26, while teammates Dan O'Brien and Jared Sutphin placed just behind him with times of 50.73 and 50.82 respectively. Additionally, Sagan took 13th in the 200 freestyle at a 1:49.69.

Other noteworthy performances came from junior Everett Plocek and senior Will Glasscock. Plocek took ninth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.52, while Glasscock clocked in a 1:00.98 for 11th. Sophomore Matt Duke took 11th in the 50 Free at a 22.36. O'Brien, Duke, Glasscock, and senior Matt Childress took 8th in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:38.68. The 200 Freestyle Relay squad consisted of Hudson, Cozzens, Sutphin, and freshman Andrew Sutphin. Their efforts timed a 1:30.05 for fifth place.

On the boards, Miguel Marcano took ninth in the 1-Meter, scoring a 205.15. His 3-Meter performance earned him tenth place at 184.50 points.

University of Evansville head men’s basketball coach Marty Simmons has announced the signing of Noah Frederking and Evan Kuhlman to National Letters of Intent to play for the Purple Aces beginning in the fall of 2017.

“The two that we have signed are great kids and great students,” Simmons said. “Both will fit in very well with our program.”

Frederking is a native of Okawville, Illinois, where he plays for Okawville High School. Last season, the 6-4 guard averaged 20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He led his team to a 28-5 mark and a berth in the Sweet 16 of the Illinois Class 1A Tournament. An accurate shooter, Ferderking hit 51 3-pointers as a junior.

“Noah is a great player with an excellent basketball IQ,” Simmons said. “He has unbelievable range and is able to shoot from anywhere on the floor. He does a good job of getting everyone on the floor involved and makes the team better as a whole.”

Evan Kuhlman makes his way to Evansville from Ohio where he played for Lakota East High School. A 6-8 forward, Kuhlman posted 12.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest in his junior campaign. He also has nice touch from outside for a forward, knocking down 34 triples last year.

“Evan will fit into our system very well. He has the ability to play well in the post, but also has the ability to shoot from outside,” Simmons said. “He is a very smart player who makes everyone around him better. What sets him apart are a lot of the intangibles that do not necessarily make their way into the box score.”

Simmons and his team are focused on the 2016-17 season, which begins today against Louisville at 6:00 p.m. CT.

Attention UE faculty and staff: you may begin picking up your two complimentary tickets to the November 12 Women's Basketball game against Cleveland State at 1:00 p.m. and the November 14 Men's Basketball against Alcorn State at 8:00 p.m.

Your ticket to the November 14 Men's Basketball game will also grant you admission to the November 16 Women's Basketball game against Eastern Illinois at 5:00 p.m.

Please remember to bring your UE ID with you to the Carson Center Ticket Office. The Carson Center Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. but will be closing early on Monday, November 14 as our staff prepares for the games that evening.

We look forward to seeing you at the game!

FanFest, an annual event that has taken place every year since the opening of the Ford Center in 2011, will be held Saturday, November 19.

Beginning at 10:00 a.m., FanFest will be go until the Men’s Basketball game against Morehead State begins at noon. It will be held at Freedom Plaza, which is directly in front of the Ford Center main entrance.

Several great activities will be on hand for Purple Aces fans of all ages. The fun includes bounce houses, cornhole, a photo booth, rally towels, live music, and much more.

Food vendors and a beer garden will also be on hand for the attendees at FanFest. Admission to the festivities is free. Russ Grieger will be on hand signing copies of his new book - “The Perfect Season: A Memoir of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces.”