The University of Evansville will award 513 degrees during its 158th Commencement ceremony, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville. The event will feature the senior keynote address, conferring of honorary degrees, presentation of the University of Evansville Alumni Association’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year award, as well as the Outstanding Senior Service awards.

This year’s senior keynote speaker will be Mark Speckhard of Valparaiso, Indiana. He will be receiving a Bachelor of Science in public health.

During his time at UE, Speckhard was a member of the honor council and held several leadership positions in his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). The SAE national fraternity selected Speckhard to participate in Inner Circle, a leadership conference available to only 30 undergraduate brothers across the country.

He also served as president of the UE VETS student veterans’ organization. Speckhard received the Grand Alpha Award for his outstanding contributions to Greek Life and the SGA Vision Award.

As a United States Marine, Speckhard was deployed twice to Afghanistan where he trained Afghan police officers and was in charge of security for meetings with Afghan village leaders. He received a US Marine Corps Certificate of Commendation and the US Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the US Department of Navy.

During the ceremony, Leslie Griffiths will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and John David Lutz will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree

Griffiths is superintendent minister at Wesley’s Chapel, the “mother church” of world Methodism. He holds degrees from the Universities of Wales (BA), Cambridge (MA) and London (PhD) in literature, theology, and history respectively. He has written books on a range of issues and themes, and an autobiography A View from the Edge.

He served the Methodist church for 10 years in Haiti and is recognized for his expertise in Haitian politics, literature, history, and culture. For 30 years he has exercised a radio ministry with the BBC and Premier Christian radio. He is president of the Boys’ Brigade, a national Christian youth organization, and patron or president of half a dozen charities. In 2004 he was appointed to the House of Lords in the British parliament where he sits with the Labour Party.

He holds honorary fellowships of Cardiff University, Trinity Saint David’s College in Wales, Sarum College in Salisbury, and Southlands College in Roehampton. He is an honorary canon of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, a freeman of the City of London, a knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and an officer of the Order of Christopher Columbus (Dominican Republic).

Lutz is currently a professor of theatre at UE. He is the longest serving faculty member in the history of the University, and served for 31 years as the chair of its nationally recognized Department of Theatre.

He graduated in 1964 from UE, then known as Evansville College. Lutz earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Denver and returned to UE in 1965 as an instructor and technical director. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Orleans.

Lutz has directed over 75 UE theatre productions. During UE’s years of participating in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, 32 UE productions were invited to perform at regional festivals. Lutz directed 24 of them. In addition, eight UE productions were invited to the national festival – Lutz directed six of them.

Lutz’s awards include: 1982 UE Medal of Honor, 1984 KC/ACTF Gold Medallion, 1987 Berger Award for Outstanding Creative Artist, 1994 Evansville Mayor’s Arts Award for Arts Educator of the Year, 1995 Indiana Governor’s Award for Arts Educator of the Year, 2005 Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana’s Mayor’s Arts Award, 2007 induction into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, 2012 KC/ACTF Outstanding Career Achievement in Directing, and 2014 UE Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

For those who cannot attend Commencement in person, a video of the ceremony will stream live online here. The recorded video will be posted on this page the week after Commencement.
 

As there are fewer submissions to AceNotes during the summer, AceNotes will only be published on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting the week of Monday, May 9.  AceNotes Extras will still be published whenever needed. The regular AceNotes publication schedule of every Monday through Friday will resume when school begins again in August.

The campus community is invited to the dedication of the McCarthy Greenhouse, a gift of Burkley H'04 and Sharon H'04 McCarthy.

The ceremony will take place today at 4:30 p.m., outside the McCarthy Greenhouse, located on the east side of the Koch Center for Engineering and Science. Tours and reception to follow.

Contact Allison Frazier, director of stewardship and special events, with questions or for more information at af174@evansville.edu or 812-488-1013.

The Harlaxton Society is sponsoring a reception for Harlaxton faculty and administrators visiting the University of Evansville Spring Commencement. Everyone is invited on Friday, May 6, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in Dunigan Lounge in the Schroeder School of Business Building. Please join us in welcoming Amber Pouliot, Edward Bujak, Jerry Seaman, and Patricia Vilches.

President Tom and Dr. Sharon Kazee invite the campus community to the Major General Verna Fairchild ’72 Lounge for Veterans Open House on Friday, May 6, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in Room 460 of the Clifford Memorial Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Verna Fairchild graduated from the University with a degree in nursing. She served her nation and the Kentucky Commonwealth for 34 years as a two star general in the Air National Guard.

UE president Thomas A. Kazee noted that Fairchild “has lived her life in service to others through her work in health care and in the military. She has also long been a loyal supporter of the University. Her generosity helped make possible recent renovations that transformed UE’s library into a hub for students to gather, collaborate, and utilize multiple academic technologies.”

The University’s newly renovated library serves not only the University faculty and nearly 2,500 students from 43 states and 51 countries, but also the general public. 

“It is in thanks and appreciation for General Fairchild’s dedication to helping others and her support of UE,” added Kazee, “that UE has designated this area in the library especially for our students who are veterans and current service members.”

The lounge was made possible through combined funding from Fairchild and from a Home Depot/Student Veterans of America grant won by UEVETS, the University’s student veterans organization.
 

The UE Bookstore will be open Friday, May 6, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, May 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (graduation day). Graduates and families will get 15% OFF their purchases during these days. The Bookstore will also offer Class of 2016 mugs for $2.95 during each day - a 50% savings. The Bookstore will not be open on Sunday, May 8.

Starting Monday, May 9, the Fitness Center will be open on Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., and closed Saturday and Sunday.

The library's summer schedule starts Thursday, May 5, and ends on Tuesday, August 23.

We are open Monday-Friday, from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., when classes are not in session.

From May 16–July 22 during Summer I and II, the library is open Monday-Thursday, from 7:45 a.m.–8:00 p.m. and Friday from 7:45 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

The library will be closed weekends and holidays.

Please direct questions to Meg Atwater-Singer at 812-488-2487 or ma35@evansville.edu.

ENGL 120 will be offered as an online course in Summer Session One. This class will run from May 16 through June 17. ENGL 120 satisfies Outcome 2 and Overlay E. Please contact Robert Baines at rb211@evansville.edu for more details.

EXSS, pre-DPT, and other science majors may be interested in taking BIOL 107 D01 – General Biology online during Summer I (May 16 to June 17). Please contact Noah Gordon (ng62@evansville.edu) for more details. 

Students who have received federal direct (subsidized/unsubsidized) loans and plan to graduate in the spring or summer (or transfer after the spring semester) are required to attend a loan repayment counseling session. The Office of Financial Aid will hold the last session of the semester on Friday, May 6, at 11:30 a.m. in Eykamp Hall, Room 251, Ridgway University Center.

Physical therapy assistant students Justin Jargstorf and Taylor Hasenour recently received awards. Justin was awarded the 2016 Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Award for academic achievement, clinical performance, and leadership. Taylor received the award for 2016 Outstanding Clinical Performance.

The Department of Archaeology and Art History is pleased to announce its students' summer plans, which include participating in archaeological excavations and museum internships in the US, Israel, and Spain.

• Anna Ahrens - New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Emily Corrigan - Sanisera Field School, Menorca, Spain
• Lizzie Flora - Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Jordan Hall - Reitz Home Museum, Evansville, Indiana
• Ashley Kippley - Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Elizabeth Kunz, Abigail Miles, Isaac Rainey, Joshua Schuster, Tim Smith, Emily Stewart, Maggie Sullivan, and Michael Sullivan - Jezreel Expedition, Israel
• Becca Webb - Center for American Archaeology Adult Field School, Kampsville, Illinois
• Henry Bibb - Plantation Site, Trimble County, Kentucky

Assistant professor of creative writing Katie Darby Mullins has had several stories and poems published in the last few months. The most recent was "The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Joe Sinclair and His Daughter," which was published through BOAAT Press.

Mike Roscoe, director and chair of the Physician Assistant Program, has had an article published in the Clinician Review. The article, titled “Low Back Pain: Evidence-based Diagnosis and Treatment,” can be found here.

The University of Evansville Baseball team was unable to repeat the brilliant pitching performance of Tuesday night as the Purple Aces dropped an 11-1 decision to visiting Belmont on Wednesday at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

“It’s a challenge when you have double midweek games,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “We didn’t get the same kind of relief pitching performance that we got last night, and their arms did a good job at keeping us off-balance. We’re a lot better than we showed tonight, so now our focus will be to learn from this and get ready for conference play again on Friday.”

With the loss, the Purple Aces dropped to 25-18 on the year, and the Bruins improved to 26-19.

The visitors from Nashville opened up the scoring with a three-run third, and Chas Hadden led things off with a double to right center. Tyler Fullerton and Brennan Washington followed up with hits of their own in the ensuing at-bats to cash in the opening tally, and a two-out wild pitch plated the next two scores.

A five-hit fourth for the Bruins made it 7-0, and they went on to tack on two more in the fifth. Solo blasts from Hunter Holland and Washington in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

Korbin Williams singled in a consolation run in the bottom of the eighth to account for the game’s final score.

Aces starter Brandon Gomer was dealt the loss after giving up the opening three scores. He dropped to 1-6 on the season.

The Aces will return to action on Friday as the team will begin a three-game series with league-leading Dallas Baptist.
 

Another pitcher’s duel between the University of Evansville and Southern Illinois saw the Salukis take a 3-2 win in nine innings over the Purple Aces Softball team on Wednesday evening at Cooper Stadium.

Morgan Florey threw all nine innings for the Aces (22-24, 10-13 MVC) and was matched in the circle by SIU’s (31-17, 14-9 MVC) Brianna Jones. Chandra Parr had two of the Aces’ six hits on the day while also scoring a run and knocking one in. Leading SIU was Eyrika Brandenburg, who went 3-5 with a hit and RBI of her own.

Through her first three innings of work, Morgan Florey was stellar as the lone baserunner reached on a passed ball following a strikeout. After notching a hit in the first frame, the second hit of the day for UE came in the bottom of the third as Michal Luckett belted a one-out double to right-center. Next up was Chandra Parr, who hit it back up the middle to bring Luckett home and give UE a 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, Florey helped her own cause, bringing Parr home on a single of her own. Southern Illinois came alive in the top half of the fourth, notching their first hit of the game. The second hit of the inning was a big one as Shaye Harre belted a 2-run home run to right to tie the game up at 2-2.

The game would remain that way as the game headed into extra innings. The final out of the seventh inning saw Susan Norris come close to walking it off, but was caught at the warning track.

Southern Illinois was able to load the bases up with no outs in the top of the eighth, but Morgan Florey buckled down. She struck out two batters before forcing a fly out to finish off the top half of the frame. The Salukis were able to score their third run in the ninth as Eyrika Brandenburg laced a single to right to score the game-winning run.

A trip to Chicago will mark the end of the regular season for the Purple Aces as they will face Loyola in a 3-game set on Saturday and Sunday.