The University of Evansville will hold a 46th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1977 Plane Crash on Wednesday, December 13 at 12:00 p.m. The ceremony will be held at Memorial Plaza on the UE campus. The order of service will include remarks from University of Evansville President Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

On December 13, 1977, Air Indiana Flight 216 crashed shortly after takeoff from the Evansville airport. All on board died in the crash or from crash-related injuries, including the University of Evansville basketball team and coaches, two fans, five members of the UE staff, and the flight crew.

During Wednesday’s commemoration, the UE Interfaith Peace Bell will be rung 29 times--once for each of those who perished--followed by a moment of silence and peace in remembrance.

If you cannot attend, the service will be livestreamed on the University of Evansville Alumni Association's Facebook page.

The University of Evansville will be closed during the holidays to allow our employees to enjoy this special time with their families.

The following holiday schedule will be observed:

Winter Holiday Break

Closed Thursday, December 21 through Tuesday, January 2

Offices reopen on Wednesday, January 3

December Staff and Administrators Book Club Gathering 12noon-1pm Tuesday Dec 19th (Please note the date change. This has been rescheduled due to the Memorial Service on the 13th)

We will be discussing the book The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox – but even if you don’t finish reading it you will want to join us for the annual Used Book Swap!

Bring a wrapped used book. (This can be any genre- just something that you think another reader would enjoy) We will play a game and everyone will go home with a new to them book!

Location Conference Room in basement of SOBA (Room 67) Contact Kathy Taylor at ks6 to RSVP or for more information.

Efroymson Artist in Residence, Jonpaul Smith, and the UE Department of Art present THE SPACE BETWEEN from October 30 - December 9.  Please join us for a public reception and artist lecture on Thursday, November 9 at 6:30pm in the Melvin Peterson Gallery.

Gallery hours are Mon, Tue, Fri & Sat 12:00pm - 3:00pm; Wed & Thu 12:00pm - 6:00pm.

OUGHTRESONANCE: SPARKS of LIFE, a collaboration by artists Brett Basham and Cassandra Allaire, will be exhibited in the Krannert Gallery from October 23 through December 10.

Please join us for the artists reception on Thursday, October 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Krannert Gallery.

The library is offering to keep students' plants alive over the winter break if they cannot take them home. Contact Meg Atwater-Singer at ma35 for more information.

Magic, ritual, shaminism, and witchcraft are common components of religions across the globe and across time. Why? ANTH 224 takes an anthropological look at how these religious practices operate within cultures by examining real-life modern examples from around the world. Taught by one of UE's newest faculty members, Dr. Kyle Clark, the course highlights his area of research specialization. The course also counts towards the Outcome 4 General Education catagory. It will be taught this spring semester T TH 1:15-2:30. There are no pre-requisites.

Do you have textbooks or other course materials you don't need anymore and don't have to return? Donate them to the UE Lending Library! This program gives students the chance to find their required materials at no cost at all, and is run by Students for Social Change and the UE Library. We will be taking donations in Ridgway from 11am-1pm on December 4th, 5th, and 6th. The donation box will also be available every day at the Library front desk!

Check out the current catalog.

The November issue of the Crescent Magazine is printed and available around campus. You may also find the issue online. https://crescent.evansville.edu/2023/11/28/november-2023/

Student Media has worked hard this semester to provide quality content for the University of Evansville campus by producing 3 print issues of the Crescent Magazine and the production of 10 podcasts with more to come. https://crescent.evansville.edu/podcasts/

Please take a copy of the magazine and appreciate all the hard work that goes into the publications.

Interested in joining or advertising with Student Media? Contact Tommy J Housman th208@evansville.edu

METS Micro Launched on November 28. Here are some Fast Facts

• The METS Micro Evansville On-Demand Transit Service is a geofenced, on-demand shuttle service operating in an area of east Evansville, Indiana.
• The service runs 6:15 am to 12:00 am on Monday through Saturdays and 6:15 am to 6:00 pm on Sundays
• The service costs $2 per ride per person.
• The service is wheelchair accessible. Please utilize the app or Call (812) 562-5011 to request an accessible shuttle for your trip.
• Visit city.ridewithvia.com/metsmicro to download the app and for more information.

A new course, Politics of the Middle East (PSCI 360), will be offered next spring (on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00 - 2:15 p.m.) If you want to understand what is going on in the Middle East right now and the consequences for the rest of the world, this course will provide you an introduction to the history, politics, and international relations of the Middle East region. The instructor is a retired Foreign Service Officer who has worked at the Egypt desk at the State Department and has been stationed in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Kuwait during his long diplomatic career. By the end of the semester, you should have a basic understanding of the political and historical process that have shaped societies in the Middle East, and a knowledge of political culture, political development, political institutions, political process, and political economy of the Middle East countries. You don't need a prerequisite to take this course, and it is not too late for you to register for it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dr.Robert Dion (rd35@evansville.edu) or Dr.Lorena Andueza (pa55@evansville.edu) The International Studies program and the Political Science program are excited about being able to offer this incredible learning opportunity to the UE student body.

The Office of Admission needs current UE students who live in a residence hall or Jones Hall to host prospective high school seniors for Road Trip 2024, February 23-25. If you are available, you can apply to host online. Please contact Heather Cook (hw30@evansville.edu), Jennifer Troutman (jt65@evansville.edu) or Alli Haley (ah757@evansville.edu). Deadline to sign up is Friday, February 9.

Students can adjust meal plans for the Spring semester until Friday, January 12, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

Adjust your meal plan online.

A group of Business faculty, staff, students and a Special Agent from the U.S. Secret Service were invited to be guest speakers at Castle High School on Monday, Dec. 4th. We spoke to 230 students in six different business classes for an entire day. Students were introduced to the exciting world of forensic accounting and the wide variety of academic programs offered in Schroeder School of Business. Students also learned about our experiential curriculum, professional engagement opportunities, internship experiences, and job placements where UE graduates work.

Here is a list of the co-guest speakers and Schroeder Ambassadors who visited Castle High School:

Rania Mousa, Professor of Accounting, Schroeder School of Business

Michael Moore, Special Agent, U.S. Secret Service

Megan Conapinski, Director of the Office for Career Success, Schroeder School of Business

Brooke McCorkle, Schroeder Ambassador

Alexis Fletcher, Schroeder Ambassador

Moe El Osman, Schroeder Ambassador

Our work could not be complete without the vital assistance of our UE colleagues:

Noah Alatza, UE Chief Communication Officer

Catie Taylor, UE Senior Associate Director of Admissions

Rebecca Oates, Director of Marketing & Recruitment for the College of Business and Engineering

Please join us in congratulating Mike Averett upon receiving his second master’s degree this week! Mike is the Executive Director of Facilities Management and Planning for the University of Evansville. Mike received his Bachelor of Science and MBA from Southern Utah University. Mike now adds a Masters in Facilities Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio to his impressive resume. Mike, we appreciate your commitment to your profession and wish you continued success!

Kevin Jordan, Director of Clinical Psychology, co-authored the article, “Positive and negative online social experiences and self-rated health: Associations and examination of potential pathways,” which is now available in Health Psychology, the flagship American Psychological Association journal for behavioral medicine. Using data from a national sample, Dr. Jordan and colleagues examined the association between online social support and self-rated health. Offline social support was found to mediate this relationship. The article can be viewed here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38032612/

On Wednesday, the NCAA released its most up-to-date Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report and the University of Evansville came in second among schools in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Evansville’s score of 96 tied Bradley for the second-highest total in the league and was two behind Belmont, who finished with a 98.

Evansville’s rate of 96 was six points above the national average of 90.  Scores are from the most recent graduating class for which the required six years of information is available. A graduation rate (percent) is based on a comparison of the number of students who entered a college or university and the number of those who graduated within six years.  NCAA Graduation Success Rate measures an athletics departments’ ability to graduate student-athletes through accounting for transfer students, which expands on the Federal Graduation Rate, which only measure the graduation of freshmen.

"This accomplishment is a testament to the work put in by our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” UE Athletics Director Ziggy Siegfried exclaimed.  “The University of Evansville is committed to academic success and our GSR numbers reflect that goal.”

Multiple Purple Aces programs acquired perfect scores of 100.  Those programs include baseball, men’s cross country/track & field, men’s golf, women’s cross country/track & field, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving and volleyball.  Beginning in Spring 2020, a portion of Division I revenue was distributed to member schools based on the academic achievement of student-athletes. The model allows schools with higher graduation rates and academic success to qualify for more funds.

THE CRITERIA
A school earns an academic unit by meeting any ONE of the three standards.

· Graduation Success Rate for most recently available year is equal to or greater than 90 percent. The average of single-year rates for all teams is used.

· Difference between student-athlete and student body percentages in the most recently published Federal Graduation Rate is equal to or greater than 13 percentage points.

· Academic Progress Rate for previous year is equal to or greater than 985. The average of single-year scores for all teams is used to determine eligibility for this standard.

NCAA GSR INFORMATION
All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education's Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).
 
The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.  
 
The NCAA GSR differs from the federal calculation in two important ways. First, the GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer into their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes transfer in good academic standing.  Essentially, those student-athletes are moved into another college's cohort.

The University of Evansville women’s basketball team fought until the final buzzer in a close 81-74 loss to the IUPUI Jaguars.

It was a career night for graduate center Barbora Tomancova against IUPUI as she set career highs on both offense and defense. With 27 points, 19 rebounds, an assist, and a block over 31 minutes, Tomancova led the Purple Aces to come within a possession of the Jaguars. UE also had two other players score in double figures while freshman forward Maggie Hartwig had a career-high four blocks.

“There were a lot of positives to take from the game, but we put IUPUI on the free throw line too many times in the fourth quarter,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells following the game. “It’s tough losing so many close games that have been a possession with two minutes left. It hurts but we’ll keep working hard to get better and fight for wins,”.

Evansville fell behind early on Wednesday night and couldn’t dig themselves out of the deficit in the first 10 minutes. A two-minute scoreless stretch had UE down by six, but a successful and-1 play from point guard Kynidi Mason Striverson made it only a one-possession game. Only free throws were made in the final two and a half minutes of the quarter as the Aces trailed 19-13.

UE got within one early in the second quarter as the teams traded buckets. But an eight-point run from the Jaguars with under six minutes in the half kept Evansville from finding a sustained offensive push. The Aces deficit grew to double digits in the final five minutes as they headed into halftime down 10.

But UE didn’t go down without a fight in the second half, cutting IUPUI’s lead to five within the first four minutes of the third. Evansville trailed by double-digits again in the quarter with 3:16 left on the clock. The team responded with six points in the final three minutes to bring it down to a seven-point game with a quarter left.

The Aces came out hot in the fourth quarter led by Tomancova as they chipped away at the Jaguars' lead. A seven-point run in less than a minute from Mason Striverson and guard Madline Gerke made it a one-possession game with almost seven minutes to go. IUPUI stayed in the game with attempts at the line but momentum was all UE’s way as Tomancova had a layup and free throws in back-to-back possessions.

It was traded free throws for the next three minutes as Evansville kept getting the deficit down to one. With 2:42 left on the clock, Hartwig put in a layup off a turnover to tie the game. The Aces got the ball back on the next play thanks to a baseline foul from the Jaguars. But three missed shots in a row and three made shots for IUPUI ended UE’s fourth-quarter comeback with an 81-75 loss.

UE gets a week and a half off until its next game at Meeks Family Fieldhouse. Evansville will welcome the Lindenwood Lions to town on Saturday, Dec. 16. Tip-off for next week’s game is set for 2 p.m.

The University of Evansville men's soccer team placed one student-athlete on the United Soccer Coaches all-region team, as announced in a release from the organization on Wednesday morning.

Senior forward Kai Phillip (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago) was the only Purple Ace to make the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region honors. Phillip was named to the All-West Region third team after leading UE’s offense during the 2023 season.

With 10 goals, 21 points, 36 shots, and 17 shots on goal, Phillip was the offensive leader for Evansville in 2023. Across 17 games started, Phillip had two braces and three game-winning goals, making a splash in his senior season. Phillip was also named to the Missouri Valley Conference First Team while being top of the Valley in goals and points, sitting third behind MVC Player of the Year Dylan Sing and All-Conference First Team selection Charlie Sharp.

Overall, the MVC placed 14 players on the 2023 All-West Region team. The Valley had six first-team selections, five second-team selections, and three third-team selections.