Guest pianist Dr. Daniel Lin, formerly on the UE Music faculty and currently at Indiana Wesleyan University, will present a guest piano recital this Friday (7:30 p.m.) and masterclass/workshop on the topic of performance anxiety this Saturday (9:30am/11:00am). These events are sponsored by the Greater Evansville Music Teachers Association and hosted by UE Music in Wheeler Concert Hall.

Admission for all events is free and open to the public.

Is one of your New Year's Resolutions to read more books? Get kick started by joining the SAA Book Club! This month we will meet Wednesday January 31st at 12noon in the Philips Alcove (2nd floor Ridgway across from CDEI). We will be chatting about the feel good fiction book, The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J.Klune. Feel free to bring your lunch. We will be playing book club bingo for some prizes. Please R.S.V.P. to Kathy Taylor at ks6@evansville.edu or ext 3801 so we can have enough Bingo sheets.

Please join the Community Racial Justice Prayer Service that will be held in Neu Chapel on Sunday, February 4th at 2 p.m. All faith communities are welcome!

Sip, savor, and celebrate! Join us on Saturday, January 13th for Fizz and Feast featuring refreshing virgin mimosas and a delectable brunch spread. A perfect blend of flavors to kickstart the weekend!

We are excited to announce that we will host our inaugural varsity esports tryouts this week and next. If you want to try out for one of our Esports teams, scan the QR code or go to forms.office.com/r/nEqLYPpARv.

We will have Valorant and Rocket League tryouts on Thursday, January 11th, and Friday, January 12th, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. If you are interested in Overwatch 2, Call of Duty, or Super Smash Bros Ultimate, then we will be hosting those tryouts on Tuesday, January 16th, and Wednesday, January 17th, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

You can bring your equipment, or we will supply you with everything. Please make sure to have your accounts ready when you come and fill out the form to save a seat for you.

We look forward to seeing you at tryouts, either supporting the team or trying to join one.

Please join us beginning next week as we commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through a week-long celebration under the theme "Embracing Liberation: Radical Love for a United Community."

This year, UE is collaborating with multiple organizations, and we encourage our UE family to take part in the community-wide commemoration. Please see graphic for more community-wide details.

Highlights:

• Saturday, January 13:
  • 9:00 a.m. - UE MLK Day of Service for UE Students, Faculty, and Staff

• Monday, January 15:
  • 8:30 a.m. – Faith-based service in Neu Chapel
  • 9:45 a.m. – Rally at Meeks Family Fieldhouse
  • 10:00 a.m. – Symbolic March

• Wednesday, January 17:
  • 11:30 a.m. – Luncheon in Eykamp Hall featuring the William G. and Rose M. Mays Lectureship, 2024 Mays Legacy Award, and Rising Star Service Award presentations.

• Saturday, January 20:
  • 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. – UE Inaugural Conference on Community Solidarity open to all Evansville community members.

Register for Enhanced Participation: To enhance your experience, we encourage you to register for the day of serivce, luncheon and conference through the provided buttons by visiting www.evansville.edu/MLK. All on-campus events are free and open to all UE community members and guests.

For any questions, please reach out to the Center for Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Center4DEI@evansville.edu

The University of Evansville African American Alumni Association (UEAAA) proudly presents a special Black History Month event featuring Arnell Hill '80, the award-winning creator of a documentary spotlighting his UE experiences. The documentary, honored at the Indy Fest Film awards and showcased at the Heartland International Film Festival, offers a unique insight into the African American student journey at the University of Evansville. This event will take place at the EVPL Central Library on Walnut Street on February 6th, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. free of charge.

UEAAA invites faculty to include this historic event as an extra credit option in their Spring 2024 syllabi. Sponsored by the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library, this is a unique chance for students to explore the African American student experience.

For more information, contact UEAAA.

The SAA has just been asked to oversee the Red Cross blood drive on February 14, 2024, and we are looking for a few amazing volunteers to serve on this committee to ensure this runs as smoothly as possible.

We are in a bit of a time crunch, so please confirm your availability by Thursday, January 11th. Your support matters!

If available to volunteer, please email saa@evansville.edu for more info.

Thank you!

Your UE SAA Executive Board

Get Your W-2s and 1095Cs Earlier with Electronic Consent

The Office of Accounting/Payroll will be issuing W-2s for 2023 no later than January 31, 2024.  You may choose 1 of 2 options to receive your W-2:

• Electronic W-2 – If you provide your consent, you will be able to view/print in Self-Service as soon as they are ready.  Notification will be sent through AceNotes.
• Paper W-2 – If you prefer, you can continue to receive your W-2 in the mail.

An electronic W-2 will give you earlier access than a mailed copy.  It is IRS compliant and can be submitted with your tax return as usual.

To give consent for the electronic W-2, log in to Self-Service https://selfservice.evansville.edu and go to “Tax Information”.  Select “Receive my W-2 only in electronic form” and save.

If you are eligible to participate in the university’s health plans, you may give consent to receive your 1095-C form electronically here also.  If you choose to withhold your consent to view/print your online W-2 and 1095-C, a paper copy will be mailed to your home address.  Please make sure that your current address is on file.

If you have questions, please contact Dawn Bury at ext 2159 or db287@evansville.edu.

Camp Road Trip - February 23-25. 2024

Register today to be a Road Trip Host!

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. Deadline to register is February 9th.

Please contact Heather Cook (hw30@evansville.edu), Alli Haley (ah757@evansville.edu) or Jennifer Troutman (jt65@evansville.edu) with questions.

Please join the ECTE in welcoming four new full-time faculty members and twenty new adjunct-faculty members to UE.

Full-time faculty:

• Briana Alvey - Nursing
• Breaha Wininger - Nursing
• Hector Wills - Electrical Engineering
• William Philips - Psychology

Welcome to UE!

The student-led personal training program will be repeating again this semester. If you would like to participate, please click the link (https://forms.office.com/r/hj0wt2NJGd) to fill out a short survey.

Please welcome Alexa Ferguson as Executive Assistant to Dr. Rob Shelby, Vice President for Talent & Community and Chief Inclusion & Equity Officer. Alexa received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern Indiana and a Master of Education from Oakland City University. Alexa previously worked for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation as an educator and counselor. Alexa brings a strong background in project management, team collaboration and organization to her new role. Alexa, welcome to campus!

College Mentors for Kids connects UE students from all majors with a local elementary school student in grades 1-5 for a brief mentoring session one day a week. Elementary students come to UE's campus on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 to work with their mentor.

A recent MENTOR 2023 study found that 74% of youth who had a meaningful mentoring relationship said their mentor contributed significantly to their later success. However, another study notes that one-third of youth who want a mentor don’t have one due to a lack of formal mentoring programs in their community. Our College Mentors for Kids group currently has students from a local school on a waitlist, and we want to provide all students desiring a mentor with a UE student who can take an interest in their current and future success.

Please help us meet the needs of local students who would benefit from having a UE student mentor by volunteering to serve as a UE mentor during the spring 2024 semester. You don't have to leave campus to make a difference in a young student's life. Mentoring is transformative, and it takes all of us. We invite you to partner with UE's College Mentors for Kids organization to ensure more kids and college students experience this deep connection, leading to many lifelong possibilities. Please get in touch with Lilly Kolley at lk165@evansville.edu or Dr. Lisa Hale at lh241@evansville.edu for more information.

Congratulations to the Criminal Justice seniors who recently scored in the 99th percentile (of comparable institutions) on their Major Field Test (MFT).

The MFT is a standardized subject/major based exam given annually as part of the CJ Senior Seminar.

Great job!

Students in Dr. Joyce Stamm's Spring 2023 Phage Genomics class recently published a peer-reviewed manuscript on their findings. They annotated the sequenced genomes of bacteriophage Spelly and Phredrick, which were isolated in Fall 2022 in Honors Introductory Biology: Molecular Perspectives. Dr. Stamm, Dr. Julie Merkle (Assistant Professor, Biology), and 12 students (Ava Abernathy, Elizabeth Ackerman, John Brown, Abbey Harris, Kayli Hoffman, Ashleigh Hoskins, Abbie Jahn, Nathan Jones, Ashley Kitch, Nandini Mathavan, Nat Rose, and Joey Taylor) authored the article in Microbiology Resource Announcements on December 19, 2023. The article can be found at https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mra.01049-23. Congratulations, phage researchers!

Taking back to the road on Wednesday, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Peoria, Ill. to face Bradley.  Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network having the coverage.

Last Time Out

- Murray State led from start to finish on their way to an 81-59 win over the Purple Aces on Saturday at the Ford Center

- MSU led by 9 at the break and as many as 27 in the second half

- Gage Bobe and Kenny Strawbridge Jr. scored 12 apiece while Yacine Toumi and Antonio Thomas each finished the game with 10 points

Season-High

- Converting all four of his outside attempts against Murray State, Gage Bobe posted a season-high 12 points

- Entering the game, he missed 10 consecutive triples over a 6-game span

- His previous season mark of 9 points came at Missouri State with all nine points coming from the long ball

Defining Consistency

- Antonio Thomas has recorded 7 or more points in 11 of the last 14 games for the Purple Aces including 27 in the win over UNI, his top Division I scoring effort

- He recorded 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting and a 9-for-10 effort from long range

- At Bellarmine, Thomas made a run at a triple double, posting 9 points, 8 boards and 5 assists and finished in double figures with 10 points at Indiana State and 10 vs. Murray State

- Thomas is tied for 15th in the MVC with 1.20 steals per game and has jumped to a tie for 13th in the league with an 81.6% free throw shooting mark; he has hit 24 of his last 28 free throw tries

Make it Seven in a Row

- Recording 10 points against Murray State, Yacine Toumi reached double figures in scoring for the seventh-consecutive game

- Over that span, he has averaged 13.7 points and 8.0 rebounds

- Toumi’s playing time has gone up - he played 28 minutes or under in each of the first 12 games but has played over 30 minutes in each of the last three outings

- He has two double-doubles in the last four games, including a 19-point, 10-rebound performance at Indiana State

- Toumi was 9-for-13 from the field against the Sycamores and has converted 25 of his last 38 attempts over the last four games, an astonishing 65.8%

Scouting the Opponent

- Bradley holds a 10-5 overall record and have split their first four MVC games entering Wednesday’s contest

- After opening the season with six wins in a row, the Braves lost their next five before putting together a 4-game win streak

- Four Braves average double figures with Connor Hickman pacing the team with 14.8 points per game

- Malevy Leons is second with 13.3 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game

- Darius Hannah and Duke Deen hold averages of 11.8 and 11.3 PPG, respectively

- Bradley has won the last ten meetings against the Aces