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!

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 Academic Success Lab is now open for the spring semester! Peer academic coaches are available to assist students with study skills, time management, test preparation and much more. The Success Lab is located in the Clifford Memorial Library, Room 259 (right down the hall from the Writing Center) for drop-in hours. Academic coaches are also available to meet virtually. The schedules for both in-person and virtual academic coaching hours are located online here: https://www.evansville.edu/advising/academic-success-lab.cfm

The academic coaches look forward to working with students this semester!

Students expecting refunds of excess financial aid are encouraged to input their bank information within Self-Service for direct deposit. This can be found under Banking Information in Self-Service.

If you need further assistance, contact the Office of Student Financial Services at 812-488-2565.

The Fall 2023 Deans' List is currently on display at the library. Congratulations!

DIY Overnight Oats. Mixing up creativity, health, and a pinch of teamwork for a delicious start to the day!

Savor the Perfect Pairing of food penning down your 2024 resolution goals – a feast for the senses and aspirations alike.

The Writing Center is accepting student applications for employment for the Spring 2024 semester. If you're interested, please fill out the attached form. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kristina Groves at kg76.

https://forms.office.com/r/D8v6x2r4Xe

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.

David Green has edited the most recent volume of Nottingham Medieval Studies, one of the leading interdisciplinary journals for the study of European history and literature in the Middle Ages. This is a special edition dedicated to Michael Jones (Green's PhD supervisor) and has the title 'Centres and Peripheries in Medieval Britain and France'.

University of Evansville divers Madison Rollett (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) and Levi McKinney (Boonville, Ind./Boonville) both posted NCAA Zone qualifying marks on Saturday against Southern Indiana, while the UE swimmers took home eight individual titles in a dual meet against the Bellarmine Knights in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rollett posted her first Zone qualifying mark of her UE career with a personal-best score of 279.90 on the one-meter board to win the individual competition against USI.  Rollett is trying to be the first UE female to advance to NCAA Zone Championships since Courtney Coverdale in 2017.  McKinney, meanwhile, posted his second NCAA Zone score of the year with a personal-best mark of 308.85 on the one-meter board.  He also cracked the 300-point barrier in the season’s first meet of the year.

Rollett swept both the one-meter and three-meter competitions against USI, winning the three-meter competition by over 30 points with a score of 251.18. 

Swimming-wise, UE got five individual titles on the men’s side and three titles on the women’s side in a dual meet against Bellarmine.  UE swept all four relay races, with senior Jackson Caudill (Mt. Sterling, Ky./Montgomery County) and juniors Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) and Patrik Vilbergsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) taking home individual titles on the men’s side, and freshman Rebecca Lago (Tezze sul Brenta, Italy) winning the women’s 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 25.11.

Caudill captured the title in the men’s 1,000-Yard Freestyle with a time of 9:43.25.  Santos Lopez, meanwhile, won the 200-Yard IM with a time of 1:54.44, besting the field by over three seconds.  Vilbergsson then cruised to the title in the 200-Yard Backstroke by over five seconds with a winning time of 1:51.66.

The UE swimming and diving teams will return to action next weekend at Eastern Illinois.  The women’s team will compete against EIU, while the men will battle both Eastern Illinois and Wabash.  The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Converting 7 of his 12 attempts from long range, freshman Josh Hughes recorded a career-high 22 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fell to Missouri State by a final of 74-64 inside the Ford Center on Saturday evening.

“Overall, I am happy with the mindset that we had tonight.  It felt like progress in the right direction.  We felt like that last two games were not characteristic of how we are as a team.  We came out and punched first tonight,” Purple Aces head men’s basketball coach David Ragland exclaimed. “Missouri State did a good job of responding to that and it was a back-and-forth bout. There are a few fixable things that we can improve on from tonight and get better.”

Hughes eclipsed his previous career mark of 21 points, which came in November against Southeast Missouri State.  Antonio Thomas finished the night with 15 points, hitting two triples and five free throws. Yacine Toumi and Kenny Strawbridge Jr. both approached double-doubles.  Strawbridge recorded 9 points and 10 rebounds while Toumi posted 8 points and 12 caroms.  N.J. Benson paced MSU with 22 points and 13 caroms.

Two offensive rebounds on the first UE possession of the game resulted in a basket by Yacine Toumi as the Purple Aces recorded the opening four points of the game.  Josh Hughes drained a triple to extend the lead to 7-2.  Nearly four minutes in, Gage Bobe saved the basketball from going out of bounds and connected on a 3-pointer in the same possession to make it a 10-4 game.

Five in a row from the Bears saw them cut the Evansville lead to a point before tying it up at 15-15 with 12:54 remaining in the half.  Hughes drained his third triple of the evening to cap a 5-0 run and make it a 20-15 game.  The next four minutes belonged to Missouri State as they reeled off 11 points in a row to take a 26-20 lead inside of the 9-minute mark.  UE missed three shots and turned the ball over twice during the MSU run.

Antonio Thomas, who tied for the game-high with 11 points in the first half, connected from downtown to end the run.  With 4:45 on the clock, Thomas gave the Aces a 31-30 lead on a free throw.  In the final minute, the squads swapped the lead before Missouri State hit the final basket to take a 36-35 halftime advantage.

Out of the break, MSU scored the opening six points to take their largest lead of seven.  Hughes got Evansville back on the board with his fourth outside conversion.  Unfortunately, the Bears added to their lead.  Inside of the 13-minute mark, they took their first double figure lead at 53-43 and would push the lead to 13 tallies (58-45).

Refusing to give up, Evansville drained back-to-back triples to get back to single digits entering the final eight minutes.  Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Hughes hit the triples.  Missouri State countered to push the lead back out to a 69-53 margin as the contest moved into the final four minutes.  Hughes did his best to keep his squad in it, converting a 4-point play and another triple to make it a 69-60 game with two minutes left.  Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 69-62 with 1:34 left.

The Bears fended off the challenge and completed the night with the 10-point win.  MSU shot 46.4% while holding UE to 33.9%.  On the boards, MSU had a 42-36 advantage.  Evansville is back at the Ford Center on Wednesday, welcoming Valparaiso for a 7 p.m. game.

It was a shootout on Sunday afternoon in Meeks Family Fieldhouse as the University of Evansville women’s basketball team came just short in a 90-72 loss against the Murray State Racers.

The Purple Aces had their best offensive game of Missouri Valley Conference play facing the Racers by shooting 45.5% from the floor and 50% from behind the arc. Along with a strong offensive front, UE’s defense kept Murray State six percent below its season-scoring percentage. Four separate Evansville players had double-digit games including guards Kynidi Mason Striverson, Alana Striverson, and post players Barbora Tomancova and Nevaeh Thomas.

“I’m really really proud of our effort and our bounce back from our last game,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. We put ourselves in a position going into the fourth quarter with the game in reach. We made some mistakes down the stretch that we need to clean up. But I feel like we can if we continue to put ourselves in that spot. Murray State is one of the best teams in our conference right now, and it was a fun game to play in and a fun game to coach,”.

The Aces got the first bucket of Sunday’s matchup from center Barbora Tomancova off a Racer turnover, setting the tone for the game. Murray State responded with the first run of the day with eight points and two threes. UE responded with a three of its own from guard Kynidi Mason Striverson. Mason Striverson couldn’t be stopped in the first quarter, leading Evansville with eight points and shooting 57%. An 8-2 stretch for the Racers in the final three minutes had the Aces facing a six-point deficit.

It was all UE to start the second quarter as the team opened on a four-point run to make it a one-basket game. The two squads matched each other shot-for-shot over the next three minutes before Murray State slightly pulled away. In the final two minutes of the first half Evansville had a 7-3 run to make it a four-point game going into the second half.

The Aces had a quiet start to the third quarter as their first points came three minutes in from guard Tené Smith. UE tried to match the Racers shooting but fell behind by 13 points with four minutes left in the quarter. A jump shot three from Mason Striverson with 3:12 on the clock sparked an eight-point run to get within five. Back-to-back threes from Striverson made it only a four-point game with a minute and a half left. Evansville headed into the final quarter trailing by only five and a chance to win its first conference game of the season.

Using their momentum from the third quarter, the Aces made two quick baskets for a one-point game. Murray State responded with four points but a layup from Tomancova following a missed Racer basket returned it to a one possession game. But a four-minute cold stretch from UE’s offense put the team down by 13 with four minutes to go. A nine-point run by Murray State put the game out of reach for Evansville as they fell 90-72.

Mason Striverson led the team on offense with 17 points, four assists, and two steals. Sister Alana Striverson had a similar stat line with 14 points, four assists, and one steal including four made three pointers. Also, in double figures for the Aces were Tomancova with her fourth double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds and Thomas with 10 points, three assists, and one steal. Tomancova’s 13 rebounds led the team on defense as no Ace added a block through 40 minutes. As a team, UE set a season-high 22 assists while also having their strongest game from the arc since November at 50% shooting.

Evansville hits the road for its next game on Friday, Jan. 19. The Aces head to Springfield, Mo. to take on the Missouri State Lady Bears in a Friday night clash. Tip-off from Great Southern Bank Arena is set for 6:30 p.m.

It may have been the first meet day of the 2024 track and field season, but the University of Evansville team was in mid-season form to start the Commodore Challenge.

The Purple Aces were ready to go out of the gate at the Commodore Challenge as six runners broke indoor program records and five other team members set personal bests. All six of UE's new records came during nonchampionship track events with an even split between the men's and women's events. Program records were set by Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria BORGL St.Pölten) in the women's 1000-meter, Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain Colegio Claret) in the men's 1000-meter, Eline Brenne (Skien, Norway Telemark Toppidrett Gymnas) in the women's 600-meter, Jakub Nowicki (Poznan, Poland) in the men's 600-meter, Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind., Reitz HS) in the women's 300-meter, and Raymond Felton III (Houston, Clear Brook HS) in the men's 300-meter.

The first day of the Commodore Challenge began with field events as Evansville's throwers saw multiple personal records. On the men's side graduate student Jaden Hayes (Huntingburg, Ind. Southridge HS) set a PR in the weight throw reaching 16.20m for 14th place. Graduate student Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind., Princeton Community HS) finished three spots ahead of Hayes in the event with a throw of 16.62m. On the women's side, sophomore Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio, Orange HS) set a PR in the weight throw at 12.03m. Senior Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind., Reitz HS) made her throwing debut on Friday with a weight throw of 7.95m. Junior Mason Douglas (Howe, Ind. Manchester University) was the Aces lone juickmper on the day with a long jump of 5.87m. 

 The Aces sprinters also had a big day as sophomore Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. Oldenburg Academy) set a personal record in the 200-meter dash at 29.20. But freshman Connor Shin (Bloomington, Ind., Bloomington North HS) had a Top 15 finish in his first collegiate meet running the 200-meter dash in 22.81 seconds. Sophomore Jude Nyugen (Farmington Hills, Mich. North Farmington) placed 22nd in the 200-meters at 24.07 seconds. Sprinters finished out the day for UE at the Commodore Challenge in the 300-meter as Johnson and Felton set program records at 41.80 seconds and 35.56 seconds respectively. Also racing in the 300-meters on the men's side were Austin Liversgowdy (Florence, Ky. Cooper HS) in 17th with a time of 36.22 and sophomore Jose Ocampo (Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) finished 23rd with a time of 36.68. 

Mid-distance runners also had strong finishes at the Commodore Challenge. Three women finished in the Top 13 of the 1000-meters for Evansville as Prauchner set a new record at 2:52.14. Freshman Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland) placed 10th with a finish of 2:56.95 while Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada) placed 13th with a finish of 3:00.07. In the men's 1000-meters Rodriguez ran a 2:29.41 for 8th and a new program record while Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain I.E.S. Alonso de Madrigal) finished 11th with a time of 2:33.10 and Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy Liceo Scientifico David Maria Turoldo) finished 14th with a time of 2:34.63.

In the 600-meters Brenne set a new program record of 1:37.10 on the women's side in 10th place. On the men's side Nowicki finished 15th with a time of 1:23.50 to break the program record set by junior Adam Oulgout last season. Also finishing the men's 600-meters for Evansville was sophomore Joey Taylor with a time of 1:27.04 in his first 600-meter race.

Day two of the Commodore Challenge begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. with field events including shot put, pole vault, and the triple jump. Running events will begin at 12 p.m. starting with hurdle preliminaries and wrapping up with 4x400 relays at 4:35 p.m.