Wellness Day will take place on Monday, February 12. This day is an opportunity for both students and employees to take a break from day-to-day responsibilities and focus on mental and physical health. All UE academic departments and administrative offices will be closed, but dining services will operate with adjusted hours. Café Court will be open from 10:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., and Chick-fil-A will be open from noon until 8:00 p.m. Rademacher's Café will be closed. The library will remain open on Wellness Day.

The Department of Art is pleased to welcome the spring 2024 Efroymson Artist in Residence, Shannon Bourn. Her exhibit, "I SEE YOU", will be open from January 22 - February 24, 2024 in the Melvin Peterson Gallery. Ms. Bourn will lead a student lecture and several student workshops during her residency in the Melvin Peterson Gallery. These events are supported by the Efroymson Family Fund.

Please plan to attend the public reception and lecture in the Melvin Peterson Gallery on Thursday, February 15 at 6:30 pm.

The Department of Art is pleased to present the 2024 Student Art Showcase in the Krannert Gallery through mid-February. This exhibit features examples of work created the first semester by UE Art Students.

Please support the students by attending the Meet and Greet reception on Thursday January 25 from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm in the Krannert Gallery. This event is hosted by the UE Friends of Art.

Free STD testing event on Friday, February 9th from 11:30-2:30 in lot H by the Carson Center. Look for the Vanderburgh Co. Health Department mobile unit for incentinves, information, and free testing! Anyone is welcome!

Join the Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion along with UE panelist for a discussion on their FREEdom of their hair in showing up in higher education settings.

Lunch will be provided and registration is required (scan the QR code to register).

Welcome to Black History Month!

Join us as we kick off our Black History Month celebration on Thursday, February 1, 2024, beginning at 3pm in the Multicultural Student Commons.

You do not want to miss the fun, games, music, and laughter!

ECTE invites all faculty and staff involved in student recruitment and retention to its first Lunch and Learn session of the semester, next Thursday, January 25th (12:15pm to 1:00pm) – in the Library Boardroom #203.

Jill Griffin will talk about “Academics and New Student Recruitment”

• Academic profiles of incoming students over the past 5 years
• Challenges in discerning the academic quality of prospective students
• Grade inflation
• College readiness

Chad Hart will discuss “Ready to Be Student Ready – What the student voice is telling us and what we can do about it?”

Highlights from student feedback he’s gathered and important frameworks from which to think about how we approach the current student generation and the ones to come. How can we adapt to be ready to attract, retain, and empower students as we move forward to UE’s next 100 years? Are we ready to be ready?

We'll be offering Zoop & Zand: tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips, and cookies.

We hope to see you next Thursday! ~ ECTE: Julie and Diana

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!

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.

Students, Faculty, Staff, and Administration....do you play a Woodwind, Brass, or Percussion instrument?

The UE Community Band meets on Thursdays in Krannert Fine Arts, Room 110, 7:00-9:00pm. Everyone is welcome to join. No audition required.

Our Spring Concert is April 18, 2024.

Contact Dr. Kenneth Steinsultz (ks306) for more details. See you Thursday.

The Eykamp Prize was established by Richard and Rita Eykamp in 2015 to honor Faculty Achievement at the University of Evansville. Recipients of the prize will receive a one-time award of $10,000 in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the University of Evansville as University Citizens. Examples of such contributions include deep and successful involvement in recruiting students; expanding the number, scope, and competitiveness of grant funding for their department; and bringing positive public awareness to the University through scholarship, knowledge, and understanding of their discipline.

Nominations for the Eykamp Prize may come from any member of the University of Evansville community. Nominees should be tenured or tenure-track faculty members at the University of Evansville who have not received the award in the previous five years. Nominations can be submitted in writing or via e-mail to Mary Kessler, Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost, at mk43@evansville.edu by March 1, 2024. Nominations should include the name of the faculty member and a brief statement of the reasons that they are being nominated.

Recipients of the Eykamp Prize will be selected by an Award Committee, appointed by the Interim EVPAA/Provost that includes members of the faculty, staff, administrators, and a member of the Board of Trustees. The award will be announced and presented at the May Commencement Ceremony.

Recipients in the previous five years: 2019 – Dr. Kristy Miller; 2020 – Dr. Jerrilee LaMar; 2021 – Dr. Joyce Stamm; 2022 – Dr. Mari Plikuhn; and 2023 – Dr. Suresh Immanuel.

Hello everybody! I am excited to announce that the Valorant, Overwatch 2, and Call of Duty Esports teams still have open spots. We are looking to start a League of Legends team and only need a few more people who are interested.

If you have any are intersted please email esports@evansville.edu to gain more information about joining the Esports teams.

The Writing Center is open! Please visit our website to make an appointment. Drop ins are available on a limited basis. https://www.evansville.edu/writingcenter/index.cfm

Students can bring papers for any class at any stage of the writing process. We are open 10 am - 5 pm Monday through Wednesday, 10 am - 7 pm Thursday, 10 am - 3 pm on Friday and noon - 4pm on Sunday.

Instructors can request classroom visits by using the linked form. https://forms.office.com/r/vUYh5HxyfG

Patchwork Central and the University of Evansville will be partnering to remove abandoned bicycles across campus in the coming weeks. These bikes will be restored and gifted to the community.

If you currently have a bike that is locked to a bike rack, please visit the Office of Residence Life to receive a bike tag. After receiving your tag, please secure it on your bike and lock it to a rack on campus.

During the week of Jan. 29th, Facilties and Patchwork will be removing bikes that do not have a tag.

Please contact Will McDonner at wm99 for any questions or concerns.

Hello everybody! I am excited to announce that Total Fit is back! Total Fit is a fitness class that focuses on having a strong body, mind, and sprirt. This class is open to anyone and everyone regardless of your current fitness level. Please come wearing athletic clothes and shoes, and bring a water bottle! We will be meeting once a week every Wednesday morning in the Carson Center from 8:30-9:30 am, in the aerobic room (the room with all the mirrors).

If you have any questions please contact Owen Lawrence (ol29@evansville.edu).

Hope to see you at our first class on Wednesday, January 24th!

Many tutoring sessions for the spring semester have begun. The tutoring schedule can be found here: https://www.evansville.edu/advising/academic-peer-tutoring.cfm.

Peer tutoring is a free service managed by Academic Services that is open to all current UE students. Each session is run by peer tutors who are familiar with the course material, having gone through it all themselves before. This is a great resource for if you have questions, want to refresh yourself on information, or even if you need a space that will help you focus on studying and other work.

Haven't attended tutoring before? Here are some fast facts and tips:

• Tutoring operates on a drop-in basis in which students can come and go from the tutoring session at any point in the posted time frame.
• Bring your course materials with you.
• Come up with specific questions so that the tutor knows how to best help you.
• Tutoring is not a replacement for asking your professor questions and seeking their help.
• Please be respectful of other students as well as of tutors.
• Sessions listed as “TBD” are still being decided and will be available as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding peer tutoring, please contact Laci Rowe at lr152@evansville.edu / 812-488-5170 or by stopping into Academic Services (Olmsted 116)!

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.

Mohammad K. Azarian, professor of mathematics, attended the 2024 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Fransisco, California, January 2-6, where 17 different national mathematics organizations took part. He presented a paper to the American Mathematical Society (AMS) entitled, “Combinatorics of Discrete Functions”. Also, as the chair of the AMS Committee on the Human Rights of Mathematicians, he presided over its annual meeting.

In a contest that went right down to the wire, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team came up just short with UNI taking a 70-63 win inside the McLeod Center on Tuesday.

For the third time in his career, Yacine Toumi scored a career-high 20 points.  He hit 9 of his 16 field goal tries and tallied 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.  Chuck Bailey III scored 14 points while Tanner Cuff was one shy of his career mark, registering 13 points.  Cam Haffner scored six points, including consecutive triples in the second half that kept the Purple Aces right in the thick of the battle.  Tytan Anderson and Nate Heise led the way for the Panthers with 15 points each.

“I thought the guys had the right mindset over the last two days coming into this game.  The response was spot on; that is how you want to play – giving yourself an opportunity to win,” UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland said.  “This is a hard place to win, especially with the start that we had, but if you take away the opening segments of each half, it is much closer.”

It was UNI getting the early jump, hitting three of their opening four attempts to take a 7-0 lead.  Yacine Toumi took a feed from Kenny Strawbridge Jr. to score Evansville’s first points of the game.  The early run for the Panthers continued as they opened an 11-2 advantage and maintained a 9-point lead, up 17-8 at the 12:11 mark.

Over the next four minutes, Evansville took control along with its first lead of the night.  Scoring eight in a row while hitting four out of five attempts, Cam Haffner took it coast-to-coast and fed Toumi for the go-ahead basket with 7:49 on the clock.  UE’s defense UNI to 0-for-5 with a turnover during that stretch.  Seconds after the Aces jumped in front, a triple by UNI opened a 5-0 spurt.

Gage Bobe knocked down a triple to make it a 1-point game and the Aces remained within a handful of points over the ensuing stretch before Chuck Bailey III found his groove.  His 3-point play got UE within a pair with 1:42 remaining and, following a Panthers miss, Tanner Cuff converted a layup to tie the game.  Bailey got the job done once again in the final minute, nailing a 3-pointer to send the Aces to the break with a 31-28 lead.

Evansville had a strong finish to the half; after falling behind by an 11-2 margin, the Aces outscored UNI by a 29-17 margin over the final 15:11 of the first period.

It took just a few seconds for UNI to tie the game in the second half, converting a 3-point play in their opening possession.  That would be the first of ten in a row by the Panthers to open the second half and a 38-31 lead.  Strawbridge got Evansville on the board with a 3-pointer and Toumi followed with a jumper that cut the deficit back to two.

UNI went back up by eight points as the game entered its final nine minutes, holding the Aces scoreless for close to three minutes and holding a 51-43 edge.  That is when Cam Haffner took matters into his own hands.  Consecutive triples by the sophomore cut the gap down to two at 51-49.  Cuff recorded a triple with just over six minutes remaining that made it a 54-52 game.  With just under five minutes remaining, the Aces had the ball and a chance to take the lead, but a turnover led to a UNI triple on the other end.  Another three by the Panthers extended the lead to 60-55 with three minutes on the clock.

Cuff connected on his fifth bucket of the contest to get UE within a possession, but each time the Aces rallied, UNI had the answer.  Late free throws saw them complete the game with a 70-63 win.  Evansville outshot UNI by a 44.6%-41.5% margin but it was the Panthers with the 37-30 rebounding edge.

Two home games are on the schedule for the Purple Aces when they host Illinois State at 1 p.m. Saturday before welcoming UIC on Jan. 31 in a 7 p.m. match-up.

Game two of the road trip to Iowa is set for Tuesday when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team face UNI at the McLeod Center.  Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network having the coverage.

Last Time Out

- Following a pair of early lead changes, Drake took control with a first-half run that saw them score 20 points in a row before finishing with a 97-48 win in Des Moines on Saturday

- Yacine Toumi and Antonio Thomas registered 13 and 10 points, respectively

- Josh Hughes completed the game with 8 points

First Start

- Freshman Chuck Bailey III was in the starting lineup for the first time at Drake

- He recorded four of UE’s opening six points while grabbing four boards

- An efficient 5-for-7 shooting game saw him post 13 points in the win over Valpo

- Twelve of those points came in the second half as two late triples put UE in front

- Bailey missed the game at Cincinnati and struggled in the ensuing two games before erupting for 18 against the Braves; he connected on 10 of his 13 free throw tries, both career highs

Putting a Steak Together

- Over the last six games, Antonio Thomas has quietly averaged 9.5 points, including a 15-point effort against Missouri State

- He has recorded 7 or more points in 14 of the last 18 games 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, he made a run at a triple double with 9 points, 8 boards and 5 assists

- Thomas is 8th in the MVC with a season free throw mark of 82.5%; he has converted 31 of his last 36 attempts

Stat Sheet Consistency

- Yacine Toumi has been averaging close to a double-double over the last eight games, posting 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game over that time

- Toumi has record double figures in scoring in 9 of the last 11 games

- He posted a career-best 12 boards versus Missouri State and is 8th in the MVC with a season mark of 6.6

- Toumi has averaged 12.4 points over the last 10 games (136 total pts) and recorded double-doubles against Tennessee Tech and Indiana State

- 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 5 of the last 7 contests

Scouting the Opponent

- Winners of four in a row and eight of their last nine, UNI enters Tuesday’s game with a record of 11-8 and 5-3 in the MVC

- After earning road victories at Murray State and Belmont, the Panthers picked up a 61-57 home win over Southern Illinois on Saturday

- Three players average double figures for UNI with Nate Heise and Bowen Born each checking in with 14.4 points per game

- Tytan Anderson checks in with 11.4 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per contest