Thank you to Dr. Sonja Ezell, assistant professor in Elementary Education, Early Childhood and Special Education, for chairing the Martin Luther King Jr., Day Planning Committee. She did a fabulous job on the event, which included a children’s program on campus and a community celebration at Grace United Methodist Church.
Congratulations to Jason Brooks, assistant dean of students for diversity and inclusion. Jason received the Community Award during Martin Luther King Jr., Day events.
Our Master of Business Administration graduate program picked up another accolade. The Top Management Degrees website has included it in the 50 most affordable MBA degree programs, culled from more than 500 schools accredited by AACSB. Emporia State ranked No, 18. For more: http://prn.to/1PhfEn8
Congratulations to Tess Ziek (Instructor, Department of Music) on her recent invitation to perform at the 2016 Mid-South Horn Conference. The conference will be held at the University of Oklahoma, February 26-28, 2016. In the horn world, this is our region’s major event. The focus this year is “Iconic Women of the Horn,” featuring three major female artists. Tess has been invited to perform in two concerts this year; on the “guest artist recital” (she will be accompanied on guitar by Dr. Gary Moege, ESU alumni and professor of horn at UCM) and as part of the “pro horn ensemble.” For more: http://bit.ly/1nyit6P
Congratulations to Dr. Jim Hoy, who was named Kansan of the Year by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas. Jim will be honored at a banquet on Kansas Day, January 29, in Topeka. He joins an esteemed list of past recipients including Bob Dole, Robert Gates and Gordon Parks. For nearly four decades, Jim has been involved with the Center for Great Plains Studies, currently serving as the Center director and has guided the Friends of the Plains organization through many successful years of outreach and fundraising activities all in the name of preserving and sharing the culture and history of the Great Plains and Flint Hills regions. For more: http://bit.ly/1lvQOBT
President Allison Garrett is more familiar with the Kansas Statehouse after trips to meet Gov. Sam Brownback as well as members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee. While in Topeka, the president also visited Seaman High School to meet alumni and visited two media outlets for live interviews. On Tuesday, during ESU Day at the Statehouse, President Garrett met with a number of legislators, and also was introduced on the House floor by Rep. Don Hill (R-Emporia) and on the Senate floor by Sen. Jeff Longbine (R-Emporia).
Emporia State had four individual champions and six runner-up finishes January 16 at the Shocker Prelude at Wichita State. As a team the Hornet women finished second while the No. 17 Emporia State men placed fourth. This was the first meet of 2016 for the teams. For more: http://bit.ly/1QeA3pU
The track and field teams competed again on January 22 at the UCM Invite in Warrensburg, Mo. They combined for seven individual championships as the Hornet women finished second and the men placed fourth. For more: http://bit.ly/1ZNYr4k.
Kudos to Billy Garner (B.A. Political Science '15). Billy just landed a job as HR representative at se2, a tech company that works with the insurance industry. Billy sent the following note: "As an HR Representative I work to attract strong job candidates for the company, manage the hiring process for all incoming employees, and I work with Senior Leaders (from the CEO down) to maintain HR policies and ensure that the company is meeting its benchmark goals."
Joyce Thierer will be celebrating Kansas Day by telling the story, in first person, of the early Kansas Territory settler Mary Fix at 6:30 p.m. January 26 at the Emporia Public Library. Dr. Thierer will also be teaching a five-day youth camp on Chautauqua (oral history telling) this June in Nebraska.
Congratulations to Dawn McConkie (Professor, Department of Music) and her students on their recent recognitions and awards! Tara Lierz was awarded first place at the state Music Teachers National Association in the Young Artist category and Bailey Stines was awarded second place in the same category. Garrett VanArsdale was awarded second place and Zach Shields received Honorable Mention in the senior woodwind category. The Emporia State University Clarinet Choir was competitively selected to perform a full concert at the International Clarinet Association this summer August 3-7.
In addition, in her role as State Board Chair of the International Clarinet Association, Dawn wrote a proposal for the formation of the All-Kansas Collegiate Clarinet Choir. The proposal was accepted and she will be collaborating with Tod Kerstetter (KSU) in organizing this “ensemble of statewide collegiate clarinetists from the Regents Schools and other colleges and universities in the state of Kansas.”
Congratulations to the five faculty members of The Teachers College who recently received awards from their peers: Dr. Kelly O’Neal-Hixson — Excellence in Instruction, Dr. Elizabeth Dobler — Excellence in Scholarly Activity, Dr. Heather Caswell — Excellence in Service, Dr. Brian Schrader — Darrell E. Wood Service, Dr. Melissa Reed — Ervay Family Award for Applied Scholarship. For more: http://bit.ly/1KuFnky
This review of Brian Craig Miller’s book “Empty Sleeves” features the following quote: "Some passages of this book are so deftly written — the author’s contemplation on the death of Stonewall Jackson as an 'amputation' of Robert E. Lee’s right arm is a particularly striking example — that they remind the reader of the importance of good writing to good scholarship. Brian Craig Miller has crafted a beautifully written and extensively researched book..." For the full review: http://bit.ly/1OCgPKu
The Division II college football season has been finished for over a month but the awards keep coming in for the Emporia State football program. Quarterback Brent Wilson was named Super Region 3 Offensive Player of the Year to lead four Hornets who earned all-region recognition from the Don Hansen Football Committee. He was joined on the first team by receiver Mitchell Foote while receiver Kavaski Ervin and kicker Austin Morton were named second-team. For more: http://bit.ly/1ZRTFbe
Congratulations to Stephanie Lanter, assistant professor of ceramics, whose exhibit of work has opened at the University of the Ozarks. It will remain displayed until Feb. 19. For more: http://bit.ly/1PsMQC2
With snow on the ground, it's hard to believe the No. 38 Emporia State baseball team is set to open the season in two weeks with a three game series against No. 31 Colorado State-Pueblo at Glennen Field in the Trusler Sports Complex on February 5. Starting this season there are no double headers on the Hornets schedule, with every playing date consisting of a single nine inning game. For more: http://bit.ly/1VloKO0
The Emporia State softball program will begin the April Huddleston era in two weeks when the Hornets open play at the Southeastern Oklahoma State Regional Invitational with a game against Henderson State. It will be the first of 17 games over three weeks before Emporia State opens MIAA play at Lindenwood on March 4 in St. Charles, Missouri. For more: http://bit.ly/1WKPokH
As a Teachers for the Global Classrooms fellow, Natasha Jenkins (BSE Social Sciences Education, '08) will be traveling to the Republic of Georgia March 11 through 25. The program is sponsored by IREX and the U.S. Department of State.
Congratulations to the more than 20 students who along with faculty attended the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival last week in Bloomington, Minnesota. A special thanks to Thomas Transfer and Storage of Emporia who provided a truck, trailer and driver to transport the set for “The Treehouse Effect” production. For results from the festival: http://bit.ly/1OPvHVI
The video promoting Lightboard, a new tool developed by Information Technology, is a finalist in a competition at the Educause Learning Initiative, or ELI. A total of 26 videos were selected for the competition. Each video describes how an organization’s project applies to one of the developents in educational technology. Winners will be announced at the General Session of the conference tomorrow. For more on the competition (ESU’s submission is No. 2): http://bit.ly/1PSWdeC