All posts by Aaron Jaco

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Week of April 4

Lee Jolliffe authors chapters on free speech
SJMC’s Lee Jolliffe authored one chapter and is first author on another, in the newly issued book An Indispensable Liberty: The Fight for Free Speech in Nineteenth-Century America, edited by Mary M. Cronin, of New Mexico State University.

In the lead chapter of the book, “A Press Ablaze: Violent Suppression of Abolitionist Speech, Press, Petition, and Assembly,” Lee details the wide range of violence used against abolitionist speakers, publishers, preachers, and audiences. Using newly indexed 19th-century newspapers, she has discovered that far more violence was aimed at anti-slavery advocates than previous histories have led us to believe. A number of abolitionist speakers and preachers were murdered in the South, for instance.

In a co-authored chapter on the suffrage movement, “Incremental but Insufficient: Gains Offset by Suppression for Women’s Rights Speakers,” the authors found that jeering and harassment were the primary tools of anti-woman suffrage mobs, but sadly, previously unknown violence was again discovered. Lee’s colleagues in writing this chapter are Sandra Davidson, University of Missouri, and Paulette Kilmer, University of Toledo.

The book is available from Amazon or from www.siupress.com.


SJMC senior chosen to anchor coverage of national broadcasters convention
Broadcast news senior Brenna Paukert has been selected as an anchor for the production team providing live broadcast coverage of the 2016 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show’s StudioXperience in Las Vegas on April 16–22. The NAB Show is the largest gathering of media and entertainment professionals in the world, drawing more than 100,000 attendees.


Learn to shoot better smartphone video
Professor Chris Snider will teach a smartphone video workshop on April 13 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in Meredith Hall, Room 124B. Come learn the basics of shooting great video and test out some accessories to make your smartphone a more powerful video tool. See all the details here.


SJMC hosts high school journalism conference
The SJMC will host a high school journalism conference on campus April 6 that is expected to draw as many as 100 students and their advisers. The daylong conference, which will focus on leadership and innovation, is co-sponsored by the Iowa Newspaper Foundation, Simpson College, and Iowa State University.


Road trip!
SJMC magazine students and faculty will take their annual tour of New York City magazines and meet with industry professionals and Drake alumni on April 6-10. And SJMC students and faculty will take a bus trip to Minneapolis April 3–4 to visit alumni and professionals at Twin Cities-area businesses and agencies.

—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

Free document shred event

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Protect your information—and your identity—with a free shred event sponsored by Information Technology Services (ITS)
When: Monday, April 18, 12–3 p.m.
Where: North end of Olmsted lot

Bring your documents for on-site secure shredding by Iron Mountain—free for all Drake faculty, staff, and students. Shred any documents you’d like to have securely destroyed, including personal documents, homework assignments, and old files in the office. As a bonus, the first 25 people to bring a bag or box of documents to shred will receive a free encrypted flash drive.

—Submitted by Peter Lundstedt, Information Security Manager, ITS

News & Achievements Archive

Bulldogs of DU: Bryan Thomas

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What do you do?
“I am the student success coordinator and Crew Scholars staff director. Along with an amazing staff, I work with students on study skills, time management; pretty much anything they need to learn how to do, we can teach them how to do it. The Crew Scholars program is the bulk of everything I do, and I also work with the STEM Explorers program.”

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
“I always joke with my students, my two favorite times are when you come here on your first day and when you leave. When they graduate, it means we did our job. Graduation is my absolute favorite time of year.”

What do you hope your students take away from you?
“I hope they’re doing everything they’re doing for the right reasons, that it’s genuine. I don’t believe in ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ mentality, and so I tell students, anything you do, make sure it aligns with your passions. Be the author of your own life, don’t let anybody else write your chapters.”

What do you do in your free time?
“I like being around people and I host a monthly breakfast club at my house. Growing up in New Orleans, I learned to cook at a young age. I was cutting up seafood when I was four. So I like to cook for people. My signature dish is shrimp or crawfish étouffée.”

Featured Events Archive

Locked Up: Stories from San Quentin Prison

On Tuesday, April 12, faculty, staff, students, and community members are invited to listen to a selection of stories from incarcerated individuals and discuss what it means to be incarcerated in America. Four Drake students traveled to California to go inside San Quentin State Prison in December 2015 and heard these prisoners’ stories firsthand. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Pomerantz Stage in the Olmsted Center.

—Renee Cramer, Associate Professor Law, Politics, and Society

Featured Events Archive

Artist Michael Burton to give free lecture

Please join the students in Lenswork and the Department of Art and Design in welcoming artist and educator Michael Burton to campus on April 14 and 15. Burton will be giving a public lecture on his art practice, specifically how he creates animations for commercial art projects and his own studio research on April 14 at 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center, Room 336. For more information about Michael and to see examples of his animations, www.michaelburtonart.com/

 —Emily Newman

Featured Events Archive

“Finding Happiness” art exhibit

A new art exhibit at Drake University features the diverse works of more than 20 adults with intellectual disabilities. The result of a partnership between the Drake University Department of Art and Design and Mosaic of Central Iowa, “Finding Happiness” is open to the public now through April 7 in the Weeks Art Gallery of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.

Senior Katelyn Canepa, a psychology major with a minor in studio drawing, created the project after working with Mosaic at a group home teaching art skills to an adult with an intellectual disability. Mosaic is a non-profit organization that serves adults with intellectual disabilities throughout central Iowa. Read more about this unique exhibit in the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Science rules at Drake on April 14

Hundreds of Des Moines-area high school and college students will dive into science through a series of fun and educational activities that culminate in a free lecture by Bill Nye the Science Guy at Drake on Thursday, April 14.

The series of activities, all of which are free and open to the public, include the Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS), featuring a keynote speech by an expert in baseball statistics; an interactive STEM festival for K-8 youth; and an art gallery inspired by the sciences. Nye’s evening lecture is the 36th installment in the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series.

  • 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. DUCURS; Olmsted Center
  • 4:30–6:30 p.m. Drake/Metro Area STEM Fesival; Bell Center
  • 7 p.m. Bucksbaum Lecture—An Evening with Bill Nye the Science Guy; Knapp Center
  • All day: “Planet(s)” art exhibit; Weeks Gallery

For more information, visit the Drake Newsroom.

For Students Archive

Free fitness assessments

Stop by the Wellness Center (located in the Bell Center) for a free fitness assessment! It is a great way to evaluate your current fitness level and health risk for disease. We also offer massage therapy for an affordable price. Call or text Anne Boal, LMT, at 515-988-8760 to schedule an appointment.

—Celeste Arteaga