Hillel will be hosting the first night of Passover. It will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 22, in Levitt Hall. There will be a service that lasts around 45 minutes to an hour and then a kosher dinner following that. The dinner will be catered by Maccabees Deli. Dress Code: Business Casual

Students: $10
Faculty/Staff: $15
Public: $25

Please fill out this form if you are interested: https://forms.gle/UeyirTpyAnE3x4SX8. Please do so before April 13 at 9 p.m. We are using Venmo but can take cash or Zelle upon request.

— Sydney Dvorak, senior, Arts & Sciences

The Iowa Statewide Tornado Drill will take place on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 10 a.m. The statewide drill allows us to test our planning and readiness and practice seeking appropriate shelter in case of a tornado. Faculty, staff, and students should participate in the drill by following campus severe weather plans and going to the lowest level of their building, away from doorways and windows.

March 25–29 is Severe Weather Awareness Week in the State of Iowa. Every year on the fourth Wednesday of March, the State of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department in conjunction with the Governor’s office run a statewide tornado drill.  Drake University will participate in this drill to test our own procedures and protocols. The University will test its campus notification systems, consisting of the sirens located on the blue light phones and the Bulldog Alert system at the same time the City of Des Moines and Polk County test their emergency sirens.

Know these terms to help identify a tornado hazard.

Tornado watch: Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

Tornado warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately. Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head.

Tornado Preparedness Checklist:

https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/get-help/pdfs/tornado/EN_Tornado-Safety-Checklist.pdf

Tornado Facts:

• Tornadoes can last from mere minutes to several hours.
• Tornadoes have touched down on every continent except Antarctica.
• Most tornado activity occurs in the afternoon and evening.
• The average tornado moves southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.

—Jen Rasmussen, Environmental Health & Safety

The Summer and Fall 2024 schedule of classes and related registration information is available online. Registration begins Monday, April 8.

View registration information, including the registration time table that shows when you become eligible to register. View the schedule of classes.

Some courses will be temporarily reserved for students who have declared a certain field-of-study (major, minor, concentration, or endorsement). On Monday, April 22, those reservations will be removed. Note that some courses have restrictions that are permanent.

If you are an undergraduate or pharmacy student intending to make any changes to your field-of-study and have those changes take effect before registration begins, file your changes via the change of record request no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1. Requests submitted after this date may be delayed.

The change of record request can be found by navigating to myDrake, selecting Self-Service under commonly used apps, and clicking on the link for the change of record request under Student Records.

— Ryan Trump, Office of the Registrar

The Anderson Gallery will host the premiere of a new composition by Nathan Felix for 16 pianos performed in an immersive environment by the Drake University Piano Program. This is a historic performance, the first of its kind, not only in Iowa, but in the country. With 16 pianos, it will be one of the largest “original” piano compositions to be performed live—ever! This immersive composition will be performed in and around the Anderson Gallery allowing the audience to walk amongst the pianos and performers. The soundscape installation will also incorporate the experimental videos of Felix.

Felix, who premiered his immersive opera, The Cadence of Life, with the Drake Opera Program last fall, is known for his guerilla-style approach in presenting classical music in unconventional spaces including work with multiple pianos. 16 Pianos in Surround Sound will be performed by Dr. Nicholas Roth and Drake University students from his piano studio. The ensemble is rounded out with Drake music professors Susan Ihnen, Ling-Yu Hsiao and Rika Uchida. This unique concert that blurs the bounds of music, installation and performance art is made possible by the Friends of Drake Arts. The piece will be performed on March 20 and 21 at 7:30 pm. Performances are free and open to all. More information can be found here.

— Lilah Anderson, Anderson Gallery

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) is the largest public transit agency in Iowa. Their services connect thousands of people every day to jobs, school, medical appointments, and more. Drake has been a long-time supporter of public transportation.

With your Drake ID, you can ride DART for free—whether you are traveling to campus during the weekday or running errands on the weekend. Last fall (September – November) Drake students and employees averaged 3,300 individual trips per month.

However, as stated from DART: “Like many public entities, DART is experiencing a funding shortfall due to local revenue not keeping pace with the cost of providing services.”

Due to budget pressures, DART route impacts with a proposed 20-25% service cut are:

1. Route 3 would go from running every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes during peak times
2. Route 5 would go from running every 50 minutes to every 60 minutes during peak times
3. Route 60 would go from running every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes during peak times.
4. DART would end service one hour earlier on weekdays and make all weekend service hourly frequency.

DART plans to present this scenario for public input in late April and May with more details and then changes could be implemented in November 2024, unless alternative funding is approved.

You are encouraged to participate in these public sessions and learn more about the specifics on DART’s website: https://www.ridedart.com/funding-our-future.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

Join The Harkin Institute and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for the 2024 Harkin on Wellness Symposium on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. The theme of this year’s Symposium is “Wellbeing in Schools”. The prevalence of mental health issues has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly in the wake of massive social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This led the nation’s leading child health organizations and the U.S. Surgeon General to declare a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. As the location where children spend the largest portion of their time outside of the home, we believe the K–12 school system can be a key vehicle for changes that can positively impact children’s wellbeing across the United States.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will be one of the event’s keynote speakers and will discuss the youth mental health crisis and how his office is addressing this challenge. The event will also bring together policymakers, education leaders, teachers, pediatricians, and practice innovators from around the country to address whole child wellbeing approaches, to review the scientifically supported best practices, and to consider the case for placing health and wellbeing squarely at the heart of our education system’s mission to prepare students for successful lives.

Click here to register!

— Kathryn Kuckelman, Harkin Institute

The Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion would like to invite you all to celebrate National Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Week (March 18-22) with a dynamic series of events designed to foster understanding, dialogue, and engagement. From enlightening panel discussions to cultural showcases and workshops, our campus will be abuzz with opportunities to explore the rich tapestry of human experience and advance our commitment to creating a more inclusive Drake community. Please join us as we celebrate our differences, embrace our shared humanity, and champion the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Drake University and beyond.

Please use this link to see a description of the event sessions for the week. We hope to see you at some of these events.

— Terrance Pendleton, Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion

Keep an eye out for the new stickers the Office of Sustainability is placing throughout campus. The stickers will serve as friendly reminders to practice energy-saving behaviors. The goal is to ensure lights are turned off when occupants leave a room, and the Temperature Set Point Policy is being adhered to when there is local thermostat control. It is also important to turn off and unplug all appliances when not in use!

The FPM team is constantly working to upgrade building and appliance efficiency, but action on the user’s end is needed to maximize the energy and monetary savings, especially with rising utility rates.

Small actions on a campus wide scale add up. It is vital for Drake to maximize our behavioral related savings so we can achieve our 2050 goal of carbon neutrality and our 2033 goal of a 65% reduction in scope one and two emissions.

Stickers are being strategically placed in buildings that will have the highest impact first. If there is a location you think would benefit from having a sticker, reach out to hannah.remke@drake.edu.

— Hannah Remke, Sustainability Coordinator