Experience world-class performances by legendary favorites and rising stars with Civic Music Association.

A long-time partner of Drake University, CMA holds many concerts at our very own Sheslow Auditorium. Check out their line-up and save 25% on any season ticket package through Aug. 30 with code DRAKE25. Learn more.

— Jacob Lemons, Fine Arts Coordinator

This organizational view of Drake’s leadership is a great way to get to know the leaders and structure at Drake. If you click on a person’s image, you will be directed to their corresponding web page. This interactive chart can also be found on the Office of the President page. It is a handy tool, especially if you are new to Drake.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

An important reminder: avoid scheduling campus events during the High Holidays observed by many members of our campus community who are Jewish. Please go to the Office of Equity and Inclusion website to import the dates of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for this September and October directly into your Outlook calendar.

Faculty are required to provide students reasonable accommodations to honor their religious identities. It is especially important we honor this obligation as we communicate celebration, affirmation, and inclusion of all the diversity within the Drake community.

Students need to communicate the accommodations they require, so we can institutionally support clear communication between individual faculty and their students.

— Jen Harvey, Associate Provost, Campus Equity and Inclusion

On Aug. 24, President Biden announced his administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan, which:

• extends the student loan repayment pause through December 31, 2022.
• Provides one-time loan cancellation to eligible borrowers who have federally-held student or parent loans that were first disbursed prior to July 1, 2022. Eligibility for loan cancellation is based on student or parent income thresholds. Eligible borrowers who received a Federal Pell Grant can receive up to $20,000 in loan cancellation. Other eligible borrowers can receive up to $10,000 in loan cancellation.
• Proposes a new income-driven repayment plan aimed at reducing monthly payment obligations for low and middle income borrowers.

The Biden Administration expects to release an application for loan cancellation in October 2022, and borrowers will have until December 31, 2023 to apply. You can sign up to be notified when this occurs at the Department of Education’s subscription page.

Other student loan-related initiatives implemented by the Biden administration include Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) and “Fresh Start”. TEPSLF offered a temporary period (which ends Oct. 31, 2022!) during which borrowers may receive credit for payments that previously did not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The “Fresh Start” initiative helps borrowers who are in default on federal student loan(s) by restoring eligibility to federal student aid, stopping collections on defaulted loans, and providing an opportunity to restore loans to good standing.

The best place for accurate information about federal student loan policies is www.studentaid.gov. To be notified of updates please subscribe to “Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates” on the US Department of Education’s subscription page.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid

Drake University’s Ambassador-in-Residence, Terry Branstad, will host the Ambassador’s Book Club on Thursday, Nov. 17, in coordination with the U.S.-China Symposium.

The Ambassador has chosen The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom by John Pomfret as the book to be discussed. All Drake students, faculty, staff, and alumni are welcome to participate. Books will be provided at no cost to the first 10 students who register!

• Learn more about the book at calendar.drake.edu
• Register by emailing ambassador@drake.edu

Did you know Ambassador Branstad is available to meet with Drake students, faculty, staff and clubs? Visit drake.edu/branstad to learn more.

• Learn about the Ambassador-in-Residence program
• Request a guest lecture or an appearance at your event
• Sign up for the Ambassador’s office hours
• Register for the U.S.-China Symposium on Nov. 17

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

The Writing Center (formerly called the Writing Workshop) opens Monday, Sept. 12.

WHAT WE DO: The Writing Center’s trained peer tutors advise and assist students at any stage of the writing process:

• Understanding instructions/prompts
• Generating ideas and ways to develop ideas
• Outlining and organizing
• Writing, expanding, revising, and/or copyediting a draft

We are a free service for all Drake students, including graduate students and those in professional programs.

HOW TO SIGN UP TO VISIT: Please go to https://library.drake.edu/writing-center/ to book an appointment with a tutor—instructions for booking and visiting are available on the site as well. Appointments are approximately 30 minutes, and students can sign up for more than one session if they wish. They may also request that a tutor keep a regular time slot available for them if they would like to come in each week.

WHERE WE ARE: The Writing Center has moved! We are still on the lower level of Cowles Library—please follow signs to find our new, larger, more comfortable space. We offer hours daily, from mornings to late afternoon/evening (including weekends). Students with health concerns can request an appointment on Zoom.

FOR FACULTY AND STAFF: If you refer a student to the workshop or require all students to visit, please let us know via email (megan.brown@drake.edu). Ask students to bring their assignment prompt/instructions to the Writing Center, as well as any writing they have done so far. When students are referred, or required, to visit, the tutor will email you to let you know that your student has attended and briefly describe what work was done. When students attend on their own, we do not inform professors unless they specifically ask us to do so.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS please contact Prof. Megan Brown, Director of Writing (megan.brown@drake.edu).

— Megan Brown, Director of Writing

Join us for Drake Law School’s Constitution Day Lecture, “Saving the Constitution” presented by Professor Jamal Greene. The lecture will take place Thursday, Sept. 15, from 3–4 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Room 213. The event is free. Register on Eventbrite.

Professor Greene is a Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, where he is a constitutional law expert whose scholarship focuses on the structure of legal ad constitutional argument.

He is the author of the book How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights is Tearing America Apart (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021). He is also author of numerous law review articles and has written in-depth about the Supreme Court, constitutional rights adjudication, and the constitutional theory of originalism.

He has been visiting professor at Harvard Law School and has served as co-chair of the Oversight Board, an independent body set up to review content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram (“The Facebook Supreme Court”).

— Megan Leto, Law School

The Office of New Student Programs would like to invite you to attend the First–Generation Student Ice Cream Social on Thursday, Sept. 1 from 1–3 p.m. in Pomerantz Stage area in the Olmsted Center. Let’s get together to welcome our new first gen Bulldogs and kick off the start of the academic year together. This is an opportunity to celebrate Drake’s first–generation students, faculty, and staff and to continue building relationships and support within the community.

Feel free to drop in anytime between 1–3 p.m. for some ice cream and to mingle with other first–generation Bulldogs.

Students, be sure to check out the Activities Fair afterwards starting at 3 p.m.

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs