To commemorate the 150th anniversary of a groundbreaking Iowa Supreme Court civil rights decision, Drake University is hosting a celebration today through Friday, Sept. 25–28. The event will honor both Alexander G. Clark, an African-American businessman and activist, and Chester C. Cole, Iowa Supreme Court Justice and co-founder of Drake Law School.

In the landmark 1867 case, the Muscatine school district said Clark’s daughter couldn’t attend the same public school that white students attended. Clark sued. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in his favor, saying that all children could attend a common school. The decision, written by Cole, was an important one, preceding by 86 years the landmark 1954 ruling in Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education. Clark’s lawsuit made Iowa one of the first states to integrate its public school system.

Register for the Clark 150 celebration. Events will include:

Rededication of Cole Hall: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 12—1 p.m.
The program will be held on the north side of Cole Hall, and will be followed by an ice cream social. This event is free. Please register for this event by choosing the green Tickets button above.

Simpson College, The Iowa Constitution: An Enduring Testament to Equality: Thursday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. reception; 7 p.m. program
Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady and University of Iowa Law Professor Todd Pettys will be speakers. Hubbell Hall, Kent Campus Center, 701 North C Street, Indianola. Both the reception and program are free and open to the public. No registration required for this event.

Conference: Friday, Sept. 28, 12—4 p.m.
This half-day conference will include lunch at Kern Commons in Cartwright Hall and three sessions at Sheslow Auditorium. This event is free. Please register for this event by choosing the green Tickets button above.

Banquet: Friday, Sept. 28, 5:15—8:30 p.m.
The celebration banquet will be held at The Knapp Center, starting with a cocktail reception at 5:15 p.m. The banquet begins at 6 p.m., and will include a program with keynote address. Tickets are $50 per individual. Please contact Terri Howard if you are interested in purchasing a table.

Register for the event on Eventbrite. For more information on the Clark vs Muscatine case, see the Opperman Law Library page.

Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center is hosting an ice cream and cookie social for faculty and staff to celebrate the life of former Governor Robert D. Ray tomorrow, Sept. 26, on the newly constructed Robert D. and Billie Ray Promenade located east of Collier-Scripps Hall. Mrs. Ray and members of the Ray family will be in attendance to express their thanks and appreciation to the many members of the Drake community who supported the Ray family during the week of Governor Ray’s services. Ice cream and cookies will be available starting at 2:30 p.m. President Martin and Governor Kim Reynolds will speak at 3 p.m. The social is informal so feel free to stop by when you can. Sept. 26 would have been Governor Ray’s 90th birthday.

Hilary D. Ortmann, The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center 

Hometown Heritage will host a public programming series called “Becoming American: A Documentary Film and Discussion Series on Our Immigration Experience.” This series features documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions designed to encourage an informed discussion of immigration issues against the backdrop of our immigration history.

The series is open and free to all. The Oct. 8 program will be held on Drake’s campus. Additional programs will be held at venues in Perry and Des Moines.

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 5:15–7:15 p.m.
Becoming American: A Century of Immigration Screening & Community Discussion
State Historical Museum, Des Moines

Sunday, Sept. 30 , 2–4 p.m.
Becoming American: Promise & Prejudice
Perry High School Library (Spanish-Language Screening), Perry Performing Arts Center (English-Language Screening & Community Discussion)

Monday, Oct. 8, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Becoming American: Between Two Worlds Screening & Community Discussion
Sussman Theater, Drake University

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 5:45–7:45 p.m.
Becoming American: Help Wanted? Screening & Community Discussion
Perry Public Library

Sunday, Oct. 28, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Becoming American: Family & Community Screening & Community Discussion
Grand Theater, Perry

Monday, Nov. 5, 5–7 p.m.
Becoming American: Immigration & Popular Culture Screening & Community Discussion
Carnegie Library Museum, Perry

Hometown Heritage is one of thirty-two sites nationwide to host this program series which is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. “Becoming American” is a project of City Lore in collaboration with the Immigration and Ethnic History Society and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Founded in 1986, City Lore’s mission is to foster America’s living cultural heritage through education and public programs. The Immigration and Ethnic History Society promotes the study of immigration history through scholarly publications and education outreach, focusing on migration to North America and the ethnic groups that developed as a result. The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience is the only worldwide network of historic sites, museums and memory initiatives dedicated to remembering past struggles and addressing their contemporary legacies.

Read more information, or contact info@fcctrust.org for questions.

Dorothy Pisarski, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The College of Business & Public Administration graduate programs is hosting a panel of experts to discuss Cybersecurity: What you need to know as a consumer.

The 101 Speaker Series is designed to engage the audience through interaction with our local panel of experts. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions on a wide range of topics of interest. The series is open to the public. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. and the event runs from 12–1 p.m.

This event includes a free lunch; however, registration is required.  Register online.

Dianna Gray, College of Business & Public Administration

The Drake Constitutional Law Center will sponsor the 2018 Constitution Day Lecture on Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Room 213. Professor Jack Balkin of Yale Law School will discuss “Our Polarized Constitution: Judicial Review in the Cycles of Constitutional Time.”

Balkin is the Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. He has authored several books and over 100 articles in constitutional theory, internet law, freedom of speech, reproductive rights, and more.

Balkin received his AB and JD from Harvard University and his PhD in philosophy from Cambridge University. Prior to entering academia, he clerked for Judge Carolyn D. King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and practiced law in New York City.

The event is free and open to the public. No registration required. Learn more.

Kayla Choate, Law School

Join us on Founder’s Day Thursday, Sept. 20, from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. for a carnival fundraiser at the University Communications and Marketing Office to benefit the office scholarship. There will be something for everyone including a bake sale, a cake walk, carnival games, and a tag sale of rare Drake memorabilia. The first 100 people in the door will receive the limited edition Griff poster, pictured below (thanks to Integrity Printing, Inc. for the donation). You will also have the opportunity to purchase a limited printing of the Griff painting in our office, created by staff artist Jeremy Sievers. We are only selling 30 of the Griff prints, each for $30, so arrive early to secure your print.

In addition to the carnival, the team is running a silent auction on their Facebook page for rare Drake items, including original artwork by staff member Jeremy Sievers. Also up for auction are signed Bucksbaum posters, campus vinyl banners, a bobble head, and rare framed Drake prints. Decorate your office with Drake art that you can’t find anywhere else. Bid by commenting on the photos in the album, and hurry before the silent auction closes by the end of business day Thursday, Sept. 20.

The University Communications Endowed Scholarship was endowed in 2017, and awarded to its first recipient in fall 2017. This scholarship was funded almost completely by personal donations from UC&M team members, and through fundraisers that caught the attention of The Chronicle of Philanthropy (read more here). While the scholarship is endowed, we still need to contribute funds to grow the scholarship and help future Bulldogs.

Each year, this endowed scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate student who demonstrates a high financial need and has a major in one of the following areas of study: marketing, communications, or graphic design. The awarding of the scholarship is handled through the Office of Student Financial Planning, who also determines the student’s eligibility.

University Communications and Marketing is located at 1229 25^th Street.

Questions? Want to pay for early access to the tag sale? Contact Niki Smith at niki.smith@drake.edu.

Niki Smith, University Communications and Marketing

Volleyball
Drake vs. Northern Iowa
Friday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m.
The Knapp Center

• Drake Faculty/Staff Day – All Drake University faculty and staff receive up to four (4) complimentary tickets by showing their ID at the ticket office.

For additional information and complete schedules, visit GoDrakeBulldogs.com or contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647.

Ryan Harris, Athletics

On Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater, The Comparison Project will host its first lecture in its fall 2018 series on miracles, which will be delivered by Kenneth Woodward.

Kenneth Woodward served as Religion Editor of Newsweek for 38 years. In addition to some 100 cover stories for Newsweek, his articles, essays, and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Commonweal, First Things, America, The Nation, and The Weekly Standard. Among his numerous awards are the National Magazine Award, the Pulitzer Prize of the magazine industry, and the Robert E. Griffin Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Art of Writing from the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater. Mr. Woodward is the author of four books, including his recently published “Getting Religion: Faith, Culture and Politics from the Age of Eisenhower to Ascent of Trump,” which is available in paperback after his lecture.

In his lecture, Mr. Woodward will emphasize the essentially narrative character of miracles, whether they are found in sacred literature or in personal experience. In doing so, he will draw on two of his own books, “The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam,” and “Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn’t, and Why,” the latter of which contains a chapter on how church authorities validate miraculous claims.

Monique Rodriguez, College of Arts and Sciences

Meet My Religious Neighbor is a monthly open-house series. Each open house allows the public the opportunity to tour a sacred space, learn how religion is practiced in it, and meet the congregation who worships there.

On Friday, Sept. 14, at 1:30 p.m., the first open house of the fall semester will occur at the Shafia Islamic and Cultural Center for their jummah sermon and prayers. Shafia is a relatively new (2014) Somali mosque with Sufi influence. It is located at 1425 University Avenue in Des Moines. Many of its members are refugees, victims of persecution by Al-Shabaab in Somalia. For more information about the mosque, see the entry by Drake student Runal Patel on The Comparison Project website.

Men should enter through the back side (non-University) of the mosque; women, through the front (University). After the prayers have ended women and men together can learn about the community’s distinctive practice of Islam. To respect the customs and rules of the mosque, women should cover their hair and have arms covered to wrists and legs covered to ankles. Men should not wear shorts. Also, men should avoid touching women and vice versa (handshaking included). If you want more information, please contact Tim Knepper at tim.knepper@drake.edu.

Monique Rodriguez, College of Arts and Sciences

Women’s Soccer
Drake vs. South Dakota
Thursday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m.
Cownie Soccer Complex

Football – Drake Faculty/Staff Day
Drake vs. Missouri S&T
Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m.
Drake Stadium
All Drake University faculty and staff receive up to four (4) complimentary tickets by showing their ID at the ticket office.

Women’s Soccer
Drake vs. Western Illinois
Sunday, Sept. 16, at 1 p.m.
Cownie Soccer Complex

For additional information and complete schedules, visit godrakebulldogs.com or contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647.

Ryan Harris, Athletics