Have you ever wanted to sing or be involved in an opera? The Drake Opera Theater announces auditions on Friday, Oct. 21, in Sheslow Auditorium for the upcoming one-act productions of The Old Maid and the Thief by Menotti, and Alice Ryley by Michael Ching. Casting for lead roles and understudies is open to any student on campus.

Sign up for an audition time by Oct. 18 in the Harmon Fine Arts Center ( 2nd floor vocal board). Performance dates are April 7–9, 2017. Rehearsals are every Wednesday, 4–6 p.m., and Friday, 3–5 p.m. Some additional rehearsals are scheduled throughout the semester. Productions are performed with a chamber orchestra directed by Maestro Stefano Vignati. For more information contact the director at ann.cravero@drake.edu.

—Ann Cravero, Department of Music

The Principal Community Scholars Program is a prestigious opportunity for college students to lead social change on their campus and in their communities.

Students take on a community engagement project, and serve for the Spring 2017 semester. They receive support from Iowa Campus Compact and  The Principal Financial Group through a virtual learning community.

For completing the program and submitting a short video, students are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship to be used on educational expenses provided by Principal.

Contact the Office of Community Engaged Learning at servicelearning@drake.edu for more information.

—Amanda Martin, Community Engagement and Service-Learning

All Drake students are encouraged to “pull up” on Cownie Soccer Complex Tuesday night as your Bulldogs face off against Bradley at 7 p.m. Bus transportation is limited to the first 100 students who register at www.DrakeTix.com/soccerbus. The bus will depart from the Olmsted Parking Lot at 6 p.m. and return immediately following the match. Questions? Contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3657 or by email tickets@drake.edu.

—Tom Florian, Drake Athletics

Drake wants to continue a strong tradition of excellence in athletic and recreational programming. When it comes to the type of programming offered at Drake, student feedback is critical. All students are encouraged to complete this short survey designed to gauge student interest in athletic and recreational programming, including intramural, club, and intercollegiate athletic programs.

Even if you are not interested in additional programming or are satisfied with current offerings, it is important that we have your responses. This information will be used to help Drake evaluate its current intramural, club, and intercollegiate athletic programs. This information is also helpful in our efforts to comply with the gender equity law known as Title IX.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to provide us your feedback!
For more information about the athletic abilities and interests survey, contact Christine Marchand at christine.marchand@drake.edu or 515-271-1865.

Still need to fulfill the Information Literacy AOI? Want to learn more about archives? Political Papers Archivist Hope Grebner is offering an Information Literacy AOI course this J-Term, and there are still spots available! Secrets of the Vault: An Introduction to Archival Methods and Services (LIB 052), will serve as an experiential introduction to the responsibilities of archivists by providing an overview of the principles upon which archival theory is based. Through practical and hands-on assignments involving the collections in the Drake University Archives and Special Collections, readings, and discussions, the course will establish a basic understanding of the archival profession. For more information email hope.grebner@drake.edu.

—Dan Chibnall, Cowles Library

Controversy with Civility 
Saturday, Oct. 8
10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Register here: http://bit.ly/sussmanfall16 

Keynote by Joshua Fredenburg 
Emotional fitness is absolutely essential for success in the personal, career, and leadership arenas. In this keynote, you’ll learn more about emotions and how to manage them more effectively in stressful, challenging, and pressure-filled moments as a leader. The people who have learned about this concept have watched as conflict turns into something they deal with directly, rather than avoid.

Students from all leadership levels (emerging to lots of experience) are welcome! Breakout topics include:

• Strategic planning
• Stress management
• Managing a dysfunctional team
• Getting your team through transition and change

—Meghan Blancas, Office of Student Involvement & Leadership

Every semester, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement offers a small, intimate group of Drake students the opportunity to meet with local, state, and national leaders for food and conversation. This student lunch and reception series provides undergraduate, graduate, pharmacy, and law students with the networking opportunity of meeting informally with a leader in policy, government, business, and nonprofit industries.
For the third event in this series this semester, we will bring Senator Joni Ernst to the institute for lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The event is from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in The Harkin Institute office at 2429 University Ave.

Apply here by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, for the opportunity to have lunch with Senator Ernst.

Senator Joni Ernst has dedicated her life to Iowa and her country, having served in the military for more than 23 years and now in the U.S. Senate. She was elected as the first woman to serve in federal elected office from Iowa and also became the first female combat veteran elected to Senate. Senator Ernst was raised on a farm in Montgomery County and graduated from Iowa State University, where she joined ROTC. After graduating, she joined the U.S. Army Reserves, and in 2003, she served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq, leading 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In November 2015, Senator Ernst retired as Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. She served in local and state government positions before running for the U.S. Senate in 2014. Senator Ernst prides herself on bringing her small-town Iowa values of hard work, service, and sacrifice to Washington, D.C.

—Erin Austin, Harkin Institute

Join us on Friday, Oct. 7 in Helmick Commons for the annual Glow Run

• 7–7:30 p.m.—Registration, snacks, swag
• 7:30–8 p.m.—Glow Run/ Walk
• 8–9 p.m.—Glow Frisbee Game

Grab some friends and glow crazy!

For more information, contact Kaitlin at kaitlin.brueggen@drake.edu.

—Kaitlin Brueggen

A number of emails from Blackboard have been accidentally filtered into students’ Clutter folders instead of their inboxes. Clutter is a new Microsoft feature that is intended to help filter junk email. Please be sure to check this folder regularly to see if you’re missing any important classroom communications. For more information on how to use the Clutter feature, please view this Clutter tutorial.

—Carla Herling, Information Technology Services