If you have never played hockey in your life, we still want you to be a part of our club. Non-player members can join the club as a part of our fundraising team, marketing team, management team, media team, or if you just want to be a fan. We encourage those who are wanting experience in their majors to join. For example, if you are a marketing major, joining our marketing team would be great for experience and resume building. View the sign-up form.

We are also seeking players for the club team. We practice twice a week and have games scheduled throughout the year. If you are a hockey player, we’d love to have you. You can find more information on our website or feel free to reach out to the club’s president Griffin Dyka at Griffin.dyka@drake.edu.

— Griffin Dyka, Junior

Join Dean of Students Hannah Clayborne for dinner and a chance to catch up on things that are happening at Drake this semester. This is a great opportunity to make connections with fellow students along with the Dean of Students. Dinner will be provided for students just sign up in advance, but space is limited to 10 students. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up.

• Monday, Sept. 12 – 5:30-6:30 PM
• Tuesday, Sept. 13 – 5:30-6:30 PM
• Wednesday, Sept. 14 – 5:30-6:30 PM

Questions about this event, please contact Gina Ryan at gina.ryan@drake.edu with questions.

— Hannah Clayborne, Dean of Students

Are you or have you previously been part of 4-H?

The local Iowa State Extension 4-H Office is interested in connecting with Drake students who have been involved with 4-H to explore options for continued involvement while in college. The local 4-H organization is very active and there are exciting ways to partner with college students.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Amanda Martin at amanda.martin@drake.edu.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

As we kick off the school year, it’s important to stay aware of online security threats. Internet scammers often shift their focus to universities at the beginning of the school year as students are returning to their classrooms and residence halls.

One of the most common methods is phishing, which uses email, text messages, or phone calls to trick people into sharing sensitive information. These messages often look like they’re from a trusted source. Instead, they’re sent by scammers seeking to access bank accounts, credit cards, login credentials, or other confidential data.

Here are some common back-to-school scams to keep an eye out for: 

• Shopping scams – phony websites promising bargains but designed to collect credit card and other personal information.
• Job offers – scammers offer appealing job opportunities with the intention of stealing money, identity, and personal information. They often spoof legitimate companies’ websites or real people’s email addresses to make the offers more realistic.
• The student tax – a popular scam targeting first year students and their parents via email, phone, or text. Individuals posing as IRS or other government representatives request payment of “student tax” and threaten penalties for failure to pay.
• Scholarship scams – these phony scholarship applications often require an application or redemption fee or request banking information.
• Student loan forgiveness scams – scammers ask for personal or financial information of victims to start the loan-forgiveness process.

Ways to avoid falling for back-to-school scams or other phishing attacks: 

• Think before you share – Never share direct deposit details, credit card numbers, or personal information like your Social Security number on an unfamiliar website.
• Pause before you click – If anything seems unusual, do not click links or open attachments.
• Verify the request – If you receive an email from the University asking for urgent action, question its legitimacy. If you’re not sure, contact the appropriate office directly to verify the request.
• Report threats – ITS can investigate incidents and take action to prevent similar threats in the future. If you receive a phishing email, report it using the following instructions: https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/2025/Portal/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=17310

More information on how the scams work and how to help stop the scammers behind them is available on News & Alerts section of the ITS website: https://www.drake.edu/its/news/index.php?article=59928

Thank you for your help in keeping all our information and systems safe.

— Keren Fiorenza, ITS

Part of the mission of Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival is to give back to our community. One way that is done is through academic scholarships to Iowa high school and college students.

You can be one of the $1,000 scholarship winners of the 2022 Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival.

Applications due by Sept. 6.

— Brandi Miller, Student Financial Planning

Are you interested in China? Are you interested in finding out more about how Drake engaged in modern and contemporary China, or the other way around?

Are you interested in writing your own history, and first, learning to create a research guide/annotated bibliography of sorts that would help future students from disciplines find areas of possible research?

Do you have 10+ hours per month and 40+ hours this fall to complete a research project?

If you answered yes to the questions above, keep reading:

Drake undergraduate students are invited to participate in a pilot documentation project entitled “Drake in China: Past and Present.” The project will be co-facilitated by En Li, assistant professor of history, and Hope Bibens, associate professor of librarianship. We are looking for undergraduate researchers to create a collection of materials related to Drake University’s historical engagement in China and to explore possible platforms to showcase their research. Sample topics include but not limit to:

• First Chinese student came study at Drake, 1890s;
• Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s visit to Drake, 1959;
• Exchange students between Drake and China since the 1980s;
• Drake Football Team’s visit to China in 2018: Memory, Experience, and Reflection;
• The “Teach in China” program-Memory, Experience, and Reflection;
• The Branstad archives in the Drake law school (or interview with Terry Branstad as an oral history project);
• Gift exchange between Drake and China;

Successful projects will be invited to present at the U.S. China Symposium and International Educational Week on campus this fall. Researchers are also encouraged to submit their projects for publication in the Drake Undergraduate Social Science Journal (DUSSJ). The digital/physical exhibit will be featured during the Asian Heritage Month in May 2023.

This project is generously supported by a Drake Research Grant from the Provost’s Office. There are spots for three researchers. Selected researchers will be awarded a stipend of $450 only upon completion of proposed research.

What do you need to do to receive a $450 stipend?

• self-design a topic that you are interested in, related to Drake and China;
• conduct the research by collecting, categorizing, and interpreting primary sources;
• identify a platform to publish/exhibit your research by the end of the fall semester.

Selection criteria:

• value of the proposed topic and intellectual inquiry;
• feasibility of the research scale (within one semester);
• creativity of the proposed platform to publish/exhibit the results;
• previous research experience and research ability;
• previous knowledge about China—being able read and write in Chinese is not required, but would be a plus.

If you are interested in participating, submit your proposal by filling out this form below by Sept. 2. Selected candidates will be notified via email by Sept. 6, Monday.

For research and China related questions (for example, what might make the Drake Football Team’s visit to Drake an interesting topic), please contact En Li (en.li@drake.edu), for archive related questions (for example, what would be considered to be valuable archives to collect from the Football Team’s trip to China, and what would be feasible platforms to publish/exhibit the results), please contact Hope Bibens (hope.bibens@drake.edu).

— En Li, History Department

Chief Student Affairs Officer Jerry Parker sent an email Aug. 8 communicating the University’s COVID-19 preparation plans. Additionally, he sent an email Aug. 17 with information about monkeypox, summarized below.

Monkeypox (MPV) Information and Resources
MPV is a disease caused by infection from the monkeypox virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking cases associated with a recent outbreak of MPV that has been reported in several countries, including the United States. The Iowa Department of Public Health tracks cases of MPV in the state with a dashboard that is updated each Wednesday.

How is MPV spread?
Everyone is susceptible to MPV regardless of age or sex. It is most commonly transmitted through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact with infected people or animals. Less commonly, it can be spread through contact with objects, fabrics (for example clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with an active case of MPV. It can also be spread via respiratory secretions or oral fluids from a person with MPV during prolonged face-to-face contact or during intimate physical and/or sexual contact; however, it does not linger in the air and is not thought to be transmitted during short periods of shared air space. People who do not have MPV symptoms cannot spread the virus to others.

What are the symptoms of MPV?
Symptoms include a rash or sores, sometimes located on hands, feet, chest, face, around the genitals, or inside the body including mouth, vagina, or anus. Other symptoms of MPV may include: fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue. These symptoms can occur before the onset of the characteristic rash or sores.

What should I do if I think I have MPV?
If you have a rash that is consistent with MPV, speak with a healthcare provider even if you have had no known contact with someone who has MPV. Students can call the Drake Student Health Center at 515-271-3731 or their personal healthcare provider. Employees should contact their personal healthcare provider.

Is there a vaccine for MPV?
While there are effective vaccines for MPV, the CDC does not currently recommend widespread pre-exposure vaccination against MPV. The CDC does recommend that individuals with a known MPV exposure receive a vaccine within four days of exposure to prevent onset of the disease. Delaying a post-exposure vaccine up to 14 days after exposure may reduce MPV symptoms. Additional vaccine information is available from the Polk County Health Department.

How do I reduce my risk of contracting MPV?
Actions an individual can take to reduce the risk of contracting MPV include:

• Avoid close, skin-to-skin contact including kissing and sexual activity with people who have a rash, sores, or confirmed MPV.
• Do not handle, touch, or share bedding, towels, or clothing of a person with a rash, sores, or confirmed MPV.
• Do not use eating utensils or cups of a person with MPV.
• Wash your hands often.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes.
• Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces and objects.

What If I get Infected?
If you have a confirmed case of MPV, you will be required to isolate in consultation with the Polk County Health Department. Because of the longer isolation periods required for MPV—typically two to four weeks according to the CDC—residential students who are able will be strongly encouraged to isolate at home or off campus. Where that is not feasible, the University is currently planning to make isolation rooms available and arrange for food delivery. If an individual lives off campus, they will be expected to isolate at their off-campus residence or another off-campus location.

Where can I learn more?
For more information about MPV, please visit the CDC’s FAQ and MPV websites maintained by the Iowa Department of Health and the Polk County Health Department. Students can also call their healthcare provider or Student Health at 515–271–3731.