Tuesday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.: Lunch at Hubbell Dining, Reinventing the Meal/ World Vegan Day
Join us for a twist on the traditional meal and celebrate World Vegan Day by trying some delicious vegan dishes. (Regular meal rate applies)

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.: Lunch at Hubbell Dining, Faculty/Staff $5 lunch featuring German cuisine
Drake faculty and staff can dine at Hubbell Dining for only $5. We will be featuring German cuisine.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.: Lunch in Parents Hall Thanksgiving meal! Students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend! Join us for a Thanksgiving feast with carved turkey and all of your holiday favorites. (Regular meal rate applies)

—Jennifer Bowersox, Sodexo

Drake Wellness is again making massage therapy available to Drake faculty, staff, and students in the Bell Center. Special Drake rates are offered at $30/30 minutes, $50/60 minutes, $75/90 minutes. Contact massage therapist Anne Boal directly at 515-988-8760 or anneboalwellness.com to schedule an appointment. Extended morning and afternoon appointment times are available.

—Anne Boal

Drake, Mercy College of Health Sciences, Grand View University, and Simpson College will collectively receive a $510,000 grant for a consortium project title, “Central Iowa Colleges’ Coordinated Response” submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) Grants to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking on Campus Program.

As a recipient of this competitive award, the four colleges will work together, and with community partners including Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services, to strengthen and formalize education, policies, procedures, and messaging to prevent and respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. Learn more in the Drake Newsroom.

Drake student publications won three Pacemaker awards at the recent Associated Collegiate Press conference in Washington, D.C.

Drake Magazine won a magazine Pacemaker;  DrakeMag.com  and Urban Plains won online Pacemakers. Only two other schools, University of Miami and University of Oregon, won three Pacemakers. The Pacemakers are the top collegiate journalism awards in the country. Drake Magazine is a student extracurricular activity, while Urban Plains is the multimedia senior capstone project for the magazine, news and electronic media majors.

In addition, Susanna Hayward, JO’16, won third place for design of the year for her cover for Drake Magazine. Senior Molly Longman won fifth place for diversity story.

Hayward was also a finalist in two other design categories, and Cole Norum, JO’16, was a finalist for feature writing.

Drake shines at PRSA local and international conferences

Drake students, alumni, and faculty were stars of the recent Central Iowa Public Relations Society of America PRIME Awards. Drake students and faculty also were on stage a few days later during presentations at the PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis.

The PRIME Awards won by Drake faculty, students and alums:
Professor Kelly Bruhn—Outstanding Public Relations Professional

Madison McConnell—Outstanding Student Member

Morgan Dezenski, Rachel Dupree, Meghan Jones, Katie Ramsey,

Emily Sadecki, Shelby Van Slooten (2016 graduates)—Community Champion Merit Award for PR capstone campaign “Putting Manning on the Map”

Ali Felsenthal, Adam Graves, Hope Waggoner, Jenna Sheldon, Courtney Fishman, Rebecca Brown, Kelsey Rooney (2016 graduates)—Student Excellence Award for PR capstone campaign “SNAP PR: A Community that Cares”

Cassie Driskell, Cara Regan, Alyssa Zipperer, Megan Auren, Emma Frederick, Ashley Beall, Brennan Haymond (2016 graduates)—Student Merit Award for PR capstone campaign “Compass PR: Manning Navigation Guide”

Taylor Rookaird, JO’15, who works at Strategic America, was named Outstanding New Member. SJMC alumni Emily Reis Abbas, chief marketing officer for Bankers Trust, and Kevin Waetke, vice president of communications at the National Pork Board, also received awards for their work.

Professors Bruhn and Jennifer Glover Konfrst presented at the PRSA International Conference, as did students Anna VanWaardhuisen, Madison McConnell, James Jolly, Megan Johns, and Savana Morrison.

—Kathleen Richardson, SJMC

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University has received a $20,000 grant from Variety – the Children’s Charity to fund CHARACTER COUNTS! programming for early childhood centers. The grant will be used to provide materials and lesson plans to assist teaching staff as they work with children on social-emotional skills. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Thomas Rosburg to receive honor from the Iowa National Heritage Foundation
Professor of Biology Thomas R. Rosburg will receive a statewide award in recognition of his extensive conservation efforts, including giving 1,350 hours of his time to a project aimed at restoring prairies on private land throughout the state.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) announced today that Rosburg will receive the organization’s 2016 Lawrence and Eula Hagie Heritage Award. The INHF is a statewide conservation organization that protects and restores Iowa’s land, water, and wildlife, with current projects in central Iowa including the High Trestle Trail, additions to Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt, and several others. Read more about Thomas’ work in the Drake Newsroom.

Mark Vitha publishes book on chromatography
Mark Vitha, professor of chemistry and a Windsor Professor of Science, published a new textbook, Chromatography: Principles and Instrumentation.

Chromatography is a physical method of separation that involves passing a mixture through a medium in which the components of the mixture move at different rates. The process separates the mixture into its individual components, allowing those components to be analyzed. Learn more about Mark’s book and work in the Drake Newsroom.

Kevin Lam to receive award for book
Kevin Lam, assistant professor of urban and diversity education, will receive a 2016 Critics’ Choice book award for his book, Youth Gangs, Racism, and Schooling: Vietnamese American Youth in a Postcolonial Context. The American Educational Studies Association (AESA) will present the award to Lam during the association’s annual conference in November. Learn more about Kevin and his book in the Drake Newsroom.

Maria Valdovinos to serve on Association for Professional Behavior Analysts board
Maria Valdovinos, associate professor of psychology, has been selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts. The association’s nominating committee selected Valdovinos from among a list of nominees, submitted by affiliate organizations, to serve a three-year term set to end Aug. 31, 2019.

The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advance the science and practice of applied behavior analysis. To read more about Maria, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Drake recently received a $400,000 donation from Kemin Industries. The money will be used toward the purchase of a 500 megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The gift is especially meaningful because the founder of Kemin Industries, RW Nelson, is a 1950 Drake graduate who majored in biology. The impact of the donation and the presence of a 500 MHz NMR on thousands of students cannot be overstated: It improves our analytical capabilities and guarantees that Drake students will continue to get a state-of-the art education. It also significantly upgrades the research capabilities of the faculty in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, kinesiology, neuroscience, and the health sciences. In addition, the new instrument provides opportunities for collaboration between Drake faculty and students and other educational institutions and corporate partners in Iowa. The acquisition of the instrument also contributes substantially to the STEM@DRAKE initiative.

—Office of Development