The Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication is running a summer camp for high school students, June 26–29.
The camp will boost your high school student’s communication skills. From learning InDesign, social media management, and yearbook to editorial leadership and photo storytelling, we will infuse digital media components into every aspect of the camp experience. Class sizes are kept small to give individualized attention.

Top advisers, professional journalists, and collegiate-level instructors will share their very best with your high school-aged children.

Registration is $300 with a $50 non-refundable deposit due at time of registration. You can register your student at MediaNowDrake.com/Registration

For further information please refer to MediaNow.Press or contact christopher.snider@drake.edu.

—Dorothy Pisarski, Associate Professor of Journalism

Executive Women International (EWI) Des Moines announces that their 2016 ASIST Scholarship is now accepting applications! This program, which aligns with their core tenets, connections, careers, and community, awards scholarships to adult students in scholastic transition. It is open to adults 18 and over who reside within the boundaries of our chapter: Polk, Dallas, Story, and Warren counties. The application can be downloaded online. There are two $3,000 scholarships being awarded this year.

Please direct any questions to Sarah Roeder, 2016 ASIST committee chair, scholarships@ewidsm.org.

—Stephanie Cardwell, Administrative Assistant 2

Derick Ludwiig, an elementary education major, received the Des Moines Area Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship awarded to one junior or senior in the School of Education. His award was based on his involvement on campus, why he wanted to be a teacher, and his career goals. The committee specifically mentioned his reference letters as being strong—Shout out to Sally Beisser and Bill Orcutt!

Ben Chadwick was recently honored as a finalist for Iowa Teacher of the Year. Ben, who is a member of our on-campus Leadership ‘14 cohort (Master of Science in Education Leadership) and a veteran attending Drake on the GI Bill, is one of our strongest aspiring administrators and has had quite a year. He recently had an article, “The effect of computer-aided design instruction on the spatial ability of high school students,” accepted for publication in the International Journal of Modern Engineering Research, and was honored at the Technology Association of Iowa’s Prometheus Awards for an innovative coding event (called the CTE Code Jam, in partnership with Principal Financial Group) that he designed for his classes. Ben’s clearly a rising star in the Iowa educational firmament, one who we expect to continue to hear a great deal from in the future.

—Catherine Gillespie, the Mary Collier Baker Professor and Associate Dean

Mahmoud Hamad takes part in drafting of Libyan constitution

Mahmoud Hamad, associate professor of political science, was selected by the United Nations to co-lead a mediation team that solved disputes within the Libyan Constitutional Drafting Assembly, which on April 20 announced they have approved a draft of Libya’s constitution.

Hamad stayed in Salalah, Oman, from March 15 to March 27 to work with the group. The mediation team included a former Jordanian prime minister and former ministers; justices; and members of parliament from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Oman. The consultative meeting was held under the auspices of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General Martin Kobler, the African Union Envoy to Libya Jakaya Kikwete (former president of Tanzania from 2005 to 2015), and the Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Perrine’s No Confession, No Mass honored

The 28th annual Publishing Triangle Awards were presented on April 21 at a gala ceremony. Jennifer Perrine, associate professor of English and director of women’s studies at Drake, received the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry for her work, No Confession, No Mass.

The Publishing Triangle, the association of lesbians and gay men in publishing, began honoring a LGBT writer for his or her body of work a few months after the organization was founded in 1988, and has now partnered with the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards to present an impressive array of awards each spring. The Publishing Triangle established its poetry awards in 2001. Joseph O. Legaspi, a judge this year, and Kamilah Aisha Moon, a past finalist for the Audre Lorde Award, presented these awards, which carry a prize of $500 apiece.

Drake MEDLIFE Chapter will be holding an informational seminar for the MEDLIFE mission trip to Cusco, Peru at 8 p.m. on May 2 in Harvey Ingham Room 134. This mission trip, taking place Aug. 6–14, will involve volunteering in mobile clinics and on a community development project and is open to all majors as well as the general public. Please whoever you think might be interested in going on this trip. Questions should be directed to annemarie.mccoy@drake.edu or brittany.watznauer@drake.edu.

—Annemarie McCoy

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University honored Casey Blake, former Major League Baseball third baseman, at an all-star evening that featured ESPN anchor Chris Hassel and dozens of other special guests from the worlds of sports, television, and politics.

“An All-Star Evening to benefit CHARACTER COUNTS!” is a fundraiser for The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center, Iowa’s home for the CHARACTER COUNTS! and Excellence with Integrity programs.
Blake received the 2016 Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award, an award presented annually to an individual who consistently demonstrates good character as a public role model. Other special guests included NFL linebacker Pat Angerer, TV actress Bridget Flanery, and former U.S. Ambassador Mary Kramer. To learn more about Blake, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Do you know anyone who is trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring, and a great citizen? Consider nominating them for one of the Iowa Character Awards, presented by The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University. Anyone can submit a nomination, and Iowa citizens (ages 10 years and older), organizations, and communities are eligible.

Since 2005, over 100 Iowans have been recognized for displaying good character. The nomination form is based on the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship

Recognition is being awarded in several categories and nominations are due May 11. Learn more in the Drake Newsroom.

Actuarial science students and alumni pass Actuarial Exams

Congratulations to the following CBPA actuarial science students that passed the February 2016 Actuarial Exam C/4:  Rebecca Deluga, Peter Gorski, Samuel Gray, Emily Hossley, Kramer Howell, Estuardo Menendez-Villa, and Kheng Hoek Teoh. We are proud to say that this matches our current annual record and look forward to breaking that record in 2016 as exams are available in June and October.

We also congratulate the CBPA actuarial science alumni that passed the February 2016 Actuarial Exam C/4: Angel Gentchev, Ellyn Ries, Ben Sloan, Joel Soo, Sarah Webster, Ben Williams, and Julia Wen Yi Yap.

Students, alumnus recognized at annual awards ceremony

Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration hosted their annual awards ceremony Wednesday, April 6. Nearly 800 people attended the event, which honors students, faculty, and community leaders.

The ceremony recognized dozens of students for their accomplishments in academics, leadership, and community involvement. Fourteen seniors were honored for maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade-point average throughout their academic career.  Two students were awarded the highest honors of junior and senior student of the year. Dave Schulte, BN’83, was the ceremony’s keynote speaker and recipient of the CBPA Community Leadership Award. Schulte is CEO, president, and director of CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust, located in Kansas City. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.