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.

For the past 17 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. The campaign was originally triggered by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.

The Office for Sexual Violence Response and Healthy Relationship Promotion is proudly endorsing this national day of recognition on our campus and encourages all of our campus community to wear a pair of jeans on Wednesday, April 27, and don a sticker that says “ask me why I am wearing jeans” as a symbol of solidarity for survivors of sexual violence on our campus. Show your support online by posting a picture of yourself in jeans using the hashtags #denimday and #drakesaam. For more information about Denim Day visit: http://denimdayinfo.org/

—Alysa Mozak, Coordinator for Sexual Violence Response and Healthy Relationship Promotion

Drake magazine program featured prominently in MediaShift article

SJMC magazine professor Jeff Inman was featured prominently in an article on Mediashift, a website that bills itself as the “premier destination for insight and analysis at the intersection of media and technology.”  The article, titled “Teaching Magazine Students More Than Magazines,”  examines the changing nature of magazine journalism education and the challenges facing teachers attempting to replicate the breakneck nature of online journalism in the classroom.

Senior journalism website features musical mashup

The latest edition of Urban Plains (http://urban-plains.com/)—the award-winning multimedia website produced by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s magazine, news, and digital media production students—has been live for several weeks and is being continually updated. A fun feature of this year’s Urban Plains: Urban Mash Up, in which local musicians from diverse backgrounds (jazz, classical, dixieland, rock, folk) are invited into the Turner Jazz Center and left to experiment for an hour. Their musical collaboration is then recorded.

—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

The Drake University Archives & Special Collections honors the installation of Earl F. Martin as Drake’s 13th president with a special exhibit: Drake Presidential History, Inaugurations 1881–2016. Created by Archives Assistant Katherine Lincoln and Drake senior Cecilia Panella, the exhibit is in the Collier Room on the 2nd floor of Cowles Library. Along with reproductions, the exhibit also includes original documents and historical photographs. The president’s mace and medallion will also be on display just outside of Archives & Special Collections on the 2nd floor. The exhibit, viewable through mid-August, is free and open to the public during Cowles Library hours.

—Leslie Noble, Manager, Library Support Operations