Category Archives: News & Achievements Archive

News & Achievements Archive

Office of Alumni Relations welcomes three new staff members

The Office of Alumni Relations is excited to share the addition of three new staff members to our team.

Heather Hendrix is the administrative assistant/receptionist to the Alumni Relations team. She is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, with a degree in elementary and early childhood education. Prior to Drake, she served as a patient service representative at UnityPoint.

Kim Jones joins the team as the assistant director of alumni relations. Kim returns to Drake having previously served on the publications team from 1985 to 1992. Her responsibilities include student and campus engagement and working with young alumni and the Young Alumni Committee. She holds a B.F.A. from Arizona State and previously served as the head women’s softball coach at AIB College of Business from 2012 to 2015.

Nicki Kimm is joining the Office of Alumni Relations following 10 years in the Dallas Center – Grimes Community School District. She serves in the role of administrative assistant supporting the Alumni House team.

—Submitted by Blake Campbell, Director, Alumni Relations

News & Achievements Archive

2016 Baby Bowl

Drake women’s basketball will host the 2nd annual Baby Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, during halftime of its game versus Missouri State. Children 12 months and younger are eligible to compete. This is a crawling-only competition.

We invite you to register your baby or encourage friends and family to do so. Be sure to sign up early, as space is limited. Registration is open now until Jan. 8, or until all slots are filled. Contestants will be notified on Jan. 11. Racers will receive two complimentary tickets to the game for parents/guardians. The winner of Baby Bowl 2016 will take home $125; 2nd and 3rd place will take home $75 and $50 respectively. All contestants will receive a Drake Bulldogs baby bib for their efforts.

Visit www.draketix.com/babybowl for more information.

Questions? Please contact Tom Florian, assistant director of ticket sales, at 515-271-4949 or thomas.florian@drake.edu.

—Submitted by Tom Florian

News & Achievements Archive

College of Arts & Sciences news

Renee Cramer, associate professor and chair of Law, Politics, and Society (LPS), traveled with four LPS students to San Quentin prison to attend a LiveLaw event in early December. The trip follows these students’ successful efforts to bring LiveLaw, a legal storytelling event, to Des Moines for the first time in spring 2015. Students partnered with national producers and oversaw story curating, event planning, grant writing, and publicity of the event, which was featured on the Life of Law website and podcast. Their efforts led to an invitation from Life of Law Executive Producer Nancy Mullane—a journalist and author of Life after Murder: Fine Men in in Search of Redemption, which the students read in class—to join her and 300 inmates and civilians for LiveLaw San Quentin, which will be podcast on Christmas day. They will bring their experience at San Quentin back to class and will also put on a public program in the spring to discuss what they observed and learned.

The trip also complements students’ ongoing learning about the nation’s correctional system and social justice issues. Students ahve engaged in ride-alongs with Des Moines police and made a trip to the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville.

—Submitted by Emily Kruse, Assistant to the Dean

News & Achievements Archive

Drake news: Week of Dec. 7

Wells Fargo makes $200,000 commitment to Drake
Wells Fargo recently renewed its longstanding commitment to Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration with a five-year, $175,000 grant to the Professional and Career Development Center. The grant enhances Drake’s efforts to prepare students to be remarkable leaders and team members in the professional world.

An additional $25,000 grant by Wells Fargo to the University’s new Data Analytics program honors the career contributions of former Drake President David Maxwell and his wife, Madeleine Maxwell. Read more in Drake’s Newsroom.

Junior Dylan DeClerk honored for philanthropic contributions
The Central Iowa Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals honored Dylan DeClerk, a junior marketing and finance major, with its Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy award during a Philanthropy Day Awards program on Friday, Nov. 13. Dylan is executive director of Opportunity on Deck, which has benefited hundreds of students. Learn more about Dylan’s work.

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Week of Dec. 7

Drake grad places third in national writing contest
Kayli Kunkel, JO’15, received third place in the 56th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program. A record 159 feature writing entries were received in the competition from 83 schools across the nation. Kayli’s competition in the contest included entries from Penn State, University of Missouri, and Arizona State University. Drake was the only private school among the top 20 finishers.

Kayli’s article was an essay about her father’s death and handling grief in college that was published in Paste Magazine. The article previously won a first-place award at the AEJMC national contest this summer. She is currently a graphic designer at Lexicon Content Marketing in Des Moines.


Advertising senior advances in national media fellowship contest
Advertising senior Megan Leverenz has advanced to the semi-final round of the competitive IRTS Summer Media Fellowship program.

Thirty students will eventually be selected from the national applicant pool to intern in New York City for nine weeks this summer. Winners receive a salary, round-trip airfare, free housing, and a living stipend. The original application included seven pages of essay questions and challenges.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

University Communications welcomes Justice Simpson

Join us in welcoming our newest member of the University Communications team, Justice Simpson! Justice comes to us from the Kansas City area where she has been engaged in video production and presentation work in the private sector. She will be our digital content specialist, managing video and photography production, overseeing the Drake Student Photo Bureau, and working with our website and email marketing communications systems. We are all excited to expand our video production capabilities and bring that expertise to enhancing the image and reputation of Drake.

—Submitted by Jeremy Sievers, Director, Web Communications

News & Achievements Archive

Let it Snow Holiday Lunch

Students, staff, and faculty are invited to the Let it Snow Holiday Lunch on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., at Hubbell Dining. Cost is $7.40 (regular meal cost).

The menu includes:

  • New England clam chowder
  • Mac & cheese bar
  • Cranberry harvest chicken breast
  • Apple raisin stuffing, peas, and carrots
  • Meatball sandwich and onion tanglers
  • Snowshoe cheese, snowshoe pepperoni, and white snowshoe pizza
  • Gingerbread cookies, holiday eggnog cake, and lemon coconut snowball cupcakes

Sodexo will also put on its monthly Faculty/Staff $5 Lunch next Thursday, Dec. 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hubbell Dining.

—Submitted by Jennifer Bowersox, Unit Marketing Coordinator, Drake University Dining

Campus Announcements Archive, News & Achievements Archive

Drake welcomes Tracy Bainter

Tracy Bainter, our newly hired senior grants specialist, is returning to Drake. She has two degrees from Drake, a B.A. in English and Magazines with University Honors in 2001, and a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis on Executive Development in 2008. She also received a Certificate for Grant Writing and Management from Drake’s Center for Professional Studies.

Tracy worked as the coordinator of marketing and special events in the School of Education from 2005 until 2010. After leaving Drake, she founded and ran her own business, TAB Media and Marketing, which provided support for nonprofit agencies including writing, submitting, and managing grant proposals. Since 2013, she has been the communications director for the Iowa Association of School Boards. She started on Nov. 23, so please welcome her.

This fills one of two openings in the Sponsored Programs Office. We are initiating the search for the director of sponsored programs and hope to hire someone by the start of spring semester.

—Submitted by Provost Joe Lenz

News & Achievements Archive

Drake news: Week of Nov. 23

New documentary on the horizon for Jody Swilky
Jody Swilky, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt Professor of English and writer and co-producer of the award-winning documentary A Little Salsa on the Prairie: The Changing Character of Perry, Iowa, is working on a new project documenting the history and evolution of the Iowa State Penitentiary. The documentary is tentatively titled Serving Time: The Long Life of Iowa State Penitentiary.

Kathleen Richardson to be recognized
The Iowa Supreme Court will honor School of Journalism and Mass Communication Dean Kathleen Richardson for her strong voice in support of justice at a recognition program today. Drake Professor Emeritus of Journalism Herb Strentz will recognize Kathleen for her 15 years of service on the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a coalition of journalists, lawyers, educators, and other Iowans devoted to open government. Kathleen served as council’s executive director from 2000 to 2015.

Student opportunities at the #demdebate
In case you didn’t know, Drake hosted the nationally televised Democratic Presidential Debate last week. Go behind the scenes and check out one student’s experience working with CBS News.

News & Achievements Archive

Stand Up, Speak Up: A Drake University Women & Leadership Symposium

Save the date for “Stand Up, Speak Up: A Drake University Women & Leadership Symposium.” This unique, all-day event will take place on March 8, 2016, in the Olmsted Center’s Parents Hall. The symposium will feature some of Des Moines’ most accomplished female leaders as they share information on forging your leadership presence, building your network, and creating a concrete action plan.

As an added bonus, attendees will receive credit toward the Excellence in Learning & Development Certificate. Faculty and staff are welcome to join for all or part of the day, and lunch will be provided for registered attendees.

RSVP for the event at: http://tinyurl.com/DrakeWomenLead2016. For questions, please email any of the event organizers listed below.

Drake University Women and Leadership Committee:
Cris Wildermuth
Annique Kiel
Eliza Dy-Boarman
Stephanie Cardwell
Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp
Shelley Hurst
Debra Wiley
Alyssa Young
—Submitted by Eliza Dy-Boarman, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice