Category Archives: News & Achievements Archive

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

News & Achievements Archive

College of Arts & Sciences news: Week of Nov. 23

On Nov. 13, Drake students raised $5,000 in support of Drake’s Adult Literacy Center by organizing the Adult Spelling Bee at Olmsted Center. The event, sponsored by Bankers Trust, attracted nine corporate and Drake teams.

The students who organized the event were part of the course LEAD 100, Leadership: Influence and Change, led by Meghan Blancas and Jerry Parker; the course includes a service-learning project designed to promote positive social change at Drake and in our community. This is the second year in a row LEAD 100 has sponsored this event with assistance from the Office of Community Engagement and Service-Learning.

—Submitted by Tom Westbrook, Professor of Leadership Studies and Director of Leadership Concentration