Category Archives: Archive

Free document shred event

Protect your information—and your identity—with a free shred event sponsored by Information Technology Services (ITS)
When: Monday, April 18, 12–3 p.m.
Where: North end of Olmsted lot

Bring your documents for on-site secure shredding by Iron Mountain—free for all Drake faculty, staff, and students. Shred any documents you’d like to have securely destroyed, including personal documents, homework assignments, and old files in the office. As a bonus, the first 25 people to bring a bag or box of documents to shred will receive a free encrypted flash drive.

—Submitted by Peter Lundstedt, Information Security Manager, ITS

Bulldogs of DU: Bryan Thomas

What do you do?
“I am the student success coordinator and Crew Scholars staff director. Along with an amazing staff, I work with students on study skills, time management; pretty much anything they need to learn how to do, we can teach them how to do it. The Crew Scholars program is the bulk of everything I do, and I also work with the STEM Explorers program.”

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
“I always joke with my students, my two favorite times are when you come here on your first day and when you leave. When they graduate, it means we did our job. Graduation is my absolute favorite time of year.”

What do you hope your students take away from you?
“I hope they’re doing everything they’re doing for the right reasons, that it’s genuine. I don’t believe in ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ mentality, and so I tell students, anything you do, make sure it aligns with your passions. Be the author of your own life, don’t let anybody else write your chapters.”

What do you do in your free time?
“I like being around people and I host a monthly breakfast club at my house. Growing up in New Orleans, I learned to cook at a young age. I was cutting up seafood when I was four. So I like to cook for people. My signature dish is shrimp or crawfish étouffée.”

Locked Up: Stories from San Quentin Prison

On Tuesday, April 12, faculty, staff, students, and community members are invited to listen to a selection of stories from incarcerated individuals and discuss what it means to be incarcerated in America. Four Drake students traveled to California to go inside San Quentin State Prison in December 2015 and heard these prisoners’ stories firsthand. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Pomerantz Stage in the Olmsted Center.

—Renee Cramer, Associate Professor Law, Politics, and Society

Artist Michael Burton to give free lecture

Please join the students in Lenswork and the Department of Art and Design in welcoming artist and educator Michael Burton to campus on April 14 and 15. Burton will be giving a public lecture on his art practice, specifically how he creates animations for commercial art projects and his own studio research on April 14 at 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center, Room 336. For more information about Michael and to see examples of his animations, www.michaelburtonart.com/

 —Emily Newman

“Finding Happiness” art exhibit

A new art exhibit at Drake University features the diverse works of more than 20 adults with intellectual disabilities. The result of a partnership between the Drake University Department of Art and Design and Mosaic of Central Iowa, “Finding Happiness” is open to the public now through April 7 in the Weeks Art Gallery of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.

Senior Katelyn Canepa, a psychology major with a minor in studio drawing, created the project after working with Mosaic at a group home teaching art skills to an adult with an intellectual disability. Mosaic is a non-profit organization that serves adults with intellectual disabilities throughout central Iowa. Read more about this unique exhibit in the Drake Newsroom.

Science rules at Drake on April 14

Hundreds of Des Moines-area high school and college students will dive into science through a series of fun and educational activities that culminate in a free lecture by Bill Nye the Science Guy at Drake on Thursday, April 14.

The series of activities, all of which are free and open to the public, include the Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS), featuring a keynote speech by an expert in baseball statistics; an interactive STEM festival for K-8 youth; and an art gallery inspired by the sciences. Nye’s evening lecture is the 36th installment in the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series.

  • 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. DUCURS; Olmsted Center
  • 4:30–6:30 p.m. Drake/Metro Area STEM Fesival; Bell Center
  • 7 p.m. Bucksbaum Lecture—An Evening with Bill Nye the Science Guy; Knapp Center
  • All day: “Planet(s)” art exhibit; Weeks Gallery

For more information, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Free fitness assessments

Stop by the Wellness Center (located in the Bell Center) for a free fitness assessment! It is a great way to evaluate your current fitness level and health risk for disease. We also offer massage therapy for an affordable price. Call or text Anne Boal, LMT, at 515-988-8760 to schedule an appointment.

—Celeste Arteaga

Exploring global affairs

National Security Council Crisis Simulation with Brett Bruen and former Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz will be offered 4–6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8. The simulation is part of the Nelson Institute Undergraduate Conference on Global Affairs, which recognizes and shares high-quality undergraduate research on global topics.
Participants can engage in just the simulation and/or other parts of the conference if schedules do not allow full participation. If you previously registered for the crisis simulation only, please go back in to the registration link and include your name and email address. If you have not registered, please do so ASAP at: http://drake.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6KnfaEWh6vNZ5gF 

STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND EVEN IF NOT PRESENTING A PAPER! Activities will include a crisis simulation, a networking social featuring international appetizers, a keynote address by noted scholar Valerie Hudson, student panels, and a closing luncheon with visiting Global Practitioner Peiqin Zhou from Nanjing University. A $200 award will go to the top presenter(s) selected by judges. Students who attend the full conference (both days) will receive a certificate of participation. Please direct questions to Denise Ganpat (denise.ganpat@drake.edu).

Schedule of Events

Friday, April 8 (Upper Olmsted)

  • Newly added:  4–6:30 p.m.  National Security Council Crisis Simulation with Brett Bruen and former Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz
  • 4:30–5:30 p.m. Conference registration for those not in the simulation
  • 6:30–7:15 p.m. Networking with international appetizers
  • 7:30–9 p.m. “National Security and Women’s Insecurity” keynote address by Valerie Hudson

Saturday, April 9 (Upper Olmsted)

  • 8:30–9 a.m. Continental breakfast
  • 9–10:15 a.m. Student panels
  • 10:30–11:45 a.m. Student panels
  • 12–1:15 p.m. Student panels
  • 1:30–2:30 p.m. Sit-down/buffet lunch with speaker Peiqin Zhou
  • 2:45 p.m. Best Presenter Award

—Denise Ganpat, Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs