I'm a Hornet From Interim President Jackie Vietti

Nov. 4, 2015 None

Congratulations to Allison Garrett, named Oct. 22 by the Kansas Board of Regents as the 17th president of Emporia State University. After the announcement, President Garrett and her husband, Chip, stayed several days in Emporia to attend Homecoming activities. They will move to Emporia with their youngest son Noah, a junior in high school, so President Garrett can begin her new role in January. For more: http://bit.ly/1KB3vk5
Emporia State is among three state universities that will pilot a new course next fall to teach students how to register themselves and others to vote. The news came from the League of Women Voters at its conference. Michael Smith, chair and associate professor in social sciences, gave an invited talk at the group’s 95th anniversary in Topeka. For more: http://bit.ly/1LXDKzG
The Emporia State Hornets are slated to finish 11th in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll released October 21. The Hornets return their top six scorers from last year and have added a number of talented newcomers. For more: http://bit.ly/1LF1iWu
On Friday, Oct. 23 at the annual Emporia State Foundation Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees learned that Now and Forever: The Campaign for Emporia State reached a total to-date of $42.7 million toward the working goal of $45 million. To learn more about giving opportunities, visit www.nowandforever.org.
University Facilities, Memorial Union and Residential Life have completed the installation of 12 Automated External Defibrillator (AED) cabinets and AEDs throughout campus. The AEDs are user-friendly with voice instructions that begin when the AED is opened. These life-saving devices may be used by anyone in the event of an emergency.
Celebrating Veterans
- A program to help better understand the after-effects of war will be presented by two widely known actors at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in Karl C. Bruder Theater in King Hall at Emporia State University. “Theater of War: Soldiers & Citizens Tour” is presented nationwide by a troupe of actors who stage dramatic readings of Sophocles’ “Ajax.” The play, a Greek tragedy written around 450-430 B.C., recounts the suicide of the greatly respected warrior. It illustrates the historic and enduring correlation between war and the traumas it leaves in its wake. For more: http://bit.ly/1Q21LZd
- A little-known pilgrimage to family members’ graves in foreign cemeteries will be the topic for the annual Veterans Roundtable meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Preston Family Room at the Memorial Union on the Emporia State University campus. The program, “A Final Goodbye: Gold Star Mother Pilgrimages 1929-1933,” will feature speaker Stacie Petersen, registrar of the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. For more: http://bit.ly/1ixZWo1
After being picked No. 1 in the D-II Bulletin Preseason National Poll, the Emporia State Lady Hornets were slated as preseason favorites to win the MIAA according to the 2014-15 Preseason MIAA Coaches Poll. The Lady Hornets have finished in the top three of the MIAA or have advanced to the MIAA Tournament Championship game in each of the last 13 years and 17 of the last 18 years. For more: http://bit.ly/1Gvj6q7
Mike Mercer, ESU Building Services, has been selected to serve as a human relations commissioner for the City of Emporia. He will assist in processing and finding resolution of discrimination complaints. He will be receiving extensive training as part of becoming a commissioner.
More than 530 students representing 49 schools came to campus Oct. 28 for the Donald L. Bruyr Mathematics Day. The students competed individually and in teams in algebra, geometry and the math scramble. They also participated in presentation about “What You need to Know Before You Go to College.”
Dr. Jackie Vietti, Emporia State interim president, and Tyler Curtis, executive director of alumni relations, won the Tricycle Challenge against KVOE news reporters AJ Dome and Chuck Samples during the Emporia State Homecoming football game. The Challenge came after Vietti challenged KVOE to the race on the Oct. 8 KVOE Buzz.
Emporia State Canned the Bods for the fifth year in a row raising 46,856 cans of food versus Washburn University’s 32,397 cans. ESU donations went to Corky’s Cupboard and the Emporia Salvation Army.
Darla Mallein, professor of secondary social sciences education, recently presented her work on teaching with primary sources at the Mid-Western Educational Research Association in Evanston, Illinois. As a previous recipient of grants from the Library of Congress, Dr. Mallein was also invited to participate in a symposium sponsored by the Library of Congress Midwest Region for Teaching with Primary Sources that was held during the conference.
Emily Schoenfeld earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors to lead the Emporia State cross country teams at the MIAA Championships on Oct. 24. The Hornet men placed ninth and the women 10th in the team standings. For more: http://bit.ly/1NwoIjx
Dr. Richard Schrock, professor in biological sciences, is the speaker at a Save Our Schools meeting Nov. 10 in Cowley County. For more: http://bit.ly/1N2N5a8
An anonymous donor has honored an outstanding Emporia State University alumnus with a gift of $100,000 and a challenge to raise an additional $100,000 in funds for students in five campus areas in honor of Gary Sherrer, former lieutenant governor of Kansas and past chair of KBOR. The five campus areas include Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, Blue Key Honor Society, Hornet Men's Tennis, the Emporia State Student Foundation, and the recently established Future Teacher Mentorship Award. For photos from the bell-ringing celebration: http://bit.ly/1NFxhZu
Congratulations to Derek Wilson and Olivia Henning, who were crowned Homecoming King and Queen during halftime of Emporia State’s football game Oct. 24 against Missouri Western. The Hornets won the game 17-3.
Dr. Chris Lovett, professor in social sciences, spoke on “So You Want to Play Some Baseball,” on Oct. 20 at the Allen County Historical Society in Iola.
More rankings for School of Business programs. Affordable Colleges Online ranked the MBA at Emporia State ninth in its list of Top 50 Best Online MBA Programs. Accounting Degree Review ranked the MAcc program at Emporia State 20th in its ranking for the top 45 online graduate accounting programs. For more: http://bit.ly/1M00nDw
Dr. Lendi Bland, instructor in elementary education, early childhood and special education, presented “Happily Ever Math-ter” at the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics state conference on Friday, October 16. Other faculty who presented that day from our department included Dr. Nancy Smith, Dr. Melissa Reed, Jill Jones and Block II pre-service teacher candidate Courtney Weber.
Richard Bechtel, a graduate from ESU and a former ESUPD student employee, graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center on Friday, October 23. He began his duties as an ESU Police Officer on Oct. 25. We anticipate Officer Bechtel will complete field training in 14 to 16 weeks. Please welcome Richard back to ESU.
The Kansas Higher Education e-Textbook Summit was hosted by Emporia State University and Hornet Connected Learning on Friday, October 30. Over 140 participants had the opportunity to learn from a variety of break-out sessions and collaborate with others interested in the changing landscape of teaching and learning with e-textbooks. Seventeen Emporia State faculty and six Emporia State students participated as presenters.
Dr. Connie Phelps, associate professor in elementary education, early childhood and special education, contributed, “Cornerstones in Applied Creativity: Torrance Jet Aces and Spolin Theater Games,” to the inaugural December 2015 issue of the Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity.
Congratulations to Bill Blair (M.S. Biology Student; Advisor: Dr. David Edds) on his recent publication in the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science! This publication resulted from an Ichthyology class field trip to Manhattan, Kansas, in Spring 2015 (during Bill’s senior year as an ESU undergraduate). Publication in a peer-reviewed professional journal is quite an accomplishment, however, this is particularly impressive for a student that has not yet completed his first full semester as graduate student.
Homecoming was a great success! During the weekend, several groups enjoyed reunions, such as: Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professors, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and the Class of 1965. In addition, ESU celebrated 25 years in the MIAA athletic conference, and the conference’s commissioner, Dr. Bob Boerigter, was on campus for those festivities.
Kudos to history M.A. candidate Blaine Hamilton, who led “Paranormal Studies 101” with the Society of Public Historians this week. Fifty-two people attended!
A group of 12 students under the direction of Dr. Andrew Smith and Dr. Brendan Fay of the School of Library and Information Management has just returned from a 10-day trip visiting libraries and archives in Serbia. This trip is part of the SLIM global program and continues a 15-year tradition of cooperation between SLIM and the University of Belgrade. Students had the opportunity to study library practice in Serbia and to hear from professional librarians and archivists in both Belgrade and Novi Sad, as well as presenting programs at the American Corners in both cities. The SLIM global program is supported by the Office of International Education and SLIM’s Martha Kruse Furbur fund.
2015’s inaugural Black and Gold Dinner honored the recipients of the President’s Common Good, Outstanding Recent Graduates, and Distinguished Alumni awards. Members of the President’s Club, Kellogg Society, and Black & Gold Circle were also recognized. For photos: http://bit.ly/1MmL1oC
ESU has completed the certification process to become an Educational Testing Service (ETS) Certified Test Administration Site (CTAS). ETS only offers its standardized examinations to license educators via computer. CTAS has met stringent guidelines to ensure security. The university’s Information Technology staff was instrumental in the certification process. The test center is located in VH125 (the renovation occurred as part of ESU’s Master Plan), and the center is now offering the full array of Praxis examinations. The long-term goal is to offer at the center all electronic standardized tests needed by any ESU student.
Needing at least a tie to continue to the MIAA Tournament, the Emporia State soccer team fell 2-1 to Nebraska-Kearney in the final regular season match of the year at the EHS Pitch. Despite the loss, the Hornets finish the season 9-8-1 and record their third straight non-losing season for the first time in school history. For more: http://bit.ly/1GHTQgQ