WILLIAM JEWELL’S UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY SHOWCASES STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

William Jewell College, which has honored outstanding academic achievement since its founding more than 150 years ago, showcased student research initiatives and creative activities during the fourth annual David Nelson Duke Undergraduate Colloquium held on campus April 22.

Celebrating the Life of the Mind: A Day of Undergraduate Scholarship and Creativity involved students presenting their scholarly works to faculty, staff and the community at large through oral presentations, performing and visual arts, public speaking and readings of creative writing. The Colloquium allowed students from all academic disciplines to receive recognition for their unique ideas and studies.

The colloquium concept reflects Jewell’s commitment to increasing involvement of undergraduates in research, according to Dr. John Westlie, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College. The event embodies William Jewell’s educational mission and reflects its high expectations of students and faculty, communicating that the College seeks out and celebrates scholarly achievement.

“All of us at William Jewell are very proud of the student achievement and scholarship in evidence in the Duke Colloquium,” Dr. Westlie says. “The Colloquium shows the commitment of our campus to academic excellence. From literature to molecular biology, philosophy to computer science, politics to impressionist painting, health care to symphonic music, our students have completed many remarkable research and creative projects this year.”

Celebrating the Life of the Mind included a special convocation featuring Bobby Watson, noted jazz musician and a professor at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music. Regular classes were suspended for the day in order to involve all students in the celebration.

SALLEE OFFERS COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT WILLIAM JEWELL

Dr. David L. Sallee, president of William Jewell College, urged Jewell graduates to build on their college experience by acting with compassion, character and integrity in all they attempt.

“You have probably heard me remark that we stand on the shoulders of great people who have gone before us,” Dr. Sallee said. “You are now becoming those shoulders that coming generations of students will stand on. I challenge you to continue to add value to the William Jewell College diploma you will hold in your hand—not just with accomplishments, acquisitions, degrees or titles. I challenge you to add value to your William Jewell College degree with compassion, character and integrity in all that you do.”

Approximately 4,000 family members and friends of the 290 graduates gathered Saturday, May 8, in the Mabee Center for Physical Education on the Jewell campus. Dr. Molly T. Marshall, Professor of Theology and Spiritual Formation at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kan., offered the baccalaureate sermon at a morning service in John Gano Memorial Chapel on the campus. A reception at the President’s Home for seniors and family members followed the baccalaureate service.

This year’s commencement ceremony took place four days after the first anniversary of a devastating tornado strike on the Jewell campus on May 4, 2003. The storm caused approximately $8 million in damage to campus buildings and facilities.

“Who among us can forget where we were last year at this time?” Dr. Sallee asked. “The days following the tornado were extraordinary. Our entire community’s response to the devastation marked us as people of strength and caring. While we all experienced grief at the wreckage of our campus, the miracle that lives were spared put all of the other losses in perspective.”

Dr. Sallee, who became Jewell’s 14th president in August of 2000, was invited to present the commencement address by members of the senior class – the first graduating class to have shared all four years of Dr. Sallee’s presidency.

Remembering his first days on the Jewell campus four years ago, Dr. Sallee recalled: “I don’t know how you felt, but I was very anxious. Twenty-five years in higher education still did not quite prepare me for the feelings I had that day. So many faces, so many names, so much to learn about, so much to do.

“We had arrived on campus just a few weeks ahead of matriculation day, so (First Lady) Mary and I shared with you that tentativeness of beginning a new journey. We also shared the optimism born of being excited to launch a new phase of our lives. Together, we all embarked on the remarkable journey that has brought us to this day.”

Dr. Sallee recalled the many experiences shared with the class of 2004, including the dissolution of the college’s historic ties to the Missouri Baptist Convention following a debate over governance of the institution.

“You arrived on this hill with myriad cultural, educational and spiritual experiences that formed your character, opinions and beliefs,” Dr. Sallee said. “Since that time your experiences here have probably altered many of those opinions and beliefs. But I am pleased that our college did not impose a doctrine or philosophy on you. You own your perspectives and beliefs.”

William Jewell College to offer interdisciplinary bioethics major

William Jewell College will begin offering a new interdisciplinary bioethics major through the college’s departments of religion and philosophy, biology and chemistry. The program of study will be offered beginning in the fall 2004 semester.

“The bioethics major is designed for students who want to pursue an interdisciplinary study of science and ethics,” said Dr. Dan Heruth, associate professor of biology at William Jewell. “All students will obtain a basic grounding in the fields of biology and chemistry, and then explore the application of contemporary moral theory in both biomedical and environmental contexts.”

Students will also reflect upon fundamental philosophical questions pertaining to the scientific enterprise itself, Heruth said. In collaboration with a bioethicist, all students will finish their study with a semester-long practicum in which they can relate what they have learned in the classroom to concrete situations in the work environment.

“We see the bioethics major as helping the college to fulfill its mission to be a premier liberal arts college by building a bridge between the sciences and the humanities.” Heruth said. “Bioethics provides an opportunity for students to augment their core studies in biology and chemistry with a systematic, structured and highly relevant course of study in the humanities. Graduates will possess a conceptual foundation that will enable them to be self-reflective, critical thinkers on ethical issues related to science and technology.”
Heruth said that the interdisciplinary format of the major, coupled with the balance and depth of study in both the sciences and humanities, appeared to be unique among the undergraduate bioethics programs surveyed at other institutions.

“The additional benefit of working with bioethicists in the practicum course is an experience that is rarely available at the undergraduate level,” Heruth said.

Jewell observes nursing anniversary

The William Jewell College Department of Nursing hosted a Celebration of Nursing on April 24 to commemorate 30 years of nursing at William Jewell College. The event began with a reception and dinner, with opportunities for classes to meet, visit and share mementos from student days at William Jewell.

Special recognition was awarded to Carolyn Edison, BSN ’74, Ed.D., APRN, a resident of Kansas City North, a member of the first Jewell nursing class and recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Alumnus Award. Carolyn was the first nurse in the state of Missouri to begin a private nursing practice, and served as a member of the Missouri State Board of Nursing. She is currently a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Receiving the Distinguished Friend of the Department of Nursing Award was Sue Pingleton, MS, RN, of Fairway, Kansas, Education Coordinator, North Kansas City Hospital. In her capacity as School of Nursing Liaison at North Kansas City Hospital, among other contributions, Sue helped develop the BSN-Accelerated Track, affording students with a B.A. or B.S. degree and prerequisite courses the opportunity to complete a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing in 12 months.

William Jewell observes first anniversary of tornado strike

Students, faculty and staff of William Jewell College observed the first anniversary of the tornado strike of May 4, 2003 with a moment of silence and a prayer of thanksgiving at 5:04 p.m. May 4, the time at which campus clocks stopped when the storm struck the college one year ago. The observance took place on the campus quadrangle in front of John Gano Memorial Chapel, which was heavily damaged in the tornado. College structures and facilities sustained about $8 million in damage from the May 4 tornado strike. Thanks to advance warning and established emergency response procedures, no injuries were suffered by students, faculty or staff.

“We wanted to remember our friends in the community and to express our appreciation to the Kansas City area media for providing the advance warning that allowed members of the campus community to seek shelter,” said Jewell’s president Dr. David Sallee. “People who have seen the photographs of the destruction find it hard to believe that there were no injuries or deaths, and we have the weather forecasters to thank for that.”

A new “Odyssey Challenge Course” has been completed on the Tucker Leadership Lab site, which is just northeast of the campus quadrangle. The Odyssey Challenge Course is a unique team high course and is one of only three in the nation. In addition, eight new low course challenges have been added. A new leadership center with offices, classrooms, meeting spaces and a large multi-purpose indoor area is in the planning stages.

The college received an outpouring of assistance and support from the public in the days and weeks following the storm. Thanks to the support of the community, William Jewell was able to conduct summer school classes as scheduled and to reopen on time for the fall semester. Melrose Hall, the women’s residence hall that was one of the hardest-hit structures on campus, has remained under construction throughout the 2003-04 school year. When it reopens in August, it will be a state-of-the-art facility equipped for the needs of students in the 21st century. Regents Quad, the married student housing complex that took the brunt of the storm’s force on the Jewell campus, has been demolished, and designs for a new sorority housing complex on this site are in the preliminary phase. Most of the Regents Quad residents were relocated to a Liberty apartment complex following the storm.

Noted weather expert discusses 2003 tornadoes at William Jewell

Jewell alumnus Dr. Harold E. Brooks, one of America’s most distinguished experts on tornadoes and a lead scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma, presented a public lecture entitled “The Tornadoes of 2003: May 4th and Beyond,” at his alma mater March 25. Dr. Brooks is head of the Mesoscale Application Group for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory.

“The first ‘big’ day was May 4th, when approximately 90 tornadoes from South Dakota southeastward through Tennessee resulted in 38 deaths,” Brooks said.“Kansas City was the largest metropolitan area struck by the tornadoes, including a strong tornado that hit Liberty, causing significant damage at William Jewell.”

Brooks is internationally renowned for his expertise. He has been interviewed by virtually every major news publication in America and has made major international presentations on tornadic storms. He has appeared as a guest on dozens of national television and news programs, including “Dateline,” the major networks’ evening news programs and “Good Morning America.” Internationally, he has appeared on the BBC as well as Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian and German television. He also served as a technical consultant for the motion picture, “Twister.” A witness to more than 20 tornadoes, Brooks estimates that he has studied and investigated nearly 10,000 tornadic storms during his career.

After he graduated from William Jewell summa cum laude with honors in physics, Brooks modeled tornadic storms on a Cray supercomputer at the University of Illinois Urbana, according to Jewell’s professor of physics Dr. Don Geilker. “His continued research in tornadoes is at least partly responsible for training the National Weather Service forecasters who provided the life-saving warnings for the tornado which struck the campus last May.”

Alumni gather for reunion weekend

Alumni from the classes of 1934, 1944 and 1954 gathered on the William Jewell campus May 7 and 8 for a time of reminiscing and renewing old acquaintances. Weekend activities included a President’s Forum with Dr. Sallee, a tour of Kansas City’s Powell Gardens, and an opportunity to participate in baccalaureate and commencement services.
Jewell is site of new ESL facility

William Jewell College will serve as a new regional site for the Hays Language Institute, an English language study center affiliated with The Language Company, a national organization offering study programs in English as a second language throughout the United States. “Enhancing the level of cultural diversity on the Jewell campus is one of the college’s ongoing goals,” said Dr. John Westlie, Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs at William Jewell. “We welcome the increased population of international students that the language study program will facilitate.”

The new center, known as the Hays Language Institute-Liberty (HLI-Liberty), is scheduled to open in late May in the Center for Educational Diversity and the Stamford House, located on the western edge of the Jewell campus. Hays Language Institute-Liberty will be affiliated with the Hays Language Institute located at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. International students attending the HLI-Liberty will interact with the Jewell campus in a number of ways, Westlie said. Some will be housed on campus, and many will eat in the college’s dining facilities in Yates College Union. They will have access to campus facilities such as Curry Library, computer labs and the Mabee Center for Physical Education. “We will be deliberately creating connections with the Jewell campus for these international students,” Westlie said. “We will work to create programming, as well as to connect them with things already going on. There are various groups on campus that are very interested in developing these relationships further.”

World-class experts on Russia & Eurasia speak at Jewell

William Jewell College hosted the 43rd Annual Central Slavic Conference (CSC) March 11-13 on the college campus in Liberty. The conference’s two keynote speakers included world-class experts on Russia and Eurasia. The CSC was founded at William Jewell College 43 years ago as an organization of scholars, graduate students and other persons interested in the countries of Russia and East Central Europe. The scope of the conference has been extended to cover Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union as well.

The conference’s keynote speakers on March 12 and 13:

“What We Mean/What They Understand:
Field Notes of U.S.-Eurasian Social Misperceptions”

Colonel Thomas Wilhelm, Associate Dean for Eurasian Studies
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Garmisch, Germany

Recently profiled in The Atlantic Monthly (March 2004; “The Man Who Would Be Khan”; www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/03/kaplan.htm), Colonel Thomas Wilhelm is one of the U.S. military’s premier soldier-diplomats. He is currently the Associate Dean for Eurasian Studies at the U.S. Army’s George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch, Germany. Trained at West Point and at the Center for Russian & East European Studies at the University of Kansas, Col. Wilhelm has served in Bosnia, Macedonia, Tajikistan, Germany, and as the U.S. Military Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. He is intimately familiar with the borderlands of the former Soviet empire, and with the problems and security challenges faced by these countries today. He offered his perspectives on Russian foreign policy and Russia’s place in the world today.

“A Normal President? Vladimir Putin and the Russian Opposition”

Dr. Eugene Huskey, Wm. R. Kenan Professor
of Political Science and Director of the Russian Studies Program
Stetson University, DeLand, Florida

Dr. Eugene Huskey is one of the country’s premier experts on the Russian presidency and on Russian domestic politics in general. His most recent book is Presidential Power in Russia (1999). He is also the author of Russian Lawyers and the Soviet State and the editor of Executive Power and Soviet Politics: The Rise and Decline of the Soviet State. His scholarly articles have also appeared regularly in such prestigious journals as Post-Soviet Affairs, Problems of Post-Communism, Europe-Asia Studies, The Russian Review, and The Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. In addition to his work on Russian domestic politics, Dr. Huskey has also published several scholarly works on post-Soviet nationality politics and on political change in Kyrgyzstan.

William Jewell plans study of Greek system

A new initiative to develop a strategic plan for William Jewell College’s Greek system is underway at the college.

“Greeks play a significant role in campus life at Jewell, with one-third of the student body participating in seven fraternities and sororities,” said Dean of Students Rick Winslow. “The goal of the strategic plan is to ensure the long-term existence of a strong, positive Greek experience for Jewell students.”

Dr. Don DiPaolo, Chair of the Education Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Education at the University of Detroit-Mercy and General Fraternity Vice President on the Board of Directors at Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, will facilitate the strategic planning initiative at Jewell. The process will bring together student officers and alumni advisors from each Greek organization, college administration and faculty and members of the Liberty community. Jewell’s president Dr. David Sallee will participate in the process.

While the leadership of individual fraternities and sororities establish short-term goals and objectives for their respective organizations, Winslow said that the need exists for an intentional, long-range plan that will provide direction for the entire Greek community.

The process of developing the three-year plan began with the appointment of a 24-person Greek Strategic Planning Committee. The committee will develop a mission and vision for the Jewell Greek community and outline the strategic plan’s goals and objectives, action steps and timeline. A Strategic Plan Implementation Committee will be appointed to begin execution of the plan. The process will conclude with an assessment and evaluation phase that will provide direction beyond the three-year plan.

Graduating seniors exhibit work at Stocksdale Gallery, Browning Theater

The Stocksdale Gallery of William Jewell College concluded its exhibition season by featuring the work of graduating senior art majors. Included were Kimberly DeWilde, Adam Roske, Rachel Snyder, Ellen McAllister, Jessica Biggerstaff, Christina Nading and Ryan Woldruff. The exhibits featured new work in various media completed as part of the graduation requirements for the degree of B.A. in art or art education.