Eastern Michigan University DigitalCommons@EMU Alumni News University Archives 2003 The dE ge, Winter 2003 Eastern Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.emich.edu/alumni_news Recommended Citation Eastern Michigan University, "The dE ge, Winter 2003" (2003). Alumni News. 213. http://commons.emich.edu/alumni_news/213 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Archives at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Alumni News by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@EMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. leading Off IPICIII 1111111 1111a111l 1111 and the smiles on the faces of the Class of ships, the group sponsors the annual Black aken as a whole, Homecoming is a 1953, their Golden Years weekend was a Greek Step Show and holds a graduation terrific occasion. It's difficult to top joyful one as well. We owe a special thanks reception for African-American students. an event with lots of people, good to Vicki Reaume and her staff in alumni This year, it co-sponsored an undergraduate Tfood, a marching band and football. But relations for ensuring that an incredible roundtable discussion with the Dean of what makes it memorable is the individual weekend of activities for the Golden Years Students' office, a scholarship dance and a memories we take away with us. and other alumni ran smoothly. brunch during Homecoming Week. The For me, it was the Communication and Congratulations to the award was richly deserved. Theatre A11s 40th anniversary party Friday, Black Alumni Chapter Please join me in welcoming the newest Oct.3. Other than attending performances, forearning Chapter members of the Alumni Association Board I can't recall being inside the Quirk build­ of the Year honors. of Directors: Larry Andrewes, Jason Hansen, ing - halls I once haunted - since I grad­ The award was pre­ Jeannine Kunz, Bill Lambert and Greg uated. So after visiting with people who left sented at the "Go Sheldon. You'll find more information an indelible impression on me, I took a Green" Alumni about them on Page 6. Feel free to contact mini-tour, peering into the lab theatre and Tailgate preceding the any of us on the board with any questions checking out all of the changes at the stu­ Homecoming game. or concerns you might have. dent-run radio tation on campus, WQBR. While the chapter's pri­ It was a practically perfect kick-off to my mary goal is to Karen M. Pitton, '79 personal Homecoming weekend. generate funds President And judging by the feedback I've heard forscholar- EMU Alumni Association lnSide TheEdge STRATEGIC Editor Kevin Merrill ('86) President Kirkpatrick salutes Photographer Richard Schwarze EMU's achievements and Copy editor Cassina Sanders outlines the strategies to achieve Editorial committee Laura DiSano Nancy Mida ('72) the next wave of University g als Vicki Reaume ('91, '96) and initiatives Amy Schulz Director of Alumni Relations Vicki Reaume OUTREACH Assistant Director Amy Schulz The Alumni Admissions Office Supervisor Carrie Phillips Recruitment Team goes after the Student Assistants Laura DiSano est and brightest by using Brian Enright Cassandra Peters alumni to help identify and Rachel Reynolds recruit new students Direct address changes, duplicate copy information or information requests to: Eastern Michigan University, Office for Alumni Relations, 1349 S. Huron St., Suite 2, Ypsilanti, Ml 48197 ELITE I I EMU's Black Alumni Chapter Telephone: 734.487.0250 1.800.8.ALUMNI Fax: 734.487.7009 @ received Chapter of the Year E-mail: alumnl.relations emich.edu Web: www.emich.edu/alumni honors during Homecomi g for members' year-round effortst0 raise scholarship money Next issue of The Edge: March 2004 2 The Edge I Winter 2003 CoverStorv An event to remember COVER GIRLS: Students attending the By KEVIN MERRILL, '86 Office of Advancement Communications record number of events - more Homecoming game display their game faces. than 60 - helped make EMU's MORE HOMECOMING PHOTOS 2003 Homecoming celebration one attending the game than in the past 10 PAGES 10-11 Ito remember. years. While the football team came up short Many new ideas were introduced this year against Western Michigan, the campus was to create awareness and excitement, and all energized by reunions, brunches, open hous­ helped play a pa11 in filling the stands. The es and tailgates. The week-long series of announced attendance figure for the Oct. 4 events capped more than eight months of game was 19,990. planning by more than two dozen members The ideas included: placement of 10 of the University's staff and faculty. banners on buildings across campus "It was a spectacular week, " said Vicki announcing the game; distribution of Reaume, director of alumni relations, and more than 15,000 fliers containing the co-chair of Homecoming Week with full week's schedule; chalkboard messages Jeremiah Shinn, coordinator of Creek affairs throughout campus; more than 300 yard for the Dean of Students' office. "This year, signs placed around the community; we had more students at tailgates and H Homecoming, Pago 10 The Edge I Winter 2003 3 NewsUpdate C1111cad11 II bcallllCI BrieflvNoted h111rstrash ■an, 111111chars JTHE UNOFF�Cl4.I.2004 Edition ��is1tsED Gil For the second year, EMU honored high ed that it was time lo honor the people 1N{ school teachers and counselors during ils whose hard work resulted in our outstand­ , GUIDE TO THE annual Convocation of Excellence. ing incoming students, and it will become a The Convocation of Excellence recognizes yearly event." r 3 2 8 ��:�ts�� the achievements of EMU's top freshmen and More than 770 of EMU's 2,800 incoming scholarship recipients, as well as those teach­ freshman voted for an Exceptional !.COLLEGE0 S ers and counselors who helped, inspired and Educator. The top 10 nominees were hon­ ' nENT ANDERSON • AND ,,. SEPPY BASILI motivated them to go on to college. ored Oct. 11 with Exceptional Educator NATIONAL SURVEY RESULTS REVEAL_"BEST VALUES," � "Time and time again we heard incoming Awards. "HIDDEN TREASURES," ; "�SCHOOLS," AND OTHER TOP-CHOICE LISTS freshmen say that they would never have Judges selected the winners based upon 0 ? ,:· ,----) ,, STUDENTS SPEAK OUT ABOUT LIFE ON made it to college without the assistance of the strength of the nomination and the f�,<,,;:_ . }i CAMPUS AND INSIDE THE CLASSROOM a special high school Leach er, " said number of times candidates were nominat­ • nND OU! WHA!"S NEW. w,m UNIQUE. WHArs IMPROiED \AND WHA!"S NO!) Courtney McAnuff, vice president for ed. Award recipients received a plaque and enrollment services. "So, last year we decid- a gift certificate. ■ EMU was one of only two Mid­ American Conference universities named a "Best Value for the Tuition Dollar" by "The Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges 2004" (Kaplan Publishing). The other MAC school was Miami University (Ohio). EMU was one of only two Michigan schools to make the list. The University of Michigan -Ann Arbor also was cited. ■ A ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 1 offi­ cially opened EMU-Brighton, the University's newest off-campus site. More than 100 students are already enrolled in classes. The facility has more than 8,300 square feet of space, and is at the Genoa Business Park on Grand River Road north of 1-96. ■ Universities are the great untapped EYES ON THE PRIZE: Norb Vance, director of the Observatory, prepares the telescope. resource for helping set the future direc­ tion for urban and metropolitan areas. That was the message heard during the Putting Mars into locus Ninth Annual Conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan EMU's Sherzer Observatory offered refractor telescope ideally suited for Universities, hosted Sept. 20-23 by an out-of-this-world view of Mars viewing the southern polar cap, dark EMU. About 180 leaders from urban and markings, ruddy orange color and poten­ this summer. The chance to gaze at metropolitan universities learned more the planet, which was closer to tial dust storms that often occur on Earth than it's been in 57, 000 years, Mars. about their roles in developing urban drew thousands to campus. At Homecoming, the staff celebrated agendas. Visitors used a 10-inch apochromatic Sherzer's 100th anniversary. 4 The Edge I Winter 2003 STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY "EMU also needs confidence in astern Michigan its quality and to develop its qual­ President Samuel A. ity psyche," he said. "We can Kirkpatrick updated the enhance the psychology of quality UniversityE community on its by believing in ourselves, continu­ recent successes and outlined ing to heighten our self-esteem, future goals during his State of expanding our horizons, moving the University address delivered beyond a culture of poverty and in September. lower expectations for ourselves." "It has been said that, next to "Equally important, we must all excellence is the appreciation of work to bring the broader external it. I am deeply appreciative of community along to reduce the what the University community gap between our newer aspirations has accomplished and what we and the short horizons or low will continue to achieve togeth­ ambitions that some stakeholders, er," said Kirkpatrick, EMU's 19th from neighbors to some alumni, president. have for us," Kirkpatrick said. In the address, Kirkpatrick The achievements made so far, outlined eight key institutional especially under the University's strategies essential to the pursuit CENTER STAGE: President Kirkpatrick called for narrowing the gap Six Strategic Directions, would not of excellence: planning; visibili­ between the University's new aspirations and "short horizons." be possible "without your ideas, ty; public engagement; teaching, your strategic thinking and your communication and information sharing; program development; willingness to implement them on behalf of those we se1ve," learning community; resource acquisition and management, and Kirkpatrick said.