Published January 19, 2019
Wittenberg Alumni & Friends,
Happy New Year! With students now back following the holiday break, the campus once again feels alive and energized as we move forward on several fronts.
For starters, we are excited by the tremendous progress being made on our Health, Wellness & Athletics facility. We anticipate the 1929 building opening this spring with the 135,000-square-foot addition opening in Fall 2019 during Homecoming. This restoration and expansion initiative has been a considerable undertaking, and we are confident that the effort will help us build champions for a lifetime, all while providing a much-needed regional resource, preserving our treasured past, and propelling our outstanding athletics tradition to new heights of excellence. We also remain deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed financially to this effort, including our lead donors, Wes '70 and Ann Bates '70. More gifts are certainly needed and encouraged, but we would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to thank those who have already led the way in philanthropic support for this endeavor.
This will also be a year of continued storytelling, which makes an incredible difference in our recruitment and retention efforts. My thanks to those of you who took the time to submit stories already. Your reflections will certainly assist us in our relationship-building with prospective students and their families as they serve as powerful testimonials about what makes Wittenberg so special. Please continue to send us your thoughts by way of a special email address we have created here.
As always, thank you for continuing to engage others in our ongoing story and for shining your Wittenberg light wherever you go. Enjoy the year ahead.
Best Regards,
Michael Frandsen, Ph.D.
President
Wittenberg University
Vision For Justice
Adam Foss, advocate for criminal justice reform and founder of Prosecutor Impact, will deliver the keynote address “A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Justice System” during the annual Wittenberg Series-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Convocation on Monday, Jan. 21.
Annual CBS Walkout
Wittenberg recognized 50 years of activism in support of diversity and racial equality during its annual Concerned Black Students (CBS) Commemorative Walkout on Jan. 14. The event honors and remembers the historic walkout of 1969 when several students walked out to illuminate racial inequality on campus.
Future Entrepreneurs
Affirmed by Forbes Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Most Entrepreneurial Colleges" in the nation, Wittenberg inspires innovative thinking in its students, which will again be on display during the university's second annual Tiger Tank event, Feb. 7, featuring alumni judges.
International Pride
King Letsie III, the Constitutional Monarch of the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho, continues to show pride in the ongoing relationship between Wittenberg and Lesotho. Most recently, the King included a photo taken of him addressing the Wittenberg Class of 2018 as the class' Commencement speaker in the palace's official 2019 calendar.
Alumni In The News / #LifeAfterWitt
Brandi Lyons ’18, a lifelong resident of Springfield, Ohio, found the path to her education and career dreams in her own backyard and in the process became one of the first graduates of Wittenberg’s nursing program.
An interest in learning Russian language and history during his days at Wittenberg led Thomas Hyra ’75 to a lengthy and prestigious career of federal service as a Russian intelligence analyst focused on what used to be the Soviet Union.
Faculty Excellence
The Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education recently honored four Wittenberg faculty members for excellence in teaching, service, and scholarship.
Assistant Professor of English Sha’Dawn Battle was recognized for achieving the highest level of teaching excellence by a visiting or adjunct faculty member at Wittenberg.
Alyssa Armstrong Hoofnagle ’09, assistant professor of mathematics at Wittenberg, was recognized for excellence in teaching by an untenured professor.
Professor of Mathematics Adam Parker, who also serves as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, was recognized for his distinguished teaching and the highest level of excellence in teaching for a tenured professor.
Cynthia Richards, professor of English, was recognized for her outstanding teaching as well as her commitment to growing and improving as a teaching scholar.
SOCHE is a regional leader for higher collaboration, working with colleges and universities to transform their communities and economies through the education, employment and engagement of nearly 150,000 students in southwest Ohio.