Lewis University

The Senior Capstone Art Exhibition will take place May 2-12 at the Wadsworth Family Gallery on Lewis University's Romeoville campus. The exhibit will be free and open to the public from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily. The Lewis University students featured in the exhibit include Orla Clasby, Laila Husseini, Maha Muhammad, Drew Orr, Linsey Jeanne Pelekoudas, Abdurrahman Qureshi, and Rebeca Sanchez. The biannual art show coincides with the capstone course, Senior Project. The course challenges graduating students to put their newly acquired skills and understanding of art to the test by participating in a professional exhibition experience. The Department of Art and Design manages the Wadsworth Family Gallery events, which include Lewis University student shows, local and regional artist shows, annual high school exhibits, faculty shows, academic-based exhibitions and cultural and religious-based art shows. More information is available about the Art Gallery and exhibits by contacting Natalie Swain, Art Gallery coordinator, at swainna@lewisu.edu.

Lewis University Women's Softball Team is preparing for their European travel study June 3 - June 12 after raising funds for the trip through various service activities. Twelve of the members on the team are also enrolled in the travel study section of a Global History and Culture II course that is focusing on globalization, geography, and art in preparation for the trip. "We've already met a number of times during the semester. We have even visited the Wadsworth Art Gallery on campus to view creative works. We will be prepared to use Venice, Florence, and Rome as our classroom." said Dennis H. Cremin, Professor of History, who will be accompanying the students on their travels. Students and players attending the trip include Katie Jensen, Kadence Baccam, Meghan Bontrager, Evie Calderon, Allie Wondrasek, Maddie Hessing, Jalyn Powell, Grace Kmak, Leah Mokos, Cydney Drousias, Kenzie Murdock, Kristen Graham, Anna Frafjord, Grace Erickson, Gabi Nilles, Erica Hoffman, Mackenzie Sheehan, and Delaney Garden. "I have wanted our student athletes to play internationally. This is a once in a lifetime experience for our team and we will play games near Lake Como, in norther Italy, and hold a softball clinic and play a game in Florence," said Becky Pearl, the Head Softball Coach. To support the team, please contact Becky Pearl at pearlbe@lewisu.edu

Several Lewis University students and faculty presented insights to nearly 4,000 people at the 96 Annual Midwestern Psychological Association Conference in Chicago. Psychology Assistant Professors Drs. Spencer Campbell and Philip Blankenship mentored several psychology student presentations. They shared a diverse range of research including the connections between aromatherapy and mental health, the effects of body comparison on self-esteem, and how emojis influence tone of text messages and face-to-face communication. The list of Lewis University presentations included "What's That Smell? Investigating How Aromatherapy Practices Affect Individuals' Mental Health" by Jimmy Rozhon and Blankenship "Gym-rat Or Average Joe? Exploring The Effects of Viewer/Influencer Body Type Comparison on Self-esteem, Self-efficacy, and Mental Health" by Rozhon, Ayling Rodriguez, Rebekkah Schimick and Blankenship "Serious or Sarcasm? Examining The Influence of Emojis on Perceived Message Tone in Text Messaging and Face-to-face Communication" by Emilia Nykaza and Blankenship "Harmonic Empathy: Cognitive Influence of Auditory Stimuli on Personal Emotional Insight Through Limbic Visualization" by Cristian Davila and Campbell "The Effect of Mindfulness Stress Reduction Interventions on the Mental Health of Injured College Athletes" by Hannah Alvey and Campbell "Affective Science: Impact of Emotion on Cognitive Processing" by Mary Taylor Wagner, Blankenship and Campbell The MPA's annual meetings invite psychologists and students to present their research on a wide range of topics in current psychological science.

Lewis University students are helping in gathering feedback on Trinity Services' Co-Responder Assistance program. The co-responder program between New Lenox-based Trinity Services and local law enforcement works to reduce arrests and recidivism by providing people with mental health screenings and substance abuse screenings.

Christopher MacDougall of Palatine was honored with the Father Aquinas Colgan Award during Lewis University's Evening Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on December 16 on its Romeoville Campus. MacDougall earned a bachelor's degree in biology, in addition to playing varsity baseball for his first two years at Lewis. While he garnered many athletic honors, such as the 2022 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Honoree, it was a newly discovered passion that transformed his dreams from being an acclaimed baseball player to a scientist caring deeply about the Earth.

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois honored Lewis University student Morgan Jennings as a 2023 Student Laureate. In the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, Student Laureates are honored for their leadership and service on campus and beyond in pursuing humanity's betterment and for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities Jennings has emersed herself into sharing the historic African American Voices from Joliet's Southend. For more than two years, the Matteson, Ill., student has played a significant role as the student coordinator of the "Reclaiming the Narrative: Restoring Black Voices to the Story of Joliet" exhibit.

The Senior Capstone Art Exhibition will take place December 7-18 at the Wadsworth Family Gallery on Lewis University's Romeoville campus. The exhibit will be free and open to the public from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily. Shawnton Brown, Alondra De La Torre, Jasmine Fairbanks and Anabel Garcia Silva are the Lewis University students exhibiting work in this show. The biannual art show coincides with the capstone course, Senior Project. The course challenges graduating students to put their newly acquired skills and understanding of art to the test by participating in a professional exhibition experience. A free and open-to-the-public gallery talk and reception will take place at 7 p.m. on December 7.

Students and faculty from Lewis University's History Department presented at the Midwest World History Association's Annual Meeting September 22-23 at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The history of Spain and Pan-Arab ideology were discussed by Lewis University history students Gracie Trevino and Morgan Jennings. Lewis Faculty Dr. James Tallon and Dr. Michael Bulfin also presented on discrimination and clean water.

"Four Plays for Coarse Actors," written by Michael Green, will be performed on November 17-19 and November 30- December 3 at Lewis University's Philip Lynch Theatre in Romeoville. This Michael Green play is hilarious. Everything that can go wrong in a production does so. Coarse actors - an "actor" who knows all their lines but not necessarily the order in which they come, giving the company ample license to indulge in the kind of mistakes they spend most of their time trying to avoid. Broken into four plays within one, IL Fornicazione is a "grim" tale of operatic adultery, poison, and mayhem. Streuth is the crime story Agatha Christie would never have dared to write. A Collier's Tuesday Tea combines the kitchen with the coal mine with an irreverent glance at D.H. Lawrence. All's Well that Ends As You Like It pushes the genius of the bard to its limit while filching lines from most of his plays. In all, cues are missed, effects fail, and props are lost and confusion reigns, but the coarse actors struggle on.

Seven Lewis University Women's Cross Country runners were named All-Academic Athletes by the The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Lewis Universitys student magazine Jet Fuel Review received the designation of Superior from the National Council of Teachers of English for its 23rd issue published in Spring 2022.

Artwork by Lewis University students and alumni is currently on display in the President's 15th Annual Art Exhibition at the Brent and Jean Wadsworth Family Gallery, located on the university's main campus in Romeoville. The exhibit, free and available to the public, will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through April 21.

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois recently honored Lewis University student Jada Hoffman as a 2021 Student Laureate. In the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, Student Laureates are honored for their leadership and service on campus and beyond in the pursuit of the betterment of humanity and for overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Lewis University WLRA's Marathon Broadcast raised over $2,000 this semester for Advocate Children's Hospitals. Since its inception, WLRA has raised over $100,000 in support of the Lewis University Family Assistance Fund at Advocate Children's Hospitals. The fundraiser involves a 24-hour non-stop broadcast of students that take six-hour shifts. Select Lewis University students are on the air for longer stints. WLRA general manager Patrick Hennessey, Logan Kap and Anthony Denardis led the campaign for students to raise funds for a worthy cause. Visit www.wlraradio.com to find out how to donate funds. Listeners can tune into WLRA in five ways-tuning the radio to 88.1 FM, listening to the live streaming on www.lewisu.edu and www.shoutcast.com, visiting the iTunes store, or downloading the free iTunes application for mobile devices.

Lewis University sophomore Katie Ewing's submission for the garden design and install project at the National Hook-Up For Black Women Joliet Chapter, located at 1705 S. Richard Street in Joliet, was accepted by the Food for All for Healthier Communities Initiative. The garden site is on a seven-acre tract of land owned by the Laraway School District 70C. It's leased to the Joliet Chapter of the National Hookup of Black Women (NHBW). The site is located in the 60433 zip code which is classified as a "food desert."