Dear Bellarmine Students, Faculty and Staff,
This 2008-2009 basketball season, Bellarmine University
and the region had the privilege of enjoying and cheering for the best
NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball team in the nation – the Bellarmine
Knights!
Congratulations and thanks to each and every person who
made this possible, including our outstanding student-athletes
themselves, Coach Davenport and his staff, the managers, trainers,
cheerleaders, mascot, dance team, band, Athletic Director Wiegandt and
his staff, and the amazing Bellarmine University fans – led by our
students but also including many faculty, staff, alumni and alumnae,
parents, trustees, overseers, and many others who followed and
supported the team this year. This historic and distinguished team
achieved what they achieved this year – not only because of their
immense talent, commitment, passion, and teamwork – but because of you
and your support.
Thanks as well to our Student Affairs staff, the
Bellarmine Alumni Association, and the Bookstore, Finance, Physical
Plant, and Security staff. I am sure I am leaving people out and
apologize for any such oversight, but you get the point –
congratulations to us all and thank you, thank you, thank you to all
who made the season possible!
Bellarmine to grant honorary degrees to New York City
Ballet dancer and Owensboro Bishop
During spring commencement services, Bellarmine
University will grant honorary degrees to Bishop John J. McRaith, who
led the Diocese of Owensboro for more than 25 years, and New York City
Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan. The ceremony will be held in
Knights Hall on May 9 at Noon. Read more about Bishop McRaith and
Ms. Whelan’s achievements here.
Student and alumni achievements
Senior English major John Patrick James
has been accepted into Columbia University’s MFA Program in Creative
Writing.
English major Jennifer Durbin has been
accepted into the Spalding University MFA program in fiction.
The Paducah Sun highlighted Bellarmine
graduate student, Abbie Morris (MAILSA student from
Graves County) in an article on Saturday, March 7th. Abbie’s School
Improvement Project through her studies at Bellarmine was the focus of
the feature article.
BU alum Shawn Trail (Music/German/Ghana
study abroad 2002), won a Fulbright Grant to study at the Medialogy
Institute at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Staff & Faculty News
Congratulations to BU creative director Brad
Craig and his wife (and BU alumna) Laura Craig on the birth
of their baby daughter, Ella Rose Craig. Ella Rose was
born March 25 at 12:02 a.m. Mom, dad and baby are healthy and very
happy.
School of Arts and Sciences
Larkspur Press has accepted Frederick Smock’s
new book of poems, The Blue Hour, for publication.
Individual poems in this collection have first appeared in Ariel,
The Iowa Review, The Antioch Review, Cold Mountain Review, The Merton
Seasonal, and others. Mr. Smock chairs the English department and
directs the Creative Writing program.
Christine M. Hutchins, M.A. has been
accepted to the 2009 NFLRC Summer Institute for Non-native Teachers of
Chinese & Japanese. After she completes two weeks of training,
she will then be eligible to be a mentor teacher for three weeks at
the University of Hawaii Chinese Language Immersion Sports Camp, which
is a STARTALK/Confucius Institute Program at University of Hawaii.
School of Communication
Congratulations to Dr. Kimberly Parker
for winning "Best Paper" in two categories at the prestigious National
Communication Association. In the Communication & Social
Cognition Division, her paper Can Inoculation Create Umbrella
Protection Spanning over Related, but Untreated, Attitudes? Applying
Inoculation as a Strategy to Protect Young People's Attitudes from
Pressure to Engage in Risky Behaviors; Kimberly A. Parker &
Bobi Ivanov. In the Public Relations Division: Effectiveness of
Advertising and Public Relations Sequencing in New Product
Introductions: Corporate Credibility and Image as Moderators of
Message Sequencing Success: Bobi Ivanov, Kimberly A. Parker and
Jeanetta Sims.
School of Education
Education faculty members Jan Calvert,
John Sizemore and Deb Baker
participated in the statewide taskforce on the redesign of principal
preparation sponsored by the KY Department of Education in February.
The student Education Club sponsored a dinner for
education students and their Kentucky Education Association-Retired
Teacher mentors on Thursday, February 19.
Approximately 50 Bellarmine education majors attended
the first annual Kappa Delta Pi & Education Club Aspiring
Leader Conference on Sunday, Feb. 22. Dr. Kathy Cooter
delivered the keynote. Participants attended sessions on such topics as
principals’ preferences when hiring new teachers, insights from
first-year teachers, the Kentucky Intern Teacher Program, graduate
school options, and teacher benefits and retirement plans.
On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, Kathleen Cooter
(in absentia) and Robert Cooter presented a paper
entitled “Reflections Regarding Principal Training as an Avenue to
Sustainability in The Memphis Striving Readers Project” at the annual
meeting of Striving Readers grantees held at the headquarters of the
U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
Deborah Baker and Anne Bucalos presented
It Takes a Village: A State, District and University Partnership
in Principal Preparation at the KY Association of Colleges of
Teacher Education Spring Conference in Georgetown, KY. on March 6.
Anne Bucalos co-presented (with several
representatives from KY institutions) Building School Capacity
Through Teacher Leadership: One State’s Journey at the KY
Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Spring Conference in
Georgetown, KY, on March 6.
Kevin Thomas attended the Society for
Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) Conference in
Charleston, SC, from March 2 – 4, and conducted a roundtable
discussion about his research using text messaging in the classroom.
Anne Bucalos was elected to a 2-year
term to the Executive Board of the KY Association of Colleges of
Teacher Education, representing private institutions.
Robert Cooter has been nominated to run
for Vice President-elect of the Association of Literacy Educators and
Researchers (formerly the College Reading Association). The results
will be announced this fall at their next annual meeting.
"The Bellarmines" nominations
The 2008-2009 faculty and staff awards are still open for
nomination on our website. The awards recognize the distinguished
achievements of faculty and staff in living the core values of the
Bellarmine campus community. To nominate a faculty or staff member for
one of these prestigious awards, please visit the nomination page. The page includes
descriptions of the awards, along with a form you can use to make a
nomination. Just enter the name of the nominee, your name (optional),
choose the appropriate award, and include a brief description of why
your nominee is deserves the nomination. Award winners will receive a
beautiful stoneware "Bellarmine jug." Please note that the nomination
deadline is May 9.
Spread the word
Do you have news to share? Drop a line to lburns@bellarmine.edu.