Month: October 2021

By Chloe Gamber, Head Academic Writer Photos from Phoebe McCutcheon, Head Photographer & Designer Anyone who has had a conversation with Dr. Alan Alewine would know how he can spark up a great conversation! Dr. Alewine has impacted students and the environment overall at McKendree. He will have been with McKendree for 20 years this coming May, along with being an administrator for eight years! Dr. Alewine expressed how he has loved teaching just as much as he did the first time he taught. This is very hard to come by, which is why I asked Dr. Alewine about what helps motivate him. He knew of other universities he could have taught at, but putting the people and the environment first is essential when finding your career and passions. Motivation through experiences with studen...

By Regan Gubera, Regular Content Creator Photos from Phoebe McCutcheon, Head of Photography and Design Many times through the semester, in zombie-mode after a class, I will meander behind the library to Health Services in search of cough drops, allergy medicine, or a COVID-19 test. In this zombie mode, I failed to appreciate the huge heart and hard work of the Health Services faculty as well as the extent of resources they have to offer. Interviewing the staff and seeking to understand what McKendree Health Services is about changed my perspective.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Beth Allan, Nurse Practitioner and Director of Health and Counseling Services, and Lesa Auten, a Certified Medical Assistant. As I went in for the interview, I looked around with more observant ...

By Abigail Kishimoto, Head Culture Co-Writer Photos from Phoebe McCutcheon, Head of Photography and Design Did you know that the McKendree Holman Library was built in 1969? That means that our library is 52 years old! The library is genuinely one of my favorite buildings on campus, as it captures the historical nature of McKendree because of what it has offered for so many years and what it will offer in the years to come. I am not the only one who holds Holman Library near and dear to my heart. Through discussion with some of the library’s staff, I was able to gain insight on why they love the library. They wish to share their favorite spots with you, the readers of the McKendree Review!  Paul Worrel, Deborah Houk, and Jennifer Funk Deborah Houk, director of Holman Library...

By Haley Rey, Editor in Chief Photo from incommunion.org Good afternoon and surprise, Bearcats! The Review has a quick announcement for you: we will be returning to our previous posting schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Sports articles will be shared on Mondays, McKendree Culture stories on Wednesdays, and Academics stories on Fridays. We thank you for your patience and flexibility during our experimental time of posting on Thursdays. This is a time of change and improvement for the Review, and we are appreciative to our loyal readers! The McKendree Media staff as a whole wishes you a wonderful week!

By Haley Rey, Editor in Chief Photos from Haley Rey, Phoebe McCutcheon, and McKendree University It’s no secret that the majority of students at McKendree belong to a sports team. With 36 teams, there are hundreds of hours poured into training each week. Coaches take care of their athletes in plenty of ways, but the credit for keeping the bodies of athletes in a competition-ready condition—or helping to heal them from injury—belongs to the school’s athletic trainers. Chloe Knight works with Men’s and Women’s Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving, and Men’s and Women’s Water Polo at the McKendree Metro RecPlex. She works both practices and events for all teams, dividing up hours with trainer Brooke Buchmueller. “I would say I work—on average—between 40-50 hours per week...

By Haley Rey, Editor in Chief Photos from McKendree University and Haley Rey Homecoming is a time when a school invites alumni and former staff back to celebrate the school’s history and success. At McKendree, the celebration often includes a tailgate, a crowd-heavy football game, special campus events all week, and alumni reunions. COVID-19 prevented many of the homecoming celebrations last year, or pushed them online. This year, we’re back and ready to have some fun! There are many special things that have happened this week, like theme days, a dodgeball tournament, and a movie night. Today, homecoming court voting ends, and tomorrow, there will likely be games and food trucks at the quad during lunch time, followed by volleyball and soccer games and a parade-decorating party b...

By Marisa Ortega, Editor Photo from Marisa Ortega On October 12th, I had the honor of attending a presentation by Joe Koppeis, along with other students, about how he got to be where he is today. Joe Koppeis is an entrepreneur from Columbia, Illinois and is a current McKendree University Board of Trustee member. He is the owner and president of Admiral Parkway, Inc. along with developing, owning and operating several office buildings, shopping centers and supermarkets. He also owns Ace Hardware franchises, Domino’s Pizza franchises, and Holiday Inn & Express Hotel & Suites across Southern Illinois. Mr. Koppeis is a very successful man, but that isn’t to say he hasn’t had challenges in life and even hit rock bottom.  At the young age of 13, he started working in the g...

By Dylan Powell, Head Sports Writer Photos from McKendree University and act.edu On McKendree’s campus, there are so many clubs, activities, and organizations that are considered Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), that many members of the student body forget that we have Greek Life on campus! Students often overlook emails and bulletin boards in the buildings on campus, not realizing when Greek life events are going on and what they entail. Here at McKendree, we have the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the governing body led by director Calvin Wertman. Under his direction is the Inter-Greek Council, a student-led organization who overlooks our five Greek groups on campus. The five groups consist of two fraternities, Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG) and Phi Beta Sigma (Sigmas...

By Dylan Powell, Head Sports Writer Photos from Zariah Valentine The McKendree Powerlifting team participated in the first matchup of the season on October 16 in St. Louis at the USA Powerlifting Series Finals, but under an unprecedented circumstance: they were without a coach. In late September of this year, Coach Guillermo Blanco departed from McKendree. “The current situation with the coaching is that we don’t have a coach or even adult supervision to make sure we are fine,” says Zariah Valentine, a freshman. “It affects my season a lot because I won’t have anyone in my corner to calm me down or be my motivation during a meet. It’s going to be hard to do literally everything by myself at a meet.” Despite the departure, former Coach Blanco still checks in with the team, lea...

By Kenneth Glidden, Head Culture Co-Writer Photos from Kenneth Glidden Here at McKendree, the sports culture is quite immense and for most of us, the sport we participate in has been our sport for years upon years. I started swimming when I was 12 for my school’s team, which only trained once a week. I immediately fell in love and two years later I joined one of my island’s club teams where I swam for another four years before I began my collegiate career here at McKendree.  I had a blast swimming for the Bearcats my freshman, sophomore and junior year, but as all swimmers know, the grind is real; the hard work is the foundation of the sport. Few sports can relate to swimming, since other sports have skills and abilities that allow you to be a great player without being at p...