Saturday, April 20

Campus Events

Spirit of Mckendree Plays Quad Tunes
Arts, Campus Events, Campus News

Spirit of Mckendree Plays Quad Tunes

By Megan Melone, writer Photography by Grace Gross and Jonathan Zarr If you passed by the library on September 19, at about 2:45 p.m., you probably heard the Spirit of McKendree blasting “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. The band serenaded campus with a surprise pop-up performance behind the bearcat statue on Tuesday afternoon. Along with “September,” the band’s set list included “Take on Me” by a-ha, “Back in Black” by AC/DC, and many more. The band ended their performance with the McKendree fight song, which they also played later that day at the town hall meeting in the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. The Spirit of McKendree ensemble performs at tailgate events and football games. They play a variety of student-selected music and feature student conductors. I interviewed...
2023 Academic Excellence Celebration: 10 Years of Excellence
Academics, Campus Events, Campus News, Community Events

2023 Academic Excellence Celebration: 10 Years of Excellence

McKendree’s 10th annual Academic Excellence Celebration was held on Thursday, April 27th of 2023. Academic Excellence Celebration (AEC) is for students to present their scholarly and creative work to the McKendree community. No classes were held in honor of AEC, instead, students were expected to attend events. First, students presented their research in Holman Library. Next, there were student presentations that took place in Piper Academic Center (PAC). Following the presentations, many honors society inductions took place around campus. Lastly, on this day of excellence, there were musical performances for the community. Peyton Osgood presenting on The Phenomenon of Transitional Objects and College Students. Photo taken by Grace Gross. Poster presentations took place from 8:30 A....
Race for Love – a 5k Charity Event
Campus Events

Race for Love – a 5k Charity Event

By: Viola Cipriani On Sunday, April 16th, McKendree’s Sport Event and Facilities Management students will host the annual charity race organized entirely by the sports management class body. 2023 marks the ninth year of a hands-on, experiential learning Sport Event & Facilities Management course that raises funds for a local nonprofit organization of the students’ choice.​Developing, planning, executing, and evaluating this event helps Sport Management majors put their classroom learning to use and understand "real world" scenarios. It also gives students sales, marketing, and sponsorship experiences and networking opportunities outside the classroom. McKendree University Sport Management seniors entirely plan and execute the event as their major capstone class project. This yea...
Diversity Carnival
Campus Events

Diversity Carnival

By: Grace Gross, Editor in Chief Photography: Grace Gross The McKendree University Office of Residence Life hosted its annual Diversity Carnival on Tuesday, March 21st. The carnival took place from 11 AM to 1 PM, originally supposed to be located in the campus quad outside of Ames Dining Hall. Unfortunately, it was raining during that time, so the carnival was moved to inside the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts.  The Diversity Carnival was a hit! Students and faculty could engage to win raffle prizes, get free items, eat snacks, and talk to cool people. Most importantly, the opportunity to learn about others was given to all. In an email promoting the carnival, Craig Tompkins, Resident Director of Walton Hall, stated, “This event’s goal is to celebrate the differences t...
McKendree Theatre Shines Starlight on Untold History
Arts, Campus Events, Campus News, Community Events

McKendree Theatre Shines Starlight on Untold History

McKendree theatre’s spring play, Silent Sky, tells the story of real-life astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The play, written by Lauren Gunderson, focuses on Henrietta’s time working at Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s as one of their female “computers” – a person who did the math for (mostly male) astronomers – and her efforts to balance her relationships with her quest to understand the universe. Picture of Henrietta Leavitt retrieved from aavso.org. As the play highlights, in real life, Henrietta discovered over 2,000 Cepheid variable stars, which are stars that go through periods of brightness and dimness. Her biggest achievement was the discovery of how to calculate Cepheid stars’ distance based on their brightness cycles.1 This discovery made it possible to determine how far...
McKendree Psychology Club
Academics, Campus Events, Entertainment

McKendree Psychology Club

By: Grace Gross, Editor in Chief Photography: taken and provided by Grace Gross Senior Breanna Sampo is the President of the Psychology Club. Breanna’s favorite part about Psychology Club is the connections she builds with her psychology peers and the opportunity to be herself.  When talking about what it is like being President of the Psychology Club, Breanna said she enjoys “being able to work alongside Dr. Hahn and brainstorm fun and creative ways to get students involved and engaged beyond the classroom.” Charlee Taylor, Secretary of the Psychology Club, shared similar thoughts: “I enjoy getting to learn more about psychology in a fun way and ways that interest me. Like through socials, movies, and game nights.” I, Grace, am the Social Media Manager for Psychology ...
A Campus Full of Love
Advice, Campus Events

A Campus Full of Love

Photos taken by Kristina Ferry As we are in the season of love, it is important to remember all the different kinds of love we can implement into our lives. Implementing love in our lives is incredibly important to help us live the healthiest life possible. Many types of love are ignored in our society, and it is important for all types of love – not just romantic love – to get the recognition they deserve. Self-love is one kind of love that is often not given the importance it requires. One of the smallest examples of practicing self-love that happened on campus recently are the flowers the McK Green Club sold for Valentine’s Day since it was not necessary to buy one for a romantic partner. Many people, including myself, bought a flower to celebrate self-love on a day all about rom...
McKendree’s Record-Setting Career Fair
Campus Events, Campus News

McKendree’s Record-Setting Career Fair

Photos retrieved from the McKendree University Instagram This past Wednesday, McKendree’s annual career fair was held in the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. A record number of 76 different employers and graduate schools were registered for this year’s fair. Tables of organizations such as nonprofits, businesses, police departments, graduate schools and government agencies lined the Hett lobby and wrapped around the stage. Many of these organizations were looking to hire part-time or full-time employees or had internships to offer. The fair also gave students an opportunity to practice networking, even if they were not looking for a job or internship at the moment. McKendree’s Marketing and Communications department was at the fair to take professional headshots for students to use...
McKendree Rotaract Club
Campus Events, Community Events

McKendree Rotaract Club

With the plethora of clubs that are present on campus, there is no shortage of organizations for students to join. One club that is often overlooked is McKendree’s Rotaract Club. This type of club isn’t reserved for McKendree, or even universities in general, but is an international organization. There are community-led Rotary organizations around the globe that are welcome to all members. In fact, it is quite common for community-led branches of Rotary to sponsor and partner with their local university’s club. For example, McKendree’s club is a partner with the Rotary Club of O’Fallon Sunrise. Rotaract Club does a lot of good for the community that often goes unnoticed and underappreciated. One example is that last year while the war on Ukraine was first raging the country, McKendree’...
The Haunted Tour Returns!
Campus Events

The Haunted Tour Returns!

By: Kristina Ferry & Jasmine Gage Photography by Kristina Ferry, Jasmine Gage & Grace Gross The day before Halloween, the History Club hosted the return of McKendree’s Haunted Tours! The tours used to be held each year, but they had fallen into obscurity. This year the History Club decided they would bring back this tradition, and it was a hit! With the turnout this year, they hope to host this event in the upcoming years! The tour consisted of multiple stops around campus where anyone with a curious taste for paranormal activity could tag along and learn the history of McKendree’s “hauntings." The first stop of the night was the cemetery. We stood near the New Residence Halls as Jacob, president of the History Club and tour guide, told us about the history of College Hil...