Profiles - The McKendree Review

Almost a Quarter of a Century of Commitment – Our President Dr. James Dennis

8Dec

By The McKendree Review2 Comments

Personality, Profiles

Almost a Quarter of a Century of Commitment – Our President Dr. James Dennis

By Magdalena Knapp, Editor Many McKendree students only know Dr. Dennis as the person who stands in front of the Bearcat Statue and hands out a cool cone of ice cream on a hot spring or autumn day. However, our President is much more intimately involved in the everyday life of his students and the minute-by-minute running of the university than most could ever imagine. Working at McKendree University for him is not simply a job, it is his Lebenswerk: A mission he has successfully been working to fulfill since 1994. After growing up in Los Angeles, California, and getting a degree in Education, JD - a nickname Dr. Dennis received in college - worked for seven years at the University of Southern California. In 1994, he was offered a job in the beautiful and historical city of Lebanon, Ill...

When at McKendree….| A Student Experience in Pictures

4Dec

By The McKendree ReviewNo Comments

Opinion, Profiles

When at McKendree….| A Student Experience in Pictures

By Essence White, Contributive Writer When at McKendree, I go on my daily hike to the West Clubhouse from my apartment. Then I wait for the Bogey Bus which decides to take its sweet time to get here. One bus, out of the two that run every day, is supposed to arrive every 10 to 15 minutes. The real way they operate is when one bus shows up, the other bus shows up right behind it. When at McKendree, I go to 1828 for a quick bite to eat. It’s only a 30-minute wait for five chicken wings and some fries. So. Convenient. When at McKendree, I rush to get to class on time. Five minutes before the class I am rushing to get to, I get an email that class is canceled and the bus leaves right at that moment. This means I have to wait for the bus in the ...

27Nov

By The McKendree Review1 Comment

Profiles, Sports

A Series of Fortunate Events

By Andrew Gardewine, Contributing Writer Michael Mendez, head coach and former member of the McKendree Cross Country and Track and Field programs, is quite possibly the most hard working person on campus. If he is not coaching a practice he is in a meeting, if he is not in a meeting, he is in his office working late at night and in some cases into the early morning. On top of it all, he still manages to find room to maintain his physical shape with bike rides and runs as well as manage his own running club, The Lebanon Project. He has a full plate and a bright future as a coach, however this article is not about his future, rather it is about his past. Coach Mendez has overcome countless obstacles in his life, obstacles that he considers “a series of fortunate events,” but what he would ca...

A Life Well Learned & A Compassion Worth Sharing

22Nov

By The McKendree Review2 Comments

Profiles

A Life Well Learned & A Compassion Worth Sharing

By Emily Davis, Contributing Writer Photo: Jason Finks On any given weekday, M. Jason Finks can be found in his basement office on 121 Merrill Street working as McKendree University’s retention specialist. He helps the online students, the nursing students, the students at all the satellite campuses, and the McKendree main campus students to successfully continue their journey with McKendree. Finks’ main task is to sort out the root of the problems that cause students to reduce their credit hours or to drop out altogether. As he puts it “fix it for this time, fix it for next time.” In addition to assisting students, he also helps online professors sort out which textbooks they want to use. He has only been at McKendree for a short while, and there is a lot more of his story th...

The Person Behind the Poetry: Dr. Jenny Mueller

20Nov

By The McKendree ReviewNo Comments

Personality, Profiles

The Person Behind the Poetry: Dr. Jenny Mueller

By Elexis Baltimore, Contributing Writer Featured Picture: Courtesy of Dr. Jenny Mueller “Wow, your parents have a lot of books!” With a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet for a mother and a father who was deeply engrossed in the arts, Dr. Jenny Mueller heard this a number of times as a kid. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where her parents would make the 45-minute commute to attend art events in the city including a number of poetry readings. Dr. Mueller recounts that in suburban life it was almost unheard of to go to the city for anything other than shopping and school field trips, which often made her feel different, “but in a good way.” She says. Years later, when Dr. Mueller became a poet herself, she did not have to deal with the typical pushback from her parents about ...

Dr. Jessica Campbell: Fairy Tales, Tap Dancing, and a Cat Named Becky.

23Oct

By The McKendree Review1 Comment

Opinion, Profiles

Dr. Jessica Campbell: Fairy Tales, Tap Dancing, and a Cat Named Becky.

By Sophie Jeffery, Contributing Writer If you’ve walked down the second floor of Carnegie this year, you may have noticed the change in Carnegie room 205's appearance; the walls, no longer hidden behind haphazardly stacked books, have been repainted to a blindingly bright white. The desk has been moved from the middle of the room and now sits up against the wall, no longer covered with piles of folders and loose papers. On the wall above the desk, there’s a Periodic Table of Literary Villains, and on one bookshelf, a picture frame with old postcards of Middlebury College. The nameplate on the door has changed too, and now reads: Dr. Jessica Campbell. Dr. Campbell is McKendree’s new Victorian English Literature expert, taking over for Dr. John Greenfield who retired last year. Along wit...

Life and Kevin Zanelotti Through the Lens of Friedrich Nietzsche

17Oct

By The McKendree ReviewNo Comments

Entertainment, Personality, Profiles

Life and Kevin Zanelotti Through the Lens of Friedrich Nietzsche

In honor of National teacher’s day (which is when this article was written), I thought it fitting to post a piece covering not just some of the philosophy of McKendree’s favorite philosophy professor, but a bit of humanization for my favorite professor. Kevin Zanelotti grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Archbishop Curly High School, a catholic high school in the center of Baltimore. This school however was a far shot from where Zanelotti would travel and eventually land. However, it was a necessary and one might even say an essential stepping stone. The priests at this high school were Franciscan and thus more accepting/aware of belief systems outside of their own. And it was one of these priests that gave a young Zanelotti his first look into the lens we are viewing this article...

An Evening with Sherman Alexie: Vulnerability, Resistance, and Laughter

29Sep

By The McKendree Review1 Comment

Entertainment, Opinion, Profiles

An Evening with Sherman Alexie: Vulnerability, Resistance, and Laughter

By Sophie Jeffery, Contributing Writer On the evening of September 22nd, author Sherman Alexie opened his keynote address for the inaugural BookFest St Louis by admiring the acoustics at The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Gallery. Alexie ensured the crowd he was still going to use his microphone, however, because he could not stand macho poets who think their voices don’t need the extra boost. “My voice is so filled with poetic testosterone,” he mocked, “I’m going to speak directly to you through my penis.” It was clear from that moment this was not going to be a typical book-reading. Sherman Alexie is an acclaimed writer, having published 26 books and received countless awards. He is a poet, short story writer, novelist and performer. He is also the 3rd tallest Spokane Indian, but says...

Andrew Frank – The Comedian for People with Brains

15Sep

By The McKendree ReviewNo Comments

Entertainment, Opinion, Profiles

Andrew Frank – The Comedian for People with Brains

By Magdalena Knapp, Staff Writer It takes one and a half years of work to have enough material for a 45-minute show – this is what Andrew Frank’s métier, or occupation, has looked like for the past nine years: he is a comedian. Frank performs about 40 shows per month, but he is not a comedian as we typically expect them to be. Andrew Frank provides insightful entertainment for smart people. His brand is intuitive comedy for people who have the required knowledge to be able to understand his jokes. They need to know something about religion, history, politics, and the world in general. In his eyes, humor is an intellectual form of connection. Frank places a high value on humor as we can see in his performances. He defines humor as “A Philosophy, a way to look at life. It is a way to express...