Thursday, April 18

News

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....
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’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...
<strong>McKendree’s International Students’ Views on the Upcoming Midterm Elections</strong> 
Academics, National News

McKendree’s International Students’ Views on the Upcoming Midterm Elections 

By: Marissa Barauskas, Cale Koester & Kevin Schuele  Image retrieved from NBC News American Politics and the issues that arise in our country not only involve our nation, but other countries around the world. At McKendree University, many students come from many different countries and backgrounds and view different issues in different lights. Even though international students cannot vote in elections, their voices and opinions on the issues that our nation faces are important and can affect their home countries as well. We interviewed a few of McKendree’s international students to gather some insight into how they feel about the upcoming elections.  The first person we interviewed was Riko Nakanishi from Hiroshima, Japan. We asked her a few questions about how she...
Illinois Gubernatorial Election: An Overview 
Local News

Illinois Gubernatorial Election: An Overview 

By Macy Brown, Lauren Harris & Madison Rohn  Photo collected from WBEZ Chicago: Your voter guide to the 2022 Illinois general election The position of governor of Illinois is on the ballot for this year’s elections, which will be held on Tuesday, November 8th. The two main candidates for this race are the incumbent Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is a Democrat, and Republican State Senator Darren Bailey. (Illinois Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election, 2022, 2022) Here is a brief overview of their stances on important issues:   Democrat J.B. Pritzker is currently the governor of Illinois. During his first term as governor, he won bipartisan passage for Rebuild Illinois. This passage was the largest investment in state history to upgrade roads, bridges...
Illinois House of Representatives Election Overview
Local News

Illinois House of Representatives Election Overview

By Caden Brooks, Dameion Hatten & Anna Warkel With the midterm elections approaching quickly, it is very important to know who is running and to understand the views they have before voting. It is not a good idea to roll up to the polling site and just take a guess if you truly care about who you want to be in office. For the state of Illinois, two candidates are running for the House of Representatives. Republican Mike Bost is currently in office. Running against him is Democrat Homer Markel.   Mike Bost graduated from Murphysboro High School in 1979. He then enlisted in the Marine Corps and served from 1979 to 1982. Prior to Mike Bost's election to Congress, he served for two decades in the Illinois House of Representatives. He then rose to a leadership position as t...
Importance of Voting in Midterm Elections
Local News

Importance of Voting in Midterm Elections

By: Reagen Berra, Kamryn Schmalz, and Maria Voss With the midterm elections coming up on November 8th, many people may wonder what the midterm elections entail and why it is important to vote in them. Midterm elections happen nearly two years into a president’s term and are focused on a number of offices, including the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. All 435 seats in the House are decided during the midterm elections, and a third of the 100 seats are decided in the Senate.  Whoever controls the House or Senate controls the agenda and influences national politics which is why the midterms are so important. (U.S. Mission Italy, 2022) Voting in midterm elections can have just as big of an impact on the country as the presidential election due to which way the House and ...
McKendree 2022 Homecoming Royalty
Campus News

McKendree 2022 Homecoming Royalty

By: Jasmine Gage, Writer As the grass turns brown, and orange-colored leaves fill the ground, fall is officially taking place, and the one event everyone loves is finally here: Homecoming! Homecoming is a yearly tradition where universities welcome the Alumni back to their college campus and celebrate with a football game or a week filled with activities! Here at McKendree University, we welcome back our Alumni, participate in a week filled with activities, and cheer on our own football team in one of the biggest games yet! As we celebrate these activities, we also cannot forget the reign of the Homecoming Court! Students get the chance to compete against each other in a friendly campaign to earn the title of Homecoming Queen or Homecoming attendant here on campus! I have decided...
Fall 2022 Music Department Showcase
Arts, Local News, News

Fall 2022 Music Department Showcase

By: Lars Ginder, Writer Photos retrieved from the McKendree University Department of Music Facebook page On Monday night, McKendree students, high school student visitors, and members of the community gathered for the Fall 2022 Music Department Showcase concert. This event started off the student ensemble performance season and featured a diverse collection of pieces ranging in period, mood, and style.  Dr. Bell conducts the Wind Ensemble Students from local high schools joined the McKendree concert band and choir for pieces “Allied Honor” and “Home.” The McKendree music department would like to thank all of the following students for joining us for our Music Major Experience Day: Carter Allison – Jersey Community High School  Lawson Erwin – Olney Central C...