April 7, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Andy McCaslin, a 2004 graduate of DePauw University, has been appointed assistant assistant women's soccer coach at Western Michigan University. He comes to the post from Saint Mary's University in Minnesota, where he held the same position with both the men's and women's teams for one season and helped lead the Cardinal women's team to its first regional rankings in 14 years.

"We are really looking forward to Andy joining our team this year," says WMU head coach Suzie Grech. "It is great to bring someone in with his passion and dedication to the game and to the continued success of our program. He will help our team develop and grow both on and off the field through his knowledge and experience as both a coach and a player." 

Before his stint at SMU, McCaslin was an assistant coach of the men's soccer team at Valparaiso University.

WMU's announcement notes, "He received a bachelor's degree in English from DePauw University in 2004 and a master's in sports administration from Valparaiso in 2010. McCaslin played for DePauw from 2000 to 2002, earning three varsity letters. He played a part in DePauw's 2000 NCAA Tournament team and was awarded the Men's Soccer Mental Attitude award in 2001."

Read more by clicking here.

April 7, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — For her birthday, the young, happily married Lady Windermere receives two items: a lovely antique fan and the startling news that her husband may be having an affair with a promiscuous older woman. So begins the premise for Oscar Wilde’s comedy Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play About a Good Woman, brought to the stage by DePauw Theatre and directed by Susan Anthony.

The fourth and final production of the 2010-11 season, Lady Windermere’s Fan opens Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Moore Theatre of the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts. Performances will continue Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 17 at 2:30 p.m. An opening night party will be held immediately after the show Thursday, and a special talkback session will take place following Saturday night’s performance.

Content with married life with her loving husband and new baby, Lady Windermere is considered a truly “good woman” throughout London. But her perfect lifestyle is threatened when rumors swirl around Lord Windermere and the beautiful, yet unknown Mrs. Erlynne. Gossip suggests the two are involved in a passionate affair; Lady Windermere is crushed by its mere insinuation.

Her jealousy and uncertainties lead Lady Windermere to risk both her happy marriage and her reputation, only to be saved by Mrs. Erlynne herself. Is the hold Mrs. Erlynne has on Lord Windermere of the adulterous kind? And what interest does she have in Lady Windermere?

First produced in 1892, Lady Windermere’s Fan satirizes the morals of Victorian society, particularly the institution of marriage and the pomp and politics of London’s high society. Along with his immensely popular plays The Importance of Being Earnest, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal Husband, Lady Windermere’s Fan asks audiences, like the protagonist of the play, to soften their previously harsh judgments for a more nuanced, sympathetic understanding of certain characters.

Director Susan Anthony was originally drawn to Wilde’s comedic flair, as well as his sharp observations of the hypocrisy of his society -- hypocrisy, Anthony says, that is still relevant to contemporary audiences.

“The theme, and, in fact, the subtitle of the play, deals with 'A Good Woman',"  says Anthony, associate professor of communication and theatre. “Yet, as the action unfolds, the audience must question what characteristics comprise 'a good woman.' Can a woman who has sinned still be 'good?' By contrast, just because a woman has adhered to conventional morality should she be automatically be deemed ‘good?’”

Anthony gives much credit to an “innovative and fun” cast and crew, including Amy Hayes and Duane Skoog, two professors of theatre who have taken on roles in the production alongside students. A beautiful set and gorgeous period pieces truly lend to the Victorian feel of Wilde’s classic comedy. Anthony adds that a different “celebrity guest” will make an appearance in the ballroom scene.

Tickets for Lady Windermere’s Fan are $3 for students and $6 for adults and are available for purchase at the DePauw University Green Center for the Performing Arts Center Box Office. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday 12:30-4:30 and one hour prior to show time. Information and reservations are available by calling (765) 658-4827 or emailing greencenter@depauw.edu.  

Also available for purchase are DePauw Theatre patron passes.  Purchasers are entitled to five tickets for the price of four. The passes are available at both student and adult price levels.  To purchase or obtain additional information, contact the Green Center box office at the contacts listed above.

Additional information on DePauw Theatre can be found here.

April 8, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "Two of Butler University's biggest names -- men's basketball coach Brad Stevens and the school's beloved bulldog mascot, Blue II -- will be among the grand marshals of the annual May 1 Mutt Strut dog-walking fundraiser," reports the Indianapolis Star. "The event, which draws about 8,000 people and 5,000 dogs to walk around the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, is a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Indianapolis."

Stevens, a 1999 graduate of DePauw University, is noted in Cathy Kightlinger's "Talk of Our Town" column at IndyStar.com.

On Monday, the 34-year-old Stevens led Butler to its second consecutive national championship game. 

Stevens, who has been head coach at Butler for four years, was an economics major and Management Fellow at DePauw, where he played on the Tiger basketball team. In an article last week, the Chicago Tribune noted the relationship between Stevens and his college coach, Bill Fenlon, and the day before Sports Illustrated again cited the latter's paper, 'Up Three: To Foul Or Not To Foul.' 

On April 13, 2010, Stevens returned to his alma mater to deliver the Robert C. McDermond Lecture (photo at right shows Stevens taking a question from the audience).

April 8, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "An initiative is under way in Putnam County that encourages residents, civic organizations and governmental units to cut energy use and support the local economy," begins an article in today's Bloomington Herald-Times. "Energy challenges are heating up homes and schools, with cash and prizes valued at more than $40,000 at stake."

"Our interest is, on the most broad level, to help households across county to secure energy savings from efficiency and conservation efforts represented in the pledge," Steve Setchell tells the newspaper. Setchell, major gifts officer at DePauw and 1996 graduate of the University, is chairman of the Greencastle Sustainability Commission. "Greencastle schools, for example, have been working on this since 2006, and have secured well over a half-million dollars in savings at a time when budgets are streamlined. That’s money we can reinvest in teachers, students and instruction."

Dawn Hewitt writes, "The project is called Putnam RISE -- Renewal, Investment, Savings and Efficiency -- and is funded by the Putnam County Community Foundation and the Vectren Foundation. Partners are numerous, including all 16 schools in the county’s four public school corporations; the Greencastle Chamber of Commerce; Greencastle Presbyterian Church; and Shuee & Sons Great Buys Plus, the local store that will donate the four appliances. Similar initiatives have been undertaken or are under way in Monroe County -- examples include free home energy audits from the city of Bloomington, the Earth Care interfaith coalitions’s energy conservation program and Indiana University’s own campuswide energy challenge competition. However, Putnam County’s approach is to reach multiple constituencies with a single, comprehensive program."

The complete story -- "Putting the 'green' in Greencastle" -- is available to paid subscribers of the newspaper via this link.

Read more about Steve Setchell's efforts in the community in this previous article.

Last month Greencastle learned it is receiving a Stellar Communities grant from the state. Details can be found here.

April 8, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Bret Baier, "an anchor pressing presidents and crisscrossing the globe to interview foreign leaders and military chiefs -- finds himself at the forefront of a new generation of stars at Fox News," notes an NPR profile of the 1992 DePauw University graduate. "His show is often the second-highest-rated in cable news, behind Fox's O'Reilly Factor, with roughly 2 million viewers a night ... Like fellow Fox anchor Shepard Smith, Baier is presented by executives as evidence of the network's fairness in its news coverage."

The report by David Folkenflik recalls Baier's now-famous March 2010 interview with President Obama, which some viewed as combative. But Baier says -- after a promised 30-minute session was cut in half -- he was just doing his job.

"We started and there was a White House aide over my camera in the distance holding an iPhone [that was] clicking back from 15 minutes," Baier recalls. "So I asked the first question, and the president kind of gave this stump answer that I had heard earlier in the week about health care, that was taking a long time."

The piece also notes that Stephen F. Hayes of the Weekly Standard and author of Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President is a regular guest on Special Report with Bret Baier. Folkenflik notes, that Hayes '93 "was a junior fraternity brother of Baier's at DePauw University in Indiana. (Baier played varsity golf under the same DePauw coach [Ted Katula] as former Vice President Dan Quayle, but they were separated by more than 20 years.)"

"To me the single best thing about the panel is the conversation -- and it's a real conversation," Hayes says of Baier's program.

The anchor adds, "We really do strive to balance out the panel every night. It's more an analysis --  I mean, you're not getting spinmeisters. You're not getting political types. These are actually journalists or columnists and they come from various, you know, organizations."

Jamie McIntyre, former Pentagon reporter for rival network CNN, states, "I remember thinking that if you took the average Bret Baier report at the end of the day and you took mine -- and you stripped the names out so you didn't know who was producing them -- I'm not sure you could tell which report was generated by CNN and which was generated by the Fox News Channel." McIntyre adds, "He's cracked the code. He's figured out what it is he needs to do with the employer he works for, and I think he's also trying to uphold his personal standards. And I think he does that pretty well." (at left: Baier in 1992 as a DePauw senior)

Access the full article -- "Bret Baier: The Next Generation of Fox News Anchor" -- and an accompanying audio file at NPR's website.

Bret Baier was an English (composition) and political science major at DePauw, where he was captain of the Tiger golf team. In 2008, Baier returned to his alma mater to discuss his career and to extol the advantages of a DePauw degree. A story with audio clips can be accessed here.

April 9, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Bill Frederick, a 1970 graduate of DePauw University, has published a new children's book, The Kite Surprise. Co-authored by his wife, Katie, the text -- designed for 4-to-7-year-olds -- is accompanied by illustrations by Nicole Spencer.

"Little Miss Celia Belle Addison is exuberant, excited, amazed and flabbergasted as she spends a day with her family at a kite festival on the Atlantic shore," notes a synopsis of the book, the Fredericks' first. "Exotic kites, plain kites, big and small -- Celia Belle’s eyes get bigger as the day goes on.  She can’t believe what her brother does."

Learn more by clicking here.

April 10, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "There was a time (much of the 90s, into the early 2000s) when the band Push Down & Turn ruled the Indianapolis club music scene," begins a NUVO column. The alternative weekly newspaper notes that the band was "the go-to pick" of the era "with big, fat radio rock (and their own stuff added for legitimacy and depth). Bandmembers Sam King ['94], Jason Brown ['95], Jason Barth ['93], Tay Bourquein ['93] and Matt DeVore ['94] (all DePauw University grads) were part of the band that was perennially named NUVO's Best Local Rock Band winners."

That text is a prelude to an interview with King, who continues to perform.

"I stay relatively busy, but it's a little slower now than it was before the economy took the downturn in 2008-09," he tells NUVO. "I have a nice niche, in that if someone wants live music, but doesn't want to pay $800 a night for a band, I fit their bill. The places seem to rotate a lot, but some constants for me are Cheeseburger in Paradise in Southport, The Rathskeller, and the Quarry in Kokomo ... I'm always writing, but probably not recording as much as I should be. It's fun for me to try out new things playing them in front of people, rather than just hearing a recorded version of it. There's more emotion live. And I'm not one of those guys who use a looper pedal or sampler, that's just not me. If I can't pull it off with just me and a guitar and win the crowd over, then I need to work harder."

Access the piece by clicking here.

Read about Push Down & Turn in this previous story.

April 10, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — The DePauw Percussion Ensemble will present a performance,  "Serbia, Brazil, Japan: Concertos for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble," this Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Green Center for the Performing Arts' Thompson Recital Hall. DePauw School of Music students Josiah Rushing, Rebekah Woolverton and Patrick Speranza will perform three virtuoso marimba concertos accompanied by percussion ensemble. Amy Lynn Barber, professor of music at DePauw, directs the group.

This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Each concerto is a unique expression of the nationality of its composer; the use of accompanying instruments, melodic and harmonic material, and especially rhythmic styles from each country (Serbia, Brazil, Japan), reflect the culture in the music.

Opening the program is Uneven Souls by Nebojša Jovan Živković, a composer from Serbia. This musical work reflects the constantly changing and uneven meters of Balkan music, and also includes men's voices chanting in the style of Serbian Orthodox chant. Accompanied by members of the DePauw Percussion Ensemble, featured soloist Patrick Speranza will perform on marimba, and Nicholas Hinz, Yi Li, Adam Luhman, Orlando Ramirez and Andrew Repp will provide vocals.

Brazilian Ney Rosauro wrote the second work, entitled Concerto for Marimba and Percussion. Performed by marimba soloist Rebekah Woolverton and accompanied by members of the DePauw Percussion Ensemble, the Rosauro piece is quite lyrical and includes many elements of Brazilian folk music and dance styles.
 
Closing the concert is Marimba Spiritual by Minoru Miki, and features marimba soloist Josiah Rushing. The Miki piece is based on traditional taiko-style festival drumming from Japan. This piece was composed in memory of the victims of the famines in Africa in the 1960s. It begins with a slow, sad requiem-style section, which is followed by a lively, resurrection in the yatai-bayashi style.

For more information about this DePauw University School of Music event and others, click here. 

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Sara E. Shade, an attorney and partner with Beasley & Gilkison, has been elected managing partner of the law firm, reports the Muncie Star Press. "Shade earned her bachelor's degree from DePauw University in 1998," reports the newspaper. "She received her law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, in 2001."

"We look forward to Sara's continuing contributions as managing partner for the firm," says Mark Ervin, who preceded Shade as managing partner. "With her leadership, the firm will continue to build on its reputation for providing the trustworthy and effective legal advice and community service that has been a hallmark of Beasley & Gilkison LLP for over 120 years."

The article notes Shade's community service activities, and notes, "Among her many achievements, she was the recipient of the inaugural Athena Young Professional Award from Women in Business Unlimited. In 2009, she received a community leadership award from DePauw University."

Access the item at the newspaper's website.

In 2008, Sara Shade received the inaugural "Young Professional Award" from the Muncie, Indiana chapter of Women In Business Unlimited. Learn more in this article.

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Lee H. Hamilton, the 1952 DePauw University graduate who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and continues to be an important voice on matters of domestic and foreign policy, will speak at Manchester College this Thursday, April 14, and will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the institution, which is located in North Manchester, Indiana. The ceremony will precede Hamilton's 4 p.m. lecture in Cordier Auditorium on "The U.S. Role in the World after Afghanistan and Iraq."

Read more at Inside Indiana Business.com.

Hamilton addressed the same topic in a March 15 Ubben Lecture at his alma mater.  

The Democrat has received more than a dozen honorary degrees, including one from DePauw in 1971.  Manchester says it will honor Hamilton "in recognition of his principled service to government and his skills as a consensus builder."

First elected to Congress in 1964, Hamilton has worked with nine presidents and led some of America's most important inquiries and investigations. He served as vice chair of the 9/11 Commission and co-chair of the Iraq Study Group. As longtime president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University, Hamilton promotes non-partisan dialogue on public policy. He advises the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and President Obama. His books include A Creative Tension: The Foreign Policy Roles of the President and Congress, How Congress Works and Why You Should Care and Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission. His many honors include the Churchill Award for Statesmanship; the Eisenhower Medal for exceptional leadership; the National Conference on Citizenship Citizen of the Year Award; the United States Capitol Historical Society Freedom Award; the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute Freedom From Fear Award; and the Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award.

As an undergraduate, Hamilton majored in history and was a star player on the Tiger basketball team.  He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982 and the DePauw Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. Before his election to Congress, Hamilton practiced law in Chicago and Columbus, Indiana. (at left: Hamilton delivering the commencement address at DePauw; May 5, 1998)

Newsweek has called Lee Hamilton "Mr. Integrity," while USA Today recently noted that the veteran statesman "is one of the last of the Washington 'wise men,' figures who ruled Congress, led Cabinet agencies and shaped foreign policy during a less partisan era."

Learn more in this recent article.

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — The cast of the new AMC drama The Killing includes  Annie Corley, a 1982 graduate of DePauw University. Corley portrays "Reg" on the series, which debuted April 3.

Visit the show's official website.

A communication major who was active in student theatrical productions while at DePauw, Annie Corley is best known for portraying the daughter of Meryl Streep's character in The Bridges of Madison County, which was directed by Clint Eastwood. On television, Corley has had guest roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Practice, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Crossing Jordan, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Murder, She Wrote.

She performed in three films that were nominated for 2004 Academy Awards: 21 Grams, Seabiscuit and Monster. Corley has also had roles in The Cider House Rules, Malcolm X, Stick It, The Lucky Ones, Here on Earth, Juwanna Mann, Law Abiding Citizen, The Answer Man and Free Willy 3: The Rescue. She was also seen in 2009's Crazy Heart opposite Jeff Bridges, who won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the movie.

Learn more in this previous article.

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Richard Peck, the first writer for young readers to receive the National Humanities Medal and 1956 graduate of DePauw University, has selected Jonathan Stroud's The Ring of Solomon as the grand prize winner of School Library Journal's "Battle of the Kids' Books" contest. The other finalists in the five-week contest were Kathi Appelt's Keeper and Megan Whalen Turner's A Conspiracy of Kings.

"In the end, Peck went with The Ring of Solomon, saying in his April 4 blog post that he didn't expect to pick 400 pages of magic fantasy with Biblical allusions and a footnote on the Song of Solomon," notes the Journal. "But that's exactly what he did because 'its very length and the wit of its diction are stinging retorts to both the grade-level textbook and Facebook,' he wrote. 'And because the fun is in how the tale is told, the yarn spun. Jonathan Stroud doesn't control language; he unleashes it. The real magic here is in the turning phrase, and how much our texting young need that, and the liberation of laughter.'" 

Read more here.

A former school tecaher, Peck published his debut novel in 1972. Are You In The House Alone? won the 1978 Edgar Allan Poe Award. He won the Newbery Gold Medal in 2001 for A Year Down Yonder. A Long Way From Chicago was a National Book Award finalist as was his Civil War novel, The River Between Us. USA Today calls Peck's latest work, Three Quarters Dead, "provocative and entertaining." (photo: Peck signing books at DePauw's 2006 Alumni Reunion Weekend)

All told, Peck has authored 39 novels.

After winning the Newbery Medal, Peck told DePauw.edu that the University [Download Audio: "Peck on DePauw" 603KB] "made a writer out of me. It warned me never to show my rough draft to anybody. That helps. I write each of my books six times because I have to, and it's the sixth version my editor sees and nothing before that. I learned that from DePauw professors."

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — The team of Charlene Shrewsbury, a police officer with DePauw Public Safety, and David Terry, a junior at the University, "electrified the DePauw Indoor Tennis and Track Center" at Saturday night's Dancing with the Putnam County Stars. The pair claimed the top prize at the event, which raised funds for the Putnam County Youth Development Commission (PCYDC).  Jared Jernegan writes in today's Banner Graphic that "their energetic, perfectly synchronized routine really set them apart."

"Two or three weeks into it we started to feel comfortable with each other," Shrewsbury says of Terry. "With him being a student and me being an officer, we kind of had to cross that bridge, and we did."

Terry, who has participated in three of the events, adds, "It's a great experience. It's for such a good cause and it's a lot of fun."

Brad Hayes, principal of Fillmore Elementary School and the recipient of a master's degree in elementary education from DePauw University in 1987, also participated in Saturday's fundraiser.

"I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of so many people in our community -- how they embrace this event each year and how the attendance keeps growing," Linda Merkel, executive director of PCYDC, tells the newspaper. "People truly love something where people step outside their box and sacrifice their time, energy and commitment to do something they've never done before, and also for a great cause by helping us raise money for the youth of our community."

Access the article at the newspaper's website.

April 11, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — This Old House magazine deems Greencastle as one of the Midwest's 15 communities where the "Best Old House Neighborhoods" can be found, and the city is the only Indiana entry on the 2011 list. The piece spotlights three neighborhoods -- the Historic Old Greencastle District, the Eastern Enlargement District and the Northwood District -- and points to the affordability of the city's historic houses (with many under $100,000) and its proximity to Indianapolis. (photo: Phillip Gick, Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County)

"In summer months, when trees are in bloom and DePauw University is on a more relaxed schedule, a walk along Greencastle's streets will evoke a time when homeowners cut their grass with push mowers and television had yet to supplant front-porch views," notes the text in the April 2011 issue. "Sure, the city of 10,000 gleans plenty of 21st-century energy from the annual invasion of students, as well as the young families who choose it for its quick commute to downtown Indianapolis, just 45 miles away. But Greencastle offers old-fashioned advantages: a historically designated town center, an industrious American work ethic (a handful of plants here support the auto industry), a focus on community, and three soon-to-be National Register historic districts, collectively comprising hundreds of affordable homes.

Read more at the magazine's website.

It's the fourth year This Old House has compiled a list of "North America's most timeless neighborhoods."  Neighborhoods were chosen with the assistance of  Portland, Oregon-based preservationdirectory.com. Learn more here.

Last month Greencastle learned it is receiving a Stellar Communities grant from the state. The Stellar Communities program is a multi-agency partnership aimed at launching multiple community development projects in Indiana's smaller communities. Greencastle's plan will -- among other things -- revitalize the downtown area; link the city more closely with DePauw; and improve the quality of life through new initiatives in health, the arts, and technology. Details can be found here.

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — You're invited to attend the spring concert of the DePauw University Band, this Sunday, April 17. Under the baton of conductor Craig Paré, the performance will begin at 3 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, located within DePauw's Green Center for Performing Arts on DePauw’s campus. It is presented free of admission charge and is open to the campus and community.

The concert will also feature the DePauw University Chorus, conducted by Jan Harrington. Programming consists of four works for symphonic band: Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppé; Make A Joyful Noise by James A. Beckel Jr., adjunct professor of music at DePauw; Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner; and "March" from Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber by Paul Hindemith.  Sunday’s program will conclude with a combined performance of Howard Hanson’s Song of Democracy by the University Band and University Chorus under the baton of Dr. Harrington.  (top photo: Professors Paré and Harrington)

"This is the second opportunity we’ve had this year to collaborate with the University Chorus, and it has been a treat each time," notes Dr. Paré.  "It is also an honor to have Dr. Harrington leading this performance of Hanson’s Song of Democracy."

The National Education Association and the Music Educators National Conference, in commemoration of NEA’s one hundredth anniversary and the fiftieth anniversary of MENC, commissioned this beautiful work, composed in 1957.  Song of Democracy is set to two Walt Whitman poems: An Old Man’s Thought of School (1874), and Thy Mother with Thy Equal Brood (1872).  Hanson turned to the American poet for texts in a number of his compositions, including Symphony No. 7 ("Sea Symphony"), Drum Taps, The Mystic Trumpeter, and Songs from Walt Whitman.  

In preparation for this piece, Paré collaborated with Harry Brown, associate professor of English at DePauw. "Hanson’s pairing is appropriate," writes Dr. Brown.  "Both poems were read by Whitman to audiences of students and teachers, and both exhort young people to sustain the democratic ethos hallowed by the [American Civil] war and given its highest expression in Whitman’s own art.”

Professor Brown (pictured at left) also composed an abstract on Whitman that will be shared in the performance Sunday.

For those who are unable to attend Sunday's concert in person, DePauw's student radio station, WGRE, will rebroadcast the performance at 4:30 p.m. It can be heard at 91.5 FM or via this link.  

It is requested that, if possible, those attending Sunday’s concert bring one non-perishable food item for admission. All donations will go directly to the Putnam County Emergency Food Pantry.  Needed items include pork & beans, dried beans and rice, chili, and canned fruits and vegetables.

Founded in 1884, the DePauw University School of Music is one of the nation's oldest private institutions for post-secondary music instruction and the longest-running in Indiana. Learn more here.

Also: Barbara Kingsolver '77 Honored for Lifetime Environmental Achievement

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "Barbara Kingsolver's Orange Prize-winning The Lacuna has been shortlisted for the €100,000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award," reports The Bookseller. The novel by Kingsolver, a 1977 graduate of DePauw University, is on a"10-strong list (of titles) announced this morning."

Katie Allen writes, "The novels were picked from a total of 162 nominated by 166 public library systems in 126 cities worldwide. The winner will be announced on 15th June 2011." 

The award, the largest and most international of its kind, is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. It is a joint initiative of the city council of Dublin,Ireland, and the productivity improvement company, IMPAC, and is administered by Dublin's public libraries.

Read more here.

Kingsolver's other works include The Poisonwood Bible; The Bean Trees; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life; and Animal Dreams. The Lacuna, published in November 2009, received the UK's Orange Prize and the Library of Virginia's 13th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Award for fiction. The San Francisco Chronicle noted, "Set in milestone-studded history, the book is a supremely ambitious work: a dense picaresque, glitteringly alive."

Translated into nineteen languages, her work has won a devoted worldwide readership and many other awards, including the National Humanities Medal. 

Saturday, Kingsolver received the LEAF Award for Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. Learn more in this article.

In 1994, Barbara Kingsolver delivered the commencement address at DePauw, and was also awarded an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony (seen in photo at left). "The best thing about DePauw is that it required me to take courses in poetry and mathematics and biology and history," Kingsolver told the audience. "I was not allowed to be narrow in my interests, and I was rewarded for trying really hard to see the fibers of logic and consequence that connect poetry and biology and history. I believe that's the most precious and useful kind of education that a person can ever have."

A summary of Kingsolver's speech -- including an MP3 of the complete address, which was titled "As Little Advice as Possible" -- can be found here.

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Daniel E. Shannon, University Professor and professor of philosophy at DePauw University, contributes a chapter to a new book, Person, Being, and History: Essays in Honor of Kenneth L. Schmitz. Dr. Shannon authored chapter ten, "Beauty and the Good in Hegel's Aesthetics." Edited by Michael Bauer and Robert E. Wood, the book is published by Catholic University of America Press.

"During a distinguished career as thinker and educator at universities across North America, philosopher Kenneth L. Schmitz has striven to recover metaphysical realism in a world that has, after Kant, turned to the subject," notes a synopsis of the title. "Schmitz has done so through precisely the window of the subjectivity, particularity, and concern for history which marks philosophy after Kant.  Although primarily associated with his native University of Toronto, where he was known as 'the Educator,' Schmitz also taught at Loyola Marymount, Marquette, the Catholic University of America, and the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. His teaching focused upon the singularity of the human person founded upon the notion of being that generates the history of philosophy. He was eminently generous in his appreciation of the philosophers about whom he lectured. He taught philosophy, richly grounded in the history of philosophy as a gold mine rather than as a minefield. Anchored in his spirit, the various essays in this volume by colleagues and former students of Schmitz examine his thought and the subjects of his teaching. In addition to an overall exposition of his own thought, the collection treats themes such as gift, faith and reason, culture and dialogue, modernity and post-modernity, and themes in the work of various thinkers, including Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Max Scheler, and Jean-Paul Sartre. "

You'll find further details here.

Dan Shannon is co-editor of The Challenges of Globalization: Rethinking Nature, Culture, and Freedom and contributed an essay to Humanity at the Turning Point: Rethinking Nature, Culture and Freedom.  Learn more in this previous story.

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Russell Sumner, a member of DePauw University's Class of 2002, is the new head football coach at Indiana's Danville High School. "Sumner, 31, has been the defensive coordinator at Southport since 2007 and served in the same role at Sherando (Va.) from 2003 to ’06," reports the Indianapolis Star.

Nat Newell writes, "A 1998 graduate of Olney (Ill.) High School, Sumner was an all-conference fullback, linebacker and punter before playing for two years at DePauw University.  He is a 2003 graduate of Ball State, receiving a master's degree in 2007 from West Virginia and will teach in the high school science department."

"We are extremely excited to add coach Sumner to our coaching staff," says Danville's athletic director, Jon Regashus.  "He has a tremendous amount of passion for working with student-athletes and we expect his high energy level and attention to detail to be a great benefit for our football program."

Sumner states, "I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to teach and coach at Danville Community High School and am extremely excited about the future of Danville football. I plan to utilize the tremendous resources within and around the Danville community to help our young men become as successful as they can be both in the classroom and on the field.  Danville has had a lot of success in the past and I hope to build on that success in the future."

Access the item at IndyStar.com.

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "Arne Duncan, the U.S. Department of Education secretary, will visit Indianapolis on Friday to conduct a town hall meeting at the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School," reports the Indianapolis Star this afternoon. "Marcus Robinson, the school's principal, will serve as moderator for the invitation-only town hall meeting in the multi-purpose room at the school," adds the item.  Robinson is a 1994 graduate of DePauw University. (at left: Robinson in the hallway of his school)

"Tindley opened in 2004 and has about 400 students in grades 6 through 12 who are pursuing a degree at a selective college or university," the newspaper notes. "It has earned the Indiana Department of Education's Four Star School status, which honors the top 25 percent of public schools in the state."

Read more at IndyStar.com.

The Tindley School has strong ties to DePauw. Siri Ann Loescher '84 is one of the school's three co-founders and serves as academic dean and two DePauw alumni -- James K. Baker '53 and John Neighbours '71 -- serve on the school's board of directors. Tindley's "teacher of the year" last year was James Larson, a 2005 DePauw graduate, who was featured on MSNBC last September.

April 12, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Two DePauw University juniors who are members of Phi Delta Theta, Indiana Zeta chapter, are being rewarded for their scholarship, campus and community involvement. Danny Capes and Mitch Strobl are recipients of Albert L. Lund '48 Scholarships for the 2011-12 academic year. The awards are for $6,000 each.

Albert Lund, who was a Phi Delt at DePauw, established the scholarship in 1999 to reward members of his fraternity for their dedication to academics and to recognize their involvement in campus and community activities. Thirty-eight Lund Scholarships have now been awarded. Mr. Lund passed away in 2003.

Larry Lund '77 and his sister, Lindsey Lund Peterik '74 (the son and daughter of Albert Lund) presented the awards at the chapter's annual scholarship banquet tonight. Others on hand for the announcement included DePauw President Brian W. Casey, financial aid officers and several professors. (photo: Lindsey Lund Peterik'74, Lund Scholar Danny Capes '12, Lund Scholar Mitch Strobl '12, DePauw President Brian W. Casey and A. Lawrence Lund '77)

"My father's enrollment at DePauw was made possible by a Rector Scholarship, and he always viewed the idea of creating opportunity for young students as important and essential," recalls Larry Lund. "DePauw was very special to my dad, as was Indiana Zeta, where so many of his fondest college experiences occurred. His gift is making this chapter an even stronger institution and helping DePauw students achieve their goals, which serves the University well. It's an annual privilege and thrill to honor these young scholars."