Dawn Terrick, Director of Developmental Writing, and Bill Church, Director of Learning Communities, hosted a session, "Student Engagement for Social Change," at the 14th Annual National Learning Communities Conference in Marietta, GA.
On December 2nd, MWSU students, faculty, and alumni joined community members in packing Foster's Martini Bar for the final New Lit Out Loud open-mic reading of the fall semester. We had the widest range of readers ever, ranging from a twelve-year-old poet sharing her first love poem to spoken word artists chanting their poetic calls-to-arms and then all the way to the seemingly immortal Don Sollars, who recited his poems from memory.
Five adventurous students take off to foreign lands for the spring 2010 semester. French majors Amanda Burris and Michele Thevenot will spend the semester studying at the Université d'Angers in France. They will enroll full time at the university in the department of language and literature, earning credits toward their degree and living the life of French university students.
Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, Director of Outdoor Semester, returned on October 8 with seven MWSU students , three faculty and one community member from a 13-day field trip out West . The theme of this year’s Outdoor Semester is “Energy and Life.” Students are taking courses in environmental literature, sustainable energy, research writing, psychology, and fitness and wellness. 
"New Lit Out Loud" celebrated Halloween early with a fantastic reading at Foster's Martini Bar on October 28. Nearly twenty readers and performers offered a range of original works from spoken word to dramatic interpretation for a packed house.
See Bill and Meg enjoying themselves at Foster's? They are listening to poesy and prose, fiction and non-fiction, by students, faculty, and community members. This could be you.
Dr. Norma Bagnall, Professor Emerita of English, celebrates her 80th birthday today, October 27.
The Prairie Lands Writing Project National Day on Writing Celebrations on October 20 included the annual "When Writing Teachers Write" forum at Western showcasing teachers reading their original works.
We're vaguely aware that the Griffs played a game this Saturday; we're just giddy about royalty. Luke Akers, a BA major, was elected Homecoming King. Kayla Kelder, the 2009 Homecoming Queen, works the EFLJ reception desk. Kayla has promised to work this week in her tiara (sash optional).
Jason and Andrea Youngkeit announce the birth of daughter Kayla Lee. Miss Youngkeit made her debut on Saturday, October 5. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.
Congratulations, Jason and Andrea!
Some otherwise upstanding citizens met Thursday, October 1 in the Student Union to read books previously challenged or banned in U.S. schools and libraries.
Dawn Smith, Central High School's English Department Chairperson and St. Joseph Teacher of the Year, spoke at the annual Fall English Dinner on Wednesday, September 23. In attendance were MWSU administrators, teachers, and St. Joseph language arts teachers, many of whom are EFLJ alumni.
Dr. Betty Sawin, Director of Honors and Professor of English, has been appointed to two committees of the National Collegiate Honors Council. According to its official website, NCHC "is the professional association of undergraduate Honors programs and colleges; Honors directors and deans; and Honors faculty, staff, and students. NCHC provides support for institutions and individuals developing, implementing, and expanding Honors education through curriculum development, program assessment, teaching innovation, national and international study opportunities, internships, service and leadership development, and mentored research." 
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The Thirteenth Annual Reading of Challenged and Banned Books in recognition of the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week.
"New Lit Out Loud" kicks off the 2009-10 open-mic series on Wednesday, September 30, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Foster's Martini Bar (726 Felix Street; 364-4400).
Bart German (English-Technical Communication, class of 2001) reports that he is still at Cerner Corporation but now based out of their "Innovations Campus"at the Grandview Triangle in south Kansas City. He's been a Team Lead with the Release Documentation team there for a little over two years now..JPG)
The full-time EFLJ faculty, staff, and families met on Lovers Lane to share food and complain about (fill in the blank). 
Ken Rosenauer and Jane Frick congratulate their former student Vince Thomson as the 2009 Western Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held in the Fulkerson Center on September 19. Thomson, a 1986 BA English/Writing graduate, started on the Griffon football team's defensive line. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the seventh round of the 1985 NFL draft before he later went on to play in the Canadian Football League for two years. He has an MA in Advertising from Northwestern University and is currently the co-owner of Ideastream Consumer Products (www.ideastreamproducts.com) in Cleveland, OH, where he lives with his wife and two sons.
Sue writes to inform us that she has completed treatment for breast cancer and is officially in remission. She sends thanks to everyone who sent prayers and good thoughts her way. She writes, "you have made it possible for me to seal that chapter of my life and move ahead to more enjoyable and exciting activities."
Dr. Karina Vazquez, Assistant Professor of Spanish, has had her book, Fogwill: realismo y mala conciencia, published this August by Ediciones Circeto. 
Jeff McMillian, an EFLJ alumnus, has been promoted at Northwest Pipe Company from HR Manager to HR Director, Tubular Products Division. His work is now focused on strategic leadership development and building high-performance teams in the organization. Northwest Pipe Company is the leading supplier of Water Transmission pipeline in the U.S. Jeff also holds an MFA from Bowling Green University.
One day in the fall of 2000, President Jim Scanlon called Dr. Jeanie Crain in her office. "Come on over. I want to talk to you about something." Nine years later, she's back, like the character in many fairy stories who is lured into the fairy mound only to emerge years later, disoriented but not aged more than a few days. So it is with Jeanie. So if she asks for people long retired or asks you "who the heck are you?" please understand.
Western hosted the Prairie Lands Writing Project (PLWP) camp graduation for 117 campers from 26 area elementary and middle schools in ceremonies on June 25. 
The 2009 camp directors and teachers include Jerri Fischer of Lindberg Elementary; Ann Dotson, Shannon Harris, Betty Stacey and Christie Hofmeister of Skaith Elementary; Jill Steinmetz of Maryville High; Tyler Carlson of Savannah High: Tia Frahm of Neeley Elementary; and Stacia Studer of Bode Middle.
Two 2009 EFLJ graduates in technical communication will be working together in Kansas City starting this summer. Ashley Rainsbarger and Katy Strasser will be employed by Cerner, the leading U.S. supplier of healthcare information technology (HIT) solutions. Ashley tells us that she'll be employed as a Documentation Developer, as which she'll edit healthcare software documentation to make it more user friendly.
The MWSU Board of Governors approved the promotion of Dr. C.J. Jenéy to Associate Professor of English and granted her tenure. Congratulations to Dr. Jenéy on this great accomplishment! 
