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Students gain non-profit experience through Franz Leadership Program

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Leadership
Photo Courtesy of the Franz Leadership Website

The next generation of nonprofit leaders are being grown right here on The Bluff. While all UP students are here to get a degree; some want something more: a real-world experience that will help them become a leader following graduation. The Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation aims to assist UP students in becoming scholarly future leaders.

Dave Houglum, newly-appointed director for leadership, hopes to cater to students’ futures. His goals for the program are to create a partnership between the Franz and Moreau Centers, expand the leadership capacity of faculty and staff and add new courses and programs.

Within the Franz Leadership Program, students can choose from two routes: the Faith-Based Leadership Program and the Leader Certificate Program.

The faith-based program provides an intersection between faith and its leaders. Students apply for the program at the beginning of their sophomore year, and are selected that spring after submitting a cover letter, resume and doing an interview. Program staff then connect students with different non-profit organizations, and students select their top three choices before being paired with a mentor. Internships are coordinated for the summer between students’ junior and senior years. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust provides $3,500 stipends for students completing these internships.

For students in the faith-based program, there is one $250 fee for an additional one-credit, faith-based leadership class, LDR 391.

“It’s a fantastic program, and the students really seem to be getting a lot out of it,” Houglum said. “They get the opportunity to work with a senior-level executive who mentors them throughout the summer so the student has access to ask them all these different questions.”

Senior Colton Smith worked in the Faith-Based Leadership Program. After applying his sophomore year, he was selected along with six other students. After moving into the program junior year, Smith began practicing with case studies that would be given during the internship.

Smith worked for M.J. Murdock, a nonprofit that gives money to other nonprofit programs throughout the northwest and across the country. The grants aim to “strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.”

Smith was drawn to the program early on due to his curiosity about nonprofit organizations.

“I wanted to do the internship mainly because I was interested in nonprofit work,” Smith said. “And I believed if I worked there for 10 weeks, I would have a better understanding about whether or not I wanted to fully commit to that when I graduate.”

Within M.J. Murdock, Smith worked with three other interns from different parts of the country. During a typical day, the group would read spiritual stories and Bible verses and talk about the different projects they were working on.

The hope for the program is that working for a nonprofit will give greater experience to the students who utilize the Franz Leadership Program. In the business world, the executives working at a nonprofit do the same amount and type of work as for-profit businesses.

“I would recommend the program to students that love to volunteer, that love to be involved in the community and would like to see the community of Portland be strengthened,” Smith said.

While Smith doesn’t expect to work for M.J. Murdock again, he hopes to work for nonprofits in the future as a board leadership member.

“I definitely would say it was worth it. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had through the University of Portland,” Smith said. “It taught me a lot and was one of the more difficult experiences as well.”

Like Smith, senior marketing and theology double major Kelsey Connolly applied and was selected for the competitive Faith Based Leadership Program. The program first caught her attention when former director, Pete Rooks, talked to her BUS 302 class. Connolly interviewed with three different companies and received an internship with Catholic Charities of Oregon.

Over the course of eight weeks, she worked a typical 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. day. Her internship consisted first of learning about the differences between nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She then worked in the Human Resources Department working in developing and marketing.

After the experience, Connolly is certain she wants to go into the nonprofit side of business, and hopes to continue her work with Catholic Charities. She also learned how to transfer the skills she had developed during her internship into her schedule this semester.

The program and her internship experience have helped shape Connolly’s possible career path.

“It takes a lot of stress off finding another internship,” Connolly said.

For the Leadership Certificate Program, there is no application process, but students must take two additional classes, LDR 225 and LDR 325 which are $250 and $750, respectively. However, financial aid is available for both programs. While students in the Leadership Certificate Program do not obtain a stipend, they do receive a certificate that shows up on their transcript and can be put on a resume.

LDR 225 gives students a chance to learn about leadership and about themselves. The class focuses on students’ discovery of who they want to become. LDR 325 gives participants a chance to work one-on-one with a “coach,” a UP faculty or staff member to mentor them.

Houglum also stressed that students do not need to be in a position of power or authority to make a difference.

“We help the students lead into their strengths so they can have the biggest impact wherever they are,”

said.

–Story from the Beacon by Molly Vincent

Kate Regan Film Festival celebrates beloved professor and student film talent

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Gabriella Riegos
Gabriella Riegos took home the award for ‘Best Narrative film’ as well as ‘Best in Show.’ Riegos film was a powerful piece about depression entitled ‘Reasoning with my depression.’ Photo by Kristen Garcia

On March 26, over 150 students, faculty and staff gathered in the Executive Boardroom of the Bauccio Commons, ate popcorn and candy, played games and celebrated film in honor of the late Spanish professor, Kate Regan.

The “Kate Regan Film Festival” gave members of the UP community an opportunity to submit their short films with the chance of winning a cash prize and watching their film be aired.

Honoring the late and great Kate Regan

Although the banners read “Second Annual Kate Regan Short Film Festival,” this was the first year that the festival donned the name “Kate Regan.”

In the previous year, the event was called CISGO DIGI-SHORTS Digital Storytelling Festival and it was coordinated by Regan herself.

The beloved professor had a vision of not only creating a stronger international awareness with short films but also informing faculty, staff and students of UP’s film resources.

When Regan passed away suddenly in July 2014, her close friends and colleagues worked to honor her legacy and to make the Digital Storytelling Festival bigger and better than the year before.

“Several organizations banded together to move her vision forward and make it really special,” Karen Eifler, co-director of the Garaventa Center and close friend of Regan, said. “We wanted to capture the excitement that Dr. Regan brought to the first one and really extend her vision of it as well.”

The Garaventa Center and several other participants succeeded in their goal to improve on Regan’s brainchild. Where as last year’s fest received five submissions of only international films, this year’s film fest received 33 submissions in all five categories. Those who submitted ranged from students, faculty and staff.

Eifler says that Regan would have been thrilled to see participation from staff as well as students.

“Kate and I had been collaborating on ways to use film not just for entertainment but for teaching, assessment and student learning.” Eifler said. “She brought so much energy to the first one. I really wanted to see that vision expanded.

Best in Show

Gabriela Riegos won both “Best Narrative” and “Best in Show” for her film “Reasoning with my Depression.”

Although Riegos was pleasantly surprised by the recognition for her work, she says that the purpose of her film, an internal conversation between her depression and herself spelled out in golden and foam letters, was to continue her art even in the emotionally difficult transition from high school to college.

“I noticed that when I would fall into a more depressive state of mind, I stopped making art, I’d lose that part of myself,” Riegos said. “So this was making me literally sit down and make a script. I want to make art. I forced myself to make art.”

Riegos walked around the UP campus with her Canon 70 D in one hand and a pile of letters in the other. She put together sentences of hope and positivity in golden letters, and countering ones sprouted from her depression in different colored foam letters.

She said the process was therapeutic. No one on campus questioned or bothered her. As she stacked the letters in different places on campus, she was able to peacefully give her inner struggles a voice.

Riegos stumbled upon the golden letters, that would later lead her to hope and a $1,000 cash prize, by accident.

While shopping for college supplies, she came across them in the teacher’s section and was inspired. Ever since, she knew she had to use them to make art in some way.

“Every time I opened my drawer where I keep my art stuff in my dorm I was like, ‘Ah, there are those letters again,’” Riegos said. “I knew I wanted to do something with them, something expressive with words. It was just the constant nagging of those letters.”

Expressing herself through film really did make a difference in Riegos’ mental state, so much so that she decided to make at least one film a semester.

“It got me restarted,” Riegos said. “I don’t how to describe it. It just turned me around for a little bit. Making art just makes me feel so much better.”

Although ultimately, Riegos makes her films for herself, she found that sharing them with others can be equally rewarding.

It was a slow process getting the word out about her film. She first showed it to her roommate, and then eventually shared it on the Facebook page of a Catholic retreat she had gone on previously.

All the feedback was positive, which gave Riegos confidence.

“I realized that people also feel this way and didn’t know that they felt this way. A lot of people reached out to me,” Riegos said. “I think that seeing people’s reactions is a part of the art too. Seeing that I can affect them.”

Once Riegos caught word of the “Kate Regan Film Festival,” her film felt like a perfect fit.

She submitted the film with no expectation to win “Best in Show” and $1,000 cash prize. In fact, her only current plan to spend the generous prize includes treating her roommates to Taco Bell.

“It was kind of an impulse thing,” Riegos said. “I was like why not, I have it. It’s exactly five minutes long. This is the universe telling me to do this and it worked out for me.”

The other winners

Eifler was astonished at the amount of quality and talent within the festival’s 33 submissions. She said what was most exciting was the variety of films.

Therefore, it came as no surprise that the overall winner, along with the winners in each category, were all beautifully-shot inspiring pieces of art.

Category winners include senior Cassie Sheridan in the documentary film category for “Life Aboard the ‘Sea Prince’,” freshman Hunter Crawford in the humor category for “Walk Through Video Games,” junior Jason Smith in the animation category for his 3D stop-motion film “Scorned by Fate,” and junior Thomas Dempsey, in the International category for his film “Nicaragua.”

Dempsey’s collection of photography from his travel abroad experience in Nicaragua last May struck a chord with the audience.

Dempsey says that ultimately story-telling was his driving force for making the film.

“We were in a small village, 50 people maybe. I just wanted to try and tell their story a little,” he said. “One thing I always tell people is I like photography so much because I’m not very good at storytelling. So having pictures always helps with that process.”

The reason Dempsey made the film initially was to find an interesting way to share his trip with friends and family, so when he heard about the film festival he was excited about the opportunity to share his work.

“I didn’t think any film festival would pop up where I could submit it,” Dempsey said. “To show it in a space like that with a bigger audience definitely was exciting for me.”

Kate Regan Film Fest: UP at its best

Category winners took home a cash prize of $250 each while the “Best in Show” winner took home an extra $750. Each winner was presented with a giant foam check.

These significant cash rewards are a result of a generous donor who loved Kate Regan and wanted to see the festival continue. Eifler says that this marks the overall theme of the festival: Generous community members working together to make something great.

“I think this is UP at its best,” Eifler said. “People taking an idea and making it truly awesome by bringing their gifts and talents to the table and being really generous with what they have.”

People from all over UP worked to make the festival happen. Campus Program Board donated popcorn and candy, and The Library’s Digital Lab offered workshops on how to edit films and lent out equipment.

Several Spanish professors also got involved. Lauren Gaskill, Spanish professor and Regan’s niece, put together a collection of Regan’s short films to display at the festival. Andrea Castanette emceed the program and there was also a Spanish professor on the board of judges.

“Anytime people from all over campus come together to make something happen, I think that’s worth celebrating,” Eifler said. “A lot of the time, we feel like we’re in our little silos, our little caves, but when we come out magical stuff happens.”

–Story from the Beacon by: Rachel Rippetoe

Six students awarded teaching Fulbrights

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Fullbright
Megan Lester, left, and Michelle Wilcox both won Fublright scholarships to teach English in Germany next year. Lester, Wilcox and two other Fulbright recipients who studied and traveled together in Salzburg sophomore year. Photo by Parker Shoaff

This September, six UP students will join the ranks of 53 Nobel Prize and 78 Pulitzer Prize winners as Fulbright Scholars.

Over the course of one academic year, the students will live, study and teach English in a foreign country through grants awarded to them by the Fulbright US Student Program.

UP is internationally recognized for being a top producer of Fulbright recipients and is currently ranked third in the nation among master’s colleges and universities.

Seniors Megan Fitzgerald, Megan Lester, Rebecca Parks, Erin Petersen, Mikayla Posey and Michelle Wilcox were offered English Teaching Assistantships (ETAs). Parks’ position is in Turkey, Fitzgerald’s is in Mexico, and the other four are in Germany.

On top of working in an elementary or secondary school classroom for 12 hours a week, ETAs study the language and culture of their host country.

Wilcox, a German and history major, started her journey toward the Fulbright program two years ago when as a sophomore studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria.

“I originally decided to study abroad because I love travel, and I was very shy, so I wanted to do something outside of my comfort zone,” Wilcox said. “What I ended up experiencing was transformative.”

She came back to the U.S. enamored with German language and history and vowed to return to Germany after graduation. To Wilcox, applying for the Fulbright seemed like the natural next step on the path she started at UP, so she dove into the process nearly a year ago.

John Orr, director of the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, said the most valuable thing the Fulbright program offers to those who apply is clarity, even if the student doesn’t ultimately receive the grant.

“There are advantages beyond simply getting to live somewhere else,” Orr said. “You get to do some soul searching and thinking about who you are or where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there in order to have a competitive application.”

Wilcox wants to use the language and culture skills she gains after her year in Germany to become a German teacher. Instead of waiting until the fall to move, she plans to head to Berlin in June and work during the summer.

“Once you start to travel and you get past the homesickness and the initial hard phases, it becomes addictive,” Wilcox said.

Lester, an English and German major, studied abroad in Salzburg with Wilcox, Posey and Petersen her sophomore year. She had the unique experience of applying for and being awarded the grant along with three of her closest friends and said that her anxiety surrounding the move to Germany is lessened by the knowledge that she’ll be living in the same country as them.

As a tutor in the University’s Writing Center, Lester has enjoyed the experience of working one-on-one with students on their work. She plans to use her time abroad to explore the classroom setting and dynamic and determine whether or not she wants to teach in the future.

“I’ve fallen in love with the German language, and I obviously have a love for the English language, so getting to do both is idea,” Lester said. “It all just makes sense.”

Orr said a majority of the Fulbright awards offered to UP students have been presented to those interested in ETAs or research opportunities in Germany, leading to the student misconception that only German-speaking students can be presented with Fulbright awards.

In addition to Germany, students have gone to India, Spain, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Cambodia. For the first time this year, Turkey and Mexico are included in the mix.

“The bottom line is that Fulbright looks for people who are ambassadorial,” Orr said. “The grant was designed to help put a good face on the United States, and recipients are expected to be good representatives and make inroads with the culture that they’re assigned to.”

Orr said that he hopes students of varying interests will continue to branch out and see all the different experiences grants like the Fulbright can provide.

“For some people, Fulbright provides opportunities they didn’t know they could have, and opens doors they didn’t know existed,” Orr said. “For others it’s a great adventure before going to graduate or professional school. Either way, there are benefits.”

Story from the Beacon by: Karen Garcia

Q&A With Theater Major Natalie Mecham–Director of “Boom”

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Natalie Mecham
Photo courtesy of the Beacon

Many students don’t know much about what goes on in Mago Hunt behind the scenes of the plays they attend. The Beacon sat down with Theater major Natalie Mecham to get the inside scoop on her production “Boom”, the directing capstone project and being a theater major at UP.

Can you tell me a little bit about what the thesis is about and what the performance is about?

“Boom” was written by Peter Sinn Nachtreib. He studied biology and theater in college and he talks about the play as his attempt to meet in the middle between those two worlds. He feels like biology and theater are both trying to make sense of the world in an epic and intimate way.

In the show, the three characters – Jo, Jules and Barbara – are consumed by trying to get their footing in this world that keeps spinning and spinning. And that’s terrifying because they know that it’s going to move on unchanged even after they’re gone. During the show, they’re looking for a way to survive after they’re gone.

The situation, at first, seems a little sitcom-y a little silly, but the circumstances and the stakes turn out to be vastly higher than ever anticipated.

What goes into making a thesis? What is your part in this?

For my directing capstone, I had a month in which I was meeting with faculty talking about shows and talking about what was possible for space. The show being held in the Mehling Theater is really exciting and challenging. We were exploring what the space is capable of.

Once I settled on a show, there was a lot of time spent on asking, ‘Why this story? Why now?’ I had a lot of preparatory writing I had to do and some contextual research. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

What was it like working with a production team?

I had a meeting with the designers where I talked about what popped out for me within each character. Jo is visceral and instinctual. Jules is practical and logical. Barbara is big and splashy.

Then, the designers mull this over with their own artistic perspectives. The costume designer looked at the structure and uniformity in Jules and we talked about how it would make sense for him to wear plaid. I talk a lot with the designers about what things feel like and how aspects of the world and characters translate into their design.

It’s tricky because you want to give them a direction but you don’t want to prescribe. I’ve tried consciously to work alongside them and not do their job, because they do their job a lot better than I would.

And working with the actors?

With the actors, casting was really hard. I was low on the totem pole for shows- the two main stage shows are very large casts.

Oh man, I got lucky. I got so lucky, holy cow. The people who I ended up with just got it. I needed people who understood that as extreme and surreal as the circumstances are.

Jo, Jules, and Barbara are very real humans. They’re not a joke. I needed people who could embrace the circumstances, live them, laugh at them and go big with them but at the end of the day, know that it was real. So I got very lucky. I got three smart people.

What’s it like now that you’ve finally reached the end product?

We’ve been rehearsing since the beginning of February, We’ve been getting to know the play, dating the play, courting the play, wining and dining the play. All too soon, we’ve gotten it up on its feet, which is super weird. I’m at this time where it’s my 10th night starting my homework at 11:30 p.m. and I’m so tired my face hurts, but then I go to sleep for four hours, wake up, and the show is going to open tomorrow. It’s bizarre but very exciting.

What’s it like to be a Theater Major at UP? Why did you choose UP?

The theater major here is a bachelor of arts program, which basically lets you get to know the whole world of theater. I think that’s crucial because you’re reliant on so many different jobs and people to make one production happen.

People are going to see “Boom” and come away talking about the three actors, but there are 20 people who have sweat over this show to make it happen. When there are no promises for a job in theater, it helps to get hired for multiple things.

Being a theater major can also be really tiring. I get flack from my friends who are engineering majors about us not having any work, but I spent about 20 to 25 hours a week in rehearsal and meetings for this show and then outside of that I have all my coursework. It’s very time-consuming.

You have to love it and you have to be a little nuts about it to care that much. You don’t see anyone saying, “Yeah my mom wanted me to get a job after graduation, so I’m a theater major.” You see people who are there because they love it and that’s a great group to work with.

Just like your characters who are looking towards the future, what do you want to do with your future?

As the playwright says, the world is an epic and intimate universe with millions and millions of options. To a degree, I’m still figuring out which option is right for me.

I intern at a bilingual theater doing literary management. I teach preschool. I really love teaching and working with people in that way. I’d love to be a director of education at a theater, maybe a children’s theater. I’d love to get younger folks connecting with theater and understanding what it can do for you.

Story from the Beacon.  Written by: Rachel Rippetoe

Student-Faculty Team Investigates Pregnancy Health in Primates

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BuiWhile some students are binge-watching Netflix after class, sophomore biology major Tram Bui spends her free time in a computer lab watching videos of monkeys.

No, this isn’t a strange YouTube fascination. Bui teamed up with biology professor Elinor Sullivan this semester to research how the obesity of non-human primates affects their offspring.

“I never thought that it would be so mind blowing,” Bui said. “We can draw conclusions from what we find in the research and help people who are experiencing similar characteristics or maybe even developing healthier lifestyles. It’s so profound to think that you are able to conduct something, and transfer that knowledge to the bigger population to help people become healthier.”

Sullivan and Bui were among the recipients of the Spring 2015 Provost’s Initiative on Undergraduate Research awards. The provost selects faculty members to mentor and collaborate with an underclassman on a co-designed research project.

Bui spends three to four hours a week in the Romanaggi Hall computer lab, working her way through a series of 32 videos. The videos, 45 to 47 minutes each in length, focus on the offspring of an obese non-human primate.

The primate is alone in a cage for the first 10 minutes of the video. Then a researcher, normally Sullivan, walks into the room and sits without interacting with the primate. Eventually, Sullivan will get up close and personal with the primate, attempting to make eye contact.

Bui observes the primates’ behavior and takes detailed notes. Bui says that she has taken note of several social similarities between humans and the non-human primates.

“We found that monkeys who are more obese or have obese parents are less likely to make eye contact because they are afraid or more drawn back,” Bui said. “And you can think about that in our society as well. There hasn’t been a specific study done, but if someone is less confident about the way they look, they are not as likely to go out and interact or make eye contact.”

Sullivan and other researchers also experimented with trying to frighten the animal. Bui said the videos sometimes show Sullivan wearing a vampire mask or a cone head to see how the primate will react.

“One behavior I found in the primate when someone is wearing a vampire mask or a cone head was lip smacking,” Bui said. “It kind of correlates with anxiety, like grinding your teeth when you get nervous about something.”

The world of undergraduate research is new to Bui. She says she is grateful to Sullivan, who was her physiology professor last semester, for helping her gain experience.

“She cares that I’m interested in this, and she’s appreciative of my time and the effort that I’m putting in,” Bui said. “It’s just so nice to have her as a mentor.”

Sullivan has been working on this project with a team of researchers since 2008. She hopes to translate her results to human problems with obesity.

“We knew that obese mothers were more likely to have children that would grow up to be obese.” Sullivan said. “But we didn’t know if that was just genetic, or a result of a shared environment, or if something else is happening during development. That’s why we started investigating.”

The ultimate goal of Sullivan and Bui’s research is to help pregnant women who struggle with obesity find the best way to take proper care of their pregnancy and their child’s health.

Through her experiments, Sullivan has discovered that cutting out unhealthy food from the primate’s diet just during it’s pregnancy can seriously impact the physical and psychological state of the offspring.

She hopes this evidence will help obese pregnant women make healthy choices during their pregnancy.

“They may not be able to give up McDonald’s and eating ice cream forever,” Sullivan said. “But perhaps, just like you give up alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, they’d be willing to give up unhealthy food as well.”

Bui is working towards a career in dentistry and she hopes that this research will further her work.

“The choices you make correlate to your lifestyle and overall that’s something I want to do as a career,” Bui said. “I’m interested in oral health. I think this research will not only make me a better science student but it will make me a more knowledgeable dentist in the future.”

–Story from the Beacon

Community Remembers Katie Chale as a caring friend

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ChaleThey called her their soccer “mom” and loved her laugh. She was admired for her strong leadership and her big heart. Her passion for adventure was rivaled only by her commitment to helping others. Among the many campus groups she participated in – the biology and Spanish communities, the club soccer team and Relay for Life – Katie Chale, a ’14 alum, was a vibrant presence.

Chale, 22, who died Sept. 17 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident on Vashon Island near Seattle, was honored at an informal memorial Mass. She is survived by her parents and her brother.

“She was fearless but responsible, mature but always knew when to have fun, and incredibly intelligent,” said Katy Danforth, a friend of Chale’s who played soccer with her.

Fr. Art Wheeler, who was the presider and homilist at the memorial Mass, said he saw those traits in Chale during her time working in the Study Abroad office.

“She was very earnest about making a difference in terms of helping other people,” Wheeler said. “She was very oriented towards others.”

Katie and KateChale worked as a student coordinator for the Granada study abroad program for more than two years after studying there her sophomore year. She took most of her Spanish courses with professor Kate Regan, who died unexpectedly on July 23.

Regan and Chale were good friends, and the background of Chale’s phone was a photo of the two at the 2014 graduation ceremony in May.

The energy Chale poured into her Spanish classes was purposeful. She saw the language as a tool to help her help others, according to Wheeler.

Chale’s first experience in humanitarian work abroad was her 2009 two-week immersion in Paraguay. She was troubled by the lack of medical services for people there, especially as some suffered from easily fixed ailments.

Her mission in coming to UP was in part to prepare herself for working in a medical-aid capacity in Latin America.

Yet Chale also spread her energy into other campus areas. She made time to enjoy athletic activities like hiking, and she loved exploring the Pacific Northwest coast.

Senior Jessie Robinson, who played club soccer with her for two years, remembers Chale fondly.

“We called her the team mom,” Robinson said. “She was always the one with the Band-Aids and the Ibuprofen. She looked after us and cared for us. We were so grateful to have her.”

The team also gave the nickname “team dad” to Chale’s boyfriend Chris Roberts, who  attended games to support them and always brought a camera.

Robinson said Chale’s leadership style, which balanced determination with laughter, was inspiring.

“There was just something about her that made you want to prove that you were good enough to be on the team with her,” Robinson said. “She knew how to put you in a good mood even when you were freezing”.

“We’re going to miss her so much.”

Beacon Receives National Recognition

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By: Nancy Copic, Assistant Director of Student Media & Adviser to The Beacon

From THE BEACON BLOG

When I saw the email subject line “Gold Circle Winners Announced,” my reflex was to steel myself for disappointment. My expectations could not have been lower.

Gold Circle Awards are national awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association based at the graduated school of the Columbia School of Journalism in N.Y. There are so many better-funded, impressively-staffed college journalism programs and student media programs out there, I believed The Beacon could maybe score an honorable mention. At best.

Not that I don’t swell with pride over the work of the students journalists at The Beacon. I obviously had enough faith to enter The Beacon’s work. It’s just that, well, our little Beacon, we’re not really in the major leagues. Are we? The email revealed the surprising (to me, at least) answer: Yes, at least in 6  awards categories. Six awards and three certificates of merit (honorable mention). Did I mention these are national awards?

[Read more…] about Beacon Receives National Recognition

An Evening with a Poet

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By: Hannah Murray, Guest Commentator

From THE BEACON

Have you ever wondered who is behind those words on the page? Literature is meant to be an intimate conversation between the author and reader, but what if you actually got to ask those questions up close and personal? Questions like: Why did you use such interesting line breaks on page 45? What was your inspiration behind this book? How did you get into writing poetry? For many, these thoughts are simply a tool to dive into the literature but for some lucky ones, Monday was an opportunity to ask these burning questions. Wayne Miller, the author of several esteemed works including The City, Our City, The Book of Props, and Only the Senses Sleep,was on campus this past weekend and on Monday gave an inspired reading of his past works as well as a sneak peek into his current project.

In preparation for Miller’s arrival, Dr. Asarnow’s Contemporary American Poetry class read The City, Our City and spent a week discussing the intricate, often abstract topics Miller presents. The first stop on his journey at UP was for a question and answer session in our class. As a sophomore, this was my first experience having a direct conversation with such a successful, distinguished author. Later that afternoon, the English Department hosted a small dinner which included 8 students from Contemporary American Poetry, Dr. Asarnow, and Wayne Miller at St. John’s greatest pub: McMenamin’s. Over Cajun tater tots, Miller told us about his views on Poetic translation and how they can be the greatest tool to examining language. He told us everything from the journal that’s always present in his back pocket to his literate fluency in Albanian all the way to his aversion to tomatoes.

One of the greatest insights Wayne shared with us was that when writing, it is important to listen to what the words are trying to show you. By listening, you may end up with something much greater than what you set out to do. Lastly, and what I think to be most important, he spoke of one of his favorite poets, W.H. Auden, and told us about his favorite ideal: “A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” I hope that Wayne inspired many during his reading, but if nothing else, it was an evening full of laughs.

Hannah Murray is a sophomore biology major. She can be reached at murray15@up.edu.