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On Campus - Stories
May 5, 2000 Vol. 52, No. 46

From left: Julian Archer, Madelyn Levitt, Daniel Spencer, Stephen Hoag celebrate the awards.
Archer, Spencer garner Levitt awards

Drake's top awards for faculty and staff recently were presented to Julian Archer, professor of history, and Daniel Spencer, associate professor of religion and ethics.
Archer received the 2000 Madelyn M. Levitt Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award and Spencer was honored with the 2000 Madelyn M. Levitt Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award. These awards were created in 1994 by Madelyn M. Levitt, national chair of the University's $190 million Campaign Drake and a member of Drake's Board of Governors.

In presenting the University's top award for mentors at the Spring Faculty/Staff Recognition, Interim Provost Stephen Hoag said Archer is noted for his extraordinary commitment to student success and that he often serves as a mentor to students who are not even enrolled in his classes.

Hoag also noted that Archer volunteers as the faculty representative for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, helping Drake students prepare for the rigorous competition for the $30,000 scholarship. Since 1990, six Drake students have been selected as Truman Scholars, including Sheila R. McCoy, a senior who recommended Archer for the Levitt Mentor of the Year Award.

"Dr. Archer's guidance was always tremendously helpful," McCoy wrote in a letter of recommendation. "The hours that he spent with me, meticulously combing my responses for clarity, accuracy and grammatical errors allowed us to form a wonderful relationship. I consider him to be one of my dearest friends and a spectacular mentor."

Effective mentoring, Archer said, comes from both the heart and the mind. "It is not a formula extracted from a manual, but rather a desire to see each student discover his or her potential. This means spending uninterrupted periods of time with students individually - probing, questioning, analyzing and, eventually, leading them to formulate in their own words thoughts as immediate as what they have learned in a course or as long range as what they want to do with their lives."

Professor Spencer, the 2000 Madelyn M. Levitt Outstanding Teacher of the Year, joined the Drake faculty in 1993 and serves as president of the Faculty Senate this year. He routinely takes students on retreats, organizes voluntary field trips and leads travel seminars to Latin America.

In presenting Spencer's award, Hoag quoted from a four-page letter of nomination from Jennifer McCrickerd, assistant professor of philosophy. Her comments included:
"Students take Dan's courses because Dan is teaching them. They know that his courses are rigorous and will push them to engage in issues in an entirely new way. They know that his classes will open their worlds and help them to see what they can do to make a difference. Because Dan firmly believes that learning only begins in the classroom and must extend outside of the classroom, his classes require outside work that engages and begins to change the world."

Sam Brooke, a senior from Crosby, N.D., also endorsed Spencer for the Madelyn M. Levitt Teacher of the Year Award. What really sets Spencer apart from his peers, Brooke said, "is his interaction with me and other students in the classroom, his sincere dedication to helping students learn not just by hearing, but by doing, and his seemingly unending dedication and stamina to help us students."
Duncan, Wilson to receive honorary degrees May 14

Approximately 1,000 students will be honored at Drake University's commencement ceremonies on May 13 and 14.

The Law School commencement ceremony will start at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at the Drake Knapp Center. The Law School will award 105 juris doctorate degrees. Bonnie Campbell, LA'82, LW'84, director of U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Women Office, will give the commencement address. A reception will follow at the Downtown Marriott.

The main speakers at the undergraduate commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 14, at the Drake Knapp Center will be Drake President David Maxwell and honorary degree recipients Marie C. Wilson, GR'80, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women; and Dayton R. Duncan, an author and writer/producer of documentary films who was born and raised in Indianola, Iowa. Also speaking at the ceremony will be Sam Brooke, winner of the Oreon E. Scott Award - the top honor for Drake seniors.

Following the ceremony for 536 graduates there will be a commencement picnic on the north side of Wifvat Plaza. After the picnic, the commencement ceremony for graduate students will start at 2 p.m. in the Drake Knapp Center. Approximately 325 graduate degrees will be awarded. The featured speaker will be Interim Provost Stephen Hoag.
Ferrare resigns, effective Sept. 1

Jamie Ferrare, dean of the School of Education, has accepted a position as a senior consultant with Academic Search and Consulting Services of Washington, D.C. He will be leaving Drake, effective Sept. 1.

Academic Search has a long history in the search and consultation business and was seeking a person to lead the facilitation and group processing areas of its business, in addition to doing presidential, senior academic officer and vice president searches.

Ferrare plans to be here through the summer, working with faculty and staff to ensure a quality program review and smooth transition in leadership.
Scholarship deadline extended

The deadline for students to apply for the new Drake University/Des Moines Corporate Partner Scholarships has been extended to Friday, May 12. Applications are to be submitted to the Career Center.
Finals week starts with breakfast

Sodexho Marriott and the Student Senate will "kick off" finals week with a Midnight Breakfast from 11 p.m. to midnight on Sunday, May 7, in Crossroads (Hubbell South).

Faculty and staff are invited to help serve breakfast and mingle with the students. Volunteer servers should call Carla Carlson at x3516 by noon today (Friday, May 5).

From left: Paul Morrison, JO'39, and Don Adams were honored during Relays Weekend. A group of alumni established an endowed fund and held a reception in honor of Adams, executive assistant to the president. Morrison, who has been a full-time volunteer in the athletic department since his retirement in 1986, attended his 61st Drake Relays and was surprised to find that the annual Relays Lecture has been renamed in his honor. Morrison received a framed certificate at this year's lecture.



Law students Larry James Jr. and Larry James Sr. bought this Brattleboro Avenue house from Drake for $1 and had it trucked to 1121 26th St. to make way for the new Walgreen's store. The house will be renovated and sold. The home will be offered first to Drake faculty and staff.

Literacy Center receives $5,000

R.R. Donnelley Printing Co. L.P. recently presented the Drake Adult Literacy Center with a $5,000 check to help support operating costs this year. Volunteers at the center provide literacy instruction to any adult wishing to improve his or her reading, writing and/or speaking skills.

"Since our business involves putting words on paper... it's appropriate that we support activities and organizations that enhance literacy and the written word," said Bob Leveque, vice president/division director of the Des Moines Division of R.R. Donnelley.
Keep current on program review

To stay up to date with Drake's program review, check out this Web site:
www.drake.edu/artsci/drakeprogrev/.
Drake mourns Bruce Vennard

Bruce I. Vennard, professor emeritus of education, died April 25 of complications of multiple sclerosis at Mercy Medical Center. He was 72. Survivors include his wife, Elma, of Urbandale. The family plans to have a graveside service at McDivitt Cemetery at a later date.

Professor Vennard joined the Drake faculty in 1964 and retired in 1991. "He was very amiable and very well liked by students and faculty," said Lloyd Stjernberg, professor of education. "He taught human development and put a lot of emphasis on students' emotional, social and physical development as well as their academic development."

"Bruce Vennard was very optimistic about life in general and he cared for his students," added Charles Rowley, professor emeritus of education. "He was one of the most cheerful people I've known," said Ray Hock, professor emeritus of philosophy and education. "I remember every time you said, 'How are you?' he would say, 'I'm smart, good-looking and tough.'"
Alumni to be honored May 12

Faculty and staff are invited to join the Drake University National Alumni Association in honoring outstanding alumni on Friday, May 12. The honorees are Barbara A. Powers Hazlehurst, JO'69; Kevin Little, BN'90; Jennifer Lux Hidding, BN'93; Jodi Johnston Capps, FA'72; Bob Capps, BN'70; Kenneth J. Vegors, ED'71; Terry E. Branstad, LW'74; and Joe D. Batten, LA'50, GR'52.

The annual Alumni Awards Dinner will start with a cash bar from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Upper Gallery of Olmsted Center. Dinner and the awards ceremony will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in Parents Hall. The cost is $25 per person. For reservations, call x3152 by 4:30 p.m. today (Friday, May 5).
Summer renovation to enhance Cowles Library

Through a generous gift of $500,000 from the Gardner and Florence Cowles Foundation, a renovation project will soon take place in Cowles Library.
Beginning in late May, the second-floor reading room area will receive extensive restoration and enhancement. Walls, lighting, flooring, and seating will be upgraded - all in keeping with the design motifs of the original construction completed in 1939.

The atrium area adjacent to the reading room will receive a similar treatment, as well as an expanded conference room and student group study area. The renovation also will include display space for portions of the Drake archives and library special collections.

"This is yet another demonstration of the wonderful support that the Cowles family and foundation have provided Drake and in particular the library," said Rod Henshaw, dean of Cowles Library.

Plans call for completion of the project by late summer or early September. "Every effort will be made to minimize noise and disruption to other areas of the library," Henshaw said. Look to the library Web site at www.lib.drake.edu/index.html for additional information on the project and digital images of the work. Architectural drawings are on display in the lobby of Cowles Library this month.
Poetry festival comes to Drake

The capstone event of the Des Moines National Poetry Festival will take place at Drake University on Saturday, May 6.

C.K. Williams, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book, Repair, will receive the Weathertop Poetry Prize during the festival's culminating event, which will start at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. Williams, who teaches at Princeton University, also will read from his work. In addition, he will join guest poets Donald Hall, Robert Bly and Carolyn Kizer on the program.

The Des Moines National Poetry Festival is free and open to the public. For more information, call 255-8324.

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