MacMurray College’s Brady Slagle has been named the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 13.   

Slagle, a senior forward from Winchester, Ill., averaged 22 points and ten rebounds in two conference games last week. Slagle put up 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a 77-55 win over Blackburn College. He then followed up with 22 points, (on 7-of-12 shooting) and eight rebounds in a 63-52 loss on Saturday against Spalding University. This marks the second time this season Slagle has earned this weekly conference honor.

Slagle is an accounting major at MacMurray, and the son of Brad and Angie Slagle of Winchester. 

MacMurray College welcomes John Honnen to the Public Relations Department earlier this month. He will be managing the social media sites of MacMurray along with many other tasks.

Honnen lived in Jacksonville most of his life and graduated from Jacksonville High School. After that, he continued his education at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in marketing and a minor in mass communications. While at Edwardsville, he was an active member of the Marketing Association and elected president of the organization his senior year. Honnen brings with him a background in social media and design to the position.

“I am excited to be working back in my hometown and to get to know everyone here at MacMurray College,” Honnen said.  “I’m ready to expand our social media presence and to help a college I’ve known for a long time to grow.”

Except where noted, the following students graduated with bachelor’s degrees on Dec. 12, 2013 from MacMurray College:

• Kelia Beck, of Beardstown, IL,  majoring in psychology  
• September  Bush, of Aroma Park, Il, majoring in psychology       
• Brooke N. Clemmons, of Fisher, IL, majoring in psychology with a minor in health
• Leonel S. Coronado, of Coppell, TX, majoring in criminal justice
• Dawn Gartner, of Scales Mound, IL, majoring in social work
• Megan Graves, of Jacksonville, IL, majoring in educational studies: deaf and hard of hearing teacher education
• Andrew Hutchins, of Marion, IL, majoring in business administration
• Heather Imel, of  Polo, IL, majoring in psychology with a minor in deaf studies: American Sign Language
• Dillon Lascelles, of Ipava, IL, majoring in biology with a minor in psychology
• Maryjane Million, of Jacksonville, IL, graduated cum laude majoring in organizational leadership
• Gabriela Aleli Molina, formerly of Beardstown, IL, with a double major in psychology and Spanish
• Marian Ogbuli, of Homewood, IL, majoring in psychology with a minor in biology
• Mendy Michelle Overly, of Jacksonville, IL, majoring in social work
• Bradley Passini, of Standard, IL, majoring in business administration
• Switi Patel, of Jacksonville, IL, with a double major in accounting and business administration
• Leslie Piphus, of Springfield, IL, majoring in educational studies: elementary education
• Kimberly Sauerbry, of Jacksonville, IL, majoring in psychology
• Katherine Schmidt, of Baylis, IL, graduating magna cum laude with a double major in philosophy and religion and in psychology
• Tina M. Schnake Brunk, of Virginia, IL, graduating cum laude majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry
• Gennah Schwalb, of Beardstown, IL, majoring in psychology
• Raymond Lamar Smith, of Champaign, IL, majoring in English
• Dana Steben, of Lombard, IL, with a double major in accounting and business administration and a minor in deaf studies: American Sign Language
• Larry J. Williams, formerly of Albany, NY, an associate degree majoring in criminal justice

The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference announced the 2013 Fall All-Academic Team.  To meet this honor, the student-athlete must have had a 3.5 GPA or above in the season of their respective sport. 

The following football players from MacMurray College made the grade:

• James Beldsoe, a sophomore from Kansas City, Missouri; he is the son of Kathy Bledsoe of Kansas City. 

• Chance Bowen, a freshman from Abingdon, Ill. pre physical therapy major.

• Corion Cole is a freshman from Florissant, Mo.  He is the son of LaToya Williams of Florissant. 

• Ezal Howard, a freshman psychology major from Middletown, NY, son of Kimberly Howard of Middletown.

• Joe Legendre a sophomore of Collinsville, Ill.  Son of Patty and Wally Platz.

• Zach Mudd from St. Charles, Mo., son of Brandon and Melodie of Vista, Calif.

• Laren Sanford a freshman nursing major from Greencastle, Ind. He is the son of Jim and Sara Sanford of Greencastle.

• James Simelton, a senior, business administration major from Memphis, Tenn.  He is the son of Gloria Jones. 

• Miles Tabarez of Los Angeles, Calif.  He is a freshman, secondary education major and the son of Monica Tabarez.

• Vattel Voigt, a sophomore physical education major from Jonesboro, Georgia.  He is the son of Myrlande of Jonesboro.

The following students were named to the dean’s list for the fall 2013 semester at MacMurray College. To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must have a 3.5 grade point average and be enrolled full time for at least 12 credit hours. 

Click here to view the Dean's List for the fall 2013 semester at MacMurray College.

The next film in the Humanities Film Series: Perspectives on War delves into the nature of courage and following orders with a screening of Paths of Glory.

The viewing will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 in the downstairs meeting room of the Jacksonville Public Library. Chris Ashmore, director of the Jacksonville Public Library, will introduce and lead a discussion of the film. The viewing and discussion are free and open to the public.

A classic anti-war drama, directed by Stanley Kubrick, Paths of Glory tells the story of a stubborn French officer during World War I who orders his troops on a hopeless suicide mission. When the troops retreat in the face of a certain death, he demands that three soldiers be selected for execution as cowards.

This powerful film, starring Kirk Douglas and Adolphe Menjou, exposes the insanity of war.  Wonderfully photographed from its realistic trench warfare sequences to its final courtroom climax, Paths of Glory remains as powerful a film today as when initially released.

 This is the final event in the 2013-14 Perspectives on War, which has been co-sponsored by the Jacksonville Public Library and MacMurray College. The series presented four viewings and discussions of films that delve into the human condition through the lens of the experience and effects of war.

JACKSONVILLE, IL -- Come find out how afraid you should be. You may need to sleep with the lights on after this.

The next Science in the Movies film series offering at MacMurray College will be “Call the National Guard! Aliens and Monsters in the Movies,” scheduled for 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16 at the Bailey Auditorium in Julian Hall, on Clay Street on the MacMurray campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

By viewing clips from such films as Independence Day and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, MacMurray Assistant Professor of Physics Joanne Budzien will look at the science indicating the possible physiology of aliens and monsters (for example, how big can spiders get?) and whether an organism evolved for one type of environment could comfortably visit Earth.

 The clips for this presentation are edited for adult content and language, but some scenes may be too intense for younger viewers and will show humans in danger from aliens and monsters.

The next topic up is superheroes, on March 16 at the same time and place.

JACKSONVILLE, IL -- Auditions for a performance in April of the Albert Camus play, The Misunderstanding, will be Thursday, Feb. 13, at 4:15-5:30 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 14 at 12:15-1:30 p.m. Auditions will take place in the Marian Chase Schaeffer Studio Theatre, second floor at the south side of the Education Complex on the MacMurray College campus.

  The auditions are open to MacMurray and area students and members of the community. There are parts for four women and three men.

 For the audition, actors may either:

 1)   Present a monologue from the play; the passage does not need to be memorized, but the actor should be very familiar with it and show that he or she has begun to develop a character. Copies of monologues are available at the front desk in the Center for Learning Excellence and Henry Pfeiffer Library.

 2)   Present a monologue of the actor’s choice from another play.

Actors also may be asked to read a scene with a partner. Performances will be Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5.

For more information or questions, contact MacMurray faculty Jeannie Zeck, associate professor of English and theatre, at jeannie.zeck@mac.edu, or Eric Berg, associate professor of philosophy and religion, at eric.berg@mac.edu.

MacMurray College will host a poetry celebration to honor Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the Marian Chase Schaeffer Studio Theatre, second floor, south side of the Education Complex on Hardin Avenue on the  MacMurray College campus.

MacMurray students, faculty and staff and members of the community are invited to perform and attend the event.

The celebration will include the performance of poems, rap, and spoken word written or influenced by African-American poets. Original works are also welcome. Prizes will be awarded for best performance, most original works, best non-spoken poem (in American Sign Language) and many more.

Performances are limited to five minutes per poem. Participants should sign up 15 minutes before the performance.  A selected list of African-American poems is on reserve at MacMurray’s Henry Pfeiffer Library for inspiration and/or use.

  For any questions, please contact Dr. Deborah Kuzmanovic, deborah.kuzmanovic@mac.edu, or Dr. Robert Seufert, robert.seufert@mac.edu.

MacMurray College’s Brady Slagle was named a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Player of the Week Honors for the week of February 3.   

Slagle, a senior forward from Winchester, Ill., is the SLIAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third time this season.  Slagle recorded two double-doubles in two conference wins over the past week. 

He scored 21 points while grabbing 13 rebounds in a win over Iowa Wesleyan. In that game he added four assists and one steal while shooting 8-of-16 from the field. He followed with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Greenville. On the week Slagle averaged 17.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. 

Slagle is an accounting major at MacMurray, and the son of Brad and Angie Slagle of Winchester. 

The MacMurray College men’s basketball team begins St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament play Thursday evening against Webster University in Louisville, KY, and the public is invited to watch the match-up on the MacMurray campus.

 The game will be streamed online Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Bailey Auditorium, located in Julian Hall. The public is invited and the event is free.

 Julian is located on South Clay Street, between the Henry Pfeifer Library and Freesen Football Field on the MacMurray campus.

 Those who would like to watch the game on their own computers should go to http://www.ustream.tv/search?q=spalding%20university. The game can also viewed on mobile devices at http://m.ustream.tv/search/?q=spaldinguniversity.

The game will be a rubber match between Webster and MacMurray on a neutral court. Before Tuesday nights’ games, they had identical 14-3 conference records and each team beat the other at home during the regular season.

 If the Highlanders win today’s (Tuesday’s) game against Iowa Wesleyan College, the MacMurray team will also be playing Webster to tie the school record for the most wins in a season with the 1992-93 men’s team that went 20-7. Going into Tuesday’s game, the Highlanders are 18-6 overall for the season and 14-3 in the SLIAC.

 The four teams with the best records in conference play during the regular season compete in the SLIAC tournament, with the No. 1 team hosting, which this year is Spalding University in Louisville, which plays Westminster College Thursday. The winners of Thursday’s match-ups will play in the tournament championship game at noon Saturday. That game will be streamed at the same links as above.

 The winner of the SLIAC conference tournament goes to the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament the following weekend.

The MacMurray College men’s basketball team are headed to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball tournament, which begins Thursday evening in Louisville, KY.

 Students, faculty, staff and friends of the college gathered Wednesday in the Wall Gym lobby, to cheer on as the team bus leaves for the tournament.

 Among the area players on the team are Hunter Sutton and Dylan Burton, both of Girard; Cole Busch of Auburn; Clayton Whitlock of Springfield; Dylan Guthrie and Brady Slagle of Winchester and Kollin Keltner of Franklin.

 The top four teams in the conference compete in the tournament, with the winner of Saturday's championship game going to the first round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament the following weekend. Each year, the SLIAC tournament is hosted by the conference leader, which this year is Spalding University, in Louisville.

Click here to watch the send-off.

MacMurray College will be hosting a triage/disaster drill on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. The event will close down a block of Clay Street between State Street and College Street.

During the morning of the drill, students will the different types of disasters and the roles they play in those disasters. That training will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Putnam/Springer Center on MacMurray College’s campus.

Students from the social work, psychology, criminal justice, homeland security, and nursing programs will be participating. Also volunteering at this year’s event: the National Guard 709^th Area Support Medical Company, Lifestar Paramedic Dave Bey, and Neighborhood Guys and Gals 4-H.

Dr. Georgine Berent, associate professor at MacMurray College, is in charge of the event.

Cook County Assistant Public Defender Theresa Nelson will speak on common ethical problems that lawyers face in the criminal courts.

 Her talk, “How Can You Stand to Defend Those People? – Ethical issues in Criminal Law,” will be Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Thoresen Recital Hall, located in the Putnam/Springer Center at the southeast corner of State and Clay streets on the MacMurray College campus.

 The event, the latest in the 2014 MacMurray Speakers Series, Diversity in the Heartland, is free and open to the public.

 Nelson, a 2001 MacMurray College graduate and 2004 graduate of DePaul University College of Law, handles felony criminal cases in Cook County, ranging from drug possession, theft  and DUIs to armed robbery, sexual assault and attempted murder.  Prior to working at the Felony Trial Division, she worked in the First Municipal Division and the Child Protection Division, all within the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.

 She will talk about how lawyers in the criminal justice system navigate some of the ethical issues they face on a day-to-day basis. Among the topics she will discuss are ethical obligations lawyers have to their clients and to the court, and some ways lawyers deal with representing difficult clients.

 She will also discuss some examples of ethical issues in the context of some highly publicized criminal cases, including one where a defendant admitted to his lawyers that he committed a murder for which another man was wrongfully convicted; as well as a case in which a prosecutor was suspended and demoted for dismissing a case for lack of evidence.  

MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, will exhibit the works of regional artist Jeff Robinson in March.

 The opening reception for the show “Artifacts,” will be March 6 at 6-8 p.m. in the Applebee Gallery, located in the Putnam/Springer Center on the southeast corner of State and Clay streets on the MacMurray campus. The artist’s talk begins at 6:30 p.m.

 “Artifacts” will include 15 of Robinson’s works, including “Spilling Stack” (pictured),  a 2013 sculpture made of wood, carpet padding, vinyl, ceiling tile, foam, felt, tape, and acrylic.

 Robinson’s work investigates the interconnection between two-dimensional art forms and the material world. He approaches his sculptures from the mindset of a painter, and he seeks to establish a conversation between these divergent languages. He strives to transform the materials he assembles into his work in order to reveal a transcendence that extends beyond the everyday.

 Robinson was born, raised, and currently resides in central Illinois. His work has been published in New American Paintings and Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual. Robinson has exhibited locally, regionally, and nationally at venues in Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, and New York.

 In addition to his studio practice, Robinson is an instructor of art at the University of Illinois Springfield. He also serves as the Gallery Director for the University’s Visual Arts Gallery. He received his MFA from Illinois State University in 2011.

MacMurray College hosted a triage/disaster drill on Saturday, March 1.

During the morning of the drill, students learned the different types of disasters and the roles they play in those disasters.

Students from the social work, psychology, criminal justice, homeland security, and nursing programs participated. Also volunteers at this year’s event include the National Guard 709^th Area Support Medical Company, Lifestar Paramedic Dave Bey, and Neighborhood Guys and Gals 4-H.

For a photo gallery of the event by Kendra Brown ’16, click here.

For video clips, click here.

For news coverage of the event, click here.

Brady Slagle finished a stellar career last week by being named the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Player of the Year.

 Slagle is the first player from MacMurray College to be named player of the year in men’s basketball by the conference.

 He is the only player in the conference to rank in the top five of points, rebounds minutes played and assists during conference play. Slagle averaged 16 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, ranking third in both categories. He ranked fourth in assists, with 84, during the conference season.

 With the efforts of Slagle, the Highlanders clinched a berth in the SLIAC tournament where they faced off against Webster University. In that game, Slagle had 19 points and nine rebound in a loss to Webster.

 Slagle, a captain on this year’s Highlander team, was a three-time Player of the Week from the conference during the season, and scored more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds during his career.

 Three other Highlanders were named to SLIAC All-Conference teams. Spencer Pratt earned SLIAC All-Conference Second-Team honors, and Cole Busch was named to the All-Sportsmanship team. For the women’s team, freshman KayDee Carmody was selected to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship team.

Could you be the next American superhero if you just knew the right engineer or unguarded radioactive creature?  Come find out your chances -- they’re better than you might think.

The next Science in the Movies film series at MacMurray College, “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Superheroes in the Movies!” is scheduled for 4 p.m., Sunday, March 16 at the Bailey Auditorium in Julian Hall, located on Clay Street between the Henry Pfeiffer Library and Freesen Football Field on the MacMurray campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

 By viewing clips from such films as Captain America, Spiderman and, of course, Superman, MacMurray Assistant Professor of Physics Joanne Budzien will look at the gear and special abilities of superheroes in the movies to see whether they are scientifically possible.

 “Superheroes in the Movies” is the latest in MacMurray’s Science in the Movies film series, which applies physics, chemistry and other natural sciences to movie special effects to answer the question: Are Hollywood films good, bad or ugly science?

 The next presentation is on computers and robots in the movies on April 6 at the same time and place.

Livewire, the annual MacMurray College phone-a-thon to alumni and friends of the College, raised a record amount in 2014, exceeding the goal by 20 percent.

More than two dozen student callers reached 1,825 people over the three week period Feb. 9-March 2, receiving 756 pledges totaling $180,000. Along the way, the student caller team got pledges from 84 new donors and saw 211 people increase their pledges, 31 more than in 2013.

 “Thanks to the steadfast and generous support of our alumni and friends, and the enthusiasm and hard work of our student call team, Livewire 2014 was an enormous success,” said Bridget Phillips, executive director of Institutional Advancement at MacMurray. “I am extremely proud of the 27 students who participated this year and grateful to our donors, who not only gave generously but engaged our student callers in meaningful and inspiring conversations.”

Student caller Antonio Blackmon-Nelson, of Bloomington, IL, won the Williams Award for the most pledges received. Endowed by Joan Shaw Williams, a 1958 graduate of MacMurray and family, upon the death of her husband, Neil, a 1961 graduate and former Trustee of the College, the endowment provides a monetary award towards tuition for the caller with the most pledges.

Also receiving special recognition for their calling efforts were: Reba Barnes, of Franklin, IL; Kelsey Curren, of East St. Louis, IL; Gabriela Garcia, of Chicago, IL, Katricia Kassing, of Greenfield, IL; Terrell Peal, of St. Louis, MO; Jeslyn Walker, of Geneva, IL, and Larry J. Williams, of Albany, NY.

The Livewire phone-a-thon, which is more than 30 years old, is an annual fundraising effort by the College to support the operations of MacMurray. The money it provides scholarships to needy students and helps fill the gap between tuition income and the costs of operating MacMurray’s award-winning undergraduate education.

Pictured: Student callers James Simelton, of Memphis, TN, and Fonashay Potter of Rockford, IL, celebrate exceeding the 2014 goal.

The MacMurray College is hosting its 15^th annual Take Back the Night commemoration at 7 p.m. March 20 in McClelland Dining Hall on the MacMurray campus.

 Take Back the Night calls attention to violence in our daily lives: child abuse, harassment of gays and lesbians, dating violence, sexual abuse and racial discrimination.

The keynote speaker at the event is Margaret Oltman, prevention educator at the

Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault in Springfield, IL. Her speech is titled “A World of Respect.” Much of the evening is devoted to personal narratives of audience members. This event will be interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing.

 “Many Take Back the Night events are focused only on sexual assault of women,” said Jeannie Zeck, associate professor of English and Theatre at MacMurray, who organizes the annual event. “That is certainly a very serious and common crime, and our event at Mac is inclusive of sexual assault,” Dr. Zeck continued. “In addition, Mac’s event calls awareness to all kinds of inter-personal violence and recognizes that people of both genders, all ages and all sexual identities can be victims. Our goal is to openly acknowledge the violence that exists in our homes and communities and put an end to it.”

For any questions, contact Dr. Jeannie Zeck, 479-7019.