PNW Pridecast: Enhance students’ futures with a PNW Day of Giving gift

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Episode Script

Hello, Purdue Northwest colleagues! Welcome back again to the PNW Pridecast, your internal news podcast for learning the latest university faculty and staff news.

I’m Kale Wilk, Communications Specialist in Marketing and Communications, and we have some neat topics to share with you for April. Listen in as we share more about PNW Day of Giving, One Book, One University, and the PNW Alumni Hall of Fame.

Invest in students’ futures with a PNW Day of Giving gift

Mark your calendars and get ready for the 10th annual PNW Day of Giving on April 26!

Day of Giving is PNW’s most successful campaign for supporting new or existing student scholarships, as well as enhancing support for programs throughout the university that benefit PNW students and the Northwest Indiana community. For many students, your generous gifts help enhance their higher education experience to not only be able to enjoy PNW’s high quality academics, but also to engage in a meaningful college experience with co-curricular activities.

The 24-hour fundraiser runs from 11 p.m. central time on April 25 through 11 p.m. on April 26. By visiting dayofgiving.pnw.edu, you can make a gift to 81 different funds across 16 PNW units. Your gift can help a range of initiatives, including student scholarships in all of PNW’s academic colleges, student needs like the PNW campus food pantry or Dean of Students Emergency Assistance Fund and more. Donations can also be made in support of Gabis Arboretum at Purdue Northwest, the Purdue Northwest Sinai Forum, PNW Pride Athletics teams and the university’s strategic initiatives.

Units will compete in hourly challenges in which units that raise the most money or have the highest number of gifts during certain time periods can win bonus funds. After making a gift, donors are encouraged to join the conversation and share their message of support on social media with #PNWDayofGiving.

Here’s Mackenzie Covault, annual fund and donor communications coordinator, with more:

“From speaking with students who have received some type of scholarship, or their program has benefitted from Purdue Northwest Day of Giving,” said Covault, “they understand the value that Purdue Northwest Day of Giving has on them as a student. A lot of them have the same reiterated message: that they would not be here, they would not be able to participate in student organizations, they would not be able to have this opportunity to receive an education…they understand the value that our donors have.

“They are grateful. They are just so thankful to receive a scholarship and that these scholarship opportunities are available at Purdue Northwest. The students recognize that these scholarships give them the opportunity to finish their degree and to actually enjoy their time at Purdue Northwest.”

For more information about the different ways you can support PNW with your gift, visit dayofgiving.pnw.edu.

Next One Book, One University selection to address topics of mental health

The book selection for PNW’s One Book, One University program in the 2023-24 academic year will address the important and timely topic of mental health. PNW faculty and staff will have the chance to join students in reading and discussing What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, co-authored by psychiatrist and academic Bruce Perry and media personality Oprah Winfrey.

One Book, One University is an initiative that offers a shared text for PNW faculty to read with and teach to their students, ultimately fostering an interdisciplinary interpretation and application to their respective areas of expertise. During the academic year, the book’s selection committee collaborates on faculty and expert panels, and typically invites book authors to deliver keynote addresses on campus. Earlier this month, PNW welcomed Deirdre Mask to talk about The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power as the keynote for the annual Days of Discovery research symposium.

What Happened to You? provides personal narratives that shed light on how our personal experiences, including overcoming adversity or trauma, shape our current-day behaviors and demeanors.

Amanda Zelechoski, professor of Psychology and founding director of Clinical Training, helped explain the significance of the selection on a recent PNW Today program. She also has conducted work with Bruce Perry during her professional career.

“What I think is so brilliant about this book for our timing and our campuses is that it is a conversation,” said Zelechoski. “Dr. Perry is just really brilliant at translating science in ways that make it accessible to all of us. The way that he and Oprah outline the beginnings of their work together, which I think is just so wonderful for our own roots, they began their relationship and work together in LaPorte County, Indiana.

“They have continued to work together to help communities and societies understand the impact of early childhood trauma on the trajectories of our lives, on the ways we interact with one another, just how we move through the world. What they are trying to do is help us understand the neuroscience and psychological science, but not just that, they also talk about some of these systemic inequities, like racial oppression, all of these other aspects that feed into how the things that have happened to us in our lives impact the ways we move through the world.

“Many of our students, faculty, and staff have been through a lot of things in their lives. They come to us as whole people with those parts of their backgrounds. It just really gives us a wonderful framework to have these conversations with each other and to understand where we are coming from.”

For more information, visit pnw.edu/one-book.

Three leaders to be inducted into PNW Alumni Hall of Fame

PNW recently announced three impactful alumni to honor as its second annual PNW Alumni Hall of Fame class.

The 2023 honorees include Robert Johnson III, Stewart McMillan and Alfredo Sori. PNW’s Alumni Hall of Fame honors alumni who are high-achieving leaders in their fields, involved members of their communities and who have engaged with PNW well beyond their time as students.

This year’s three honorees will be honored June 8 during a reception and dinner hosted in Alumni Hall in the Student Union and Library Building. Ticket and sponsorship information can be found at pnw.edu/hall-of-fame. A percentage of proceeds will support PNW student scholarships.

Here’s Katie Holderby, director of Alumni Engagement, with more:

“I think being a role model, a mentor, cultivating talent, and exuding confidence and supporting someone is important,” said Holderby. “I think recognitions like this are important because it allows people to look in the mirror and realize that they have made a contribution. As we grow as employees, alumni, parents, or friends, I think that it is important to teach those lessons that we have learned to the next generation. They (the honorees) exemplify what we want our future leaders to be. They target philanthropy, contributing to their communities, and show leadership.”

To learn more about PNW’s 2023 inductees and the Alumni Hall of Fame, please visit pnw.edu/hall-of-fame.

Recent news

We have a few recent news items to close out with:

• Several PNW faculty members received approval for promotions starting in the 2023-24 academic year by the Purdue University Board of Trustees. The promotions are effective Aug. 14.

Faculty members promoted to the rank of professor include: John Durocher, Nils K. Nelson endowed professor of Integrative Human Health; Tae-Hoon Kim, professor of Computer Information Technology and Graphics; Assen Kokalov, professor of Spanish; and Beth Voterro, professor of Nursing.

Faculty members promoted to the rank of associate professor include: Tom Liu, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering; Ying Luo, associate professor of Computer Information Technology and Graphics; Quamar Niyaz, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Serdar Turedi, associate professor of Business Analytics; and Wubeshet Woldemariam, associate professor of Civil Engineering.

John T. Eagan was also promoted to the rank of clinical associate professor of Accounting.

• The Indiana Lawyer is recognizing Shontrai Irving, clinical associate professor of Business Law, in its 2023 Leadership in Law awards. Irving is among the honorees for Distinguished Barrister. The Indiana Lawyer annually honors members of the legal community who have shown commitment to their profession, clients, and communities they serve. Distinguished Barrister honorees have practiced law for 20 years or more.

That is all we have time for! You can catch up on past episodes and submit your internal faculty and staff news or suggestions by visiting pnw.edu/pridecast.

I’m Kale Wilk, signing off, and I’ll connect with you again in a few weeks.