Medley of commencement ceremonies caps college days The next generation of Drake alumni will don their caps and gowns for the commencement rites of passage beginning this week. For a complete list of graduation details, visit the Drake home page at www.drake.edu and click on the graduation link on "Latest News." Academy Award-winning actress Cloris Leachman and renowned composer Alice Yost Jordan, FA'38, will receive honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from Drake at its 125th Commencement Ceremony for Undergraduates on Sunday, May 14. The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. in the Drake Knapp Center. Leachman and Jordan will speak at the ceremony along with Drake President David Maxwell and Amy Schoepf, winner of the Oreon E. Scott Award, the top award for Drake undergraduates. "I am simply overwhelmed by this incredible honor from my friends at Drake and thrilled to be returning home to accept it," Leachman said. She is scheduled to visit Roosevelt at 10 a.m. Monday, May 15, to meet with drama students and become an honorary member of Roosevelt's championship girls' basketball team. She also will visit the Playhouse at 1 p.m. that day. From her early days on the boards of Drake University's Children's Theatre and the Des Moines Playhouse, Leachman realized that acting would be her life's work. At the age of 20, she starred in the original Broadway run of "South Pacific" and later, in various live television theatre broadcasts. Leachman is an eight-time Emmy award winner, and her work in television spans more than 50 years. First a cast regular on the original "Bob and Ray Show" and later as the owner of "Lassie," Leachman is probably best known as the rapier sharp Phyllis Lindstrom in the 1970s comedies "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Phyllis." In the 80s, Leachman nurtured the rambunctious girls of the Eastland School - and a fresh new actor named George Clooney - on the show "The Facts of Life." An entirely new generation has experienced Leachman's wit through her role as Grandma Ida on the current Fox series "Malcolm in the Middle." She has also starred on the Lifetime mini-series "Beach Girls" and in the CBS drama "Joan of Arcadia." Leachman, now 80 years old, continues to thrive in her career. She has received rave reviews for her recent portrayals of "wacky old ladies" in the films "Bad Santa" and "Spanglish" and the acclaimed HBO movie "Mrs. Harris." Jordan's music, performed worldwide, has been the subject of doctoral dissertations and won recognition in national competition. Her work is highly respected by other musicians as well, including fellow Drake graduate and famed operatic baritone Sherrill Milnes, who commissioned Jordan to write "Take Joy Home," a song Milnes performed at a White House state dinner and on his world tour. The Iowa High School Music Association, which hosts the annual All-State Festival Concert of premier high school musicians, commissioned Jordan for an arrangement of "America the Beautiful," which has become a hallmark of each All-State concert. Jordan is unwavering in her support of the arts throughout central Iowa. She has served on boards of the Des Moines Civic Music Association, the Des Moines Symphony and the Des Moines Women's Club. In addition to her many philanthropic endeavors at Drake, Jordan has been president of the Drake Alumnae Association and chairperson of the Scholarship and Loan Board. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 2002. In honor of Jordan's husband, the late Frank B. Jordan, former dean of Drake's College of Fine Arts and professor emeritus of organ and church music, Drake's Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main is home to the Jordan Stage, where aspiring musicians and composers carry on the couple's fine musical legacy. At the Staff Appreciation Event, Jo Ann Bennett-Boltinghouse, an author and motivational speaker, discussed "The Magic of Teachers: Changing One Student at a Time." A total of 20 staff members were honored at the event for completing five, 10, 15 or 25 years of service. Former Iowa Gov. Robert D. Ray, also a Drake alumnus and former president of the University, was the keynote speaker at the Open House. He signed a proclamation for Head Start when he was governor. "Government can do good things and this is one of the best things government ever did," Ray said of Head Start. "No matter how good the program is, it's not worth anything without good people. You people are doing a magnificent job. What you do makes a world of difference. Thanks a million." Hannah, winner of the 27th annual Beautiful Bulldog Contest and mascot for the recent Drake Relays, is scheduled to compete in the first Bulldog Beauty Contest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, May 15. The contest will feature three bulldogs with their owners, including Amana Millard, co-owner of Hannah, a playful 2-year-old renowned for her shoe fetish. (She loves to chew on fine footwear). Millard and Curtis Jackson, Hannah's other co-owner, plan to fly to California with Hannah on Saturday, May 13. After besting 49 other bulldogs in Drake's annual contest, Hannah should be well-prepared for competition at the national level. Judges in Des Moines said they were impressed with her "nice smile and friendly personality." Like any beauty queen, Hannah made numerous public appearances during Relays week, riding in the Drake Relays Parade, posing with a bronze bulldog sculpture at the dedication of Drake Plaza and officially presiding over America's Athletic Classic, which drew more than 8,000 athletes and enjoyed a sellout of 14,000 tickets on Saturday, April 29. "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" airs at 10:30 p.m. on WHO-TV (Channel 13). The Drake National Alumni Association Annual Awards Dinner will honor five outstanding alumni beginning with a reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m., in Parents Hall, the upper level of Olmsted Center. The cost is $25 per person. To register, contact Heather Exley at x3147 or alumni.rsvp@drake.edu. The honorees and their awards are: Young Alumni Achievement Award: A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Taylor served as deputy strategist for President George W. Bush's re-election, where she helped manage the campaign's paid media, travel planning and opinion research. She was also associate director for Midwestern states in the White House Office of Political Affairs. Taylor joined President Bush's team in 1999 when she helped set up his Iowa caucus efforts. She was appointed to her current position in February 2005. Young Alumni Loyalty Award: Former Student Body President and recipient of the Oreon E. Scott Award (top award for Drake undergraduates), White is a successful young alumna who always makes time for Drake. A member of Drake's President's Circle (annual unrestricted giving of $1,000 and more) and President's Circle Board, White has written letters to fellow alumni encouraging them to give at the President's Circle level and hosted a President's Circle reception. She has served as a member of the Drake School of Management and Communication National Advisory Board and of the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute Advisory Board. She has been active in student recruitment efforts and alumni activities, including helping to plan both her five-year and 10-year class reunions. Alumni Achievement Award: A native of Bellevue, Iowa, Ernst transferred to Drake from the University of Northern Iowa to complete his business and accounting degree, taking 24 hours' worth of courses in each of his final two semesters. He also worked full-time at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a U.S. Treasury agency that inspects federal banks. Since then, he's served as H&R Block's chief operating officer, executive vice president, president, CEO and, since 2002, chairman. He is credited for "strengthening the Block brand and moving forward with its mission to become its clients' tax and financial partner, while maintaining its position as the nation's largest tax preparer." A CPA with an MBA with emphasis in finance and economics from the University of Chicago, he serves on several civic boards. An active and passionate philanthropist, Collier puts Drake at the top of his philanthropic endeavors, particularly in the fine arts and education. He has established -- with brother John -- multiple scholarship funds and a professorship in the Drake School of Education in memory of his mother, Drake alumna Mary Collier Baker. He has endowed the James Morrison Collier Faculty Development Fund in the School of Education, to provide financial support and enhancement to the faculty, and created the James Morrison Collier School of Education Scholarship for elementary or secondary juniors or seniors who demonstrate financial need. Collier also gives to the Annual Fund, Friends of Drake Arts and the Drake Alumnae Scholarship Fund. In 2005, he purchased a $60,000 Steinway D piano for the music department; supported the Drake Choir's European tour; and gave $100,000 for the Collier Heritage Room in Cowles Library, which currently displays items from Drake's 125-year history. Distinguished Service Award: As a Drake law student, Sease urged a faculty member to offer an intellectual property law class. The program has become very successful, and Sease has taught classes in the Drake Law School program since 1975. A member of the Drake Law School Board of Counselors, Sease served on the Law School Task Force of the National Commission on the Future of Drake University. He also served as a poster judge at the April 2005 Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences. A leading expert in intellectual property law, the Des Moines attorney was named one of the top intellectual property lawyers in "The Best Lawyers in America" in 1998. He is past president of the Iowa Patent Law Association and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is active in the Polk County, Iowa, and American Bar Associations. Drake's Center for Global Citizenship recently received a $113,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for a two-year curriculum development project on "Ethics in a Globalizing World." "This project promises to infuse international and ethical perspectives into a wide variety of courses," said David Skidmore, director of the Center for Global Citizenship. "We will develop eight new and 15 revised courses that explore the theme of 'Ethics in a Globalizing World.' Twenty-two faculty members and two staff members representing three of Drake's five undergraduate colleges and schools will participate in course development through this project." The first major activity will be a summer workshop for faculty featuring Joel Rosenthal of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. The workshop, which is scheduled for July 18-20 on the Drake campus, also will include presentations by Skidmore; Jennifer McCrickerd, associate professor of philosophy; and Debra DeLaet, associate professor of politics and international relations. Skidmore, DeLaet and Jan Marston, director of the Drake University Language Acquisition Program, will serve as co-directors of the project. The project also encompasses three new upper-level language courses to be developed on the topic of "National Identify in a Transnational Age." Also, some faculty members will receive instruction in "language-across-the-curriculum" techniques, providing them with tools for integrating language resources into their new and revised courses. Finally, the project will generate a foreign-language film series focusing on international ethical issues related to the new and revised courses developed under the grant. Des Moines-area residents are invited to join in the Walk for Adult Literacy on Saturday, May 20, at Merle Hay Mall. Funds raised by the walk will support volunteer tutors and their students at the Drake University Adult Literacy Center. Participants will meet at the food court at 8:30 a.m. and begin the walk around the mall at 9 a.m. Following the walk, there will be a brief rally, where several of the 70 adults enrolled at the center share their experiences with the program. "This walk is the center's only fundraiser," said Anne Murr, director of the center. "We're asking people to give so adults in our community can improve their reading and writing skills. Literacy changes lives. At the Drake University Adult Literacy Center, we invest in our community, one life at a time." There is no registration fee for the walk. Participants may obtain a donation form by calling x3982 or sending an e-mail message to In addition to financial support, the Drake Adult Literacy Center needs more volunteer tutors. New volunteer tutors will be trained in three consecutive sessions set for 5:15 to 8 p.m. May 30, June 1 and June 6 at the center, 1213 25th St., adjacent to the Varsity Theater. New volunteers need to attend all three sessions. To register for the training, call Murr at x3982 or send an e-mail message to |
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