1. I-94 closure will affect Commencement weekend

Nearly 2,000 students will receive Marquette degrees at Commencement Sunday, May 19, at 9:30 a.m. at the Bradley Center. The Baccalaureate Mass will be Saturday, May 18, at 4:30 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Tickets are not needed for either event.

A full freeway closure of I-94 North-South will take place Friday evening, May 17, through Sunday morning, May 19, the weekend of Commencement. If travel plans of family and friends planning to attend Commencement include traveling along I-94 East (Northbound) through Kenosha and Racine Counties, allow extra time for traveling. Visit the project website to view the latest information and alternate route information.

Bill Cosby will be this year's Commencement speaker. Cosby is known for his commitment to education and emphatically believes that the best assurance for a satisfying and rewarding life begins with knowledge. Cosby himself went back to college, long after he had achieved much of his success to obtain a master's degree as well as a doctorate degree in education. As part of the ceremony, Cosby will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree. 

Sister Rosemary Connelly, R.S.M., will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. She is executive director of Misericordia Heart of Mercy, a service organization in Rogers Park, Ill., that supports people with developmental disabilities. The all-university Commencement ceremony will be webcast so that family and friends not in attendance can participate.

All campus parking lots will be open and free of charge over Commencement weekend, May 17-19. Gates to most lots will open Friday afternoon and will remain open through Sunday evening. Structures will still be staffed with an attendant. For more information, contact Jay Sobota, parking services manager, at 8-6911.

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2. Cap and gown pick-up is this week

Cap and gown pick-up for all Commencement candidates is Tuesday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the AMU, 227, and Wednesday, May 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the AMU, 227.

Undergraduates may keep their cap and gown. Graduates in Law, Health Sciences, Master's Program (MPA and DPT), Graduate School of Management and the Graduate School (Master's and Doctoral degrees) must return caps, gowns and hoods to representatives of the cap and gown company immediately following the ceremony. Tassels may be retained as a keepsake.

Contact University Special Events at 8-7431 for more information. A student's name, approximate height, degree and college are needed for a friend or relative to pick up caps and gowns for a student who cannot pick up their graduation apparel.

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3. Social Innovation Initiative to host Midwest Social Innovation Start-Up Challenge

The Social Innovation Initiative will host the Midwest Social Innovation Start-Up Challenge this summer at Manpower Group in Milwaukee. This challenge provides an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to submit a business model that includes a social or environmental impact – a second bottom line that makes the world a better place. Business executives, funders, mentors, local entrepreneurs and prominent national figures in social innovation will be present for networking at the event.

Business model ideas must be submitted by Monday, May 20, at noon. Competition timeline and additional details are available online. Registration can also be completed online. For additional information, contact Elise Chapman, special project manager for the Social Innovation Initiative, at 8-4990.

This competition is presented in collaboration with the Brady Corporation, Dell Corporation, Greater Milwaukee Committee, Johnson Controls, Milwaukee School of Engineering and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and parallels the national platform founded by Dell Corporation and the University of Texas-Austin.

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4. Dean Lori Bergen elected vice president of national journalism education association

Dr. Lori Bergen, dean of the William and Mary Diederich College of Communication, was elected vice president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Bergen will begin her additional role as vice president of AEJMC on Oct. 1, 2013, and continue on to serve as president of the organization for the 2015-16 year.

"AEJMC is the most important professional organization for journalism and mass communication educators in the United States," said Dr. John Pauly, provost of Marquette and an AEJMC member for 35 years. "Dr. Bergen's election to president reflects her standing among her peers, and is an impressive honor for both her and the university."

Since coming to Marquette University in 2009 as the dean of the Diederich College of Communication, Bergen has led the college through several new initiatives and a successful AEJMC reaccreditation and strategic plan process. Her focus has been on projects with high impact on student learning: supporting the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service; the Emmy Award winning "Diederich Ideas" series; and the only National Association of Black Journalists student chapter in Wisconsin. In February, the college announced an $8.3 million gift to establish The O'Brien Fellowships in Public Service Journalism. The endowed program is designed to bring three professional journalists to the college for an academic year to work with students and faculty on multimedia reporting projects with the potential to change policy and improve lives.

The AEJMC is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals. The Association's mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to cultivate the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.

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5. CIO Kathy Lang honored with IT Executive of the Year Award

Kathy Lang, chief information officer in Information Technology Services, has been honored with the IT Executive of the Year Award in the nonprofit category from the Wisconsin chapter of the Society for Information Management. Lang was presented with the award at the 2013 Wisconsin IT Symposium.

Prior to be being named CIO in 2002, Lang worked for ten years as an IT director at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., before taking over as CIO at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

In addition to technological upgrades in campus buildings and dormitories, Lang has worked with the Department of Public Safety to improve campus safety and security by creating an outdoor wireless network, which has reduced crime without utilizing additional human resources.

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6. Attend forum on schizophrenia and the search for treatment through drug development

The College of Health Sciences' next "Marquette Presents" breakfast forum, "Schizophrenia – New Hope for Effective Treatment Through Drug Development," will be held Friday, May 31, at 7:15 a.m. in the AMU, Monaghan Ballrooms.

More than 3 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia, yet medications used to treat the disease have not worked particularly well or changed significantly since their original development in the 1950s.

Dr. William Cullinan, dean of the College of Health Sciences and director of the Integrative Neuroscience Research Center, will moderate the panel of experts in neuroscience and psychiatry, including the founders of two distinct pharmaceutical start-up companies at Marquette. The panel includes:

  • Dr. David Baker, professor and associate chair of biomedical sciences; co-founder of Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • Dr. M. Behnam Ghasemzadeh, associate professor of biomedical sciences; co-founder of AviMed Pharmaceuticals

  • Dr. Jerry Halverson, medical director of Adult Services at Rogers Memorial Hospital; board-certified adult psychiatrist with a subspecialty in psychosomatic medicine

  • An individual currently living with schizophrenia

The free forum includes a complimentary breakfast. Register online.

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7. Summer parking permits available online

Students planning to remain on campus during the summer can purchase summer parking permits online. Information and summer rates are available on the Parking Services website. Shorter term, temporary permits will remain available for sale in the parking office in the Wells Street Parking Structure.

All parking lots will be open and free of charge during Commencement Weekend, May 17 to May 19. Gates to all lots will open Friday afternoon and will remain open throughout the weekend. Permit requirements and visitor charges will resume Monday, May 20.

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8. Join university team for mental illness awareness walk

All members of the Marquette community are invited to join the university team for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk to raise awareness for mental illness, which will be held Saturday, May 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Veterans Park in Milwaukee. Registration to participate can be found online.

For additional information, contact Markie Pasternak.

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