Calendar of Events

Tuesday, Aug. 26
on campus - First day of classes for fall semester.

Sunday, Sept. 7

on campus - Patrick Francis '88 of the highly praised San Francisco Guitar Quartet brings his group to Millikin for a 6 p.m. concert in Kaeuper Hall. The classic guitar ensemble will also do a master class for MU students on campus on Monday.

Sunday, Sept. 14
Decatur - MCIA (Millikin Central Illinois Alumni) BBQ, 5-7 p.m. See at right for details.

Sept. 19-21
On campus - Fall Family Weekend. The Aumni Association will host a food booth again this year.

Saturday, Oct. 4
Naperville, Ill - Annual Nyberg Football Party

Oct. 10-12
On campus - Homecoming 2008! Click here to check out this year's list of hotel accommodations, available at a limited-time special rate!

Thursday, Nov. 6
Indianapolis - 7 p.m., dessert reception at Hillcrest Country Club. Indy-area alums: watch for an invitation coming your way this fall.

Friday, Nov.14
Alton, Ill. - 6 p.m., young alumni event at Fast Eddie'. Watch for more details in the next issue.

Saturday, Dec. 6
On campus - 50th Vespers Celebration, reception from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in Richards Treat University Center (immediately preceding the 3 p.m. Vespers performance in Kirkland Fine Arts Center), hosted by Dr. Brad Holmes, director of choral activities, and featuring special guest Kay Hoffland, wife of the late Richard Hoffland, founding director of the Vespers concerts. Alumni who have performed at Vespers through the years are especially encouraged to join us for this event! Watch for more details in the fall issue of Millikin Quarterly, due out in early October.

Dec. 13-20
Europe -
Join Millikin alumni and friends for an eight-day, seven-night trip to Vienna, Prague and Budapest. Click here for more info. The cost is about $2,768 per person (with a slight variance for insurance depending on age). To learn more, call Peg Smith Luy '75 in the alumni and development office toll free at 1-877-JMU-ALUM (568-2568) or send her an e-mail.

Jan. 9-15, 2009
Mexico and Belize -
Hurry -- deadline approaching! Sign up now for a Big Blue young alumni and friends cruise to Mexico and Belize. See details at right.

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009
Decatur -
4 p.m. Help Millikin and Decatur break the world record for tango dancing. (P.S. to non-dancers: "If you can walk, you can tango," organizers say.) MORE

Hot links
Online resources:
Milli-Link XP, online directory
Millikin Quarterly magazine
Wallpaper for your desktop
Listen live to WJMU-FM
Young alumni news/info
History of MU.

Support MU:
The Millikin Fund
The Big Blue Club, Millikin's official athletic booster club.
The College of Fine Arts Patrons Society

THE FRESHMEN ARE COMING.
A portion of Oakland Avenue will be closed to traffic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as freshmen move in to their new Millikin residences on Wednesday, Aug. 20. The new students will get a jump start on college life with the First Week program until classes begin Aug. 26. MORE

AND AROUND THE CORNER WE GO...
The transformation of West Main Street into a brick-lined promenade in front of Shilling Hall nears completion as the beginning of the school year approaches.The road is now open to traffic and includes a bike path that will eventually connect downtown Decatur with Fairview Park and Rock Springs Environmental Center. Next up: the streetscape project will continue around the corner headed north down Fairview Avenue to the parking lot entrance for Kirkland Fine Arts Center with completion set for Oct. 31. At left, workers lay bricks near the entrance of the Staley Library parking lot.

ONEVOICE TO BE HEARD AT NATIONAL CONVENTION.
Millikin’s own OneVoice, the award-winning student jazz ensemble group, will perform as the featured jazz choir at the 2009 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference next March in Oklahoma City. The group was founded in 1986 by Dr. Steve Widenhofer, the group’s musical director and keyboardist, and has been praised by DownBeat magazine and recognized at various conferences and jazz festivals.

BBQ AND FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
Join the MCIA (Millikin Central Illinois Alumni) for their annual BBQ, Sunday, Sept. 14, from 5-7 p.m. at home of Jim and Kathy Farleigh Gresham ’70, 3480 W. Center St., Decatur. Games for kids and entertainment provided. Minimum donation for food and beverages is $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Proceeds support the MCIA Book Award Fund for deserving students from Central Illinois. For more info, to get directions or to RSVP, call the alumni office toll free at 1-877-JMU-ALUM (locally, dial 217-424-6383) or click here.

MU'S CAREER CENTER CONSIDERS
ADDING VIRTUAL CAREER FAIR.
The staff of Millikin's Career Center needs your comments. Would you or your employer be interested in participating in a virtual career fair to find employees from among Millikin students and alumni? Would you be interested in participating as a job seeker? The Center currently offers traditional career fairs and is interested in possibly adding this service as another option for employers and job seekers. There would be a fee for employers who participated, but the service would be free to alumni job seekers. For more info, e-mail Pam Folger, Career Center director, or call her at 217-420-6637.

THIS CRUISE IS A BARGAIN.
For less than $1,100, you can escape the winter weather next January 9-15 and join other young alumni and friends on a cruise to Mexico and Belize, including airfare to and from Chicago (connections from other parts of the country also available for a slight additional fee.). Due to arrangements with the cruise line, the number of available cabins will be reduced after Aug. 20, so make your deposit now to avoid missing the boat! Hosted by Dan Stuby ’07, associate director of young alumni relations. For more information, including a complete itinerary, visit www.tourgrouppro.com/MU and click on “Young Alumni Caribbean Cruise,” or send an e-mail to Dan.

YOU'RE INVITED TO HOMECOMING EVERY YEAR. REALLY.
Not a reunion year for you? It's doesn't matter. There are plenty of activities for all alumni at this year's Homecoming, Oct. 10-12, not just for the ones celebrating class reunions of 5, 10, 20, 25 years (and so on). It's always a great excuse to get together with your college friends and have a good time. Throw in a free lunch at Griswold on Saturday, several other free or low cost events, and discounted rates at area hotels, and you've got yourself an inexpensive weekend of fun, too. Of special note is a Saturday night "30 Years of Jan" celebration marking the career to date of Alumni Relations Director Jan Devore, formerly dean of students. During the weekend, 15 alumni will be honored with alumni awards or inducted into the Millikin Athletic Hall of Fame. Learn who will be recognized this year and more on the Homecoming 2008 website. Questions? Contact the alumni office at 1-877-568-2586 or send us an e-mail.

LET THE SEASON BEGIN.
Single tickets sales for Kirkland Fine Arts Center’s 2008-09 season go on sale Aug. 18. Upcoming shows include a Sept. 13 world premiere performance by DBR, entitled “Darwin’s Meditation for the People of Lincoln,” and concerts by ScrapArtsMusic on Sept. 20 and 21. For more info and to order tickets online, click here.



ART EXHIBIT HAS A MIDWESTERN CONNECTION.
Millikin and the Decatur Arts Coucil have collaborated on “Major Artists from the Midwest,” a new exhibit featuring artwork from the 1890s through the 1970s. The works were created by artists with a Decatur or Midwest connection, including the late Herbert Ryman '31, a Disney artist who conceptually designed Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The exhibit opens Sept. 5 at the Madden Arts Center in downtown Decatur with a public reception from 5-7:30 p.m. and will be open regular gallery hours through Sept. 29. Millikin art students led by Professor Ed Walker '85 worked on the project.

DECATUR-AREA ALUMS:
THIS MAY BE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS.
Do you or your child want to learn or enhance your music skills? Millikin's Preparatory department offers classes, programs and individual lessons in vocal and instrumental music to more than 400 children and adults each year. Registration has begun, and new this fall is "Music Alive," an innovative program that gives young musicians, grades seven through 12, a chance to create and record their own music using cutting-edge music software and recording technology. MORE

HAVE YOU JOINED YET?
The Millikin alumni group on LinkedIn, a professional networking website, continues to grow -- it's now topped 200 alumni. Join in by clicking here. Eager for social networking, too? We're also on Facebook! Nearly 800 alumni have joined the MU alumni Facebook group to reconnect and stay in touch - click here and join the crowd!

IT WON'T BE TRIVIAL IF YOU WIN.
Answer this question and you could win a Big Blue prize to make your friends green with envy!

How many students were in Millikin's first graduating class in 1904? (per the book, "Millikin University: The First 100 Years, 1901-2001")
A. 25
B. 3
C. 8
D. 11

Send your best guess to alumnews@millikin.edu, and be sure to include your name and address. Five winners will be selected in a random drawing of all who respond correctly and each will receive a Millikin prize.  Last month's winners --

Marcie Slawin '99
Justin Schwartz '03
Cole Combs '05
Michael Novak '81
Paul Whitley '04

Last month's trivia contest sparked a bit of controversy. Our alumni office records showed eight social fraternities and sororities on campus in 1998, but the office of student programming wrote into say there were actually nine that year with active members on campus, including Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Sigma Phi, Kappa Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Tau Kappa Epsilon, for a total of 408 students in the Greek community during spring '98.

So in the interest of fair play, we accepted both answers as correct and each winner received a Millikin luggage tag.