From their home in Punta Gorda, Florida, Annette and Bob Morden watched the memorial service for George Floyd, whose May death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers sparked a national protest movement that drew millions into the streets.
Both retired University of Wisconsin-Superior faculty, the Mordens listened as speakers eulogized Floyd. During his remarks, Scott Hagan, president of North Central University in downtown Minneapolis where the memorial service was held, challenged every college in America to establish scholarship funds in memory of Floyd.
By the time Nolan Ford was in second grade, he had learned lessons in courage and dedication that would last a lifetime and define a career path. That’s when his sister MacKenzie lost her fight with a rare, deadly form of cancer she had struggled with for most of her life. She was only 9.
When students begin classes at the University of Northern Iowa next week they’ll notice not only a new culture of wearing masks but also physical spaces that have been changed since COVID-19 emerged last spring.
When senior Drama and Theatre for Youth major Hannah Smith was selected for a summer internship at The Rose Theater in Omaha, the Waterloo native was thrilled to get the chance to live in a bigger city while pursuing her passion of teaching a new generation the joys of theater.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans but the internship for Smith, whose professor has dubbed her a theater-teaching “rock star,” went virtual. It wasn’t what Smith had planned, but the internship has been a beneficial — and unique — experience, she said.
As a child growing up in Cedar Falls, Emily Schroeder fell in love with museums. But it wasn’t until she was a University of Northern Iowa student that she realized it could be a career.
The UNI alum is now an exhibits designer for a natural history museum in Atlanta. The job is a dream come true for Schroeder ‘19.
“I’ve had an interest in museums since I could walk,” she said. “I didn’t even think that it was a real career option until I got to UNI and I started volunteering and interning with the UNI museum.”
Phyllis Somerville spent almost four decades on the screen and stage performing critically acclaimed roles in major Hollywood and Broadway productions, but she never forgot where she got her start - the theatre department at the University of Northern Iowa.
Somerville, who graduated in 1966, died on July 16 at her home in Manhattan. She was 76.
Phyllis Jeanne Somerville was born on Dec. 12, 1943, in Iowa City. Her father, Paul, was a Methodist minister, and her mother, Lefa Mary Pash Somerville, was a librarian.
Tyler Hospodarsky knows he’s one of the lucky ones.
The UNI senior, a sports PR and communication double major, woke up June 24 with a pounding headache that grew worse as the day went on. He soon tested positive for COVID-19, quarantined himself and has made a full recovery after temporarily losing his sense of taste and smell.
As COVID-19 prompted abrupt, statewide school closures, University of Northern Iowa student teachers on the cusp of becoming fully certified educators found themselves suddenly transitioning the remainder of their semester to an online format and interviewing for positions remotely.
It was a jarring shift, but these students had already completed over 100 hours of classroom experience prior to student teaching and were ready to handle the task.
There was good news for the University of Northern Iowa in the budget adopted by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. UNI's request for a major renovation and expansion of the Industrial Technology Center was fully funded over the next four years.
As students and faculty return to campus this fall, one of the most important things we can do to keep everyone safe is to wear a cloth mask or other face covering. One study estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic would grind to halt if 80 percent of people simply wore one.
