A deadly outbreak without a cure. Local governments urging residents to stay inside and avoid other people. Medical professionals on the frontlines trying to halt the rapid spread of an infectious disease.
It’s not COVID-19, but the 1924 outbreak of the Black Plague in Los Angeles.
Her story almost sounds like a made-for-TV movie — a young girl from small-town Iowa is hand-picked by an instructor from the famed Juilliard School of Music to pursue a career in New York City under her guidance. It might sound too good to be true, but that’s actually what happened to UNI alumna Sheri Greenawald ‘68.
Paige Mathews always knew she wanted to help others. She was pursuing a nursing degree when she unexpectedly discovered her true calling while taking a prerequisite athletic training class.
“I went in and I thought, ‘I’m just gonna’ go and tape some ankles and watch people on the sidelines. It’s gonna’ be so boring,’” said Mathews, now in her second year of graduate studies in UNI’s athletic training program. “Now, I’m still surprised every day of what athletic trainers can do.”
Karen Mitchell had just experienced a series of unthinkable tragedies — including the death of her partner of almost 20 years — and felt herself in a fugue state. Then she tried an increasingly popular form of yoga developed to help people recover from trauma. The class helped her start a path towards healing.
“I think it has a lot to do with listening to your body. Your body will tell you the truth,” she said.
Robert Sales arrived at UNI knowing he wanted to be an entrepreneur.
The Pella native’s business instincts had been apparent since he was a first-grader who won a contract mowing vacant lots in his neighborhood. At UNI, Sales focused on the food industry, launching a food truck business and then, with help from professors and mentors, narrowed his focus to selling mini doughnuts.
It started as a pilot project to provide about 50 University of Northern Iowa students with remote access to specialized software.
But with the dawn of the coronavirus and the wave of campus closures and remote learning that followed, demand for the small pilot project surged to serve more than 1,000 students in just two weeks.
Welcome to the new normal for UNI’s IT Department.
The University of Northern Iowa has been named to Phi Theta Kappa’s Transfer Honor Roll for the second time in three years.
Only the top quarter of the regionally accredited institutions that applied made the international honor society’s list, which recognizes excellence in helping community college students successfully transition to institutions offering four-year degrees. UNI is one of 112 colleges nationwide - and the only public university in Iowa - to make the cut this year.
When local public school teachers started emailing Michael Graziano, UNI professor of religions, for advice on how to handle religion in the classroom he saw an unmet need. Now, a new $10,000 grant from the Whiting Foundation will allow Graziano to develop a seminar on religion for public school teachers. From how to be inclusive of religious diversity, to how to discuss religion in school curriculum, Graziano has the expertise to help teachers navigate these situations — and a vision for an inclusive future.
Facing a dire shortage of protective gear for healthcare workers, hospitals in Iowa and across the country have turned to their communities for assistance. In the Cedar Valley, the University of Northern Iowa is helping answer that call.
When about a dozen students in University of Northern Iowa professor Justin Holmes’ political science senior seminar joined their first online class last week, they couldn’t help but smile.
Holmes greeted them before a Zoom background of a famous meme - a cartoon of a dog sitting down to a cup of coffee in a room engulfed with flames. The thought bubble reads “This is fine.”
