Dr. Devorah Schoenfeld feels in today’s diverse world, it is pertinent for people of different religions to understand each other respectfully. She believes that is even more important for college students. 

“It is essential for others to learn from their own tradition, while still respecting others,” Schoenfeld said. “College students are in the process of learning how to think critically of the world, and learning how to understand one another’s religion will allow them to think more empathetically.”

Schoenfeld, assistant professor of theology (Judaism) at Loyola University of Chicago, will deliver the annual Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

The free, public dialogue is hosted by UT’s Center for Religious Understanding.

During the 2014 lecture titled “Agreeing to Disagree: The Power of Sacred Dissent,” Schoenfeld will teach participants how to respectfully oppose a view through the sacred Jewish practice of “hevruta,” which is a form of learning that invites individuals to dispute the interpretation of a religious text.

“I’m thrilled to have Professor Schoenfeld come help us learn how to disagree with each other in real, honest ways, even about some of our most deeply held beliefs,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, UT assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Religious Studies.

Other speakers at the event will be UT’s Dr. Ovamir Anjum, the Iman Khattab Chair of Islamic Studies, and Dr. Peter Feldmeier, the Thomas and Margaret Murray and James J. Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies.

A free reception with refreshments will open the event. There also will be a free dinner for UT students at 5 p.m. at the Hillel House.

Matthew Mitten saw action even before the 2014 Winter Olympic Games began.

The 1984 graduate of the UT College of Law and professor of law and director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University Law School is in Sochi, Russia, serving as an arbitrator.

He is on a team of nine arbitrators, all lawyers, judges or law professors from around the world who specialize in sports law and arbitration; they will settle any dispute related to the Olympic Games. This special international tribunal, called the Court of Arbitration for Sport ad hoc Division, has operated at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games since 1996.

Mitten

Mitten and two other arbitrators heard the Games’ first case Feb. 3: A female athlete sought to represent Austria in the women’s freestyle ski halfpipe, claiming she had been misled into believing she had been selected for its Olympic team. The panel rejected the application because the Austrian Ski Federation did not recommend that the Austrian Olympic Committee nominate her for its Olympic team because of sports performance concerns.

He arrived in Sochi late last month.

“I appreciate this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity very much,” Mitten said.

“It’s been an incredible experience meeting people from all over the world — especially our Russian hosts, who’ve been so welcoming — and seeing firsthand the power of international sports competition to unite the world’s diverse cultures,” he said.

During the games, Mitten plans to watch some stellar competition: “I’m looking forward to attending the opening ceremony, the Russia-USA men’s ice hockey game, bobsled and ski jumping, among other events.”

“Arbitrating at the Winter Olympics is just one of the amazing and unanticipated places a UT law degree has taken our graduates,” said Daniel Steinbock, dean of the College of Law.

“Professor Mitten is universally regarded as one of the most knowledgeable sports law experts in the country,” said Geoffrey Rapp, UT professor of law, who teaches sports law. “It’s no surprise that he’s been selected to play such a prominent role at a time when the whole world will be watching.”

Mitten, a leading sports law scholar, has authored Sports Law in the United States (Wolters Kluwer 2011), and co-authored a law school textbook, Sports Law and Regulation: Cases, Materials, and Problems (Wolters Kluwer 2013), which is in its third edition, and an undergraduate and graduate textbook, Sports Law: Governance and Regulation (Wolters Kluwer 2013).

“It’s been a wonderful experience for my students this past semester, and in years past, to take a class at Toledo in which the casebook’s lead author was a UT grad,” Rapp added.

“I received an outstanding, well-rounded education from the UT College of Law that well-prepared me for a variety of professional experiences as an attorney, law professor and international sports arbitrator,” Mitten said. “The guidance and support I received as a law student and throughout my career from faculty members such as Ron Raitt, Rhoda Berkowitz, Marshall Leaffer and Howard Friedman — and others — has been invaluable.”

Mitten has published articles in several of the nation’s leading law reviews as well as in medical journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine. He is a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Arbitration, Olympic Sports, and United States Anti-Doping Agency panels, and the Ladies Professional Golfers Association’s Drug Testing Arbitration panel.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will operate in Sochi through Sunday, Feb. 23. According to the applicable rules, when an arbitration request is filed by a Games participant, the president of the court ad hoc division sets up a panel of either one or three arbitrators. A hearing is then rapidly convened, at which all parties, witnesses and potentially affected third parties are given the opportunity to express their legal arguments and to produce evidence. Generally, the ad hoc division will render its decisions within 24 hours.

Founded in 1984, the Court of Arbitration for Sport is a permanent arbitration institution that specializes in the resolution of sports law disputes. It has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Click here to download a photo of Mitten.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Feb. 10, 2014)
The Blade (Feb. 17, 2014)

More than 100 major companies will be seeking the talent their businesses need at The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation annual winter job fair Friday, Feb. 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the UT Student Union.

Among the nationally recognized companies scheduled to participate are Coca Cola, Best Buy, Chrysler, DHL, Marathon, HCR ManorCare, Westfield Group and Kroger.

“The tremendous participation of so many well-known businesses at our semi-annual job fair reflects very positively on the quality of both our programs and our students,” said Terribeth Gordon-Moore, the college’s senior associate dean. “It also demonstrates the extremely dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship enjoyed by the college and major national recruiting companies such as Enterprise, Healthcare REIT, Huntington and Cooper Tire & Rubber.

“Employers are looking for undergraduate students to participate in business internships and their leadership development programs, as well as for seniors and graduates seeking full-time employment,” she added. “We also strongly encourage our freshmen students to attend the job fair, engage these company representatives now and begin a relationship with these employers.”

The job fair is part of what the college does to prepare students for their futures, Gordon-Moore explained, adding that the college’s Business Career Programs Office works year-round to assist students in acquiring internships and jobs upon graduation. By providing the necessary resources, students can conduct their own tailored job searches, she said.

More than 85 percent of College of Business and Innovation students participate in internships, and the job placement rate for graduates is greater than 80 percent, even in recent economic times.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 8, 2014)
WTOL 11 (Feb. 10, 2014)

Estimated $30,000 raised for cancer care and awareness

More than 500 people donned a bow tie Wednesday night for The University of Toledo’s annual Tie One On fundraiser event that raised an estimated $30,000 for cancer care, awareness and outreach.

The unofficial count of participants is 517, enough to top the existing Guinness World Record of 417 bow ties tied simultaneously achieved by Dimension Data Network Services in the United Kingdom on Nov. 23, 2012. 

The University is in the process of submitting the required evidence for Guinness World Records to verify the title. The detailed process includes submitting witness statements, video footage, photographs and several world record attempt official forms.

“Dedicated Rocket fans and Tie One On supporters didn’t let a winter storm stop them from supporting a great cause,” said Lawrence J. Burns, vice president for external affairs and Tie One On founder. “We couldn’t be happier with the turnout, especially the large number of students who came out this year for a fun night of fashion and basketball that raises awareness about cancer care and research.”

Participants received their bow ties at a pregame event in Fetterman Athletic Training Facility. The men and women sporting a bow tie were then counted as they exited the facility to enjoy the UT men’s basketball game against rival Bowling Green.

Tie One On raises money through a silent jersey auction along with the $100 donation from participants and $20 from students for which they received a bow tie or bow tie necklace, tickets to the game and access to the pregame reception. The estimated $30,000 in donations for 2014 are in addition to the more than $40,000 Tie One On has previously raised for cancer care, awareness and outreach.

Also new for the 2014 event was a bow tie trophy awarded to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as the student organization with the most participation at the event.

Tie One On has become a yearlong effort with cancer survivors honored during each men’s basketball home game with tickets to special designated Tie One On seats in Savage Arena. Cancer awareness lectures also are held throughout the year at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center at UT Medical Center.

For more information about Tie One On, visit utoledo.edu/tieoneon.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 9, 2014)

The University of Toledo has canceled morning and afternoon classes for Wednesday, Feb. 5, following the announcement of a Level 3 snow emergency by Lucas County.

An announcement regarding evening classes beginning after 5 p.m. will be made by 3 p.m. today.

Despite canceled classes, the University will remain open. Employees already on campus should remain. Otherwise, only employees classified as essential to University operations should report to work. Those who have questions regarding their status should contact their supervisor for clarification.

The University of Toledo Medical Center and its outpatient clinics, as always, will remain open. Students in clinical clerkships also should plan to report to work.

To receive the fastest updates on severe weather and other campus emergencies, sign up for UT Alert to receive text messages on your phone by visiting https://stuweb00.utoledo.edu/redalert. Log in with your UTAD credentials.

The University of Toledo will celebrate Black History Month with a number of events planned around the theme of “Unity” throughout February.

The month will kick off Saturday, Feb. 8, with a talk by award-winning journalist and author Yanick Rice Lamb at noon in the Student Union Auditorium followed by a soul food luncheon. 

“I plan to talk to them about going after their dreams, making the most of their lives,” Rice Lamb said. “Dreams are challenged by economic conditions and other circumstances, but there are many, many stories of everyday people who overcame the odds — stories from their own families and the families of others. A lot of generations tend to think that everything starts with them, but there are a lot of inspiring backstories out there.”

Lamb is associate professor of journalism at Howard University who began her communications career here in Toledo as a copy editor and reporter at The Blade. She went on to work at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New York Times, Child Magazine, Essence Magazine and Black Entertainment Television.

Her presentation titled “Socially Accepted: Where Are We Now?” is free to UT students, faculty and staff, and $20 for the public. Contact the Office of Multicultural Student Success at 419.530.2261 or oemss@utoledo.edu.

Additional events for Back History Month include:

Thursday, Feb. 6
• Africana Studies Brown-Bag Lecture, 12:30 p.m., Student Union Room 3016. Topic: “The Role of the Community and Minority Media in the 21st Century.” Speaker: Fletcher Word, co-owner and publisher of The Sojourner’s Truth, a weekly newspaper in northwest Ohio.

Friday, Feb. 7
• Harlem Renaissance Night, “A Tribute to Black Poets,” 7 to 9 p.m., Rocky’s Pub and Grill.

Thursday, Feb. 13
• Dance Workshop, “I Like the Way You Move,” 7 to 9 p.m., Health Education Center Dance Studio, Health Science Campus.

Wednesday, Feb. 19
• Unveiling of the Dr. Lancelot Thompson Meeting Room, 6:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2592. The renovated space will be named to honor the professor emeritus of chemistry, who also served as vice president for student services for 22 years.

Thursday, Feb. 20
• Student African-American Brotherhood Movie Night, “The Butler,” 8 p.m., Student Union Room 2591.

Friday, Feb. 21
• Black Student Union Fashion Show, “Color Me Bad,” 6 to 9 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. Tickets: $10, $15 VIP available at Ask Rocky on second floor of Student Union.

For information on all the events planned, visit utoledo.edu/studentaffairs/oemss.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and 13 ABC (Feb. 10, 2014)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETINGS

Monday, February 10, 2014
Driscoll Alumni Center, Schmakel Room
1:00 p.m. Board Meeting
A luncheon will be provided for the Trustees prior to the meeting.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Radisson Hotel, Faculty Club Room
9:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.

Joan A. Stasa
Secretary, Board of Trustees

February 3, 2014