The University of Toledo has received the 2014 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.

As a recipient of the annual award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion— UT will be featured along with 82 other recipients in INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s November issue.

This is the second year UT has been named as a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award recipient.

“INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected UT based on our institution’s exemplary diversity and inclusion initiatives, and ability to embrace a broad definition of diversity on our campus, including gender, race, ethnicity, veterans, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, chief diversity officer and associate vice president for equity, diversity and community engagement.

“Specifically, our Campus Climate Survey, administered every other year since 2010 to students, faculty and staff, has directly resulted in more than 30 initiatives to address needs on campus, such as a safety campaign, support for the Anti-Bullying Campaign, and diversity programming — and has received attention on a national scale from other universities who want to use our data and our survey,” Gore said.

In addition, the Campus Climate Survey responses led to the installation of diversity training such as the Culture Building Institute’s Diversity Certificate, which is entering its fourth cohort semester and has successfully graduated 49 UT employees. Diversity training for credit also is available for the first time to graduate-level students starting this fall. Both programs equip participants with specialized understanding of varying cultures and how to promote a culture of diversity, on campus and off.

“We hope the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award serves as a way to honor those institutions of higher education that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion as part of their everyday campus culture,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Partners for Clean Streams and its partner organizations present the 18th annual Clean Your Streams event on Saturday, Sept. 20. Registration and orientation begin at 8:30 a.m.

More than 1,000 volunteers will gather at seven kickoff locations throughout northwest Ohio, including the Main Campus of The University of Toledo, a community partner for the event. An estimated 300 participants will meet at UT’s College of Law patio; they will be divided into small groups to work on clean up along the Ottawa River on Main Campus, in the Village of Ottawa Hills and east of Main Campus towards Ottawa Park.

Clean up ends at noon, with a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic including free lunch, T-shirts and other prizes for event participants.

Clean Your Streams volunteers remove and record what they find on data cards, which are later reported for local and international research with Ohio’s Coastweeks program and the International Coastal Cleanup through Ocean Conservancy.

In 2013, 941 volunteers removed more than 16,000 pounds of garbage from more than 50 river sites locally. Volunteers experience firsthand how removing and preventing litter is one action towards clean, clear and safe rivers and streams.

Partners for Clean Streams supports local and regional water quality improvements in the metro-Toledo area. Partners for Clean Streams works toward abundant open space and a high quality natural environment; adequate floodwater storage capacities and flourishing wildlife; stake holders who take local ownership in their resources; and rivers, streams and lakes that are clean, clear and safe.

For more information, visit partnersforcleanstreams.org/cys-18.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 19, 2014)
The Blade (Oct. 7, 2014)

The University of Toledo Department of Foreign Languages will host an evening with the French author Pascal Thiriet Monday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m.

The event will take place in Memorial Field House Room 2420.

Thiriet will discuss his books and his transitional journey from math professor to celebrated author.

His Fau Que tu Viennes was published in 2014 and J’ai Fait Comme Elle a Dit came out in 2013.

Thiriet also will talk about the writing process, finding publishers, and getting published.

“We find that hosting Mr. Thiriet, and others like him, provides a unique opportunity for our students, faculty and other campus and community individuals to actively and intellectually engage in learning beyond the classroom environment,” Dr. Gaby Semaan, assistant professor in the UT Department of Foreign Languages, said.

“This will not only widen the horizons of our students and provide opportunities for the public in our communities, but it also encourages the dialogue between and across boundaries, and will provide our students with opportunities to explore possible future pursuits that interest them,” Semaan said.

After his talk, Thiriet will sign books, which will be for sale at the event.

The free, public event is part of a series of talks the Department of Foreign Languages will host throughout the semester.

Coffee and light refreshments will be provided by Biggby Coffee.

For more information, contact Semaan at gaby.semaan@utoledo.edu.

Former Federal Election Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky will discuss “The Reality of Voter Fraud and How to Ensure Election Integrity” Monday, Sept. 29 at noon in The University of Toledo’s McQuade Law Auditorium.

The free, public lecture is a presentation in The University of Toledo College of Law’s Stranahan National Issues Forum and is sponsored by the college and its chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

Von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, says that voter fraud has plagued American elections since the founding and that it continues to do so today.

He proposes measures that states should take to deter, prevent and detect fraud without inhibiting the ability of anyone who is eligible to register and vote. The experience of states that have implemented these election reforms shows, according to van Spakovsky, that the claims made by opponents of election reform are untrue, and that maintaining the confidence of the American electorate in the election process is of vital importance.

“Hans von Spakovsky embodies a rare combination of experience and learning in the field of election fraud,” said Lee J. Strang, UT professor of law. “His time on the Federal Election Commission, his numerous books and articles, and his in-the-trenches service on local elections boards give von Spakovsky an exceptional vantage point.
“Von Spakovsky’s lecture is a perfect fit for Ohio, which faces a major election this fall.”

Von Spakovsky is co-author of Who’s Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk (Encounter Books, 2012). His analysis and commentary have appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Politico and Human Events. He appears regularly on national and regional TV and radio news outlets.

Previously, von Spakovsky worked at the Justice Department providing expertise enforcing the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. He is a former vice chair of the Fairfax County (Va.) Electoral Board and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

A 1984 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, von Spakovsky received a bachelor’s degree in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Stranahan National Issues Forum is made possible by an endowment from the Stranahan Foundation. The forum’s purpose is to address issues of national importance through the lens of the American legal system, and von Spakovsky joins a long list of high-profile speakers who have delivered the Stranahan Lecture at the UT College of Law.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 30, 2014)

The University of Toledo Minority Business Development Center presents An Evening of Chance, their inaugural fundraiser, which will be held Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., at Parkway Place in Maumee.

The event will feature a photobooth and games including roulette, blackjack and Texas Hold ’em. Between games, guests can bid on silent auction items, and enjoy several food stations, a soft bar and a cash bar.

The evening will conclude with a live auction and an award ceremony for local minority business owners.

Proceeds will help the UT Minority Business Development Center, which is in its fifth year of operation and is one of few of its kind in the United States.

“This event is an opportunity for the community to learn about how we support and play a part of the economic development in the region,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, UT associate vice president for equity, diversity and community engagement, and chief diversity officer.

The UT Minority Business Development Center is an integral component of the UT Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement and the Division of External Affairs. Located on the Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation, its mission is to foster an environment that supports early-stage minority-owned businesses via services such as office space, training, mentoring and a professional network of advisors.

“For businesses, within the first five years, it’s a challenge to stay open,” Gore said. “And our students benefit through the center because it creates a great hands-on experience that builds a top-notch resume. We have 100 percent placement of all students who have interned or had assistantships with us.”

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by visiting utoledo.edu/incubator/mbdc. Sponsors may also register through this website.

Ticket sales end Thursday, Sept. 25. Each ticket will provide some gaming money and additional purchases will be available.

For more information call 419.530.3170, email mbdc@utoledo.edu, visit twitter.com/UTMBDC or like UT Minority Business Development Center on Facebook.

A book launch and panel discussion for Disability Incarcerated, co-edited by Dr. Liat Ben-Moshe, assistant professor of disability studies for The University of Toledo, will be held Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. in Libbey Hall. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be provided.

The book seeks to broaden the definition of incarceration as it relates to those with disabilities. It considers not just prisons and jails, but psychiatric hospitals, institutions, nursing homes and more.

“We wanted to expand the definition of what incarceration is,” Ben-Moshe said. “People are not just placed in prisons and denied rights, living opportunities and decision-making power of their own lives. There are a variety of places that do the same thing.”

Disability Incarcerated also examines the effects these types of places have on individuals with disabilities. Ben-Moshe said that they not only look at disabilities that are defined by doctors, but other issues as well.

“There are a variety of ways that disability can manifest itself in these settings,” she said. “Not all of them can be labeled by a doctor.”

Ben-Moshe also explained that individuals who don’t have a disability when they become incarcerated might develop one. She said this is especially true with Supermax prisons, where prisoners often spend 23 hours each day without interaction with others.

“You basically live in a closet for 23 hours a day,” Ben-Moshe said. “It’s supposed to be a disciplinary thing that lasts for 30 to 60 days depending on the place, but, unfortunately, it has become a widespread phenomenon where people live there for decades.”

Ben-Moshe worked with co-editors Dr. Chris Chapman, assistant professor of social work for York University in Toronto, and Dr. Allison Carey, associate professor of sociology for Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, to publish the book earlier this year. The book includes 14 chapters written by interdisciplinary authors.

Disability Incarcerated also features a foreword by Angela Davis, an American political activist, scholar and author. It can be purchased online or at the book launch for $25.

This weekend marks the 50th birthday of The University of Toledo’s Department of Theatre and Film.

Several events will take place Friday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 21 to celebrate “50 Years of Wow!” Most of the events are free, unless otherwise mentioned. Registration is required by Wednesday, Sept. 17. To register, visit Tinyurl.com/UT50YearsOfWow or call 419.530.2452.

The schedule for the weekend includes:

Friday, Sept. 19

•  Bernie’s Bash, 4 to 7 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts. Dr. Bernie Coyne, department founder and former chair, will get things started with a welcoming reception. Food is provided, and a cash bar will be available.

•  Evening Party, 6:30 p.m. to midnight at the Toledo Club, 235 14th St. Check out animation created by UT film students, and enjoy music by country-rock and rhythm and blues band, Mustang Sally. In the red room, local jazz musicians Candice Coleman, “American Idol” semifinalist, and Chris Brown will perform. UT will provide a free shuttle to the event, with the last bus leaving the Toledo Club at 10 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 20

•  Historical walking tours of the Center for Performing Arts, 10 a.m. to noon. Check out the installation of photos, posters, programs, memorabilia, costumes and more from recent and historical productions.

•  Cabaret in the Afternoon, noon to 3 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts. Enjoy performances and films by current students, past performers, alumni and others. The event includes a free lunch and a cash bar will be available.

•  Cocktail Hour, 6:30 p.m. at the Toledo Club. Cost is $45 per person; payment is required in advance.

•  After-Dinner Program, 8:30 p.m. Tributes and memories will be shared.

Sunday, Sept. 21

•  Brunch, 10 a.m. to noon at the Toledo Club. Cost is $20 at the door.
“Pirates of Penzance,” 2:30 p.m. at the Toledo Repertoire Theatre, 16 10th St. Tickets are $15 with online registration.

For more information, visit utoledo.edu/comm-arts/theatrefilm or Facebook.com/UTTheatreFilm.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 28, 2014)

The Ohio End Demand Act was signed into law in June, before a coalition of supporters and trafficking survivors. The End Demand Act increases the penalty for purchasing sex from a minor from a misdemeanor to a felony.

This legislation follows the successfully enacted Safe Harbor Act, which provides a safe haven and needed services for victims as well as increasing penalties for traffickers.

The End Demand Act is aimed at reducing the illicit “consumer” demand for sex trafficking along with other important provisions to combat this crime

Celia Williamson, UT professor of social work, has focused on raising awareness about sex trafficking for more than a decade.

The 11th annual International Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Work Conference will be Thursday, Sept. 18 and Friday, Sept. 19. Hosted by The University of Toledo, Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition and the National Research Consortium on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, the conference brings together researchers, practitioners and others to educate attendees on human trafficking and lay the groundwork for future collaborative research, advocacy and program development.

Dr. Joel Filmore will deliver the keynote, chronicling his 11-year journey as a victim of homelessness, drug-addiction and prostitution in Chicago to recently earning his doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Northern Illinois University.

Other featured presenters include:

•  Judge Paul Herbert, who will discuss the Franklin County Municipal Court docket “Changing Actions to Change Habits” (CATCH). The CATCH Program is an innovative, voluntary, two-year program designed to rescue and restore those trapped in the sex trade through intensive probation and rehabilitation services.
•  State Rep. Teresa Fedor will cover legislative updates, including the recent End Demand Act and last year’s Safe Harbor Act, and how these initiatives have shaped Ohio policy.
•  Abdul-Hadeem O. Alli, a journalist from Nigera, will examine the impact of the abduction of Nigeria’s Chibok School Girls and will discuss the ongoing efforts of the Nigerian government in ensuring the girls’ safe return to their families.

A reception honoring Rep. Fedor and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will be Thursday, Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Libbey Hall. Rep. Fedor and DeWine will receive awards for their work to combat human trafficking.

The Freedom Drivers Project (FDP), a mobile exhibit presented by Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), will also be present at the conference. FDP is designed to educate members of the trucking industry and the general public about the realities of domestic sex trafficking and how the trucking industry is combating it. TAT is a national, non-profit organization that provides training to members of the trucking and travel plaza industries and engages them in the war against both sex and work victimization.

Tours of the FDP exhibit are open to the general public at 10:45 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

TAT and the FDP will also be key in assisting with the specially designed, age-appropriate conference track for area high school students.

Williamson, Rep. Fedor and Lyn Thompson, communication specialist for TAT, will be available for interviews and a photo opportunity on Friday, Sept. 19 at noon. The TAT trailer will be parked in Area 6, near Savage Arena. Click here for a campus map.

Various topics including heightened sex trafficking incidents in relation to the Super Bowl; the high number of transgender women buying sex in Chicago; and the sex tourism industry will also be discussed during the two-day conference.

For more information, visit traffickingconference.com or email traffickingconference@gmail.com.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Sept. 15, 2014)
The Independent Collegian (Sept. 17, 2014)
13 ABC and FOX Toledo (Sept. 22, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 25, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 28, 2014)
13 ABC (Sept. 29, 2014)

Political strategist and former presidential adviser Karl Rove will be the first speaker in this year’s Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series at The University of Toledo.

Rove will address a capacity crowd Monday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. in Doermann Theater. The lecture will also be streamed live free of charge in UT’s Memorial Field House Room 2100 for those members of the community interested in viewing the speech.

Rove is one of the nation’s best-known political strategists. He served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush for seven years and led Bush’s election campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

He served as deputy chief of staff from 2004 to 2007, overseeing the offices of Strategic Initiatives, Political Affairs, Public Liaison, and Intergovernmental Affairs. Rove was deputy chief of staff for policy and coordinated the White House policymaking process.

“Universities are forums for great conversations, and we’re excited to hear from this year’s speakers,” said Dr. Lakeesha Ransom, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College.

Also speaking as part of the 2014-15 Distinguished Lecture Series will be Paul Begala, political strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, Wednesday, Jan. 21, and Dr. Brian Kennedy, director of the Toledo Museum of Art, Tuesday, March 24.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 13, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 15, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 15, 2014)
The Independent Collegian (Sept. 15, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 16, 2014)

Harvard University professor Dr. Michael Sandel is scheduled to speak at The University of Toledo’s 2014 Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Nitschke Hall Auditorium.

The talk is titled “Doing the Right Thing in Public and Private Life.” The free, public event is presented by UT’s College of Language, Literature and Social Sciences; seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sandel

Dr. Jamie Barlowe, dean of the College of Language, Literature and Social Sciences, said Sandel’s work on ethics and justice is relevant and will appeal to many.

“Dr. Sandel continues the Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series tradition of presenting eminent and celebrated speakers whose lives and work have significantly impacted American and global society,” Barlowe said.

For 30 years, Sandel has taught at Harvard University where he serves as the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government. His Justice course was the first Harvard class offered freely online and on public television, enrolling more than 15,000 students.

Sandel’s book, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, is a New York Times bestseller that has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 27 different languages. His most recent book, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, was named as one of the 20 must-read books of 2012.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have both included Sandel’s lectures on television series, and he hosts a BBC radio series, “The Public Philosopher,” that lets the audience debate about philosophical questions related to current events. Additionally, Sandel has appeared on “The Colbert Report,” “Today Show,” “Morning Joe” and “Charlie Rose.”

Click here to download a photo of Sandel.

The lecture series is named in memory of UT alumnus Edward Shapiro, who retired from his alma mater in 1989. He was an economics professor for 22 years at the University and donated more than $4 million to the UT College of Arts and Sciences during his lifetime.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 14, 2014)