The University of Toledo is putting a unique spin on its traditional Career Fair by making it a tailgating event this year.

The Career Fair Tailgate will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 in parking area 6 on the east side of the Health Education Center on Main Campus.

“It’s going to be fun with traditional tailgate activities, music and snacks, but it’s serious business, too,” said Shelly Drouillard, director of the Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services. “The tailgate venue allows for a more relaxed, casual atmosphere, which we hope will encourage even the non-job-seeking younger students to participate in the event. It is never too soon to start building relationships with employers and expanding your professional network.” 

Students will be able to explore career and internship opportunities while networking with corporate recruiters. Representatives from more than 60 for-profit, government and nonprofit organizations will be available to meet with students regarding full-time and part-time employment, along with internship opportunities. Students of all majors and alumni are welcome to attend.

Registered organizations represent a wide range of fields; employers include Promedica; Cleveland Clinic; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Federal Bureau of Investigation; North American Science Associates Inc.; Sauder Woodworking Co.; Thomson Reuters; and Charles River Laboratories. The city of Toledo and Wright Patterson Air Force Base also will participate.

In case of extreme weather, the event will move indoors to the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

The Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services works to connect students to meaningful learning experiences and assist them with determining a major and career exploration. Additional services include resumé reviews, mock interviews and job search strategies.

The University of Toledo Minority Business Development Center will hold “An Evening of Chance” fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct.12 at Parkway Plaza in Maumee.

This annual event celebrates, honors and promotes minority business enterprises in the community while raising money through an elegant evening of games, music, food and fun.

The money raised at this event will supplement the cost of professional services for members of the UT Minority Business Development Center and support experiential learning opportunities for interns and graduate students.

Several sponsoring companies and organizations supporting minority businesses will be present at the event, along with a number of local community members.

“We have been successful in obtaining grants that support economic development, but this night also supports our students who gain valuable experiences working with our companies,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, associate vice president for the Minority Business Development Center and Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women. “We even have past UT alumni coming out that evening to support the next generation.”

For more information, call 419.530.3170 or email mbdc@utoledo.edu.

When the William S. Carlson Library opened at The University of Toledo more than four decades ago, it was a repository for more than one million volumes of printed reference materials with card catalogs to direct students to the resources they needed.

Today the space looks much different thanks to a recently completed $6 million upgrade that features more open spaces, additional group study rooms and a new veterans lounge. The east wall also has been replaced with a curtain of windows to let in more sunlight.

“Modern libraries are no longer just a vault of books and reference materials. They are environments where students want to come and are inspired to learn,” said Beau Case, dean of University Libraries. “Librarians continue to provide students with the resources they need to succeed, and we are excited to engage our students in discovery in our new facility.”

Carlson Library’s new glass wall on the east side of the building.

A ribbon-cutting to celebrate the renovation will take place 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 on the library’s second floor with UT President Sharon L. Gaber, Student Government President Jimmy Russell, Case, and Jason Toth, associate vice president for facilities and construction.

The ceremony is part of the University’s celebration of Founder’s Day, which marks the 145th anniversary of when UT was established with Jesup W. Scott’s donation of 160 acres of land to found what was then the Toledo University of Arts and Trades.

UT is holding its first Day of Giving, Rocket Forward: You Launch Lives, on Oct. 12 to encourage alumni, students, faculty, staff, volunteers and members of the community who support the institution to follow in Scott’s footsteps and invest in the University’s future.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours will be provided to see the library’s new features.

In addition to the new glass wall spanning the entire height of the building, the renovations include an expanded and landscaped concourse that greets guests when they enter the library and an added mezzanine area on the second floor.

The renovated library also features a variety of seating and study space options to accommodate all learners, collaborative workspaces, conference rooms, an endowed technology classroom, and 47 group study rooms and 16 active learning areas.

The new LTC Thomas J. Orlowski ’65 Veterans Lounge on the second floor named for the UT alumnus and Army veteran provides a space for military veterans and current service members to relax, study and enjoy the camaraderie they experienced while serving their country.

The multiyear library renovation project was funded by state capital dollars. A gift from the estate of Dorothy MacKenzie Price, a UT alumna and patron of many University programs, also supported the new state-of-the-art model classroom in the building.

The University of Toledo will host events on campus to help educate the community about domestic violence and prevention throughout October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“We are hoping that students, faculty and staff will be involved with programs this month in hopes to continue creating a culture that cares on UT’s campus,” said Jamie Wlosowicz, graduate assistant for the Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Program. “These programs will let survivors know that they are supported and they are not alone.”

The events are meant to help facilitate conversation on issues faced on college campuses nationwide and to promote positive change.

Listed by date, events include:

• Wednesday, Oct. 11 — Bring in the Bystander Training, 6 p.m., Snyder Memorial Building Room 1100. Learn how to safely intervene in instances of sexual violence, relationship violence or stalking.
• Thursday, Oct. 12 — Purple Ribbon Campaign, 11 a.m., Thompson Student Union. Take the pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about domestic violence by wearing a purple ribbon.
• Thursdays, Oct. 12, 19 and 26; and Wednesday, Oct. 25 — Self-Defense Class for Women, 5:30 p.m., Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women. Learn techniques to defend against an attacker. Must sign up in advance. Free for students; $25 for community members. For more information, call the center at 419.530.8570.
• Wednesday, Oct. 15 — be-WISE-er, 6 p.m., Thompson Student Union Auditorium. Learn how to administer intranasal naloxone and experience a 3D multisensory interactive presentation on the devastating effects of drinking and driving.
• Thursday, Oct. 19 — The Silent Witness Project, 11 a.m., Thompson Student Union Trimble Lounge. See life-size silhouettes and read the stories of local women and girls who lost their lives due to domestic violence.
• Oct. 23-27 — Awareness Campaign, Centennial Mall and Thompson Student Union. See red flags and awareness facts and myths about domestic violence.
• Tuesday, Oct. 24 — Once Love, Escalation Training, 6:30 p.m., location to be announced. Discuss how to identify the signs of emotional, mental, sexual and physical abuse.
• Thursday, Oct. 26 — Self-Defense with the UT Police Department, 6:30 p.m., Student Recreation Center. Learn personal safety tips and self-defense tactics in a safe and comfortable setting.

The Confucius Institute at The University of Toledo is hosting a celebration of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, the second grandest gala in China, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10 in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

“The festival will feature performances, activities, free food and prizes,” said Xinren Yu, international programs coordinator for the UT Center for International Studies and Programs. “Attendees will be able to learn about this traditional Chinese festival and experience different aspects of the Chinese culture.”

Activities will include Chinese knot-making; Chinese bracelet-making; mask painting; paper cutting and folding; Chinese calligraphy; and a Chinese tea ceremony.

Performances will feature dance, tai chi and Chinese instruments.

The Mid-Autumn Festival also will feature the “China in My Eyes” photo contest. Photos will be displayed and attendees are asked to vote for their favorite shots.

The Confucius Institute at The University of Toledo serves northwest Ohio by providing education in Chinese language and culture, and supports the development of China-related scholarly research and academic programs. It also offers opportunities for cultural exchanges between China and the United States.

Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general and the lead attorney representing Hawaii in State of Hawaii, et al v. Trump, the travel ban case before the U.S. Supreme Court, will deliver the 17th Annual Maryse and Ramzy Mikhail Memorial Lecture at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 in The University of Toledo Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium.

The free, public lecture titled “The President and the Courts in National Security Cases” is presented by the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Law, and the Law and Social Thought Program, with WGTE as a media sponsor.

The Maryse and Ramzy Mikhail Memorial Lecture was established and named after the late Dr. Ramzy Mikhail and his wife, the late Maryse Mikhail. Since 2001, it has been held annually at The University of Toledo and focuses on topics dealing with Arab culture, literature, history, politics, economics or other aspects of life in the countries of the Middle East, including issues of peace and justice.

State of Hawaii v. Trump is a challenge to President Trump’s March executive order banning travelers from six Muslim countries from entering the United States. The case has made national headlines since it was filed last spring. Katyal, who has argued 34 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, with 32 of them coming in the last eight years, will discuss the travel ban case and his experience as a leading advocate in the nation’s highest court.

In the 2016-17 term alone, Katyal argued seven cases at the Supreme Court, more than any other advocate in the nation. At the age of 47, he has argued more Supreme Court cases in American history than any other minority attorney, with the exception of Thurgood Marshall, with whom Katyal is tied.

Katyal is the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law and director of Georgetown’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center. He also is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan Lovells.

While teaching at Georgetown, Katyal won Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in the Supreme Court, a case that challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba. The Supreme Court sided with him by a 5-3 vote, finding that President Bush’s tribunals violated the constitutional separation of powers, domestic military law and international law. As Walter Dellinger, former solicitor general and law professor at Duke University, put it, “Hamdan is simply the most important decision on presidential power and the rule of law ever. Ever.”

Katyal served as Vice President Al Gore’s co-counsel in the Supreme Court election dispute of 2000, and represented the deans of most major private law schools in the landmark University of Michigan affirmative action case Grutter v. Bollinger (2003).

His accolades are many. He is the recipient of the Edmund Randolph Award, the highest honor the U.S. Justice Department can give to a civilian. This September, Politico Magazine named Katyal to its annual “Politico 50” list of the key thinkers, doers and visionaries who are reshaping American politics and policy.

Katyal clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer as well as Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals. He attended Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. His articles have appeared in virtually every major law review and newspaper in America.

Toledo, Ohio – Oct. 5, 2017 – As the state of Ohio struggles with multiple critical health issues, Ohio University and The University of Toledo are coming together to find solutions. Today, Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis and University of Toledo President Sharon L. Gaber signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” to formalize the collaboration agreement between Ohio University’s College of Health Sciences and Professions and The University of Toledo’s College of Health and Human Services.

“The future of higher education is dependent upon collaboration across disciplines to develop innovative solutions to today’s problems,” says Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis. “This includes working in conjunction with experts at other institutions to enrich the experiences of our students, while working toward a better future for Ohio, our nation, and our world.”

“This agreement aligns well with UT’s strategic priorities of increasing academic success and strengthening our research efforts in areas that advance our mission – to improve the human condition,” states University of Toledo President Sharon L. Gaber. “This collaboration will draw from each institution’s unique strengths to help close the gap for Ohioans who lack access or adequate resources to obtain appropriate health care.”

The health colleges of the two universities will form the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, which will collaborate with The University of Toledo College of Law and Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, to help create community-specific ways to fix the state’s health problems, such as opioid addiction, health-care access, chronic disease and infant mortality.

Each partner contributes unique strengths and robust research capabilities to the alliance. The collaboration also features joint academic offerings for students.

“Our institutions represent two of the largest health-focused colleges in Ohio with well over 100 faculty researchers between the two colleges,” said Dr. Randy Leite, dean of the OHIO College of Health Sciences and Professions. “OUCHSP has vibrant applied health programming and The University of Toledo has a well-developed population health foundation. We are both strategically located in areas of the state with considerable disparity in health outcomes compared to the rest of the state and nation.”

“We’ve developed the alliance to enhance outreach and improve lives in Ohio, as well as increase our infrastructure to more strategically engage in relevant research that matters,” said Dr. Christopher Ingersoll, dean of the UT College of Health and Human Services. “By combining forces and assembling teams of experts, we will be able to compete for the resources necessary to solve the population health problems in our region and throughout the state.”

The Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health will research the often-ignored root causes of health issues and will incorporate partner organizations as sources of content expertise to build on networks of strong community relationships to develop and test solutions. The goal of this work is to establish best practices for addressing critical population health issues.

Rick Hodges, former director of the Ohio Department of Health and UT alumnus, was named director of the alliance to identify and collaborate with partner organizations across the state.

“I’m looking forward to working with the many excellent programs that are already in place across the state,” Hodges said. “The alliance will serve as a collaborator, not a competitor.”

One area of interest to Hodges is healthcare informatics, which is the study of resources and methods for the management of health information. According to Hodges, both the technology and the data currently exist to answer many public health questions, but they are not yet connected to each other. This type of information could lead to the creation of a variety of useful databases, such as a database showing space availability for drug treatment facilities in the state. While such a database exists to identify hospital bed availability, no comparable database exists for drug treatment facilities.

The alliance’s first initiative will revolve around opioid abuse and addiction in Perry and Lucas Counties and other locations.

The power and artistry of words will take center stage at the Rane Arroyo Poetry Read-In 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10 in The University of Toledo’s Carlson Library Room 1005.

Cash, checks and credit card donations will be accepted at the free, public event. Funds raised will go toward establishing UT’s first LGBT scholarship.

The event is named in honor of Dr. Arroyo was a Distinguished University Professor of English who taught creative writing and literature at UT from 1997 until his death in 2010. The author of 10 poetry books, six chapbooks of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a collection of plays, Arroyo won an array of writing awards, including the John Ciardi Poetry Prize, the Carl Sandburg Poetry Prize and a Pushcart Prize.

“Rane wrote openly as an out, proud gay Puerto Rican male,” Dr. Glenn Sheldon, UT honors professor of humanities, said. “I want the audience to listen to the music of Rane’s words, to let intuitions of the poet lead us to our own personal discoveries, to just listen to a poem be — to enjoy.”

The scholarship is being created to honor Arroyo and former UT student Troy Anaya Jr., who died in 2016 at age 31.

“As gay Latinos from working class backgrounds, both Rane and Troy faced multiple oppressions, including financial hardship, racism and homophobia,” said Dr. Sharon L. Barnes, associate professor and chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department. “We honor their talent, intelligence and shining personalities by creating a path to higher education for someone similarly situated in the matrix of cultural privilege and oppression. They were both proud activists. I am certain that being remembered in this way would make them both proud.”

The Anaya/Arroyo Scholarship will be for one or more LGBT-identified undergraduates. The goal is to award the first scholarship in 2018, according to Sheldon.

Barnes will read poetry at the event, along with Leslie Ann B. Chambers, adjunct faculty member in the Jesup Scott Honors College; Sariah Flores-Shutts, resource specialist in the Center for Engagement; Wade Lee, electronic information services librarian, science research librarian and associate professor in University Libraries; Dr. Edmund Lingan, associate professor and chair of the Theatre and Film Department; and Dr. Skaidrite Stelzer, assistant professor of English. Also reading will be Toledo resident Bernie Filipski and Shannon Smith, associate professor of English at Owens Community College.

After the read-in, donations can be made through the UT Foundation at https://give2ut.utoledo.edu.

The read-in is one of several events taking place at UT in honor of National LGBTQ History Month.

Understanding patients’ health needs and placing them at the center of their care is what the medical staff at The University of Toledo Medical Center does. As the newly appointed chief of staff for UTMC, cardiologist Dr. Samer Khouri is continuing the work of the medical staff that aims to support and promote safe, high-quality patient care.

Dr. Samer Khoury, Cardiologist UTMC Chief of Staff

“The medical staff at the UT Medical Center is made up of a group of highly skilled and talented individuals who are dedicated to their patients and the service they provide,” Khouri said. “In order to provide this top level of patient care, I believe that open and direct communication needs to happen between the medical staff and leadership, and vice versa, so needs and goals are known and met.”

Khouri, who began his chief of staff appointment July 1, has been a member of the medical staff at UT since 2002. He is the Adela and Alfred Mundt Endowed Professor of Medicine, associate chair of medicine for quality and associate chief of cardiovascular medicine.

Board-certified in cardiology and heart failure, Khouri is a 1992 graduate of Damascus University. He was a research assistant at Krannert Institute of Cardiology at Indiana University, and finished his internal medicine residency at Indiana University in 1998. He completed his fellowship at Ohio State University in 2002 and earned his MBA from UT in 2016.

During his tenure at UT, Khouri has led the non-invasive cardiology labs and helped develop the heart failure and left ventricle assist device (LVAD) programs at UTMC. He is a member of the board of directors of the University of Toledo Physicians practice, and is a member of the board of directors of the American College of Cardiology, Ohio chapter. Khouri also is a member of the Med Executive Committee of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Northwest Ohio, Earnest Health.

Khouri is a member of the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography, Heart Failure Society of America and American Association of Physician Leadership.

The University of Toledo Banned Books Coalition is hosting Jack Lessenberry’s lecture, “Censorship and Self-Censorship: The Media in the Age of Trump,” 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6.

The free, public lecture in Carlson Library Room 1005 is part of the coalition’s 20th anniversary. Last week, the coalition hosted the Banned Books Week Vigil.

Lessenberry is an award-winning journalist, writer, and political and economic commentator. He serves as the head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University and is the writing coach and ombudsman at The Blade. He is the senior news analyst at WUOM 91.7 FM, and he hosts the weekly television show “Deadline Now” on WGTE-TV Ch. 30 in Toledo.

“We believe that to mark our 20th anniversary of being able to think and read freely, we need to do something special,” said Dr. Paulette D. Kilmer, UT professor of communication and coordinator of the UT Banned Books Coalition. “We are at a point in our history where we have to make choices about what we are going to believe, what we are going to accept, and what we are going to do to keep our country the land of the free.”

This year’s American Library Association’s theme is words have power, and Lessenberry has shown this efficacy through his radio broadcasts and writing, Kilmer said.

“He makes us better journalists and better people because he calls us to defend all of our rights,” Kilmer said. “We have tremendous respect for him as a champion of freedom of expression.”

During his career, Lessenberry reported as a foreign correspondent from more than 40 countries for the The Detroit News, where he later served as national editor. In 2002, he was named Journalist of the Year by the Metropolitan Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.