The University of Toledo’s “I Am Because We Are” celebration of Black History Month will kick off with a soul food luncheon sharing oral histories from local African Americans.

Dr. Willie McKether, associate dean of the UT College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences, and associate professor of anthropology, will discuss his work adding to the Edrene Cole African American History Collection that he helped establish in collaboration with the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library System, which houses the project.

Documenting the seemingly ordinary lives of the project’s participants — from assembly-line workers to lawyers, from teachers to barbers to jazz musicians — was a deeply moving experience for McKether. “They would usually say, ‘I don’t have much to talk about’ — then they’d share these amazing stories,” he said.

The luncheon will be noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, in the Student Union Auditorium. The event also will include musical performances by the UT Gospel Choir.

Additional events throughout the month of February include:

Monday, Feb. 9
•  Black History Trivia, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Student Union Trimble Lounge.

Friday, Feb. 13
•  Black Student Union Fashion Show, “Black Revolution,” 7:30 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. Tickets: $10 general admission, $15 VIP available at Ask Rocky on second floor of Student Union.

Sunday, Feb. 15
•  Film screening of “Selma” at Rave Cinemas Westfield Franklin Park Mall. Students should call the Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success at 419.530.2261 for time of screening and tickets; seating is limited. An “After Selma” discussion will be the next day, 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 16, in the Student Union Trimble Lounge.

Tuesday, Feb. 17
•  “I Am Because She Was,” 7 p.m., Student Union Room 2582. Sponsor: Talented Aspiring Women Leaders.

Wednesday, Feb. 18
•  Speaker: Rodney O’Neil, chief executive officer and president of Delphi Automotive PLC, 7 p.m., Student Union Ingman Room. Sponsors: Association of Black Faculty and Staff, Alpha Phi Boule and Brothers on the Rise.

Saturday, Feb. 21
•  Student Trip to Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For details, contact the Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success at 419.530.2261.

Wednesday, Feb. 25
•  Speaker: Kevin Powell, political activist and author, 7:30 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. He has written 11 books, including Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan and the Ghost of Dr. King: Blogs and Essays, which examines politics and social issues like gender violence, immigration and equality.

For additional information and a full listing of events, visit the Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success website at utoledo.edu/studentaffairs/oemss.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 5, 2015)
The Independent Collegian (Feb. 11, 2015)

Dr. Christopher Cooper will provide an update on the condition of Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins at 5 p.m. today in the Mulford Library Board Room located on the building’s second floor on the Health Science Campus.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 2, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 3, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 4, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 5, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 7, 2015)

The dates have been set for campus visits for The University of Toledo’s three presidential finalists.

Candidates will tour UT’s campuses; meet with faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni and community members; and participate in open question-and-answer forums on Main Campus and Health Science Campus.

The dates for the visits are:

•  Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 18-20 — Dr. Michele Wheatly, professor and senior adviser to the president at West Virginia University;
•  Sunday through Tuesday, Feb. 22-24 — Dr. Christopher Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia; and
•  Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 25-27 — Dr. Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas.

“We’re working very hard to ensure that through smaller meetings or the open forums, every constituency group has a chance to hear from the candidates and ask questions,” said Joesph Zerbey, chairman of the UT Board of Trustees.

“We’ll also have a way for the UT community to provide feedback on the candidates through the presidential search website. As I have said from the beginning, we are committed to being as transparent as possible throughout this process.”

The presidential search website is utoledo.edu/presidential-search.

Noting the visit on Sunday, Feb. 22, Zerbey emphasized that day would include a tour of UT campuses and that all interactions with members of the University community would take place during the workweek.

Zerbey said invitations to leadership groups across campus and publicity regarding the campus open forums would go out in the next few days.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 3, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 6, 2015)
The Plain Dealer (Feb. 13, 2015)
FOX 19 Cleveland (Feb. 13, 2015)
Morning Journal (Feb. 13, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 15, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 20, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 20, 2015)
13 ABC (Feb. 20, 2015)
Insurance News (Feb. 20, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 21, 2015)
NBC 24 (Feb. 22, 2015)
WBNS 10 (Feb. 23, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 23, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 24, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 24, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 25, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 26, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 27, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 28, 2015)

The University of Toledo has canceled classes and student clinical rotations for Monday, Feb. 2.

Despite canceled classes, the University will remain open and UT’s Continuity of Operations Plan is now activated. Only employees designated 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, as always, will remain open. UT Health outpatient clinics will be closed and associated employees are not to report unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.

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.

Business leader and child advocate Steve Pemberton will be the keynote speaker at The University of Toledo’s 31st annual Aspiring Minority Youth Conference Saturday, Jan. 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

The conference titled “Embracing Diversity: Understanding the Reality of 21st Century” is designed for sixth- through 12th-grade students, parents and community members.

Pemberton

“Our theme this year focuses on how critical it is that young people begin to understand the diverse and global world that they are a part of and how critically important it is for them to engage with and understand people who are different from themselves,” David Young, director of the UT Office of Excellence, said.

Pemberton, chief diversity officer and divisional vice president for Walgreens, is considered one of America’s most inspiring executives. Despite setbacks, he has been successful in both his personal and professional life by utilizing opportunity, access and equality.

“We are especially proud to present our keynote speaker,” Young said. “He is recognized as a leader on matters of diversity and inclusion and their importance to the growth of the American industrial complex.”

Pemberton’s inspiring journey from foster care to finding his biological family is shared in his memoir, A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home.

After the general session featuring Pemberton, there will be a session for parents and educators titled “Fostering and Maintaining Healthy Lifestyles for the Whole Family,” which is designed to encourage parents to discuss nutrition and exercise with their children and be proactive about health and wellness.

Students will attend a concurrent session on “Ethnic Diversity: Overcoming the Negative, Reinforcing the Positive.” A Toledo Excel alumni panel will lead a discussion to encourage students to celebrate diversity and take pride in their ethnic backgrounds.

A free lunch will be provided for all attendees after the last session.

The free, public conference is hosted by Toledo Excel, which was established in 1988 and has since helped prepare underrepresented students in higher education for success in college.

To make a reservation for the free, public conference, click here or call 419.530.3823.

Click here to download a photo of Pemberton.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Feb. 11, 2015)

What if Indiana’s most affordable law school isn’t in Indiana?

For members of the fall 2015 entering class, The University of Toledo College of Law will provide Indiana residents a scholarship to cover the out-of-state tuition surcharges, making Toledo Law the most affordable law school for Indiana residents. The scholarship will be automatically renewed each semester of law school enrollment.

With the new Indiana Resident Scholarship Guarantee, Indiana residents will effectively pay Toledo Law’s in-state tuition rate of $17,900 – lower than any public or private law school in Indiana.

“Toledo Law offers a nationally ranked education with a personal touch,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the College of Law. “We have many graduates who have had outstanding legal careers after returning to or settling in Indiana with a Toledo Law degree.”

Toledo Law is consistently looking for ways to improve the value it provides its students. Other recent initiatives include enhanced opportunities for experiential learning during all three years and more emphasis on joint degree programs such as the JD/MBA and new JD/MD.

This initiative is part of the college’s ongoing efforts to recruit students from nearby states. Toledo Law also offers in-state tuition to Michigan residents through the Michigan Resident Scholarship Guarantee.

The University of Toledo is slated to lead eight out of the 18 research projects to be funded with $2 million in state of Ohio research funds to address water quality and algal bloom toxicity.

UT is to receive more than $830,000 of the $2 million dedicated by the Ohio Board of Regents under the recommendation of a committee tasked with deciding how to best utilize and invest the funds. The Ohio Board of Regents announced the research project proposal earlier today.

The University is investing an additional $200,000 to support the research efforts of its faculty.

“The faculty at The University of Toledo were prompt to help when Toledo’s water supply was impacted by toxic algae in Lake Erie and continue to offer their expertise as we seek solutions to the algal blooms that negatively impact our community and others throughout Ohio,” UT Interim President Nagi Naganathan said. “Given our location on Lake Erie and breadth of expertise in environmental sciences, environmental engineering, medicine and spatial sciences, UT is well positioned to provide the important solutions we need to address this concern.”

The UT researchers to receive funding for their projects are:

•  Dr. Thomas Bridgeman, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences, who will work to extend early-warning capacity for harmful algal blooms by placing sensors up to eight miles away from intakes in areas were high toxin levels tend to develop during blooms and investigate environmental variables that provide insight on conditions that promote production and release of algal toxins.
•  Dr. Isabel Escobar, professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and interim associate dean of research, development and outreach in the College of Engineering, who will study alternative water treatment processes to removal algal toxins, address transport of toxins through drinking water distribution systems and compare processes to detect cyanotoxins.
•  Dr. Kenneth Hensley, associate professor pathology, who will develop a method to detect toxins in biological samples, such as urine or blood, to assess exposure to toxins.
•  Dr. Jason Huntley, assistant professor of medical microbiology and immunology, who will test conditions that promote microcystin-degrading bacteria to form biofilms on filters currently used in municipal water treatment facilities.
•  Dr. Patrick Lawrence, professor and chair of the Department of Geography and Planning, who will organize available information and engage Maumee watershed stakeholders to help make informed decisions and suggest best management practices.
•  Dr. Thomas Sodeman, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at UTMC, who will study the impact of preexisting liver disease for susceptibility of microcystin hepatotoxicity.

A group of more than 60 university researchers, including four from UT who co-chaired focus group areas, were convened by Board of Regents Chancellor John Carey to recommend how the funds would be invested. The group made their recommendations looking at five key areas: Lake Erie harmful algal blooms and lake water quality; drinking water testing and detection; agricultural land use practices, sources of enrichment, water quality, and engineered systems; human health and toxicity; and economics and policy reform.

“This group put a great deal of time and effort into addressing this important issue,” Carey said. “I am very proud of the effort of the researchers from both the public and private higher education institutions. This collaborative effort is evidence of the value of higher education in Ohio to solving the toxic algae issue. We need to build upon this model with other important issues facing our state.”

The newly funded research projects will build upon UT’s already robust work in the area of water quality.

Shortly after the August water crisis in Toledo, a University of Toledo Water Task Force was created. Comprised of faculty and researchers spanning the University’s colleges, UT Medical Center and UT Lake Erie Center, the task force serves as a resource for officials at all levels of government and coordinates existing UT Lake Erie research and ongoing related investigative efforts on water resource management and water quality.

“We are committed to our role as a public research university and are pleased we have the faculty expertise to support our region,” said Dr. Frank Calzonetti, UT vice president for government relations and chief of staff to the president, who is chairing the task force. “UT is in a unique position to provide the resources and expertise sought by our local and regional stakeholders to address this issue.”

Media Coverage
13 ABC, FOX Toledo and WTOL 11 (Jan. 28, 2015)
The Blade (Jan. 28, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Jan. 29, 2015)

** Americans With Disabilities Act talk Jan. 29 is canceled **

A lecture by Dr. Michael Stein, co-founder and executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29 at the UT College of Law has been canceled. 

The event, “The Americans With Disabilities Act at 25: Looking in by Looking out,” will be rescheduled.
 

This year marks the 25-year anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Where it stands now will be discussed Thursday, Jan. 29, at noon in the Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium.

Dr. Michael Stein, co-founder and executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, will give a talk titled “The Americans With Disabilities Act at 25: Looking in by Looking out.”

The landmark civil rights law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation and all places that are open to the general public.

Stein will survey the act’s 25-year legacy of promoting equal opportunity for people with disabilities and address what needs to be done. In doing so, he will draw on his work on disability rights in three dozen countries.

An internationally recognized expert on disability law and policy, Stein helped draft the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In addition, he works with disabled persons organizations around the world, consults with governments on their disability laws and policies, advises a number of UN bodies, and has brought landmark litigation and written extensively on disability rights.

Stein has received numerous awards for his work and was appointed by President Obama to the United States Holocaust Council.

A longtime visiting professor of law at Harvard, Stein also has taught at New York University, Stanford and William & Mary law schools.

He is a graduate of New York University and holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a PhD from Cambridge University.

Stein’s free, public talk is sponsored by the UT College of Law.

A new location is now open in southeast Michigan for students to earn a University of Toledo degree closer to home.

As part of the Schoolcraft to U partnership between UT and Schoolcraft College, the Jeffress Center on the college’s Livonia campus has been refurbished to look and feel like UT campus classrooms.

A ribbon cutting to celebrate the new Schoolcraft to U space will be 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 on the third floor of the Jeffress Center, located on the Schoolcraft campus on Haggerty Road between Six and Seven Mile roads. The event will feature Livonia Mayor Jack Kirksey, Livonia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dan West, UT Vice President for External Affairs Lawrence J. Burns and Schoolcraft Vice President and CFO Glenn Cerny.

The 10,000-square-feet of UT space in the building named in honor of the college’s President Conway A. Jeffress allows students to take univeristy program courses in that building, or online, to complete their degrees without leaving their neighborhood.

The Schoolcraft to U partnership features UT bachelor’s degrees in professional studies, criminal justice, health information administration and nursing.

UT provides scholarships to cover the out-of-state surcharge for Schoolcraft to U participants and works with students to coordinate student courses at Schoolcraft and UT to ensure a seamless transfer.

The Schoolcraft to U program also includes Wayne State University in midtown Detroit, which offers engineering technology and business courses.

For additional information about the Schoolcraft to U partnership, visit schoolcraft.edu/sctou.

Media Coverage
WXYZ Detroit and WJBK Detroit (Jan. 28, 2015)

The University of Toledo has announced its presidential finalists. Candidates who will be invited for campus interviews are:

•  Dr. Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas.

•  Dr. Christopher Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College.

•  Dr. Michele Wheatly, professor and senior adviser to the president at West Virginia University.

Gaber

Howard

Wheatly

Calling the group of leaders outstanding, UT Board of Trustees Chairman Joseph Zerbey told the UT campus community in a letter Thursday that the most important part of the search was still to come.

“The most important part of the search will take place in the coming weeks and as members of the UT community, you will play a critical role,” Zerbey said, noting that UT plans to set up feedback opportunities through the presidential search website.

Zerbey said that itineraries for the candidates would be developed and published in the coming days.

“While here, they will meet with leadership from our faculty, students, staff and administration, learn about the campus, and participate in open forums where members of the UT community can come ask questions and hear about the candidates’ visions for this University’s future,” Zerbey said.

Zerbey also had praise for the presidential search committee.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to say how thankful we are for the input, expertise and guidance from faculty, staff and student leadership, as well as alumni, UT supporters and members of the community who served on the search committee.”

Visit utoledo.edu/presidential-search for the most up-to-date information.

Media Coverage
The Independent Collegian (Jan. 22, 2015)
NBC 24 (Jan. 22, 2015)
WSET Virginia (Jan. 22, 2015)
13 ABC (Jan. 22, 2015)
Morning Journal (Jan. 22, 2015)
13 ABC, FOX Toledo and WTOL 11 (Jan. 22, 2015)
The Blade (Jan. 24, 2015)