The BIG Event, the largest, single-day student-run service project at The University of Toledo, is Saturday, March 25.

An annual UToledo event since 2001, the BIG Event has changed forms over the years, but the overall goal has remained the same: to give back to the Toledo community.

This year, approximately 350 students are expected to volunteer for the community-sponsored event at 16 service sites, including Toledo GROWs, the Junction Coalition and various food banks around the Toledo community.

“To me, BIG Event is one of the most important events that is put on at the University of Toledo,” said Hannah Spillett, a senior bioengineering student who serves as president of the BIG Event.

“Giving back to the community that gives you so much is an incredible thing to be able to do.”

Media are invited for a photo-op from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Toledo Gospel Rescue Mission’s Outreach Center, located at 670 Phillips Ave., and its women’s shelter located directly across the street, where students will be working inside and outside to help the organization clean the property and build a new shed.

Saturday Morning Science is back for 2023 at The University of Toledo with three spring programs to give the community the opportunity to learn about hot topics in modern science.

The free, public talks, which are presented by the UToledo College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, kick off 10 a.m. Saturday, March 25, in Wolfe Hall Room 1205 on Main Campus.

The first session is all about UToledo astronomers exploring the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope. Dr. Tom Megeath, Distinguished University Professor of astronomy, will present “Observing the Birth of Stars With the James Webb Space Telescope: A Toledo Odyssey.”

Additional programs and speakers will be:

• April 1: “A New Look at Handedness: From the Laboratory to the Nation” by Dr. Stephen Christman, a UToledo professor of psychology.
• April 22: “The Science of Jams, Preserves and Marmalade” by Tara Grey, a jam maker and owner of Gus & Grey in Detroit.

“Saturday Morning Science is a great event for families to learn about cutting-edge as well as everyday science topics,” said Dr. Michal Marszewski, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “Our expert speakers are eager to share their science with the Toledo community through exciting and entertaining presentations designed for general audiences. Guests can enjoy complimentary coffee and bagels and learn about recent discoveries and possible careers in STEM.”

All talks begin at 10 a.m. and include light refreshments. Complimentary parking will be provided in Area 13 — with the exception of metered spaces. Parking in other areas will require payment via the ParkMobile app or a parking meter. Visit the ParkUToledo website for more information.

For more information about the upcoming events, visit the Saturday Morning Science website.

It was about a year ago that The University of Toledo Curling Club took to the ice for its first-ever competitive match.

The months-old club had about a dozen members, most of whom had never played the game until they joined the team in fall 2021. And they were going against a nationally ranked Penn State team, the oldest and largest curling club in the U.S., which agreed to travel to UToledo’s home ice at the Black Swamp Curling Center in Bowling Green.

The Rockets beat the Nittany Lions, 7-5 and 8-5.

That’s how UToledo’s Curling Club’s underdog story begins.

It continues Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, as the team competes in the 2023 College National Championship at the Black Swamp Curling Center, located at 19901 N. Dixie Highway. Tickets are $5 for a single-day admission and $10 for a three-day admission.

“One of our goals when we started the club that semester is that it would be cool to compete at nationals,” said the team’s president and co-founder, Andrew Thomas, 23, a fifth-year senior studying computer science and engineering and electrical engineering who graduates in May.

“We all kind of knew that getting to nationals was possible, but that it would take an immense amount of work to get there.”

Thomas, along with the UToledo Curling Club’s co-founder and friend, Adam Billmaier, who served as the team’s vice president until graduating last May, each had the most curling experience on the team, having played the sport together for a semester in high school.

Megan Harper, the team’s secretary, was like most of the members: She had never touched a curling broom until she joined the team much less participated in a bonspiel, which is a curling tournament that typically takes place over multiple days.

“I didn’t know how to get started. I was really bad at the beginning, but I was determined to figure it out,” said Harper, 22, a senior studying paralegal studies who graduates in May and will be going to law school.

“It took me until my second bonspiel that I was comfortable and confident in my abilities.”

The team persisted and improved with the help of initial funding from the Student Allocation Committee and support from, among others, Dr. Stephen Christman, a professor in the Department of Psychology; Dr. Alana Malik, university assessment director; Alex Zernechel, associate director for student involvement and fraternity and sorority life; and Tony North Jr., assistant director of programs and leadership development.

“All of them have been instrumental in our success,” Thomas said.

By May of last year, the UToledo Curling Club was atop the national rankings. More recent losses, however, including an away game at Penn State, dropped them in the rankings.

“We were definitely sweating it,” Thomas said of the team making it to the 2023 nationals. “But as the weeks grew near it seemed like it was a bit more certain. We were just hoping all this work would pay off, but you don’t know until all the points are counted and you’re in.”

They made it — but barely. They are ranked 16th in the nation, which places them as the last seed in the 16-team national championship tournament.

“I am thrilled for all of the students in the UToledo Curling Club who have worked so hard over the past couple of years to create their club, and to jump into all of the opportunities that the sport of curling has to offer,” Malik said. “They are a great group of people, and I am so proud of all of their efforts. To be selected to participate in this national competition and to host their peers from around the country is truly an honor.”

The UToledo Curling Club has two challenges right away: Friday games against Penn State at 1 p.m. and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from Rochester, New York, at 8 p.m. They play a third match noon Saturday against top-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) from Troy, New York.

Thomas and Harper agreed that their path to the national championship will be difficult, but not impossible.

“I think we’ll be able to handle Penn State,” Harper said. “We’ve played RPI. We lost to them, but I think we held our own.”

Fans can watch the game live via YouTube and updates will be provided through the team’s Instagram account, @UTCurlingClub. But the UToledo Curling Club would love to have the Rocket family in the stands to cheer them on to victory.

“To have the support of everyone in the building and to see everybody supporting us would be super cool,” Thomas said. “And any extra money raised from the admission, 100% of that goes back to the club, which will really help us when competing next year.”

Tickets are available directly at the Black Swamp Curling Center beginning Friday.

For more information, visit the USA Curling website.

As part of its sesquicentennial celebration, The University of Toledo is teaming up with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library to offer the community a free, public lecture and exhibit downtown.

“Celebrating Toledo’s University: 150 Years of the University and the City,” a lecture by Barbara Floyd, former university archivist and author of “An Institution for the Promoting of Knowledge: The University of Toledo at 150,” is from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in the Large Glass Meeting Room at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library Main Library.

The free, public event will focus on how the city and its residents contributed to making the University a success, and how the University contributed to the development of the city.

The UToledo Ward M. Canaday Center’s exhibit commemorating the University’s sesquicentennial, “Faith, Vision, and Hard Work: The University of Toledo, 1872-2022,” also can be experienced at the Main Library of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library.

The display, which is available for viewing at the downtown library until May 8, features UToledo’s historical timeline, reproductions of photographs and documents following the institution’s trajectory from the 1872 Articles of Incorporation through today and trivia. 

The full exhibit in the Canaday Center on UToledo’s Main Campus runs until August. Viewing hours at UToledo are 8:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The University of Toledo will celebrate women’s historical achievements and explore current women’s issues with a series of in-person events and activities throughout March in honor of Women’s History Month.

“The theme of our Women’s History Month this year is ‘Untold Stories,’ ” said Kristen Geaman, an associate lecturer in the Department of History and chair of the Women’s History Month Planning Committee for 2023. “The committee has put together an excellent slate of activities that highlight both historical and contemporary stories.”

The celebration kicks off with an event featuring pizza and trivia starting at noon Thursday, March 2, in the Eberly Center for Women Lounge in Tucker Hall Room 0168.

Later in the month, Donna Owens, Toledo’s first woman to serve as mayor, Sheena Barnes, the first LGBTQ+ Black woman to serve on the TPS school board, and Allison Armstrong, Toledo’s first woman to serve as fire chief, will speak at an event 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 20, in the Thompson Student Union Ingman Room as public servants who pioneered paths for other women.

“Many of the historical activities focus on local history, such as the documentary about Ella P. Stewart and the panel highlighting pioneers of public service,” Geaman said. “We are proud to spotlight local history in the same year as the University’s sesquicentennial. Other events offer students a chance to share their own untold stories, and, with such a range of programming, students should be able to find something they enjoy.”

Women’s History Month events include:

• Monday, March 13, 5:30 p.m.Women in STEM Chat in Carlson Library Room 1005. Connect with UToledo faculty from biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. All are welcome to join talking circles on the challenges and opportunities for women in STEM.
• Wednesday, March 15, 7 p.m.“Ella P. Stewart: Larger Than Life” film screening in Memorial Field House Room 1910. Following a screening of the new documentary about Toledo’s Ella P. Stewart, one of the first Black female pharmacists in the United States, Dr. Shirley Green, an instructor in the Department of History, will host a discussion.
• Saturday, March 18, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.Women in Art Through the Ages at the Toledo Museum of Art. Explore the history of women in art at the Toledo Museum of Art through a tour guided by Dr. Mysoon Rizk, a UToledo professor of art history. Attendees will meet on the second floor of the museum in Libbey Court, the large open space at the top of the main staircase. Sponsored by the Women’s Mentoring Network and the Department of Art History. RSVPs via the Eberly Center website are encouraged but not required.
• Monday, March 20, 5:30 p.m.Untold Stories of Pioneering Public Servants in Thompson Student Union Room 2591 is a fireside chat with public servants who pioneered paths for other women. Participants include Donna Owens, Toledo’s first woman to serve as mayor; Sheena Barnes, the first LGBTQ+ Black woman to serve on the TPS school board; and Allison Armstrong, Toledo’s first woman to serve as fire chief.
• Tuesday, March 28, noon.Wiki Edit-a-Thon in Carlson Library Room 2024. Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites in the world, but less than 20% of biographies on the site are about women. Learn how to research, write and edit Wikipedia entries to address this gender gap while celebrating some of the groundbreaking women from Ohio.
• Thursday, March 30, from 6 to 8 p.m.Open Mic Poetry Night in the Brew Coffee Bar at Gateway Plaza at UToledo. Compose, share and listen to poetry while reflecting on Women’s History Month and our own untold stories.
• Friday, March 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.Womxn of Color Symposium in the Thompson Student Union Ingman Room. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host the fifth Annual Womxn of Color Symposium. This year’s theme, “Reclaiming Our Space(s),” focuses on the ways that navigating predominantly white spaces impacts the mental, physical and overall well-being of women of color. There will be breakout sessions in Rooms 2582, 2584 and 2591.

“We are super happy to celebrate the contributions of women in our community during Women’s History Month this year,” said Reyna Armstrong, a master’s student in the Department of History and an Eberly Center intern.

“We worked hard to include diverse events that center on the history of the women of Toledo that will appeal to everyone. It’s always great to have the opportunity to learn about some important women who’ve had a meaningful impact on UToledo’s community.”

Brandon Hasbrouck, a professor of criminal law and procedure, movement law and abolition at Washington and Lee School of Law, will argue how prisons have served as laboratories of antidemocracy to suppress labor and community organizing, free speech, access to information, protest and bodily autonomy as part of The University of Toledo College of Law’s Cannon Lecture series.

The Cannon Lecture Series, which was established in 1980 to honor former Toledo attorney Joseph A. Cannon, hosts nationally known individuals who explore both the humanistic dimensions and limitations of the legal system.

Hasbrouck’s free, public lecture titled “Prisons as Laboratories of Antidemocracy” is noon Thursday, Feb. 23, in the McQuade Law Auditorium at the Law Center.

Hasbrouck will discuss how prisons are ineffective as tools to prevent individuals from harming society, even as America’s prison population exploded in the 20th Century, devasting Black communities, Black opportunities, Black economic power and Black voting power.

In addition, Hasbrouck says prison administrators honed antidemocratic techniques for constraining and oppressing prisoners that would later be deployed against the free population.

“I am so pleased and excited that Professor Hasbrouck can join us to share his knowledge about this important issue,” said Rebecca Zietlow, associate dean for academic affairs and assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at the College of Law.

Hasbrouck’s research explores the legal and constitutional principles available to Congress and the courts to redress the ways law fails Black and other marginalized people and the structural possibilities for radical change in American society.

He has been published in numerous law reviews and media outlets such as the Washington Post, has authored or coauthored amicus briefs in federal court and has been cited or quoted in many other federal court opinions and other popular publications. He is a columnist for the Boston Globe’s “The Emancipator” and is frequently consulted on litigation strategies involving civil rights and racial justice.

Before teaching, Hasbrouck worked at two law firms, McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, Virginia, and Debevoise and Plimpton LLP in New York, and clerked for two Black federal judges: Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Roger L. Gregory of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Hasbrouck is admitted to the bar of New York State, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

For more information, visit the lecture series’ website.

Music educator, composer and jazz pianist Dr. Alton Merrell is the guest artist for the 2023 Art Tatum Celebration Concert, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the UToledo Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Merrell has performed with legendary artists including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Curtis Fuller, Roger Humphries and Delfeayo Marsalis, and regularly performs with Pittsburgh’s best jazz artists.

Part of UToledo’s celebration of Black History Month, the concert is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required. Visit utoledo.Tix.com to RSVP.

To support the Art Tatum Scholarship, which provides annual scholarships to UToledo music students, visit The University of Toledo Foundation website and type “Tatum” in the search tool.

Complimentary parking will be provided in parking Areas 12 and 12S, with the exception of metered spaces. Parking in other areas will require payment via the ParkMobile app or a parking meter. Visit the ParkUToledo website for more information.

Merrell also will present a master class 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Recital Hall. Music faculty will accompany Merrell’s master class performance, including Norm Damschroder, a senior lecturer, Olman Piedra, an associate professor, and Jay Weik, an associate lecturer. RSVPs are not required for the master class, which also is open to the public.

A world-class pianist, composer and educator, Merrell has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and parts of the Caribbean. His musical artistry is a unique blend of lyrical melodies, rich harmonies and fluid technique that spans multiple music genres including jazz, gospel, classical, pop and rhythm and blues.

A current member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Merrell also has performed multiple times with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland State Jazz Heritage Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale.

Merrell is a member of the group Firm Roots, a jazz sextet featuring some of the finest musicians in Pittsburgh, and leads his own instrumental jazz group, Illuminators, and his own gospel jazz vocal group, Dr. Alton Merrell & Impact.

From the University of Pittsburgh, Merrell received his Ph.D. in jazz studies with a research focus on jazz piano performance and pedagogy. He is a professor of jazz studies at West Virginia University, is the former director of jazz studies at Youngstown State University and previously taught at the University of Pittsburgh.

For more information on the 2023 Art Tatum Celebration Concert and other UToledo Department of Music events, visit the department’s website.

The Toledo Society of Professional Engineers in partnership with The University of Toledo and DiscoverE are celebrating Engineers Week from Monday, Feb. 20, through Friday, Feb. 24.

Engineers Week is dedicated to bringing honor and attention to the engineering profession in Toledo and northwest Ohio.

As part of Engineers Week, UToledo will provide exposure to the profession for local youth through two events: the Engineer for a Day Program and the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Program Series.

More than 600 girls from 15 school districts along with the 14 companies and organizations plan to take part in this year’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Program.

Media are invited during the Introduce a Girl to Engineering program between 10:30 a.m. and noon Friday, Feb. 24, on the first floor of Nitschke Hall.

The Introduce a Girl to Engineering Program Series provides middle school-aged girls a greater understanding of STEM-career fields through interactive programming and presentations by women in the field of engineering throughout spring semester.

Studies have found that girls tend to lose confidence in math and science and lose interest in STEM fields in early adolescence. The award-winning program has been built to show girls in this age group that there are options for them along with people just like them who have made a career out of their interest in engineering and technology.

Throughout the five years of this program, more than 2,500 girls have taken part in this series from 32 school districts across northern Ohio, along with more than 30 companies, 10 student organizations and individuals from multiple professional leadership groups throughout Toledo and the northwest Ohio Area.

The Engineer for a Day Program, back after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-related delays, allows high school students throughout the area to see both the educational and professional side of various engineering disciplines.

Through lab demonstrations, presentations and a facility tour of the UToledo College of Engineering, roughly 180 high schoolers will see what the many faculty and staff within the college do on a daily basis to elevate the profession. Students also will take part in an afternoon job shadowing program that brings students into the workplaces of engineering firms throughout the area.

The University of Toledo is recruiting and training college students from across the country to provide quality child development and care at military bases around the world.

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded UToledo an $11.5 million grant to operate the Rocket Kids program for five years to help children of active-duty service members living overseas thrive and lead healthy lives.

Rocket Kids interns receive 15 UToledo credit hours while they participate in a fall, spring or summer term at one of the U.S. Army bases in Germany, Italy or Belgium.

The program pays for travel expenses and housing and provides a stipend of about $2,100 during the 12-week semester.

U.S. citizens enrolled at a U.S. college or university are eligible to apply on the UToledo website. All majors are welcome.

“We are proud to offer UToledo students and college students across the country the opportunity to participate in this unique international experience,” said Dr. Sammy Spann, vice president of student affairs and director of the Rocket Kids program. “Rocket Kids is a great way to travel to a fun and exciting location, build your resume and most importantly gain hands-on experience with children and youth.”

Rocket Kids is a recreational youth work program in the UToledo Judith Herb College of Education providing educational development and recreational programming to the U.S. Army’s children and youth in Europe. After the first year, Spann said the military is looking to increase to other branches of the military with bases in Asia and other parts of the world.

Marysa King, a first-year UToledo student studying middle childhood education, will be heading to Europe during summer semester in the first Rocket Kids cohort.

“This is such an exciting opportunity because not only do I get to do what I love and am most passionate about, which is working with children, but it is also an amazing way to give back to those serving our country and their families,” King said. “I also love to travel and see different cultures, so it is a great learning experience as well.”

Before heading overseas to be positioned in a child development center or summer camp program, Rocket Kids interns will receive more than 60 hours of training and certifications in CPR, First Aid and child development.

To participate in the program, students must obtain a passport.

“We have interviewed more than 130 students with the intent of retaining and sending out about 40 students this first year,” Spann said. “Our goal within the next 3 to 5 years will be to send over 1,200 Rockets a year to more than 36 locations around the world.”

Learn more about the program at the Rocket Kids website.

The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film hosts its second-annual Festival of New Student Work Thursday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 12.

The festival will feature the work of student playwrights, directors, actors, stage managers and designers. The production team will include UToledo faculty as directors, designers and mentors.

Students interested in writing plays were invited to submit their scripts during fall semester. The only requirement was that the play features a couch in some way within the action of the script.

Out of 18 scripts submitted for the 2023 Festival of New Student Work, seven were chosen for production:

• “Two Sides of a Coin” by Hazel Penrose, a theatre major and music technology minor;
• “Cheater Feeder” by Emile Wheeler, an English major;
• “Garbage Thinking” by Jared Droesch, an adolescent and young adult education major and a stage and screen performance minor;
• “Never-ending Goodbye” by Jordyn Beery, a theatre major;
• “Knight’s Play” by Jeffery Enck, a theatre major;
• “Writing Partners” by Seth Camiscione, a communication studies and political science major; and
• “Detective Aside” by Karson Palmer, a theatre and English major.

Festival performances consist of two acts, each approximately an hour long, and begin at 7:30 p.m. in the UToledo Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre. A 2 p.m. matinee is scheduled Sunday, Feb. 12.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online through the Tix.com UToledo website or at the box office before the performance.

Visitor parking to the festival will require payment via the ParkMobile app, a parking meter or by purchasing a daily permit via ParkUToledo. Visit the ParkUToledo website for more information.