One of First Graduate Diplomas Returns to Doane
When Dr. Stanley Bridges of Sun City, Ariz., visited Doane, he brought with him a piece of history - a diploma from 1877. His grandfather was William A. Bridges, one of three members of Doane's very first graduating class.
Dr. Bridges presented the diploma - archivally framed for display - to President Jonathan Brand.
Made on real sheepskin and written immaculately by hand in Latin, the diploma was still in excellent condition.
During his visit, Dr. Bridges and his wife, Fran, discovered their own piece of history. His great-grandfather George Bridges was the founder of The Crete Mills.
The diploma and a photograph of William Bridges can be found on display in Perkins Library.
Wal-Mart Donates to Doane's Multicultural Program
When Wal-Mart opened its doors in Crete on June 13, the super center giant donated $1,000 toward the Multicultural Support Services Program. Wilma Jackson, director of multicultural programming and education, along with Rick Blessen, director of the Doane Fund, and President Jonathan Brand were on hand for the presentation ceremony. According to Jackson, the money will be put toward mentoring programs and diversity training: "We appreciate the donation so much. It helps support our goal of creating a more diverse and inclusive environment for all." Wal-Mart donated a total of $26,500 to area organizations.
Doane Forensics Team
In the Fall 2007 semester, Doane Forensics was the top rated team in Nebraska. By late November, the team had already earned 114 individual speaking awards, qualified 19 events for the national tournment and won nine team trophies and four team championships. The public had a chance to watch team members in a rare home performance during a showcase of events Nov. 28 in Common Grounds Coffeehouse. At the start of the second semester, the team continued to add to its list of national qualifiers and strong performances, including a 1st place team sweepstakes at Concordia University, competing against 18 top Midwest programs, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kansas State University and Creighton University.
Doane Corps First Volunteers
Two 2007 Doane College graduates - Amy Sherwood of Mitchell and Shawna Clement of Lincoln - were in Kenya as the first participants in Doane Corps, a new program of post-graduate international volunteer service. Both will taught in the Special Unit of the Ol-Ng'arua Primary government school for physically and mentally challenged children and the Ol-Ng'arua regular primary school.
They stayed in Gachura village with the Kinyanjui family, which includes Isaac Kinyanjui who spent last April in residence at Doane lecturing and visiting classes and also served as a naturalist and wildlife guide with Professor Betty Levitov through her Semester in Africa program. They returned home earlier than planned when a controversial presidential election made living conditions dangerous.
A donation by Maynard Fricke of Montezuma, Kan., helped launch the new program to engage students in community service in developing countries. Doane will select graduates for the Doane Corps annually through a competitive application process.
Two Grants Received
William Randolph Hearst Foundation awarded $100,000 for placement in the Doane endowment, with the income to be used for scholarships. This is the third grant made by the Foundation to the "William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund" at Doane, bringing the total fund to $300,000. A factor in their decision was Doane's ability to show that it had wisely invested their past grants, as evidenced by the actual dollar yield that has been available for Hearst Scholarships every year.
The Armstrong McDonald Foundation awarded $40,500 to be used to purchase up-to-date technology systems for classroom presentation use. The equipment list will include one highly-sophisticated, movable "Smart Board" for use anywhere on campus, and 10 classroom systems (laptop, DVD, projector, cart) with five going into Gaylord Hall classrooms. The intent is to bring Gaylord and other areas up to the level of the instructional technology installed in the education wing of the new building, also done with Armstrong McDonald funds.
Campus Alert System
Now students, faculty and staff can sign up to be alerted immediately if an emergency situation is occurring on any of the Doane College campuses.
Doane has contracted with e2Campus so that we can send alerts instantly to students, faculty and staff on mobile phones, Blackberrys, PDAs, pagers, e-mail and the Doane Web site. Over 400 colleges and universities use e2Campus.
Benefits include:
- The system is only used for true emergencies.
- Messages can be sent to a variety of mobile devices.
- Alerts can be received regardless of where people are.
- There is no charge for the alert service.
- Contact information can be updated anytime online.
Ensuring that Doane College remains a safe community for students, faculty and staff is our highest priority.