by Jason Skoog

Viterbo's Digital Collections feature the newly updated Lumen Newspaper Collection. We've added every issue back to the first in 1954, and all issues are full-text searchable. If you need help searching the collection, contact Jason Skoog at jaskoog@viterbo.edu or 608-796-3262.

Pictured above: Students in Sr. Agnes Marie's 1956 Home Management class build a bookshelf from bricks they manufactured. 

Here are examples of interesting front-page stories from the past: 

Sophomore Opportunities for Success (SOS) Grant

Sophomore students have a new tuition discount opportunity this year. Five students will be awarded a $1,000 grant toward their 2020–21 tuition. To be eligible, students must attend 10 SOS events during the 2019–20 academic year and complete an application. 

Click for more information, including a list of events and the application. Encourage sophomores to check it out.

 Sophomore Spring Startup

By Margy Frazier

I am excited to share the spring 2020 Identities Project schedule (tenative) with you in the hope you will be able to attend some of the events and encourage students to do the same.

The goal is to keep adding to the calendar. If you are interested in cohosting a civil dialogue, a documentary, a discussion, or anything else, reach out to me at mcfrazier@viterbo.edu or 608-796-3842.

The schedule thus far: 

Scholars Days 2020 will take place Thursday, April 23–Friday, April 24. Faculty are asked to consider including a Scholars Days experience for students this semester.

The Scholars Days registration form is live. Click here to access the registration form directly.  The form, more background information about Scholars Days, and materials from previous events are available at www.viterbo.edu/scholarsdays. The deadline to register for Scholars Days 2020 is Monday, March 2 at 9 a.m. 

Famous civil rights marcher and activist Lynda Blackmon Lowery will present the keynote address “History: Past, Present, and Future” at the La Crosse Community Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 in the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

Blackmon Lowery began her civil rights activism as a child in the early 1960s. She was on the front lines of the struggle in Alabama, marching on “Bloody Sunday,” “Turn Around Tuesday,” and was the youngest marcher to walk every step of the successful march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. On “Bloody Sunday” March 7, 1965, Blackmon Lowery and other marchers were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She needed 35 stitches as a result of her injuries.

A much sought-after speaker, Blackmon Lowery has presented at conferences across the country. She is a graduate of the College of Staten Island and recently retired from Cahaba Mental Health as a senior case manager. She is a lifelong worshiper at the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The 2019–20 Viterbo University Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series will continue at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 as pianist Mary Ellen Haupert and flutist Jonathan Borja perform Defining Dates in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.

The concert will include Emmanuel Pahud’s transcriptions of five songs by Gustav Mahler, Frank Martin’s Ballade for Flute and Piano, and a transcription of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 24. Borja is professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Haupert is a professor of music at Viterbo University.

Both Borja and Haupert celebrate landmark birthdays this year, so in addition to marking anniversaries of each programmed composer, there will be birthday cake served at the reception following the concert. Everyone is invited to join these artists for an afternoon of entertaining music and birthday celebrations.

An exhibit entitled Gatherings featuring the paintings and drawings of guest artist Byron Anway will be on display in the Viterbo University Gallery Wednesday, Jan. 15–Friday, Feb. 14. A reception celebrating the opening of the show will be held from 5–6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22.

Anway is a faculty member at the University of Nebraska. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College.

Large groups of people and the reasons people gather are often the focus of his work.

Also on Jan. 22, Anway will hold an artist workshop for from 10:10 a.m.–1:15 p.m. and will give an artist lecture from 4–5 p.m. Both events will be held in Fine Arts Center room 314 and are open to everyone.

Prospective students and their families are invited to learn about the field of engineering and Viterbo University’s engineering major at Engineering Exploration Day the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 18.

Participants will hear from a panel of engineers from Mathy Construction, Brennan, Trane, Dairyland Power, Braun, and Fastenal, meet Viterbo faculty members, and see the university’s engineering facilities.

The schedule for the day: