Lindenwood Magazine - Spring 2022

4 5 SPRING 2022 EDITION SPRING 2022 EDITION THE LINDENWOOD THE LINDENWOOD PRESIDENT ADVANCEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS Letter from the Lindenwood Friends, This spring brought excitement to the campus of Lindenwood University. With Linden trees in full bloom, the return of commencement to campus, and a successful semester complete, we have much to be thankful for. We are wrapping up the first year of our strategic plan, Lindenwood 2026, and the forthcoming pages take a deeper look into the amazing things we are accomplishing. Lindenwood’s classrooms are becoming more supportive and inclusive, we are engaging with the St. Charles community in impactful ways, and we are partnering with organizations whose values reflect ours. Our alumni network is thriving, and we hosted events across the country to connect with Lindenwood graduates and friends. In April, we also celebrated milestone classes here on campus for our first Reunion Weekend—an event we look forward to hosting each year moving forward. We are eager to welcome you to campus and look forward to connecting with you in person. I wish each of you a safe and joy-filled summer. Sincerely, JOHN R. PORTER, ED.D. President, Lindenwood University Department I stepped off the plane in Nicaragua and I thought I had landed in the Philippines, where I was born some 50 years earlier. I was helping to lead students from my previous institution to help a Nicaraguan mother build a house through Habitat for Humanity. It was my first time traveling to a developing country with students and I was as excited and nervous as they were. But something about the air in Managua reminded me of the last time I was in the Philippines. Today, it reminds me that the world is both foreign and familiar. And if you stop to think about it, we have more that unites us than divides us. Lindenwood students experience similar feelings as they immerse themselves in cultures both foreign and familiar, by traveling abroad to study or engage in internships, through service-learning in semester-long, short-term faculty-led, or summer programs. They return changed, more confident about their place in the world and better equipped to help us understand what it means to be a global advocate, one of our new graduate attributes. This is one small step as Lindenwood adapts to meet the needs of a global campus community, as we build a culture of global advocacy that is infused in campus life through intentional support services and programming, and as we engage with global partners at home and abroad. If we are successful, anyone who steps foot on our campus will breathe the air and realize that they have just come home. MARK VALENZUELA, PHD Associate Provost Engaged Learning, Academic Affairs WELCOME LETTER OURROOTS Nourishing WARNER HALL ADVANCEMENT Orrie Covert Vice President, Advancement and Communications Brian Brunner Assistant Vice President, Advancement Josh Bell ’16, ‘19 Director, Development Renata Bule Advancement Officer Cassie Chilcutt ‘16 Database and Stewardship Coordinator Josh Elliott Coordinator, Budget and Research Jen Wunder ‘18 Director, Athletics Development ALUMNI RELATIONS & SPECIAL EVENTS Jen Edler, EdD ’99, ’17, ’20 Director, Alumni Relations Sarah Kozy Assistant, Special Events Emily J. Sebourn Manager, Special Events COMMUNICATIONS Julee Mitsler Assistant Vice President, Communications Alexandra Bardon ‘15, ‘22 Specialist, Digital Marketing Phoebe Mussman Videographer/Photographer Mia Tebbe ‘21 Manager, Communications Content Jason L. Waack Webmaster Truman Wheeler ‘19 Administrator, Web Content MAGAZINE DESIGN Brad Hansen Art Director, LU Global