Mar. 4, 2011

Shawnee State University will kick off its year-long 25th anniversary celebration by showcasing students' achievements in academics and the arts at the annual Celebration of Scholarship, one of the most significant academic events on campus.

"We thought it was very fitting to kick-off our anniversary celebration with an event that spotlights our outstanding students," Dr. Rita Rice Morris, SSU President, said. "The Celebration of Scholarship is an incredible two-day conference that gives our community an opportunity to see what amazing work is being done by our students and their faculty mentors."

The Celebration of Scholarship will take place on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 with students collaborating with faculty to introduce both research and course-based work. This year both undergraduate and graduate work will be showcased. Local language arts teachers who are in Ohiowins will join the graduate research in education program.

Several well-known guest speakers will join the celebration. Professor Marta Martinex Fuertes from SSU's sister university in Spain will be on campus several times, and at noon on Thursday for a brown bag lunch session. She will be speaking about education in Europe and the efforts being made to share different cultures and languages. Anyone considering student teaching or traveling abroad should attend.

New to the celebration this year is the Gary Gemmer Outstanding Poster Presentation Award. SSU's resident advisors are sponsoring the award and a faculty committee will determine which student has the most outstanding poster. The winner will receive $100 for the award.

The Ohio Writing Institute, a regional group sponsored by the Ohio Board of Regents and comprised of local high school teachers will be participating in the Celebration of Scholarship.

Participants in the event will be treated to the Celebration of Scholarship Dinner on Thursday evening, April 7, in conjunction with the 25th Anniversary. Following dinner, Dr. Andrew Hacker will present "The College Crucible: Add Students and Stir." Although Hacker's presentation at 7 p.m. is free and open to the public, the dinner is by invitation only.

Dr. Mileah Kromer will close the Celebration of Scholarship with a keynote address about politics and political polls. She will be speaking at 11 a.m. in Clark Memorial Library's Flohr Lecture Hall. Kromer specializes in state legislative behavior with a focus on women in politics. She is the assistant director of the Elon University Poll, a nationally known political poll that conducts surveys on issues of importance to North Carolina and southern states. A Kindle will be given as a door prize after his presentation.

The Celebration of Scholarship will close on Friday at noon with a campus-wide Birthday Bash in celebration of SSU's 25th anniversary. Everyone in the university community, as well as the regional community, is invited to the party in the Sodexo Ballroom after Kromer's keynote address.