Rowan Writing Arts Events Update: Week of September 24, 2018

Upcoming Volunteering Events
 
In addition to those events mentioned in the Committees and Projects survey, there are immediate needs over the next few weeks for colleagues looking to help out . . . and hoping to garner some department service projects for their recontracting packages:

• Top of the list is the Rowan Global Information Session, this Saturday, September 29. It’s the first of four such events this academic year and is being held in the Eynon Ballroom at the Chamberlain Student Center from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Our colleague Ron Block was planning to take the lead at this session, but a last-minute engagement has forced him to seek a replacement on short notice. Ron will supply all the information you need to discuss our online and on-campus graduate offerings – with a focus on our Master of Arts in Writing studies and the Teaching Experience Program – in addition to the COGS (Certificates Of Graduate Study) and CAGS (Certificates of Advanced Graduate Study) that are available. This is an excellent opportunity for graduate students as well as faculty. Please contact Ron for more information, and to jump in and fill this void.
• The Fall Career and Graduate School Fair is being held on Thursday, October 4 and we need three or four volunteers to help staff the table representing our Master of Arts in Writing program and the M.A. in Strategic Communication. Talking points, handouts, and other information will be provided at the shared College of Communication and Creative Arts table. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Rowan Rec Center and will feature representatives from more than 100 employers and graduate schools. Again, in addition to faculty, second- and third-year MA students are welcome to help out with this event. Contact Jenn Courtney for additional details and to sign up to help.
• The Collingswood Book Festival is fast approaching – Saturday, October 6 – and we need a few more volunteers to help fill out our three two-hour time slots. Any assistance at any time would be great – the event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Haddon Avenue – but we specifically need additional staffing for the 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. time slot. The Festival is a fun event that’s well attended each year and, with all the interesting writers, educators, publishers, and book enthusiasts that stop by, your two-hour shift will fly by. Please email Anna Bassiri for more information, and to volunteer to help.
• While Homecoming 2018 officially runs from Monday, October 15 through Sunday the 19th, Saturday, October 18 is the day on which we need volunteers. After the parade and before the football game, the College of Communication and Creative Arts staffs a booth in the College Corner portion of the tailgate festivities. It’s great to meet the students, parents, alumni, fellow faculty, and community members who stop by our booth, and there’s always great swag available. Contact me for more information and to sign up for a shift.

 
 
Help a Family In Need Properly Celebrate The Holidays
 
Where is the time going this semester? We’re almost through September, Halloween is coming up soon, and – before we know it – Thanksgiving break will be here. That means it’s not too early to start thinking about once again “adopting” a local family and providing them with all the fixings for a fabulous holiday meal. The university’s Office of Volunteerism, Community Engagement, and Commuter Services (VCECS) is seeking to sponsor 100 families and set them up with all they need – including gift certificates for turkeys – to bring the joy of the season to their homes. You can choose to adopt a family on your own or bring in individual items for an overall Writing Arts Department donation. Keep the usual guidelines in mind: Non-perishables only and no glass containers. Cash donations are gratefully accepted. Please contact me or Shelly Klink in the VCECS office for more details.
 
 
Spend an Evening With a Social Activist and Sports Legend
 
He stood next to Dr. Martin Luther King during the “I Have A Dream” speech, was a standout player for the Villanova University men’s basketball team, and – as a coach -- took three different Division 1 teams – in six different seasons -- to the NCAA Tournament. He’s George Raveling and he’s coming to Rowan at the end of October to help launch the university’s Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact. Coach Raveling is the featured guest and the first keynote lecturer in the Center’s Speaker Series. Mark your calendars for 7 p.m., Tuesday, October 30 to make sure you’re at Tohill Auditorium in Bunce Hall for this kickoff event. The energetic octogenarian Raveling worked as a television commentator and as Nike Inc.’s Director of International Basketball before moving into motivational speaking. He now passes along life lessons through his Coaching For Success organization, a platform that provides him with a forum in discussions of race, education, and athletics. He’s been called a “molder of boys into men, and of men into better men” and is known by many as the “Human Google” for his encyclopediac memory. Coach reads at least four books a month, has traveled to every continent but Antarctica, and says his favorite hobby is collecting friends. Don’t miss your opportunity to become one of those friends and to experience this true Renaissance man. We’ll see you there on the 30th!
 
 
Take Time to Celebrate the Life of Donald Farish
 
Finally, on a somber but celebratory note, plan to come together with the Rowan community this Friday, September 28, for a Memorial Service to commemorate the life of Donald Farish. The service will begin at 2 p.m. in Boyd Recital Hall inside Wilson Hall. Dr. Farish was Rowan’s sixth president, serving from 1998 to 2011, and helped lead Rowan through its greatest period of growth and expansion. Dr. Farish worked to coordinate and facilitate such major projects as the Campbell Library, Rohrer College of Business, the Edelman Planetarium, and the Bantivoglio Honors College. He also oversaw the construction of Science Hall, Education Hall, the Town House residential complex, and worked with community leaders on the development of Rowan Boulevard. Dr. Farish also was involved in the purchase of what we now call the West Campus and spearheaded the partnership that led to the creation of the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Dr. Farish died on July 5 at age 75 while serving as president of Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I.
 
 
Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can let all our colleagues know in the weekly Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at royek@rowan.edu to give me the 4-1-1.
 
Stephen A. Royek, M.A.
Lecturer, Writing Arts
Rowan University
2015 Rowan Medallion Award winner
     Phone: 856-906-4755
     Victoria Hall, Room 521
     Email: royek@rowan.edu

---