Each year, the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) provides one honors student from across the country a full scholarship (covering the program fee and airfare) to attend the NCHC Partners in the Parks program. Partners in the Parks was established to connect university honors students with America's natural wonders. The program offers immersive, five-day academic adventures in national parks, combining education, stewardship, and recreation. This year's recipient of the NCHC scholarship is EMU student Milanno Jones, a sophomore Environmental Science and Society major and member of The Honors College. In early August, Milanno will travel to Glacier National Park, where he will participate in hands-on ecological service with backcountry adventure. He will engage in impactful projects like huckleberry research, wildlife surveys, and invasive species management while hiking rugged trails, camping under the stars, and swimming in glacier-fed lakes. The value of the scholarship is about $1600. 

Learn more about ENVI at EMU

Christipher Burton, violin performance major at Eastern Michigan University and student of Professor Daniel Foster, was recently honored as an Arc Fund Awardee, a fund affiliated with CultureSource, which is a member association for non-profit arts and cultural organizations in Southeast Michigan. The award is in the amount of $15,000, and was awarded to over 70 applicants.

The Arc Fund in an ongoing investment in Southeast Michigan’s culture-workers of color. This $1.5 million initiative aims to spur growth in the careers of culture workers who have experienced historical trends of disadvantage, underrepresentation, and oppression due to their race. The initiative offers funding, professional development, and social networking opportunities to culture workers of color to those trends and help culture workers of color advance their careers. The Arc Fund was launched in collaboration with CultureSource, Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.

Founded in 2007, CultureSource (formerly known as the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan) is a source for arts and culture in Southeast Michigan. The organization serves over 170 member organizations annually. In 2022 CultureSource acquired the national arts consulting nonprofit EmcArts, with the aim of incorporating their unique models of adaptive changemaking into our programmatic offering.

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

The EMU Trumpet Quintet was selected as semi-finalists in the 2025 Ryan Anthony Memorial Trumpet Competition hosted by the International Trumpet Guild (ITG). The competition will take place at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City during the International Trumpet Guild Conference in May 27-31, 2025. Bravo to Dr. Anderson Romero's students: Nathan Bohr, Nathan Millan, Joley Payne, Abe Gorney, and Andrew Bedard. 

Created in 1975, the International Trumpet Guild is a world-wide organization of trumpeters, formed to promote communication among trumpet players around the world and to improve the artistic level of performance, teaching, and literature associated with the trumpet. The first ITG Conference was held in Bloomington, Indiana; the following year the Guild met as part of the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland. ITG Conferences have been held every year since then, with the Second International Brass Congress being held in 1984 at Indiana University. The organization's approximately 5,000 members represent 64 countries and include professional and amateur performers, teachers, students, manufacturers, publishers, and others interested in belonging to an organization dedicated to the trumpet profession. 

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

EMU Cello young artist and Music Education major Rose Kilburn was awarded the Soroptimist International Midwestern Region's Virginia M. Wagner Educational Award. She is a student of Professor Deborah Pae.

Soroptimist is a global women’s organization whose members volunteer to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Over 160,000 Soroptimists in 122 countries and territories support community–based and global projects benefiting women and girls. The organization is particularly concerned with providing women and girls access to education, as this is the most effective path to self-determination.

The Virginia M Wagner Educational Award was designed to help women achieve their higher education goals. Rose was chosen among candidates from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. 

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

Eric Molina Pereira, Master of Music candidate in Trumpet Performance, received the "Most Outstanding Instrumentalist Award" at the 2025 Sphinx Orchestral Partners Audition Competition (SOPA) from the Sphix Organization in Detroit. SOPA transforms lives by providing aspiring orchestral musicians the unique opportunity for professional auditions, pre-advancements, placement on substitute and contractor lists, while addressing the historic lack of representation on stage. The ultimate goal of the SOPA initiative is job placement and assisting American orchestras in better reflecting our communities.

Eric is a student of Dr. Anderson Romero. In addition to this prestigious award, earlier this year, he won the Third Trumpet position with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. 

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

Political Science Professor Joshua Koss was quoted in a McClatchy News Service article regarding the current state of the "presidential honeymoon". Presidential honeymoons used to stretch on for many months and sometimes years, but they have become truncated in recent decades. President Dwight Eisenhower’s honeymoon lasted 41 months, according to Gallup (using the less than 55% approval rating endpoint). President John Kennedy’s lasted 32 months, and President Richard Nixon’s lasted for 14 months.

“I would characterize Trump’s honeymoon period as over,” Dr. Koss told McClatchy News. “While poll aggregators still show Trump’s approval as just barely above water compared to disapproval, the trendline, paired with the projected outcomes of many of his early policies, almost certainly indicates he will be underwater in those soon.”

Read the full Fresno Bee article here

Dr. Mary K. Schneider, Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, has made history as the first woman President-Elect of the College Band Director’s National Association. Confirmed through a national vote by a body of peers, Schneider will lead the historic organization’s vision and 2029 National Conference.

The College Band Director’s National Association (CBDNA) was founded in 1941 and presidents of the organization have included many respected leaders in the field of wind bands across the country. Dr. Schneider will begin her six year appointment on the Executive Board as President-Elect on March 30, 2025, following the 2025 National Conference in Dallas-Fort Worth. Dr. Schneider's term as National President will run from 2027-2029 followed by two years as past President.

In a statement to the organization's membership, Dr. Schneider wrote:

The College Band Directors National Association has a rich legacy of visionary leadership in the field of wind bands and music education, and is a professional organization for which I have always held a reverence.

There is no doubt that our current priorities, with a focus on music education, will forge connections and initiatives to invest in our future, recognizing the unique and necessary imprint we yield in our profession. As a member of the CBDNA Board, I would support this vision enthusiastically.

The process of institutional change is an imperfect one and the pendulum must swing wide for any real change to happen. This paradigm as it relates to the wind band is ongoing. However, as our vision statement proclaims, we should be mindful of our history and traditions while celebrating innovation.

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

Music & Dance alumna and cellist Wendy Stuart (B.M. 1995, Cello Performance) received the Michigan American String Teachers Association (MASTA) Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. Stuart was awarded this honor at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids (January 23-25, 2025). Ms. Stuart graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Cello Performance and currently serves as the Director of Orchestra at Troy High School and conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra at Oakland Youth Orchestras Michigan.

Read more on the School of Music & Dance website

Alum Kari Landry (MA Arts Administration), in partnership with Tim Gocklin, both part of the group Akropolis Reed Quintet, received a GRAMMY® Award for the album they recently recorded with composer and pianist Pascal Le Boeuf and drummer Christian Euman. This collaborative album, “Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?”, was honored as Best Instrumental Composition for Le Boeuf’s piece “Strands” at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025.

Released April 26, 2024, on the Bright Shiny Things label, the album reflects the influences of Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Leonard Bernstein, exploring the idea that diverse strands of experience, more than one unified “dream,” are what define America and ignite artistic creation.

With music described as “sleek, new” and “hyper-fluent” by The New York Times, GRAMMY®-nominated composer, jazz pianist, and electronic artist Pascal Le Boeuf’s album-length “Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?” draws together classical and jazz idioms in a unique meditation on author Ralph Ellison’s words from The Invisible Man: “America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain.” 

Composed for an ensemble comprised of Akropolis Reed Quintet, drummer Christian Euman, and himself as pianist, Le Boeuf’s work reflects the influences of Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Leonard Bernstein (all of whom explored themes of American unity or disunity) Le Boeuf probes the idea that diverse strands of experience, more than one unified “dream,” are what define America – and ignite artistic creation. Akropolis performed the piece in November 2023 at the University Musical Society Chamber Series in their native Ann Arbor, Michigan, becoming the first reed quintet to perform in the series. 

Akropolis first met composer and jazz pianist Pascal Le Boeuf through the I-Park Foundation in 2018. Forming a friendship, they began to dream of a commission and collaboration. Clarinetist Landry said, “This would be the first time a reed quintet and piano joined forces, and Pascal thought the combination would be further enhanced with drummer Christan Euman added to the mix.” 

The group workshopped ideas and techniques with Le Boeuf in 2019, resulting in Part One of Are We Dreaming The Same Dream?, which they recorded in 2020. Two years later, the goal of recording a complete album was realized. This is the sixth studio album to feature Akropolis and the first reed quintet to twice rank on the Billboard Charts (2021 and 2022). 

“Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?” was commissioned by the Akropolis Reed Quintet with support from the National Endowment for the Arts “Art Works” program, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program, the Alice M. Ditson Fund Recording Program, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. This work was completed by Pascal Le Boeuf while in residence at Copland House, Cortlandt Manor, New York, as a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. Akropolis performed the piece in November 2023 at the UMS Chamber Series in their native Ann Arbor, Michigan, becoming the first reed quintet to perform in the series. 

Read the full EMU Today story

When Xinyue Ye (MS 2004, Geographic Information Systems) came to Eastern Michigan University for his Master of Science degree in GIS in the early 2000s, he was passionate about the use of computer models to understand urban systems and land use change in Detroit, which landed in a thesis “Urban Modeling and Land Use Change Detection in Detroit” under the supervision of GIS faculty Dr. Yichun Xie from Department of Geography and Geology. 

Dr. Ye is now the Harold L. Adams Endowed Full Professor and Provost Investment Hire of Urban Informatics at Texas A&M University. He is also the director of the Center for Geospatial Sciences, Applications, and Technology and serves as a Faculty Fellow of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at the Office of Vice President of Research at Texas A&M. Due to his innovative research integrating computer science, geography, and planning, Dr. Ye is the first scholar to be elected under the Early/Mid-Career category for a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG, 2022-). Additionally, Dr. Ye is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (2022-). He received the AAG Distinguished Scholar Award for 2025, achieving this distinction in the shortest interval in AAG history, earning the award just 15 years after completing a Ph.D. in 2010. According to the most recent Google Scholar Citation Global Ranking, Dr. Ye is ranked 2nd in Urban Analytics, 4th in GeoAI, 6th in Spatial Data Science, 10th in Spatial Econometrics, and 19th in GIScience. He has been among the world’s top 2% of scientists based on both career-long and year-specific citations by Stanford University since 2020.

As a proud EMU graduate, He has always cherished the time he spent at EMU and the academic support received in the Department of Geography and Geology and the Institute of Geospatial Research and Education. He has been committed to helping students develop the knowledge and skills in spatial data science and data analytics that are needed to identify and address the problems of today's world.

This March, Dr. Ye will be attending this Year's Annual Conference of American Geography hosted in Detroit, Michigan. On March 26th, He will be visiting the EMU campus, after graduating from EMU two decades ago and speaking to his colleagues and students at GIS, Urban Planning, Computer Scientists, and ENVI programs. His talk “The New Urban Science: A Symbiotic Future of AI and Urban Science” will take place in Strong Hall starting at 5:15. We want to celebrate the achievement and success of Dr. Ye as a proud EMU alum.

The 45th annual event will be held in-person on March 28, 2025. Please plan to join us in celebrating and supporting this tradition.

Five Decades of Undergraduate Research 

The Undergraduate Symposium started in 1981, and was one of the first of its kind in the nation. A prestigious and treasured EMU tradition, the Undergraduate Symposium allows students the opportunity to share their research and creative projects with the community. 

Support the Symposium

Please join us as a sponsor of Eastern Michigan University's annual Undergraduate Symposium. 

Undergraduate Symposium initiatives include:

•  Undergraduate fellow appointments

•  Endowed undergraduate-level scholarships

•  Graduate-level fellowship awards

•  Operational needs

All donations are tax deductible and will be acknowledged in our event programs.

Please consider supporting your students as an Academic Advocate Sponsor!

$25- 500    Academic Advocate

Your contribution will be directed to the Undergraduate Symposium Advancement Fund to support annual program needs now

Payment Information 

Please visit: https://www.emich.edu/foundation/give/

•  Select “I would like to apply my gift to a specific fund”

•  Type in 00633 to select the Symposium Advancement account

For questions about giving or to discuss sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Julaine LeDuc

Director of Development, College of Arts & Sciences

Work:  734-487-0336

Cell:  734-846-2909

jleduc1@emich.edu

Learn more about the Undergraduate Symposium

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is Proud to Host Two Screenings of the Award-Winning Documentary, Counted Out.  These screening events are free and open to the public.

Counted Out investigates the biggest crises of our time through an unexpected lens:  math.  In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.  But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.  Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what’s at risk if we keep the status quo.  Do we want an America in which most of us don’t consider ourselves “math people”?  Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up?  Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society—and can help shape it?  The film is dedicated to Bob Moses, the civil rights leader and MacArthur genius who saw math access as the civil rights issue of our time, and whose work we follow in some of the last filmed interviews of his life.

The first screening of Counted Out is on Monday, March 17, 5:15 pm, in the EMU Student Center Auditorium. Welcome and snacks begin at 5:15 pm, and the screening will begin at 5:30 pm.  Post-screening discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Steve Blair.  It is not required, but we encourage you to sign up for a free ticket to help us estimate attendance.  

The second screening of Counted Out is on Thursday, March 20, 2:15 pm, in the EMU Student Center Auditorium.  Welcome and snacks begin at 2:15 pm, and the screening will begin at 2:30 pm.  Post-screening discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Andrew Ross.  It is not required, but we encourage you to sign up for a free ticket to help us estimate attendance.  See this flyer for more information about the second screening.  

Questions can be directed to Dr. Steve Blair, sblair6@emich.edu, Dr. Andrew Ross, aross15@emich.edu, or Dr. Debbie Ingram, dingra12@emich.edu.  Also see the EMU Math/Stat webpage.

Eastern Michigan University had a celebration on Friday, March 7th to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its Women's and Gender Studies program. The walls of the McKenny Ballroom were covered with a detailed history of the program from its beginnings in 1975 until today.

Michigan 11th District Congresswoman Democrat Haley Stevens was the keynote speaker at the event. She says it was great to hear from the students and instructors.

“And just having the conversation about what it means to be in this program of study and also tying it to the work that I do as a U.S. Congresswoman: standing out for diversity, equity and inclusion, championing bills like the Building Blocks of STEM Act, which is building on the promise of equity and inclusion for all.”

EMU has the state's only standalone Master of Arts in Women's and Gender Studies.

The Women’s and Gender Studies Department has been a groundbreaking department at Eastern Michigan University, creating a cultural hub for students from all walks of life. Right in time for Women’s History Month, the Department will celebrate its 50th anniversary on March 7 with a keynote address from U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. Additional events will highlight the department’s past, present, and future and its commitment to EMU students. 

“In Michigan, women's and gender studies has a rich history,” said Mary-Elizabeth Murphy, head of the Women’s and Gender Studies department. “The curriculum invites students to the cutting edge of interdisciplinary conversations that are the future of academia.”

In 1975, EMU became the first university in Michigan to offer a women’s studies minor. In 2006, the minor was officially renamed to women’s and gender studies, which evolved into a full department in 2009. Over the past 50 years, the curriculum has served as a critical space to examine how gender and sexuality relate to what voices have historically gone unheard, allowing students to gain integral theoretical application tools and hands-on skills. The program has also attracted national attention, with students hearing from various notable speakers, including American poets Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde alongside Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. 

Beyond the anniversary celebration, on Tuesday, March 18, the WGST department will host the Careers in Women's & Gender Studies from 4 to 5 p.m. in Pray Harrold at 1057-1179 E. Circle Drive. The event features successful WGST graduates Nada Al-Hanooti, Laura Hoehner, and Nicole Carter, offering students a chance to connect with EMU alumni. The festivities will conclude on Monday, March 24 with “Dear Miss Perkins”: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees. The event will take place in Strong Hall at 898 W. Circle Drive from 4 to 5:30 p.m., where students will learn about the first woman to ever serve on a national cabinet. 

Looking forward, Murphy hopes that students will find something in the curriculum that speaks to them. “I love the students we have and the diverse backgrounds that they come from. The interdisciplinary breadth of the department is remarkable, so we can offer students a tapestry of courses and experiences.”

Schedule of events

Monday, March 10

A Celebration of Nikki Giovanni

12:30-2:00 p.m.

109 Halle Library

Co-Sponsored with Africology & African American Studies

Lunch will be served

Tuesday, March 11

Symposium: Women of Color Feminisms & Leadership

2:00-5:30 p.m.

Student Center, Ballroom A

All are Welcome Here

Thursday, March 13

“Between the Living & the Buried: Archival Stories and Ancestral Imagination”

Erin Sharkey and Tia-Simone Gardner, a talk with JNT

6:30 p.m.

Halle Library Auditorium

Tuesday, March 18

Careers in Women’s & Gender Studies

4:00-5:00 p.m.

Pray Harrold 202 or ZOOM

Monday, March 24-Friday, March 28

Women’s & Gender Studies Department-Wide Scavenger Hunt

All Week

EMU Campus

Monday, March 24

“‘Dear Miss Perkins’: A Story of Frances Perkins’ Efforts to Aid Refugees”

Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham, Brown University

4:00-5:30 p.m.

Strong Hall, Room 100

Co-Sponsored with the Center for Jewish Studies & History Section Speakers Series

For more information on the Women’s and Gender Studies Department events offered in March, visit the website. 

Read the full EMU Today article.

1929-2025

The EMU Music & Dance family mourns the loss of Professor Emeritus Sylvan Sholom Kalib (1929-2025), who passed away on January 15, 2025 at the age of 95. He was a composer, musicologist, cantor, and scholar of Jewish studies. From 1969 until 1999, he was Professor of Music Theory and Literature at Eastern Michigan University, where he taught Schenkerian theory, harmony and counterpoint. During this period, he also composed various Jewish choral works, including "The Days of Awe" and "The Day of Rest."

Professor Kalib was born to Ukrainian parents in Dallas, Texas on 24 July 1929 where he received his first musical training from his father and became a child chazzan (a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts), helping lead Jewish congregants in songful prayer alongside a rabbi. He studied at Roosevelt University in Chicago where he encountered Schenkerian theory through his teacher, Oswald Jonas, an Austrian musicologist and music theorist.

Professor Kalib is survived by his beloved wife, Goldie Kalib (nee Shachter); loving daughters, Ruth (David) Eisenberg, and Vivian (Mark) Gelderman; adoring grandchildren, Devorah (Shalom Zev) Meyers, Elchanon (Temima) Eisenberg, Mina (Mayer) Lieberman, and Moshe (Becca) Gelderman; and his caring great grandchildren, Esther Malka, Nechama TTova, Azreal Mordechai, Menachem Moshe, Dovid Baer, and Levi.

Professor Kalib led an incredibly rich life and career. Our condolences are with his family.

January 26, 1939 – February 12, 2025

Jeffrey Light Duncan was born on January 26, 1939, in Tulsa, Oklahoma—a place that shaped his character as much as he shaped the lives of those who knew him. A scholar, author, athlete, and devoted teacher, Jeff lived a life brimming with intellectual curiosity, artistic creation, and an unwavering love for language. He was, above all, a man of massive reciprocal engagements, a whole man, vitally alive — pouring his mind, heart, and energy into his family, his writing, his theater, his activism, his spirituality, and his community, always giving more than he received.

After an early tenure at Washington University in St. Louis, he joined the faculty at Eastern Michigan University in 1971, where he would become a cornerstone of the university’s intellectual and creative life for decades. His dedication to his students and scholarship earned him the 2002 Eastern Michigan University Distinguished Faculty Award, a recognition of the impact he had on generations of learners.

Jeff lived fully — curious, engaged, and unafraid to challenge ideas or advocate for what was right. Jeff, to quote Jeff, accurately said he had more life in his pinky than all of his college students combined. He took pride in his Oklahoma roots, converting diphthongs into monophthongs (and vice versa) with a twinkle in his eye, telling stories with the perfect mix of mischief and wisdom. Jeff leaves behind a legacy of brilliance, laughter, generosity, and an enduring faith in the goodness of life that will continue to inspire those who knew him.

Full Obituary