A relationship, developed through a love of music and culture, has led to a unique ensemble gathering at Western Illinois University for a three-day residency in May to record a significant, sacred work by an African American composer. WIU Director of Jazz Studies John Cooper, and his wife, Gayle, have a long friendship with Sharon Reed, the founder and artistic director of the Heritage Ensemble community choir in Peoria, IL. Through her research into music composed by African American artists, Reed discovered works by Glenn Burleigh, an Oklahoma composer who not only published his own pieces,... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – When Guiyou Huang started his tenure as Western Illinois University’s 12th president in January 2021, one of his core initiatives was to further the University’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and efforts. Huang has created a new Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF), composed of approximately 22 faculty, staff, students from both campuses, as well as community members. The task force recently held its first meeting, which included training presentations from Jessica C. Harris, vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Southern Illinois... Read More

Western Illinois University now boasts a growing population of international students from the Caribbean, with more than 70 students enrolled at Western in the past two semesters. In July 2021, Western Illinois University signed its first MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to assure seamless transfer opportunities for students from 16 Caribbean countries to study at WIU. In addition to the CXC agreement, WIU has established partnerships with Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, Anguilla Community College, Antigua State College, Charlestown Secondary School... Read More

It’s after three o’clock on a Monday afternoon and while most students have left school to go home, a group of students chooses to stay and learn. Laura Irish is a teacher at Rock Island Academy and started the Leopards Who Code club. Just in its first year, already 16 students have signed up. “I have some good social-emotional learning conversations with my students about gaming and apps. They often make me think about things from a new perspective,” said Ms. Irish. The club is for any 3rd-6th grade Leopard who’s interested in learning about technology. The club... Read More

Jorgenson Consulting has been hired to assist the Quad Cities Chamber in finding the next President and CEO. Founded in 1992, Jorgenson Consulting is a national executive search firm focusing on non-profit, economic and community development. In late March, the firm will conduct a series of meetings with the search committee, Chamber staff, members of the Chamber’s Board of Directors and a cross-section of community stakeholders to develop a position description that captures the preferred candidate’s desired experience and leadership characteristics. Jorgenson Consulting will complete... Read More

Thurgood Brooks is proud to receive the endorsement of Run for Something (RFS), the groundbreaking organization that recruits and supports strong voices in the next generation of progressive leadership. “I am so grateful that Run for Something has endorsed my campaign for Illinois State Representative in District 72. It is very exciting and humbling to be supported among a diverse and young group of over 70 candidates from 28 states. This endorsement will strengthen our campaign advocacy for a clean and green economy, attractive and affordable housing, and healthy and stable communities throughout... Read More

Over the weekend, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) traveled to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, Alabama with colleagues and civil rights leaders as a part of the annual Faith and Politics Institute Civil Rights Pilgrimage. Bustos was among the nearly 20 members of Congress in attendance. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris joined the lawmakers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. “Fifty-seven years ago, my late colleague Congressman John Lewis and hundreds of peaceful civil rights activists began a march from Selma to Montgomery to demand an... Read More

“You and yours and them, she be willing to give, she be willing to live, she know she got the world on her back and the galaxies in her womb. She is a woman so she know that means that she is a warrior too …” – “and She Worthy” by Kywn Townsend Riley, from her spoken word album, “and She Worthy.” Riley, a Western Illinois University College Student Personnel graduate student, recently won the Chicago Reader’s 2021 Best of Chicago Competition, in the “Best New Poetry Collection of 2021” category. She was nominated for the competition, and... Read More

With his most recent album Change in Me described by Rootstime as “an enticing journey of jazz, blues, and rock” resulting in a “melting pot of sounds,” blues-guitar legend Eddie Turner headlines a special February 27 concert event at Davenport‘s Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill, with Blues Blast magazine saying that the artist “shines like a diamond” and Guitar Player magazine lauding Turner’s “otherworldly, atmospheric guitar style.” Born and raised in Chicago, the artist nicknamed “Devil Boy” is a former member of the Otis Taylor Band who began to play the guitar when he... Read More

Aaron Dworkin will perform his spoken word composition, “The AmericanRhapsody,” on April 8 with the Augustana Symphony Orchestra, Fernanda Lastra conducting.The free public performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Centennial Hall. Tickets are not requiredat this time.Dworkin was a member of the Obama National Arts Policy Committee and is the founder andpresident of the Sphinx Organization, a group that focuses on bringing diversity into the arts.“The American Rhapsody” tells the story of the U.S. through the life and words of GeorgeWashington. The work is set to Samuel Coleridge... Read More