During her tenure at Western Illinois University, Miriam Satern focused her efforts on continuous curricular advancements and facility improvements for the betterment of students, faculty and the WIU Kinesiology Department. Her recent gift to Western is evidence of her ongoing support to ensure those efforts continue. In memory of Satern’s parents, Richard and Vera Satern, the refurbished Brophy Hall conference room dedication will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 in Brophy Hall. During Satern’s 21 years at Western, she oversaw the change of the department name from physical education... Read More

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed an Executive Order that requires all Illinois higher education employees and students, as well as K-12 employees, receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For employees and students who cannot, or will not, get vaccinated, the governor has also mandated weekly COVID testing, which is already in place at WIU. Those individuals who are unvaccinated and who attend classes and/or work on either of our WIU campuses (Macomb and Quad Cities) must comply with the required weekly testing to avoid disciplinary action. Test clinics (saliva-based tests) are held on both the... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – To help DREAMers (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) in the United States achieve educational and future success, a new Western Illinois University scholarship, created by WIU Political Science Professor Julia Albarracin-Green, has raised nearly $20,000 to provide annual scholarships to undocumented students who attend WIU. The scholarship fundraiser, which closes Aug. 31, has raised over $18,500 to date, and applications are now open for the first WIU DREAMers Scholarships to be awarded this fall. “We are so close to our $20,000 goal. As DREAMers have... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – Western Illinois University faculty, staff, and students will be required to participate in the University’s weekly COVID-19 testing program. Individuals may opt out of testing if proof of vaccination is provided. Testing will be required each week for those individuals who have not received a COVID-19 vaccination. WIU-Macomb COVID-19 Fall 2021 test clinics began Monday, Aug. 23. Fall 2021 test clinics on the Macomb campus will be held from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday thru Thursday in the WIU Student Recreation Center MAC Gym (south gym). Test clinics will be held in Riverfront... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – – While working full time, Joel Thys was able to complete four degrees–one of them is a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University. To give back to his alma mater, Thys has established the Dawn and Joel Thys Scholarship. Thys, who was raised on a dairy farm in rural Iowa, owns Thys Automotive in Blairstown, IA. After earning a bachelor’s degree in the Board of Governors program (now known as a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies) at Western, he worked his way up to receive a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He and his wife, Dawn,... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — Kirk Hare, Western Illinois University Facilities Management supervisor, has been named the deputy director of maintenance and operations. Hare has served as a supervisor for WIU Facilities Maintenance moving crew since August 2011. He joined the Facilities Maintenance staff as a building service worker in December 2008, serving in that role until his promotion to supervisor in 2011. Hare also owned and operated Pro-Clean in Macomb from 2004-2013. Before joining WIU, he worked as a salesperson for Western Distributing Company in Macomb from 1996-2008, and as the building... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – – Western Illinois University’s Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) student chapters on the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses both received a 2020-21 Superior Merit Award designation from the national chapter of SHRM for providing excellent growth and development opportunities to student chapter members. The SHRM student chapter merit award program encourages the development of more effective student chapters and distinguishes outstanding activities and projects. Chapters are recognized based on chapter operations, chapter programming and professional... Read More

The Weed Science Team from the Western Illinois University School of Agriculture recently captured first place in the undergraduate division of the North Central Weed Science Society competition in July in Fargo, N.D. The team was made up of agriculture science majors junior Dustin Steinkamp, of Coatsburg, IL; senior Luke Bergschneider, of Franklin, IL; junior Jacob Johnson, of Geneseo, IL; and junior Stephanie Reiter, of Hebron, IL. The students are coached by WIU Agriculture Professor Mark Bernards. Steinkamp received first place in weed identification, while Bergschneider received first place... Read More

MACOMB, IL – Students from Western Illinois University’s broadcast news station, NEWS3, won awards and earned honorable mentions at the annual National Academy of Arts and Sciences Mid-America College Awards in July. Former NEWS3 executive producer Devin Brooks, a 2021 broadcasting graduate from St. Louis, MO, won for News Report – Serious News. Brooks also won for Talent – News, as well as earned an honorable mention for Multimedia Journalist. Kennedy Williams, a junior from Glendale Heights, IL, earned an honorable mention for a Non-Fiction – Short Form she completed... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – A total of 217 undergraduate students enrolled at Western Illinois University were named to the 2021 Summer Dean’s List. The total includes 27 students at the WIU-Quad Cities Campus. To receive this award, an undergraduate student must earn at least a 3.6 grade point average on a scale of 4.0, which equals an A in a minimum of 6 credit hours of graded courses; pass-fail hours are not counted (e.g., student teaching, internships). Students earning Dean’s List honors are listed by Illinois counties, cities and towns, as well as other states/towns and other nations. The... Read More