Western Illinois University is waiving the $30 application fee for undergraduate students, who apply to WIU (wiu.edu/apply) through Sunday, May 9. Graduating high school seniors and transfer students, dual enrollment students and those applying through the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) program, who apply for admission to Western, will have the application fee waived during the fee waiver month beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, April 21 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 9. “We love it that we are still able to provide opportunities for this fall to students who may be deciding on a college... Read More

Monika Mazela, of Winnebago, IL, a senior Honors student in the Western Illinois University Department of Psychology, is conducting a study titled “Eyewitness Memory Performance” to gain knowledge about factors that influence memory. The goal of Mazela’s study is to examine how different questioning formats affect eyewitness memory. She has worked in collaboration with Associate Professor of Psychology Katherine McGuire, whose focus is forensic psychology, since Spring 2020. After COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, the collaborators used them as an opportunity to redesign... Read More

Two Western Illinois University professors have created a unique study abroad opportunity for students to follow the history of the legality of cannabis in the Netherlands. Students taking part in the Cannabis and Culture in Amsterdam program will travel with Anthropology Professor Heather McIlvaine-Newsad and Liberal Arts and Sciences Professor Sarah Haynes from May 20-30, 2022. The study abroad course can be taken for credit in the Anthropology or Liberal Arts and Sciences programs. Interest meetings for the travel opportunity will be announced at a later date. The Netherlands has a long history... Read More

Because of some experiences that Western Illinois University graduate student Aleezah Washington had during her undergrad years at WIU – some very good and some not-so-good at all – she was thinking of ways to reach out to other marginalized students, both current WIU students and prospective students. She reached out to WIU Student Legal Advocate Torrey Smith to talk and brainstorm. And with that, Washington’s vision to give students a voice, became “Western Unedited: Our Voice, Our Story, Our Time.” Washington, an MBA graduate student from Naperville and a graduate assistant... Read More

In conjunction with the new Ken Burns PBS documentary on author Ernest Hemingway, WQPT will hold a special 30-minute virtual screening and discussion with Mary V. Dearborn, a Hemingway biographer featured in the film, on April 27. The free virtual event will take place that Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and attendees will have the opportunity to ask Dearborn their Hemingway-related questions. Participants will also have the chance win copies of Dearborn’s 2017 Hemingway biography, a Google Home smart speaker, and other great prizes. “Hemingway has this public image of being this extraordinarily masculine,... Read More

As award season continues, the Western Illinois University Department of Broadcasting and Journalism won five awards at the annual Illinois News Broadcasters Association (INBA) April 10. Leatherneck Insider won first place in Outstanding Sports Television Program, while NEWS3 won second place in Outstanding Television Newscast. Devin Brooks, a senior broadcasting and journalism major, from St. Louis, MO, won first place in Outstanding Television News Reporting and Outstanding Television Sports Reporting. RJ Larson, a senior sports broadcasting major, from Burlington, WI, won second place for Outstanding... Read More

Western Illinois University senior Art major Andrea Kliffmiller, of Rushville, IL, will have her solo Bachelor of Fine Arts graduation exhibition, “Bound,” on display Tuesday, April 20-Friday, April 30 at the University Art Gallery. Kliffmiller is also the recipient of the 2021 Mavigliano/Brabec Senior Art Prize through the WIU Department of Art and Design. The exhibit is open free to the public. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-noon; 1-4 p.m. and Saturday 1-4 p.m. The gallery is closed on University holidays. For more information about the Gallery, visit wiu.edu/artgallery.  Read More

The Western Illinois University Department of Theatre and Dance, in collaboration with the University Dance Theatre, will present its annual spring dance concert, Next Wave, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17 in Hainline Theatre. The concert will offer an evening of original choreography by students and instructors, including performance modern/contemporary, jazz/hip hop and a dance film. Student choreographers include senior musical theatre major Joe Collins, of Sherrard, IL; senior pre-social work major Marissa Fast, of Villa Park, IL; senior musical theatre major Megan Graal, of West Chicago; junior... Read More

Earlier this month, Western Illinois University’s Emergency Management program collaborated with the Emergency Operation Center Project (ILETSBEI) and the WIU GIS Center to offer two virtual classes to emergency responders and educators. The mission of the classes was to provide unmanned Aerial System (UAS) certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is mandatory for practitioners and students to be allowed to operate drones and drone-related technology in any professional operations in the area of public safety, from natural disasters, emergencies, to search and rescue. More... Read More

The Western Illinois University School of Music will present a live-streamed Steel Band Concert, under the direction of Professor Rick Kurasz, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16 in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Recital Hall. Due to the restrictions currently in place, there are no general admission performances in the COFAC Recital Hall. This performance will be broadcast on the School of Music’s YouTube Channel and Facebook page. PROGRAM: Soca Tatie – Bryon Lee/arr. Rick Kurasz Heartland – Tom Miller Pyxis – CJ Menge Raspberry Slurpee – CJ Menge Suzie... Read More