|
Students to sponsor farmers market March 20
The student organization Reconnect is hosting a farmers market on March 20 in front
of the Student Union from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sponsored by the Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, the market will feature
locally grown produce, pies, food, coffee, soaps, jewelry, live music and more.
A student environmental club, Reconnect participates in the Real Food Challenge,
a national effort among college students to promote the use of locally grown, healthy
and sustainable food products.
 
|
|
Faculty Jazz Trio to present concert
The Faculty Jazz Trio will present a concert on Thursday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m.,
in Pottle Music Building Recital Hall. Admission is free.
The program will include If I Were A Bell by Frank Loesser, Recorda-Me by Joe Henderson, Norwegian Wood by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arranged by Jeff Albert, Peace by Horace Silver, Blues for Birds by John Madere, and Bolivia by Cedar Walton.
The Faculty Jazz Trio includes Michael Brothers, drums; Vasil Cvetkov, piano;
and John Madere, bass.
Joining the trio will be guest artist John Bishop on guitar. Bishop was a student
of Jimmy Raney and holds degrees from Berklee College of Music (Guitar Performance,
cum laude), University of Louisville (Master of Music, Jazz Studies), and Louisiana
State University (Ph.D., Music Theory).
For more information, contact the Department of Music and Performing Arts at
549-2184.
|
|
New York Times best selling author featured in ‘Common Read’ program
 Joshua Foer, co-founder of the online guide to the world’s wonders and curiosities,
Atlas Obscura, and co-author of the #1 New York Times best seller Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders, will visit Southeastern March 25 as part of the university’s Common Read program.
Sponsored by the Department of English, the Southeastern Writing Center, and
the Student Government Association, Common Read provides students and community members
the opportunity to read selected works and then meet a contemporary author. Foer will
meet with students and the public to discuss his first book “Moonwalking with Einstein.”
An international best seller published in 34 languages, the book recounts Foer’s yearlong
quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top “mental athletes.”
Events that day include student presentations on the author’s work at 9:30 a.m.,
an 11 a.m. question and answer session with the author, and a 6:30 p.m. public reading
by Foer, followed by a book signing and reception. Scheduled in the Student Union
Theatre, the events are free and open to the public.
“For several years now, we’ve sponsored the Common Read program, featuring a
prominent, contemporary author, and it always serves as an exciting experience for
our students,” said David Hanson, head of the Southeastern English Department. “By
meeting and talking with an author who they’re studying in class, students gain a
rare opportunity to see deeply into an author’s life of writing.”
Foer was born in Washington, DC in 1982 and lives in Brookline, MA. His writing
has appeared in “The New Yorker,” “National Geographic,” “Esquire,” “Slate,” “Outside,”
the “New York Times,” and other publications.
For more information, visit english.selu.edu/commonread.
|
|
Sales team experiences success at Bayou Sales Challenge
A team of seven Southeastern students successfully competed in the Bayou Sales Challenge,
a role-play competition held recently at Nicholls State University.
Members of the sales team included Mary Graves of Kentwood, Alee Hess of Belle
Chasse, Austin Rogers of Denham Springs, India Williams of Baton Rouge, and Garrett
Buras, Danyel James, and Taylor Windom, all of Covington.
In only Southeastern’s second time participating in the competition, Hess won
the Individual Sales Competition, the highest honor of the sales challenge, while
Buras and Graves won the Team Selling Competition, said April Kemp, marketing and
sales instructor and professional sales program coach.
Overall Southeastern earned three of the top five spots after the first round
of competition and four of the top 10 spots after the wildcard round against six other
universities, including Florida State, LSU, Nicholls, Southern, University of Louisiana
- Lafayette, and Xavier.
“I am so proud of our students’ performance at the Bayou Sales Challenge. Their
hard work and preparation did not go unnoticed,” Kemp said. “Having success in these
competitions brings recognition to what we are doing at Southeastern to prepare students
for sales careers.”
During the competition, Kemp added, the participants gain real-world sales experience
through complex role-play scenarios.
“It encourages the students to develop essential sales skills and business acumen,
while interacting with business professionals who sponsor and judge the event,” she
said. “It also gives them an opportunity to interview with companies who are looking
to hire graduates to work in sales.”
Kemp said 44 students competed in the event. Students engaged in a series of
15-minute sales calls, taking on the role of sales personnel for Gartner, the world’s
leading information technology research and advisory company. Participants advanced
through a series of three rounds of role-playing, each increasing in difficulty and
competition.
For more information about the professional sales program, visit southeastern.edu/sales.
 SUCCESSFUL SALES TEAM – Members of the Southeastern student sales team recently competed in the Bayou Sales
Challenge. Overall Southeastern earned three of the top five spots after the first
round of competition and four of the top 10 spots after the wildcard round against
seven other universities. From left, are Tara’ Lopez, associate professor of marketing,
sales team members India Williams, Danyel James, Mary Graves, Alee Hess, Austin Rogers,
Garrett Buras, Taylor Windom, and April Kemp, marketing and sales instructor.
|
|
Easter Basket donations, board games sought
The Discovery/Renew Family Resource Projects, a program within Southeastern’s Department
of Health and Human Sciences, is accepting board games, along with pre-assembled Easter
Baskets for children in need.
The game drive aims to provide games to families that do not have the means so
thay can have better interactions. The Easter Basket drive aims to provide an Easter
Basket to children who otherwise would not receive one. The ages for the games and
Easter Baskets range from infant to 18 years old.
The deadline for donations for both drives is April 15. Items can be dropped
off at the Renew office, located at 1000 North Morrison Blvd, Suite F. in Hammond
or at the Discovery office, located at 206 Pete’s Highway, Suite B. in Denham Springs
by appointment only.
For more information or to donate, please contact: Kathleen Chambers at 985-543-4720
or kathleen.chambers@southeastern.edu. Thank you for your continued support to our families.
|
|
|
  Southeastern concert to pay tribute to Beethoven
Southeastern Symphony Orchestra, Northshore Chorale, Bella Voce, and Southeastern
Concert Choir will pay tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven in a concert March 20 at the
Columbia Theatre. Titled “Beethoven Night at the Columbia Theatre,” the concert is
scheduled at 7:30 p.m. in the downtown Hammond theater.
Violin Professor and Orchestra Director Victor Correa-Cruz said guest conductor
for the concert is Friederike Kienle of Germany, and choral conductors are Director
of Choral Activities Alissa Rowe and Music Education Instructor Amy Prats. Concert
vocal soloists include soprano Sara Cage of Baton Rouge, alto Anna Labranche of Mandeville;
tenor Jody Bennett of Conroe, Tex.; and bass Joshua Staes of Baton Rouge.
“We are honored to have Friederike Kienle who is developing a brilliant international
career and who has proven herself to critics and audiences as an authority on Beethoven,”
Correa-Cruz said. “We are also thrilled to join forces with these choral ensembles
that are an essential part of the Southeastern artistic scenery and are well known
for the superb quality shown in all their performances.”
Correa-Cruz said the Symphony Orchestra will perform the “Fifth Symphony” and
Overture to “Egmont.”
“Both pieces are good examples of Beethoven’s ‘Middle Period.’ During this time
from 1802 – 1812, his music became more heroic, influenced by the ideas of the French
Revolution,” said Correa-Cruz. “It is the time when his Third Symphony, ‘The Eroica’
was composed, making Beethoven a champion of freedom and independence, while promoting
the image of an artist who rejects being a mere servant of the nobility and claims
his own status in society.”
Two choral works in the second half of the concert, the “Benedictus” and the
“Cantata Op. 112,” come from the “Late Period,” Correa-Cruz added, illustrating a
more intimate writing in Beethoven’s compositions.
Tickets for the concert, available at the Columbia Theatre box office, located
at 220 E. Thomas St. in Hammond, are $10 for adults, and $5 for Southeastern faculty
and staff, seniors, and non-Southeastern students. Southeastern students are admitted
free with university I.D.
Box office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and one hour
prior to performances. For ticket information, call 543-4371.
For more information about the concert, contact Southeastern’s Department of
Music and Performing Arts at 549-2184.
|
|
‘Lions Connected’ earns national honor
Lions Connected, a Southeastern Department of Teaching and Learning program that provides
personalized, post-secondary educational experiences for individuals with intellectual
disabilities, has received national recognition.
A comprehensive transition and post-secondary program approved by the U.S. Department
of Education, Lions Connected was named the Exemplary Program for Vocational Training
and Transition from the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES).
Gerlinde Beckers, program coordinator and associate professor of education at
Southeastern, said Lions Connected works closely with on-campus inclusive vocational
opportunities, community partnerships, parents and college-age peer mentors. Socialization
with typical peers, independent living and self-advocacy, career development and experience,
knowledge, personal health, skills and enrichment are some specific goals with the
ultimate goal to increase the quality of life for students through a college experience,
she added.
“Lions Connected serves five parishes in southeast Louisiana, four of which meet
rural population indicators,” said Beckers. “The program aims to address students
from high poverty, rural parishes with limited resources and opportunities. I am thrilled
Lions Connected received this award. So many people at Southeastern have worked very
hard for Lions Connected to become a program worthy of being considered exemplary.”
Southeastern middle school special education/social studies major Emma Beckers
has been working with Lions Connected since she was a high school student.
“I have been involved with Lions Connected since its first year through high
school service learning. It only seemed natural for me to become a peer mentor when
I started at Southeastern last fall,” she said. “Being involved with Lions Connected
is like having a very diverse second family, where we all belong and help each other
succeed.”
Now in its third year, Lions Connected is certified by the Department of Education
and must meet student academic progress goals set according to the federal standards
in the areas of class attendance, class participation, assignment completion, and
life skills curriculum.
Theresa Danos, mother of Lions Connected charter member Adam Danos, said her
son completed the program and has now moved on to employment.
“Adam is on the autism spectrum and although he functions at a very high level,
he would not have been successful attending a traditional college program. Adam really
expressed a desire to attend college, and the program provided him with this avenue.
We are thrilled!”
Danos added that the inclusive vocational opportunity is a vital part of the
program.
“Having the students leave with job skills and experience will benefit them for
the rest of their lives,” she said. “So many individuals with learning issues end
up unemployed, and we are so happy to support a program that provides hope and life-long
learning skills.”
For more information on Lions Connected, contact Gerlinde Beckers at gerlinde.beckers@southeastern.edu.
 LIONS CONNECTED WINS AWARD – Southeastern’s program Lions Connected received national recognition from the American
Council on Rural Special Education as an Exemplary Program in the area of Vocational
Training and Transition. From left are Chair of American Council on Rural Special
Education Tina Hudson, Lions Connected Program Coordinator and Associate Professor
of Education Gerlinde Beckers, Southeastern middle school special education/social
studies major Emma Beckers, and Southeastern Teaching and Learning Department Head
Colleen Klein-Ezell.
|
|
Career connecting at Southeastern
Amber Garrard, right, a senior marketing major from Mandeville, speaks with Republic
Finance Assistant Manager Madison Smith about job openings with the company, at the
university’s Biz-Connect fair on Thursday (March 14).
Sponsored by the Southeastern College of Business and the Office of Career Services,
Biz-Connect was designed to introduce employers to seniors looking for employment
opportunities in the business realm. Southeastern business students visited with representatives
of 49 area and national employers.
|
|
EvolveU held on campus Friday
 Roomie welcomed representatives from Loranger High School to campus for EvolveU, a leadership conference for high school sophomore, junior and senior students. Now
in its second year, Evolve U is a one-day conference of fun, interactive and educational experiences where student leaders
are able to develop, cultivate, and evolve their leadership skills.
|
|
For three and a half decades, Southeastern Foundation’s Chefs Evening has provided
a venue for showcasing restaurants and caterers from across the region all under one
roof. On March 31, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Student Union Grand Ballroom, this tradition
will continue, providing locals and visitors alike with the opportunity to taste and
take pride in the culinary creations that the region has to offer.
Check out Livingston’s Ashton Gill on ‘American Idol’
Men’s Golf, at Toyota Invite, Lake Charles, All Day
