The Center for Great Plains Studies will be holding its Friends of the Plains Dinner at 6:00 p.m. this Friday, April 26 in the KSTC Ballroom in Memorial Union.Kevin Willmott, Oscar winner and professor of film at the University of Kansas, will be the featured speaker after the dinner around …

Emporia State’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” will run from April 24-27 with shows at 7:30 p.m. in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre.The show will be the directorial debut of assistant professor Dennis Turney Jr., who recently joined the university faculty.“I think that every production is uniqu…

Tristan Damme, sophomore athletic training major, reclines in his hammock yesterday afternoon in front of Plumb Hall. As the weather has warmed up, students have taken to hammocking while napping, doing homework or ‘hanging’ with friends. 

The 7th annual Nitty Gritty Dirt Dash registration will be at 8:30 a.m., and the race begins at 9 a.m. April 13 at the Trusler Sports Complex. 

Women’s History Month guest speaker Ashley Gaddy spoke last Tuesday about being unapologetic for who you are as a woman.

The Honors College held a Spring Ball last night which raised about 60 canned food items. The canned food will be donated to Corky’s Cupboard. 

Sixteen women attended the international women’s day empowerment lunch on Friday, March 8. 

    Emporia State celebrated TRIO Day last Friday and partnered with the science department to bring Tara Ruttley, NASA associate chief for microgravity research and McNair scholar, to present at ESU.

   The Diversity Book Club met Tuesday in the Diversity Lounge in the Memorial Union to discuss “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. This was the last meeting for the book.

Those interested in adopting Rochelle should fill out an application to adopt at the Emporia Kansas Animal Shelter, 1216 Hatcher St. Rochelle, like all animals at the shelter, was found as a stray.

The Interfaith Space opened Feb. 19 and is located in southeast Morse in room 434. It will serve as a space of religious diversity for students, faculty and staff.

Visser Hall was flooded with the smells of homemade chili as psychology students and staff competed against one another in a cookoff on Feb. 21. 

Union Activities Council sponsored two escape rooms last Thrusday in the Memorial Union which around 90 people participated in. There were two rooms, one was named “Extinction Level” and the other “Snowglobe.”

Emporia State’s Zoiks! improv group won in the preliminary round at the Heartland Regional College Improv Tournament on Feb. 9th at the Kick Comedy Theater, a comedy club in Kansas City, Missouri.

Having grown up in California, I am very accustomed to fish, despite not particularly loving it. 

America’s Got Talent participants “iLuminate” performed last Monday in Albert Taylor Hall. The hall sold out with people from Emporia State and the Emporia community attending.

Emporia State’s Theater Department will put on “Steel Magnolias,” which will run for four performances, opening Feb. 27 and closing March 2. 

Nick Blaha, chaplain and director of Didde Catholic Campus Center, answers questions from students from a church perspective yesterday in the CSI lounge. Blaha comes to campus every semester to answer questions about anything. 

Special Collections and Archives hosted a presentation over LIFE photographer Bernard Hoffman and the photos he took of Emporia and William Allen White Sunday night.

With its many local attractions, Emporia continues to offer me unexpected places to explore, most recently a Mexican restaurant, Taqueria El Marmol.

Every first Friday of the month, there is a free art walk in downtown Emporia that features various people and businesses with different mediums and styles.

This past weekend, Emporia State took two debate partnerships to a tournament in Chicago this past weekend.

Recreation Services kicked off the Healthy Hornet Challenge that will run from Jan. 28 to Feb. 25 with the goal of encouraging students to set and reach their goals.

On Nov. 26, Faith Schreiner, recent alumna, finally received the bionic hand that, according to Schreiner, insurance once told her was a luxury and that they wouldn’t cover the cost.

International students participated in a panel “Don’t be shy, ask me why” last Thursday to answer questions about race and cultural differences.

The Emporia State theater department welcomed a guest director for their production of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” which will run until Dec. 1.

Community Hornets and sorority and fraternity life held a seatbelt campaign Nov. 14 and 15 in the Memorial Union to spread awareness about ‘buckling up’ while driving.

The Emporia State Diversity Book Club is celebrating LGBTQ pride by reading “The Other Side of Paradise” by Staceyann Chin. 

Alpha Sigma Alpha won the step show for the fourth year in a row. The show was hosted by the Black Student Union Saturday in Albert Taylor Hall and showcased multiple sororities in a series of choreographed performances.

Phi Delta Theta Fraternity rides on a pole during the Homecoming parade on Saturday on Commercial St. This was the fraternity's 33 year collecting donations for SOS, a nonprofit organization that helps families affected by abuse.

Emporia State students and community members celebrated banned book week by holding events, setting up displays and having authors discuss the issue of censorship from Sept. 23-28.

Mattathias Davis, senior theater major, competes in a sack race Saturday on the practice field. Other activities included an egg spoon race, wheelbarrow race, and food.

Six of the eleven students who traveled abroad to Uganda over the summer spoke about their experiences, the connections they made and the impact of the trip during a panel Tuesday in the Preston Family room. 

Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity is putting on “SexTober,” a series of educational events throughout the month of October. It will include tabling with educational resources and a poetry slam, called “SexTober Slam.” 

This week “Quivira,” the student literary journal, is being released. At 170 pages, the journal is the largest ever produced.

Children hit a pinata during the Hispanic heritage month kickoff event Sept. 14, outside of Plumb Hall. The month is to celebrate "the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America," according t…