ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ

Iris Versmissen '10 was recently awarded the North Carolina Science Teachers Association Outstanding Elementary School Student Teacher of the Year Award. Versmissen was an elementary education Teaching Fellow with a Spanish minor.

Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's Commencement speaker this spring, is serving as the Pentagon's official spokesman for the U.S. military operations in Libya. Gortney held a media briefing on the combat operations on March 19.

Two ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ alumni are providing our community with their perspectives on the disasters in Japan and the effects on the people there. Amy Jo Jenkins '05 expressed her thoughts in a telephone interview and Asami Sudani '06 provided a written message via Facebook.

Alex Ellis, a 2005 graduate of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's music theatre program, will be featured in a Webseries called "Diary of a Chorus Girl." The series, which premiered on YouTube's DanceOn channel Wednesday, March 16, will chronicle Ellis' experiences while making her Broadway debut in the ensemble of "Catch Me If You Can."

Michelle Micca '10 has been selected to present her choreography in The Young Choreographer's Festival on June 11, 2011, in Symphony Space New York at 8 p.m.

Ian Baltutis '08 leads a group of young alumni who will give $20,000 to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ if the goal of 1,200 donors to the IGNITE Challenge is reached by March 31. Baltutis explains the group's bonus gift in a special video announcement. So far, 655 young alums have made gifts to the university and had them matched 5-to-1 by ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ alumna and trustee Kerrii Brown Anderson ’79 as part of the Challenge. The total raised so far is $183,706. Anderson also will donate an additional $20,000 to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ if the 1,200 donor goal is met.

The Office of University Relations has launched a major enhancement of the E-net news and information system, organizing videos produced by offices and individuals across campus into a central viewing system that includes a variety of video categories. All members of the campus community are invited to submit videos to this site and to explore the creative projects produced by others. Access the site with the tab at the top of the E-Net page, or go to:

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Teaching Fellows hosted a panel discussion on March 10 where past students shared their professional pathways and explained how they had achieved their places of leadership.