Last week, with state and federal officials in attendance, EKU announced the establishment of a financial literacy training program designed specifically to serve low- and moderate-income communities in eastern Kentucky.

African American children comprise 17 percent of the student population nationwide, but their chances of seeing an African-American male teacher in front of their classroom are about 1 in 100.

Lynnette Noblitt, left, director of paralegal studies and associate professor, talks with Jerry Pogatshnik, associate vice president for research and dean of the graduate school, at the first Critical and Creative Thinking and Communication Showcase, held in the lobby of the Powell Building on Jan. 25. About 300 members of the University community visited the showcase, which spotlighted successful examples in the implementation of Eastern’s first-ever Quality Enhancement Plan with academic posters and creative works and demonstrations by students.

EKU has earned national recognition for the improvement in its graduation rate for underrepresented students.

On Monday, March 1, EKU will offer school and community members a day of planning to promote high school graduation for all Kentucky youth when it hosts Graduate Kentucky Summit, a statewide initiative to address Kentucky’s dropout problem through a community approach.

While most of their classmates learn their way around Richmond as they keep one eye on the future, some Eastern students have been examining what remains of a 700-year-old civilization just south of the community.

Eastern will celebrate the works of African American writers with read-in programs at the Richmond and Corbin campuses as part of Black History Month activities at the University, as well as a nationwide celebration of African-American literary works.

Kathi Shrider has been named Project Director for the Appalachian Education Initiative, a collaborative effort to bring together postsecondary and K-12 educators to implement Kentucky’s 2009 Senate Bill 1 education reforms in Appalachian Kentucky counties. The program is funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Marc Whitt, associate vice president for public relations and senior communications officer at EKU, is the new president of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

The EKU Concert Band and Wind Symphony will honor Cupid with a concert on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. in Brock Auditorium.

Eastern’s contributions to local safety and health were noted during a recent visit by a World Health Organization Safe Communities accreditation team.

Two Department of Exercise and Sport Science faculty and two graduate students have been accepted to present sessions at the Southern District of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance convention Feb. 10-14, in Myrtle Beach.

The Library Journal recently selected Librarian Rob Sica as its Video Reviewer of the Year for 2009.

The College of Education will host an accreditation visit by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education this fall.

The Eastern Progress received several honors at the recent Kentucky Press Association awards banquet.

Members of the EKU Dance Theatre performed in front of the Powell Building Jan. 27 to help kick off of the University’s celebration of RecycleMania, a nationwide effort Jan. 17-March 27 to promote the benefits of recycling and serve as a benchmarking tool for colleges and universities. As part of the celebration, Eastern is once again collecting cans for Habitat for Humanity. Last year, EKU donated 16,700 pounds of aluminum cans to Habitat, more than half of the total collected in Madison County. The cans were valued at almost $11,200. Recyclemania is sponsored by Coca Cola, Keep America Beautiful, American Forest Paper Association and the EPA’s Waste Wise Program.

Tickets for the EKU Theatre production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” will go on sale Monday, Feb. 15.

Anna Minter, a senior dietetics major from Louisville, is the Cooperative Education and Internship Association’s 2010 Academic Intern of the Year. She will receive the national award at CEIA’s annual conference in Boston, Mass., in March.

The Department of Music will host the 21st annual High School Honors Band Clinic Feb. 18-20. The three-day event will bring in about 500 of the best young musicians from across the region. The students are selected based on referrals from their high school band directors.

After much hard work and an extensive application process, Tau Kappa Epsilon’s Mu Beta chapter at EKU has been selected as one of the first 20 chapters from more than 270 chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada to install “The Blueprint” member development program.

The Department of Music will host its Symphonic Band Concert on Friday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. in Brock Auditorium.

Dr. Linda Frost is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Theatre and director of the Honors Program. A scholar of nineteenth-century American literature and culture; she is the author of two books: “Never One Nation: Freaks, Savages, and Whiteness in U.S. Popular Culture” (2005) and “Conjoined Twins in Black and White: The Lives of Millie-Christine McKoy and Daisy and Violet Hilton” (2009).

The founding editor of the award-winning all-women's literary magazine, PMS poemmemoirstory, Frost has published both poetry and creative nonfiction in various journals and magazines over the years. Hear what she has to say about her scholarship in her first interview for the Focus on Scholarship Webcast series at mms://media.eku.edu/mdr/media/library/fosfrost.wmv [opens in Windows Media Player].

QEP Stars, a regular feature in EKUpdate, will take a look at those faculty members who are incorporating critical/creative thinking and communication strategies with their students. The feature hopes to show how those strategies have impacted the classroom experience, both from a learning and teaching standpoint. This issue's "QEP Star" is Mary Raider, assistant director of Career Services.

Robert Thomas, chair of the Math Education Committee in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is featured in this ongoing series designed to allow EKU leaders and others in prominent positions to discuss their roles as well as campus issues. Thomas, who joined the EKU faculty in August 2001, holds a doctoral degree in math education from the University of Central Florida.

Robert Frederick, Biological Sciences, was awarded $12,800 from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources for research on population models for Kentucky bobcats based on home-range size and habitat use.