Students walk to and from class on a cold Jan. 15 morning.

Stephanie Helmers, owner of Zen and Pow yoga and fitness studio in Onalaska, will speak as part of the Leadership at Noon series at Viterbo University from noon–1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 in the Fine Arts Center FSPA Lobby.

Helmers opened Zen and Pow in a small studio in 2013, teaching kickboxing and yoga. She has rapidly grown the business and today it is located in a state-of-the-art multipurpose fitness and wellness facility in Onalaska. In addition to its many fitness offerings, the business is also known for positive energy and inspiration, providing members with “a total mind, body and soul experience.”

While teaching at Zen and Pow, Helmers has developed a strong love for business and entrepreneurship as she works on branding, marketing, building her team, and ultimately...

It’s cold outside, but everyone is asked to think about spring and nice warm memories of Courtyard Carni on a beautiful May afternoon. The communications department is working on a project to document memories of the fun times had over the years at the Courtyard Carni. 

There is a page where you can submit memories online, and if you have photos, share those on the Viterbo Alumni Association Facebook page.

Service Saturdays: Service with the Sisters will be held from 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Jan. 25. 

There is space for 30 people to serve and eat lunch with FSPA Sisters, while other participants will serve with WAFER Food Pantry or Habitat for Humanity. 

Register on UGetConnected.

By Sue Danielson

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that so far this flu season there have been at least 9.7 million flu illnesses, 87,000 hospitalizations, and 4,800 deaths as a result of flu. Flu activity is high in the U.S. and is expected to continue for many weeks.

While there are many different flu viruses, flu vaccines protect against the three or four viruses that research suggests will be most common. A yearly vaccine can help prevent flu not only in yourself, but in the other people that you may interact with at home, work, or school. Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.

It is not too late to be vaccinated. Viterbo health...

By Colin Burns-Gilbert

I would be happy to visit your classroom to give a presentation on a range of topics. In the past, I have demonstrated how to utilize the UGetConnected software so students can begin using the tool early. I have also introduced the concept of Service Learning (and how that’s different from volunteering). I am able to share about Service Saturdays and other opportunities to engage with the local community. Past presentations have lasted from 15–60 minutes as I can adjust for what the instructor and students need. Let me know as soon as possible if I am able to join your class and which days/times would work best for you.

Here are more details on possible topics:

UGetConnected: Software Allows Viterbo to Connect with Community Needs

UGetConnec...

Karen Hurtgen, chair of the Viterbo Environmental Responsibility Committee, held a collection of electronics and other items to be recycled the week of Jan. 6–10. The truckload of items was then hauled to the City of La Crosse recycling event Jan. 11. The city event resulted in 14,000 pounds of materials being collected.

Famous civil rights marcher and activist Lynda Blackmon Lowery will present the keynote address “History: Past, Present, and Future” at the La Crosse Community Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 in the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

Blackmon Lowery began her civil rights activism as a child in the early 1960s. She was on the front lines of the struggle in Alabama, marching on “Bloody Sunday,” “Turn Around Tuesday,” and was the youngest marcher to walk every step of the successful march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. On “Bloody Sunday” March 7, 1965, Blackmon Lowery and other marchers were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She needed 35 stitches as a result of her injuries.

A much sought-after speaker, Blackmon Lowery has...

Members of Platinum Edition show choir will hold a fundraiser concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall. General admission tickets are $20.

The concert will feature solos, duets, and small ensemble numbers. Proceeds from the concert will help to cover travel expenses to Nashville, where Platinum Edition has been invited to host and perform at the Heart of America Show Choir Championship. Over 3,000 students from across the nation will compete at the event, and the students in Platinum Edition will be there to welcome them and provide hospitality throughout the competition.

Prospective students and their families are invited to learn about the field of engineering and Viterbo University’s engineering major at Engineering Exploration Day the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 18.

Participants will hear from a panel of engineers from Mathy Construction, Brennan, Trane, Dairyland Power, Braun, and Fastenal, meet Viterbo faculty members, and see the university’s engineering facilities.

The schedule for the day:

• Noon Lunch (optional) in Viterbo’s cafeteria for all registered participants. Check in at the Skogen Family Welcome Center in the Reinhart Center.
• 12:45 p.m. Check in at the Skogen Family Welcome Center in the Reinhart Center.
• 1 p.m. Meet the Masterminds Panel. Engineers from prominent local businesses will share their expertise and...

As the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King is honored on Monday, Jan. 20, everyone is invited to participate in the university’s knit-a-thon program.

From 10 a.m.–7 p.m. that day, the group will be set up in the Fine Arts Center Hospitality Suite. The goal is to knit as many 5” x 5” squares as possible. The squares will later be combined to form blankets, which are donated to La Crosse neighbors in need. Throughout the day, various short videos and clips about Dr. King will be shown.

No knitting experience necessary. There will be a few more experienced folks available to help guide or remind anyone who needs it. Some snacks and hot chocolate will be available over the lunch hour. Stop in for 15 minutes between classes, during your lunch break, or arrive to the keynote speaker a bit...

By Margy Frazier

I am excited to share the spring 2020 Identities Project schedule (tenative) with you in the hope you will be able to attend some of the events and encourage students to do the same.

The goal is to keep adding to the calendar. If you are interested in cohosting a civil dialogue, a documentary, a discussion, or anything else, reach out to me at mcfrazier@viterbo.edu or 608-796-3842.

The schedule thus far: 

• Panel on Microaggressions, Thursday, Feb. 6 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the School of Nursing Building room 196.
• Civil Dialogue on Women’s Health, on Tuesday, Feb. 18 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the School of Nursing Building room 196.
• Documentary and Discussion, on Tuesday, March 3 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the School of Nursing Building room 196
• Theology on...

Scholars Days 2020 will take place Thursday, April 23–Friday, April 24. Faculty are asked to consider including a Scholars Days experience for students this semester.

The Scholars Days registration form is live. Click here to access the registration form directly.  The form, more background information about Scholars Days, and materials from previous events are available at www.viterbo.edu/scholarsdays. The deadline to register for Scholars Days 2020 is Monday, March 2 at 9 a.m. 

Note: Any group presentations/sessions (ex: entire class presenting separate projects, graduating seniors presenting capstones) should be registered by a lead faculty member. Any individual students interested in presenting an oral or poster presentation, unattached from a group or course effort...

Viterbo President Glena Temple and students enjoy themselves at the annual President’s Holiday Dinner Dec. 4. “For me, it’s one of the best days of the year because we all take time to come together to enjoy some laughter, music, friends, and good food,” Temple said. Click for more photos from the popular event.

Matt Boehler ’98 speaks with Viterbo students during a master class Nov. 25. Boehler, an internationally acclaimed singer and composer returned to his alma mater to present Back to Roots as part of the Viterbo University Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music series. He also spent two days working with students.

Celebrate the Christmas season with the Viterbo University choirs as they present A Viterbo Christmas: Savior of the Nations, Come at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 in the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

Performing will be the Viterbo Concert Choir, Rose Chorale, and 9th Street Singers, all under the direction of Brett Robison, music. Also performing will be a professional orchestra and the Holmen High School Chorale under the direction of Troy Larson.

A Viterbo Christmas: Savior of the Nations, Come will weave music and narration to retell the powerful story of the birth of Christ. This annual university Christmas concert will feature a mix of traditional and multicultural music and is sure to fill everyone with warmth and hope during the holiday season.

Employee assembly is sponsoring a Food for Finals booth for students. Finals are Monday, Dec. 9–Friday, Dec. 13, and four locations will be available during finals week for students to grab a snack as they study for their exams. 

Viterbo employees are invited to donate individually bagged treats, prepackaged snacks, and nonrefrigerated items. Monetary donations can be sent in a sealed envelope via intra-campus mail to Mary Mormann in Murphy Center room 510. Food donations can be dropped off at the copy center, the library, outside Murphy Center room 332 (the Academic Resource Center), and the School of Nursing Building administrative suite. Monetary donations will be accepted Monday, Dec. 2–Friday, Dec 6. Freshly baked items may be dropped off in Murphy Center room 332 at any time...

By Cari Mathwig Ramesier

Do you ever get the feeling when working on your computer—maybe in Moodle, maybe when you are trying to type or publish a document—that “there has got to be a simpler way to do this?” If you find yourself asking this question often, you probably are pushing off other tasks that need to be done, and ultimately you feel overloaded.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend hours figuring out how to, and completing, a task on your computer. It’s as simple as finding out the most efficient way to do it that works for you—then doing it. How do you find that out? Here are a few tips:

1. Get help. If you spend more than 20 minutes trying to figure out how to complete a task, then it’s time to seek out additional assistance. Contact the helpdesk...

Viterbo interns will present posters sharing information about their internship experiences at the Interns in Action event from 3–4 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center FSPA Lobby.

Everyone is invited to attend to show their support and learn about the students’ internships experiences.

A POW/MIA flag raising ceremony concluded Viterbo’s Veterans Day service Nov. 11.

Internationally acclaimed singer and composer Matt Boehler will return to his alma mater to present Back to Roots as part of the Viterbo University Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music series at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.

Boehler will perform his original Foursquare Cathedral and other works with Viterbo faculty member Mary Ellen Haupert on piano. Foursquare Cathedral was the winner of the 2017 Art Song Composition Competition of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, described by the judges as “absolutely brilliant, from the first note to the last.” While at Viterbo, Boehler will also share his knowledge about performance and music composition with students in music theory, acting, and performance classes.

“Matt is an...

The cultural diversity symposium “What is Rural Health Nursing?” will be held from 8 a.m.–noon Tuesday, Nov. 26 in the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

The keynote speaker will be Pam McGranahan, DNP, who has advanced practice certifications in public health and psychiatric mental health nursing. Her professional nursing career has included emergency room nursing, public health, and nursing leadership. 

McGranahan’s scholarly interests focus on racial disparities in health, patient education, and clinicians’ understanding of the lifelong impacts of childhood trauma. She is the Director of the Doctorate of Nursing (DNP) program, and an associate clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing.

St. Bonaventure University faculty member Fr. Michael Calabria, O.F.M., Ph.D., will discuss interfaith relationships through the context of the 800th anniversary of the famous meeting of St. Francis of Assisi and the Sultan at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21 in the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

“The meeting between the sultan and St. Francis goes beyond interfaith relationships and serves as a paradigm for encountering the ‘other’ in society,” Fr. Calabria said. “St. Francis and al-Kamil went on a personal journey together. They first saw each other as ‘others,’ then each cast that aside and recognized himself in the other person, thus finding the reflection of God in their connection. That’s the journey that I believe we all need to take today.”

Fr. Calabria is an Islam and art...

First Gen Celebration: “Thank you to all the first gen Viterbo employees who participated in our ‘pull tab’ celebration of First gen college student,” said Jane Eddy. “Forty five faculty and employees participated and 240 tabs were turned in.” There was also a whiteboard available all week on which students could share a comment about what being educated means to them.

By Sue Danielson, health services

In its 2019 new year message, the World Health Organization (WHO) named vaccine hesitancy as one of the world’s top 10 global health threats, alongside air pollution and climate change, non-communicable diseases, global influenza pandemic, fragile and vulnerable settings, antimicrobial resistance, Ebola and other high-threat pathogens, weak primary health care, Dengue and HIV.

When you look at the list, vaccine hesitancy is directly related to most of them, with available vaccines for flu, Ebola (albeit still not registered), Dengue (with all its struggles), and HIV (in trials). The threats of fragile and vulnerable settings and weak primary health care both affect hesitancy given low confidence in the system or anxieties in conflict settings...

Start the holiday season with Viterbo University theatre and music theatre students as they present the charming romantic comedy Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley Friday, Nov. 15–Saturday, Nov. 16 and Friday, Nov. 22–Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Weber Center for the Performing Arts.

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is the imagined sequel to Jane Austen’s famed novel, Pride and Prejudice. Written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is the story of Bennet middle sister Mary, who receives only passing mention in the book. When the family gathers for Christmas at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, an unexpected guest sparks Mary’s hopes for independence and the chance to forge her own path in life. The very popular play, which was one of the most...

Paul Mueller, M.D., regional vice president for Mayo Clinic Health System, Southwest Wisconsin, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 in the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre as part of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership’s fall lecture series.

Mueller, whose region includes Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare-La Crosse, will present “Technological and Treatment Imperatives, Life-sustaining Treatments and Associated Ethical Challenges.”

After joining the Mayo Clinic Rochester staff in 1995 as a physician in the Division of General Internal Medicine, he chaired the group from 2009–18. Today, Mueller is a professor of medicine and a professor of biomedical ethics in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He is also a fellow of the American...

A coalition is being formed directly related to the strategic plan initiatives related to employee and student well-being. This group will set the framework for what encompasses well-being at Viterbo.

The well-being of the campus community is not something owned by one department or a small collective of individuals. This group is to have broad representation from across campus.

The initial work is expected to begin before Thanksgiving with monthly meetings throughout the remainder of the academic year. If you are interested in participating, sign up by Nov. 13. Coalition membership will be finalized by Nov. 15.

Employees are invited to attend these professional development events in November.

Life after Death: Dealing with Grief at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 in the School of Nursing Building 101. Presented by Martha Boehm, Viterbo digital marketing and media specialist, who will share her personal and inspirational journey to find joy after the loss of her parents. She explains what has helped her and describes ways to try to help people who are grieving.

FEI In-person Webinar: Effective Communication and Why You Want It at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20 in the School of Nursing Building 101. Attend for an engaging discussion on effective communication and walk away with tips and tools you’ll need to become a better communicator. 

QPR Training at 1–2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21 in the School...

Registration is now open for Viterbo Rings Service Saturday Dec. 7. Join fellow Viterbo community members at various Salvation Army kettle locations in and around the La Crosse community. 

This is a great way to raise money for the Salvation Army and to give back to the community. The kettles need to be attended from 10 a.m.–8 p.m. that day. Employees are asked to spread the word to students as well.

Sign up for a two-hour time slot. For more information about the day and registration, visit the Viterbo Rings website or the Service Saturdays website.  

Email Colin Burns-Gilbert or Ben Gibson with any questions.

Health services will host a flu shot clinic from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 in the Student Union. 

Cost is $7 for students and $17 for employees. If you are unable to make the clinic, schedule an individual appointment at scdanielson@viterbo.edu or ext. 3806.

President Glena Temple, Sarah Bearbower, and Karen Hurtgen visited Sr. Loretta Penchi at St. Rose Convent and presented her with a plaque commemorating her retirement from Viterbo. Sr. Loretta worked at Viterbo for over 38 years.

The Viterbo community and the public are invited to attend a Veterans Day Remembrance Service at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11 in San Damiano Chapel.

Brigadier General John C. Hanley, U.S. Army, retired, will give the Veterans Day address. Veterans are invited for a free lunch in Marian Hall Dining Room following the event.

Also on campus will be the presentation "Just Do Your Job" by Sergeant First Class Mike Mesmer, U.S. Army, retired at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 in San Damiano Chapel.

Click for a full list of activities happening in the La Crosse area during Coulee Region Veterans Week.

The Viterbo community and the public are invited to attend the Wisconsin Conversation on Servant Leadership “Serving the Common for a Greater Good” from 7 a.m.–9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the Fine Arts Center FSPA Lobby.

Presenters are Scott Rathgaber, M.D., CEO of Gundersen Health System; Shawn Kudron, Chief of the La Crosse Police Department, and Annette Roter, director of the Viterbo Master of Arts in Servant Leadership program.

The event is free and a continental breakfast will be served. Click for the complete schedule. Register here.

The Viterbo community is invited to attend the next Identities Project event, a Civil Dialogue on Immigration from 7–8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 in the School of Nursing Building Collins Auditorium room 196.

Immigration is a fiercely debated topic in this country. What does it mean to seek asylum? Is it true that “no human is illegal”? How do you become a citizen of the U.S., and why don't more people choose the legal route?

Join the panel as they explore what it means to be an immigrant, the impact immigration has on the U.S., and other immigration-related issues.

First-generation college students are recognized nationally this week, and at Viterbo the week is also dedicated to all Viterbo first-generation students and employees.

Viterbo received a TRIO/Student Support Services grant that provides support for 200 first- generation students. Throughout the week, students from the TRIO/SSS program will be looking for fliers outside offices of faculty and other employees who indicate they were first-generation college students. 

All employees are asked to wear a sticker showing support of first generation students. Stickers and fliers can be picked up in the Academic Resource Center or from administrative assistants in each academic building.

Viterbo's social work club collected more than 30 bags and boxes full of baby products, hygiene products, clothing, and food during their recent drive. The group will deliver the donations later this week to New Horizons, the La Crosse Warming Shelter, La Crosse County, and Sacred Grounds.