The Columns Weekly - Thursday, July 25, 2024 From The Columns W&L Annual Fund Soars to $10.4M; Overall Giving Nears $71M Generous alumni, parents and friends contributed more than $10 million to W&L’s Annual Fund in the 2023-24 fiscal year, achieving the largest Annual Fund in five years. Summer of Growth Addie-Grace Cook ’25, a politics major with a double minor in Middle East and South Asia studies and poverty and human capability studies, is spending her summer making an impact in the greater Rockbridge community through a Shepherd Program internship with Project Horizon. Flying High Misha Lin ’25 is taking her dance education to the next level this summer with intensive aerial dance training, finishing with a two-week international festival in August. Lending a Healing Hand With the support of a Johnson Opportunity Grant, Sofia Iuteri ’27 is expanding the reach of the nonprofit she founded at 16. ‘W&L After Class’ Podcast Releases New Episode Featuring Jenefer Davies In this month’s episode, Professor Davies talks of creating and building W&L’s dance program to be a place where preconceived notions dissipate and the liberal arts education flourishes. Live from the Paris Olympics Alex Maragos ’13’s love of journalism started through the profession’s inside access to sports. He brings it full circle in covering the 2024 Paris Olympics for NBC 5 Chicago. Read More W&L News on The Columns Employee Accolades Isra El-beshir Named to the Board of Directors for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries El-beshir will serve a three-year term as an at-large member. W&L Engineering Professor Publishes Paper in Science Advances Mengying Liu collaborated with researchers from Texas A&M University on the peer-reviewed article. English Professor Named 2024 Wells College Press Chapbook Award Winner K. Avvirin Berlin was recognized for her manuscript ‘Obsidian.’ Elliott King Cited on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ Program The popular afternoon-drive radio segment referenced the Salvador Dalí expert’s impressions on the AI-generated Dalí voice at the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. W&L Mathematics Professor Co-Authors Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals Chong Wang collaborated with three additional professors to publish two recent articles. Want to be recognized for your work or do you have a colleague who should be recognized for their accomplishments? Simply use the employee accolade submission form. Review Your Payslip Due to salary and benefit premium changes in July, we strongly encourage you to review your Payslip in Workday. Monthly paid employees should review their July 31 Payslip. Biweekly paid employees should review their July 19 Payslip. In Workday, go to Menu > Benefits and Pay > Payments (under Pay) and scroll down to All Payslips to View. Please email humanresources@wlu.edu with any questions. Meet a Colleague Meet a Colleague: Laura Mendoza Laura Mendoza serves as the executive assistant for University Advancement. Learn more about Laura in our "Meet a Colleague" feature series. Get to Know Your Newest Co-Workers New Employee Q&A Get to know the newest members of the Washington and Lee employee workforce through our new employee feature page! This week, we feature five new employees who have joined the W&L community in recent weeks. Fall Academy Registration Begins Aug. 1 Fall Academy consists of two weeks of workshops, discussion panels and information sessions designed to help faculty and staff prepare for the upcoming academic year. Enrollment begins Aug. 1. Check out the full slate of events here, and plan to join us Aug. 19-30! Featured Social Media Site Follow the latest news from the W&L Outing Club by visiting its Instagram page! Make sure to follow all the university's social media channels for more information about happenings on our campus! Twitter/X - @wlunews | @wlulex | @wlulaw Facebook - Washington and Lee University | Working at W&L Instagram - @wlunews | @wlulex | @wlulaw Upcoming Events Ice Cream Social 2-3 p.m. Hillel Patio Come to the Hillel patio to enjoy sorbet and an ice cream sundae bar courtesy of Student Affairs! Free Employee Yoga 3:30-4:30 p.m. Leyburn Library, Lower Level 4 Join us for yoga sessions led by Wendy Orrison from Center of Gravity. Bring a yoga mat and water bottle. No experience necessary! Ice Cream Social 2-3 p.m. Hillel Patio Come to the Hillel patio to enjoy sorbet and an ice cream sundae bar courtesy of the University Bookstore! Fall Academy Begins Fall Academy is two weeks of workshops, discussion panels and information sessions designed to help faculty and staff prepare for the upcoming academic year. Fall Academy Enrollment Fall Academy Keynote Speaker: Andra Gillespie Noon Evans Hall Emory University professor Andra Gillespie will deliver a lecture titled “Same Vocabulary, Different Meanings." She will assist the audience in understanding the dynamics that can exacerbate division and polarization, and she will offer mitigation strategies to bridge the gap of understanding. Her lecture will help employees prepare for the election season and seeks to build ways to support faculty to ensure every classroom and university hub encourages the expression of diverse views. More Info

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