A year of change - that's how many will describe 2017.
From new faces to familiar happenings, 2017 will be one of DePaul's most memorable years. Newsline celebrates some of the year's best moments through images captured by the Visual Services team.
In April, DePaul hosted its second-annual TEDx event. Through the theme “Courage to Connect” 10 speakers from across the DePaul community challenged thoughts and inspired ideas through a series of engaging talks and presentations.
Top to bottom, Rachel Pride, Jameson Dixon, Jr., and Julia DiGangi were among the TEDx presenters.
Among dozens of speakers, visitors, and exhibits to DePaul this year were (clockwise from middle left): artists Rodrigo Lara Zendejas and Laura-Caroline Johnson, performance artists Miriam Engel and Sergey Shamota, activist, author and anti-death penalty crusader Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., Tarell Alvin McCraney, playwright of “Wig Out!” and Oscar award winning playwright and screenwriter for “Moonlight,” and Carol Marin, co-director of the Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence, with Lester Holt, anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” and Ben Welsh, a DePaul alumnus and data journalist with the Los Angeles Times.
The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., former-president of DePaul, took time to thank student participants at the annual DemonTHON dance marathon in the McGrath - Phillips Arena, April 29. DePaul students raised $276,261.50 for the children at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
Kids filled the Lincoln Park Student Center during the first Take Your Child to Work Day hosted by the DePaul Parent Connection employee resource group May 4. The program aimed to encourage, inspire, and empower young children to think and dream about opportunities without limits as they get exposure to careers and professions.
Hundreds of volunteers pitched in during the 19th annual Vincentian Service Day on May 6.
Students, staff, faculty and alumni fanned out across the Chicagoland area to volunteer at community organizations during the annual day of service. Vincentian Service Day began in 1998 as part of DePaul's Centennial celebration and 2017 marks the 400th anniversary of the Vincentian Mission.
More than 200 DePaul employees participated in the annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, a 3.5 mile run/walk, to promote good health while giving back to the community, May 25. The event was an opportunity for DePaul faculty and staff to develop a healthy lifestyle and get to know coworkers outside of their offices.
The Estebans, along with Father Holtschneider and Jay Braatz, vice president for Planning and Presidential Administration, got a sneak peek of the new Wintrust Arena in May. Opened in the fall of 2017, Wintrust Arena is the new home to DePaul University men's and women's basketball, and is a prominent Chicago venue for concerts, sporting events, meetings and conventions, family-friendly shows and other major special events.
More than 6,500 students graduated from DePaul University this year as part of the university's 119th commencement ceremonies in May and June. The commencement festivities began with Baccalaureate Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Parish Church and continued over the next two days with six ceremonies at the Rosemont Theatre and the Allstate Arena.
In June, 2016, Fr. Holtschneider announced that he would step down from his position as president.
After 14 years of leadership, Fr. Holtschneider left DePaul to join Ascension, the largest Catholic hospital network in the country.
On Aug. 21 Americans from coast to coast were captivated by the total solar eclipse that transversed the entire contiguous United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. The “Great American Eclipse” of 2017 was the first time since 1918 that a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States.
DePaul's new President, A. Gabriel Esteban, Ph.D., and Marten denBoer, provost, provided remarks, and many faculty and staff were recognized with annual awards including: Excellence in Teaching, Spirit of Inquiry, Excellence in Public Service, Vincent de Paul Professorship, Spirit of DePaul, Staff Quality Service, Gerald Paetsch Academic Advising and faculty promotion and tenure.
On Sept. 15, Dr. Esteban delivered his first "State of the University" address to faculty and staff gathered at the newly completed Wintrust Arena.
Throughout the remainder of the fall quarter, DePaul held its annual Vinny Fest (top left), Family Weekend (top middle and right), opened the newly renovated 2nd floor of the Richardson Library (middle left), held a Chicago Ideas Week event at Wintrust Arena and served pancakes and eggs to more than 1200 students at our first Midnight Breakfast (bottom left and right).
Nicole Guiffre-McQuade, a member of the alumni board, Bamshad Mobasher, professor and president of faculty council, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., chancellor and 11th president of DePaul University, James T. Ryan, chair of the board of trustees, Dr. A. Gabriel Esteban, Michael Lynch, Student Government Association president and Charles Snelling, staff council president assisted in the investiture and donning of the Chain of Office.
Best wishes for 2018!
Credits:
Photos by Jeff Carrion and Jamie Moncrief.