Latest news with #DakotaWesleyan
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dakota Wesleyan University alumnus, board member Terry Nebelsick to speak at commencement
May 9—MITCHELL — Terry Nebelsick will be the keynote speaker at the Dakota Wesleyan University Commencement on Sunday, May 11, at the Corn Palace at 1:30 p.m. The title of Nebelsick's speech is "On This Solid Rock." Nebelsick, of Huron, is a 1978 communications/theater graduate, the middle of three generations who attended Dakota Wesleyan, and currently serves as vice chair of the board of trustees. Retiring from full-time work in 2021, his career included radio broadcasting in Winner, teaching and coaching in Artesian and Gregory, serving as high school principal in Salem, Lead-Deadwood, and Huron, concluding his career as Huron Superintendent of Schools. He served four South Dakota governors on education committees. He was a high school and college basketball official for 35 years. Nebelsick was named South Dakota's Secondary Principal of the Year in 2000, Outstanding Superintendent in 2020, and Basketball Official of the Year in 2011. Nebelsick continues to speak and present to school faculty and students, professional organizations and businesses. He is the lay leader at Huron Riverview United Methodist Church, serves on the UMC Dakota Conference on both the Common Table Committee and the Wisdom Council and is a lay speaker for area churches. Nebelsick and his wife Diana have three children: Jennifer '04 (Brian) Lowery, Kayla Nebelsick, and Jeremy (Rachel) Nebelsick, and five grandchildren. His parents are Rowena Nebelsick MSN '55, and the late Earl Nebelsick '59. The ceremony will be livestreamed at A baccalaureate service will be held prior to the commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. in the Sherman Center on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dakota Wesleyan University to present honorary doctorate Sunday
May 8—MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University will confer an honorary Doctor of Science degree at its commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 11. Dr. Robert McWhirter will receive the degree to be presented by DWU President Dan Kittle. McWhirter has shown a decades-long commitment to Dakota Wesleyan. Serving as DWU's team physician from 1985 to 2013, he volunteered his time and expertise, overseeing the health and success of countless student-athletes. Throughout his career, McWhirter has been one of the most impactful supporters of sports medicine and the Dakota Wesleyan athletic training program to serve the university. He played a vital role in the program's accreditation process and mentored many students who have gone on to distinguished careers in a variety of medical fields. He served twelve years on the DWU Board of Trustees from 1991 to 2003, according to a press release from the school In addition, Dr. McWhirter has provided significant financial support to DWU. His 39 years of consecutive financial support highlights his unwavering generosity, including funding the Athletic Training Senior Scholarships and the Robert McWhirter Endowed Scholarship for Athletic Training, the McWhirter Field at Cadwell Park where the DWU softball team plays, and numerous upgrades of athletic training equipment at Joe Quintal Field and beyond. McWhirter operated the Mitchell Orthopedic Clinic from 1985 until his retirement in 2013. For his many contributions to athletic training and athlete health, he was inducted into the Dakota Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Mitchell High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. He also received the Community Service Award from the South Dakota State Medical Association in 2012. This award is presented each year to "a physician who demonstrates outstanding work in community affairs." A past employee and friend said about Dr. Mac, "I cannot fully express my gratitude for Dr. McWhirter's impact on my own career in athletic training and education. His guidance has been instrumental in shaping my professional journey. The Dakota Wesleyan University motto, 'Sacrifice or Service' is exemplified in Dr. McWhirter's life. Through his tireless dedication to improving the lives of those around him and his enduring contributions to the Mitchell community, he has created a legacy that will benefit future generations." McWhirter will be honored during the DWU commencement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The event is free and open to the public and can be live streamed at
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dakota Wesleyan University seniors selected for Honors of Distinction Awards
May 4—MITCHELL — Four Dakota Wesleyan seniors were awarded the fourth annual Honors of Distinction awards, the university's highest honors, during the annual Honors Banquet Friday night, May 2. Established in 2022, the Wesleyan Honors of Distinction are awarded annually to four Dakota Wesleyan University seniors who have most notably embodied and exemplified the university's values of learning, leadership, faith and service. One senior receives Wesleyan Honors of Distinction in each category. To qualify for candidacy, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher (3.7 for the learning distinction), as required by each award's guidelines, and be ranked as senior status. Those eligible submit an application, and the finalists are selected by a Student Senate-appointed panel. The finalists are then interviewed by a committee of students, staff and faculty who choose the recipients. In the category of Honors of Distinction for Learning is Aletheia Underhile of Tripp, daughter of Andy Underhile and Nhora Underhile. Underhile is graduating with a History major. She was active on campus with Diversity Council, the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service and as a tutor for religion, government and history. She has had several national opportunities including the American Enterprise Institute's fall summit and summer honors program and was awarded a Hertog Foundation scholarship. Underhile is a trained debate chair and moderator for Braver Angels where she chaired a national debate at the 2024 convention in Wisconsin and has moderated debates at the USD School of Law. She has accepted a position with Braver Angels national debates team. In the category of Honors of Distinction for Leadership is Logan Serck of Hudson. He is the son of Phillip and Michelle Serck and is an Elementary Education major. Serck played football for DWU and served on the team leadership council all four years. He is also a member of Aspiring Educators. Serck worked with Hanson High School in Alexandria to help establish their first wrestling program which recently sent two qualifiers to the state tournament. He also works for his family's business, Serck Construction. Most recently, he completed his student teaching at Hanson Elementary School. After graduation Serck will be teaching at Alcester-Hudson middle school. In the category of Honors of Distinction for Faith, the recipient is Nathan Meyers of Brandon. He is a Nonprofit Business Administration major and is the son of Mitch and Amy Meyers. Meyers played baseball for the Tigers and served as team captain this past year. He is a 2024 Daktronics Scholar Athlete. He serves on the Student Ministry Council, is the Student Athlete Chaplain and has led Fellowship of Christian Athletes, helping to increase participation by 20 percent. Meyers will be pursuing a Masters degree at DWU in the fall while working at Fusion Church in Mitchell. In the category of Honors of Distinction for Service, the student selected is McKinnely Mull of Vernal, Utah. The Biochemistry major is the daughter of Diana Mull, Chris Schlosser, Jason Mull and Jennifer Mull. Mull is a standout softball player and captain of the softball team where she has been recognized as a Daktronics Scholar Athlete. She served on Student Senate for three years and is currently Senior Class President. She has been a resident assistant since 2023 and currently serves as senior resident assistant. Her campus involvement includes student ambassador, CHAOS, Lost and Found, and she is a tutor in math, chemistry and biology. Off campus she has been involved with Sanford Softball as a volunteer coach and periodically volunteers in the children's department at the University of Utah Hospital. She works as a medication aide at Countryside Living in Mitchell and works as a research assistant for Adult and Pediatric Neurology at the University of Utah. Mull plans to take a gap year and apply to medical schools. The following students were also candidates for Honors of Distinction: Wesleyan Honor of Distinction for Learning Peyton Bagley, Rapid City Khasidy Hodge, Missoula, Mont. Wesleyan Honor of Distinction for Leadership Abigail Brunsing, Wagner Isabella Gregg, Moreno Valley, Calif. Wesleyan Honor of Distinction for Faith Kaitlyn Christensen, Mitchell Keesha Letcher, Bridgewater Wesleyan Honor of Distinction for Service Anthony Acosta, Grand Island, Neb. Alyssa Crnic, Omaha, Neb.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
DWU seniors put knowledge on display with annual Capstone Day event
Apr. 26—MITCHELL — The Pratt Alumni Boardroom on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University was thick with the chatter of dozens of seniors Wednesday morning. As the spring semester draws closer to its end, energetic student conversations are not an uncommon occurrence on campus. But these particular discussions covered a wide range of niche topics and research, with titles hinting at the subjects just beneath the surface. Students in business casual attire dove deep into topics like "Online Versus Traditional Classrooms," "Healing Environments In Pediatric Patients" and "Drug Dogs In Police Work" as fellow students and evaluators listened. The diversity of the topics reflects the work and interest of every student involved. "All of the graduating seniors present a research project that they have been working on, a combination of things they've done all semester long as part of their graduation requirements," said Sarah Raml, a nursing instructor at Dakota Wesleyan and a member of the program committee. "They work on it all semester long, and the university basically shuts down. We don't have classes today so that everybody can be a part of it." The hive of activity Wednesday morning shows why classes are off for the day. The Pratt Alumni Boardroom is filled with seniors and other students mingling and chatting about the topics of their choice. Rows of display boards hold posters highlighting data charts, research details and conclusions arrived at through their work. No two presentations are exactly the same, each reflecting the individual tastes of nearly 100 seniors set to graduate in May. For Isabella Gregg, a senior from Moreno Valley, California, one subject was not enough for her presentation subject. A criminal justice major with a minor in psychology and creative writing, she sought out a project that would combine her favorite elements of all of them. Her solution? Writing a thriller crime novel. "I had two capstones — I had to do one for my creative writing minor and one for my criminal justice major. And I asked (Dakota Wesleyan professors Joel) Reinisch and (Barbara) Duffy if I could combine the two to make it easier on myself," Gregg said with a laugh. "So I put my criminal justice knowledge into a thriller, and I'm writing a novel." Her presentation put her storytelling process on display. She went over her writing and editing process and gave examples of her notes. A breakdown of chapter timelines was also included, and she also read an excerpt from the novel-in-progress. The book, tentatively titled "The Story I Told The Police," is a work in process, but it's coming along. The main character in the book sees her roommate go missing, and calls the police after she becomes concerned. The police arrive and interview her, and by a matter of circumstance, she becomes a suspect in the case. "So she has to figure out how she can prove herself innocent," Gregg said. She has about 23,000 words down on paper and is aiming for a total somewhere around 70,000 to 100,000 words, roughly the traditional length for such stories. She based the location of the story on her experiences in Mitchell, a community with which she's become quite familiar during her time at Dakota Wesleyan. The project was well-suited to her interest in both writing and criminal studies. "I bring up search warrants, I have detectives and police officers that do work for this (fictitious) police department. I made sure to keep it local, so I kind of based the town off of Mitchell. You want to write what you know, and I've been here four years," Gregg said. Gregg has no publisher yet for the story, but she intends to pursue that should the novel come to completion, even if it's self-published. She is looking to pursue law school after graduation after taking some time for herself with a gap year. But her foray into writing a novel has been a fun experience, if for no other reason to simply say she did it. "I do think it would be awesome. It would look great on a resume and to say I finished a novel and I have something out there," Gregg said. "I think another part of being a writer is the vulnerability of sending out your work. So I would like to publish it, maybe send it out there. And if anything, I could always self-publish on Amazon." Jakob Dobney, another senior taking part in Capstone Day, took a close look at a modern problem for his project. A psychology major from Vermillion, Dobney dove into a study on how interacting with social media can impact people's performance completing tasks. He looked at a number of popular social media platforms, specifically Instagram and TikTok, and how they affect how people process information. As is sometimes the case in research, he came to no solid answer. "My study was inconclusive. There was a little bit of correlation with TikTok and Instagram and their task performance, but not enough to say this is conclusive evidence," Dobney said. "Overall, though, when you look at heavy social media users over an extended amount of time, there is a decline in social media usability, especially attention span." He explored a few avenues for his research. As he began putting together his presentations a few months ago, he put a timer on his Instagram use on his phone, limiting himself to 90 minutes total a day with the app. He soon confirmed that app programming is designed to keep the user engaged and using it. "Social media sites have certain mechanisms that target certain areas of your brain so that it's almost addictive. Instagram, for example — you'll look up certain things on your search bar or tap on certain things that Instagram will pick up on," Dobney said. "They'll utilize that to show you more of the stuff that you interact with. It turns into you scrolling about all the things you like." Concentration and a healthy attention span are important in many areas, from mundane tasks like driving to studying for an exam. The shorter the attention span, the harder it is to stay on course with work projects without becoming distracted. Additional research included working with about 54 fellow Dakota Wesleyan Students and studying their social media habits, the data for which was displayed in a graph on his presentation poster. That part of his research confirmed what he at least suspected, that the issue was common. "The study of people at Dakota Wesleyan shows that — it's hard to see here — but a lot of them have really high social media addiction scores. When I did the survey, a lot of them were addicted to social media," Dobney said. "There are certain aspects of it that you really need to be careful about, especially scrolling through reels and short videos. It really negatively impacts your attention span and how you process information, especially after doing it for so many hours a day." Dobney, like Gregg, has his eyes set on graduate school. He plans to study social work at the University of South Dakota's satellite classrooms in Sioux Falls. "I'm pretty excited about that," Dobney said. With the wide variety of subjects on display and the number of students presenting, it is unsurprising that it takes a full day to get through all the presentations. The presentations are a way for each student to express themselves about their interests, passions and the time they spent at Dakota Wesleyan University. There's something new and engaging for anyone who happens to take in the presentations. And the benefits to the participating students are clear, Raml said. Making a point to research a subject, put together a presentation and then relate that study to fellow students and professors in a professional manner are all skills that should serve them in the next phase of their lives, be it grad school or a career. The presentations reflect the wide variety of students Dakota Wesleyan is sending out into the world on a yearly basis. That's something for both the students and school to be proud of, she said. "Nursing, wildlife management, mathematics, biochemistry, education. Everything," Raml said. "This is a great opportunity to prepare for interviews, to prepare to be professionals and just to show what they've learned over the last four years."
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
DWU women's NAIA Tournament game postponed due to wild fires
LANGSTON, OK (KELO) — The Dakota Wesleyan women's first round NAIA Tournament game was postponed from Friday to Saturday, due to wild fires in the area. DWU was supposed to play The Master's University at 8 p.m. in Oklahoma on Friday night, however wild fires in the area forced a change. The Great Plain Athletic Conference posted an update on X around 8:04 p.m. Friday. 'The DWU women's basketball game in Langston, Oklahoma will not happen tonight, because of wild fires in the area. All the teams are safe and evacuating. More to come. Stay tuned and pray for the firefighters and emergency personnel in this area to keep this under control,' the GPAC said on X. DWU Director of Athletics Ross Cimpl posted an update on X at 9:59 p.m. Friday. Wild fire info in Oklahoma – Cimpl said that everyone is safe at the hotel and as of that moment, there was no additional concern. Dakota Wesleyan will now play The Master's on Saturday at 5 p.m. If they win, the second round game will be Sunday at 3 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
