Campus News

MEDIA ADVISORY

For April 19, 2024

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Rockford University’s Performing Arts department (RUPA), in partnership with the Friends of the Performing Arts, will host “A Celebration of 41 Years of Costume Design,” on April 28 to raise funds for the department’s trip overseas to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Rockford University received one of the seven invitations extended to colleges and universities to perform at the festival.  The department received their first invitation to the festival in 2016.

While traveling abroad, RUPA students will perform on a world stage, representing not only Rockford University, but the City of Rockford, the State of Illinois, and the United States. Please join us in supporting the RUPA students as they embark on this incredible journey.

The Costume Design fashion show will be held Sunday, April 28 from 2 to 5 p.m. in Maddox Theatre in Clark Arts Center on Rockford University’s campus, located at 5050 E. State St. in Rockford.

The fundraising event will highlight the designs of retired RU Professor/Costume Designer Jeff Hendry. Master of Ceremonies Mike Garrigan (Evening Anchor of 23 WIFR) will walk through each design as models from all areas of the community, including the City of Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, State Senator Steve Stadelman, and State Representative Dave Vella, strut their stuff!

The show will also include performances from the Groove Hotel Trio and words of support from State Representative Maurice West.

Tickets are on sale now for $30.00 and may be purchased by visiting rockford.edu/alumni/friends-of-the-performing-arts.

Media are invited to come and attend the show, and shoot b-roll. They may arrive early at 1:30 p.m. to interview university staff involved in the event. 

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Please RSVP to Sara Myers at SMyers@rockford.edu by April 26 at 4 p.m. to confirm your attendance.

Contact:

Sara Myers

Rockford University Marketing & Communications 

SMyers@rockford.edu

815.394.5052

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHEN: Monday, Feb. 26, 2024 at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Maddox Theatre in Clark Arts Center at Rockford University. Rockford University is located at 5050 E. State St. in Rockford, Illinois.

WHAT: Rockford University will hold its annual Charter Day Convocation Ceremony this February 26, 2024. The ceremony will include a theatrical performance of the “The Addams Thread.” This play was written and directed by Rockford University Performing Arts Professor Deborah Mogford. The play was originally first performed on Oct. 13, 2023. The play centers around renowned alumnus Jane Adams and her college classmates whom she called, “The Glorious Seventeen.” 

WHO: The ceremony will also include remarks from President Patricia Lynott, Provost Elizabeth Davies, Board of Trustees Chair Rebecca Epperson, and VP for Advancement Linda Sandquist. 

Media interested in attending the event should RSVP to communications@rockford.edu or smyers@rockford.edu no later than 3 p.m. on Feb. 26. 

Contact

Sara Myers

Rockford University Marketing & Communications

smyers@rockford.edu 

815-394-5052

By Sara Myers, Digital Media & Communications Specialist 

As part of his internship at Midway Village Museum, Rockford University student Rudy Vazquez recently helped put together an exhibit just in time for Black History Month called “Breaking Barriers: the 1950s Strike for Equality in Rockford.”

Vazquez’s internship started in September 2023, and his main task was doing research through the newspaper database at the museum.

The exhibit is about an incident in the early 1950s in Rockford. An African-American worker, Charles Wortham, was involved in a racial incident and about 600 workers walked out with the employee at the business Gunite in 1957, Vazquez said.

Employees who walked out also signed a paper with their support for Wortham. One issue at the time was that many of the newspapers that covered the story did not tell the whole truth and were owned by White men. Vazquez was able to find a Black-owned newspaper called The Rockford Crusader that told this story of solidarity between the man and his employees who walked out with him.

The exhibit in the museum is on four large panels. It shows the different elements of the story and who was involved in this walkout through photos and newspaper clippings, he said.

Vazquez will be working on another exhibit for the museum next month for Women’s History Month which will feature RU Alum Julia Lathrop and more. His internship at the museum will end in early March. 

The Black History Month exhibit at the museum was featured on  MyStateline.com on Feb. 1. 

Vazquez is very involved on campus here at RU. He is the V.P. of the Rockford Chapter of PSI CHI, and is team captain of the Esports team Rainbow 6 Siege. He will be graduating this May with a B.S. in Psychology, a B.S. in Criminal Justice, and a B.A. in History with a minor in Ancient and Medieval Studies and a minor in Religious Studies. 

He plans to continue his studies further upon graduation and will study Religion in graduate school.