Park University Athletics Hosting 3rd Annual Arrr & Arrr Event on Feb. 20
Arrr & Arrr, an event that provides Park University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus athletics department an opportunity to showcase its programs, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. in McCoy Meetin’ House on the Parkville Campus. Admission to the event is free and open to the public; however, registration is required. The event, which supports the power of women in sport combined with a fantastic education, will provide networking and professional development opportunities for guests and student-athletes. In addition, attendees will help celebrate National Women and Girls in Sport month.
This year’s Arrr & Arrr will also highlight three individuals associated with Park athletics — Lindsey Derry, Brittanie Propes and Nathalia Harth. Derry, a 2015 Park graduate, serves as head coach of the Pirates softball program and the senior woman leader for the University’s athletics department. She will talk about her transition from student-athlete to coach, as well as using sports to serve others. Propes, a 2013 Park graduate and former spirit squad member, is the director of parks and recreation for the City of Parkville. She will offer insight on her Park University experience and share her joy of the University’s competitive cheer program, which returned in 2024. Harth, who serves as a graduate assistant in Park’s sports communications office and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree in management, will offer her unique perspective as a current student and athletics team member.
While admission is free and includes hors d’oeuvres and beverages, attendees are encouraged to bring cash and/or credit cards to support the University’s athletic programs through raffle and prize drawings. For more information or to register, visit parkathletics.com/news/2025/1/13/ARRR-ARRR2025.aspx.
International Center for Music’s 6th Annual Stanislav & Friends Concert Set for March 1
Stanislav & Friends, an annual gala of classical music that showcases an all-star lineup of faculty, students, alumni and friends of the Park University International Center for Music, will be held on Saturday, March 1, starting at 7 p.m. inside Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo. The Park ICM’s signature event, this year’s Stanislav & Friends will highlight the “Echoes of Spain,” immersing the audience in an evening of passion and talent as the rich tapestry of Spanish melodies and rhythms are showcased.
The concert’s namesake, pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch, Park ICM artistic director will open the concert with a solo performance and he will also be a part of the concert’s conclusion that will feature two pianos with four other extraordinary pianists — Behzod Abduraimov, Park ICM artist-in-residence; Ilya Shmukler, Park ICM graduate student; Spanish classical pianist Luis Fernando Pérez; and Ioudenitch’s wife, Tatiana Ioudenitch. In between will be performances by Perez, ICM students and the Park Trio.
Individual tickets for the concert range from $43 to $108 (fees included) per seat and can be purchased through the Kauffman Center’s box office or at https://tickets.kauffmancenter.org/23325. Park faculty, staff and students should check their e-mail for a special ticket offer. In addition, six levels of sponsorship are available, ranging from $1,500 to $30,000. Each of the levels include seats for the concert, a pre-concert cocktail reception and invitations to an exclusive benefactor party. For more information, visit park.edu/news/stanislav-friends-2025.
ICM Orchestra to Perform Annual Valentine’s Concert on Feb. 7
The Park University International Center for Music Orchestra will perform its annual valentine’s concert on Friday, Feb. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel on the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus. Admission to the concert is free, but attendees are asked to RSVP in advance. The program will be under the direction of guest conductor Jason Seber, former associate director of the Kansas City Symphony (2016-22). The concert will feature pianist Ilya Shmukler, ICM graduate student, who dazzled the jury and audience as the winner of the Concours Géza Anda Piano Competition in Zurich, Switzerland, in June 2024. He will be a soloist on “Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra,” composed by César Franck. For more information about the concert, visit park.edu/news/icm-orchestra-valentines-concert-2025.
The next concert in the International Center for Music’s 2024-25 season (following the Stanislav and Friends gala) will be a performance by violinist David Radzynski and pianist Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich on Friday, March 14, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the 1900 Building in Mission Woods, Kan. Radzynski, who earned a graduate certificate in music performance/violin from Park University in 2014, is a former concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Lisovskaya-Sayevich serves as the ICM’s director of collaborative piano. For more information about this concert and a link to tickets, visit icm.park.edu/park-icm-presents-david-radzynski-and-lolita-lisovskaya-sayevich.
Parkville Campus Volleyball Teams Earn Pre-Season National Rankings
The Park University Parkville (Mo.) Campus women’s beach volleyball and men’s volleyball programs, both led by Mike Talamantes, head coach and director of volleyball, are ranked in their respective NAIA Coaches Top 10 poll to begin the 2025 season. The beach volleyball team, which fell in the national quarterfinals in 2024, starts the year ranked No. 4. The Pirates will be seeking their fourth straight trip to the NAIA Women’s Beach Volleyball National Invitational, which will take place April 24-26 in Greeneville, Tenn. The men’s volleyball team, which just missed out on a national tourney spot in 2024, begins the season ranked No. 6. Park will be looking to grab its sixth national title in school history with a return to the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship, April 29-May 3 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Parkville Campus Hosting Two Black History Month Events
The Park University Parkville (Mo.) Campus Office of Student Life is hosting a pair of Black History Month events in February. The first event will feature leadership speaker Elijah N. Dormeus on Tuesday, Feb. 11, starting at 2:30 p.m. in McCoy Meetin’ House. The event will also be held virtually at park.zoom.us/j/97550778044. The presentation will discuss discovering your purpose through your voice and include a dynamic conversation surrounding the power of voice and changing our perspective on circumstances in life.
The event on Thursday, Feb. 13, which starts at noon in the McCoy Meetin’ House, will be a lunch and learn on “Debunking the Myths of Black History: The True Story of Rosa Parks.” A free lunch will be served while also providing an engaging discussion on Rosa Parks and a deep dive into Black history.
Park University Hosting Missouri Conference on History
In conjunction with the State Historical Society of Missouri, Park University is hosting the 67th annual Missouri Conference on History, March 12-14 at the Adams Pointe Conference Center in Blue Springs, Mo. The MCH brings together teachers of history and other professional historians to share in the presentation of the results of research, to exchange information on teaching and curriculum, to consider ways to promote interest in history and the welfare of the profession, and to discuss other concerns common to all historians. All persons interested or involved in the teaching of history, historical research, historical preservation or any other professional application of history are welcome.
On Thursday, March 13, Tim Westcott, Ph.D., Park University professor of history, director of the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and associate archivist, will serve as a moderator of the session on “Biography in the Midwest.” During the session, Westcott will present “Thomas Hart Benton: U.S. Navy Camoufleur.”
Registration fees are $55 through Monday, Feb. 10; $65 from Tuesday, Feb. 11, through Monday, Feb. 24; and $75 on Tuesday, Feb. 25 or later. Students receive a $10 discount on fees. For more information or to register, visit shsmo.org/mch.
Faculty, Staff, Student News
Courtney Rilinger, Ph.D., assistant professor of communications, co-authored the article “The Influence of Attributions, Emotions and Sexual Health Knowledge on Support Provision to Friends with Sexual Health Uncertainties” that was published on Jan. 5 in the Health Communication journal. The study situates support in response to uncertainty within appraisal and attribution theories to explain nurturant, informational and tangible support provision.
Amy Mecklenburg-Faenger, Ph.D., professor of English and director of Park Writes, was recently appointed as editor of the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council for 2025-28. Mecklenburg-Faenger is a past editor of Park University’s academic journal, InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, from 2018-23. Her research focuses on writing across the curriculum and 19th-20th century women’s rhetoric.
Park in the News
Matt Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, was interviewed for a story that aired on KMBC-TV in Kansas City on Jan. 8 related to Missouri lawmakers reconvening. Soundbites from the story also aired on KMBZ-FM in Kansas City the following morning.
Harris was interviewed for stories that aired on KMBZ-FM on Jan. 10 related to the race for Kansas governor, which will be decided in 2026.
Martha Linscott, Parkville (Mo.) Campus men’s golf and women’s golf head coach, was featured in Global Golf Post on Jan. 14. Despite having a knee replacement in 2024, Linscott was named the 2024 Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Play of the Year by Central Links Golf. She won the Kansas Mid-Amateur in a seven-hole playoff and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, U.S. Senior Women’s Open and for the third straight year, the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.
Bobbi Shaw, executive assistant to the president, appeared on the nationally syndicated television talk show “Live with Kelly and Mark” on Jan. 14 as part of the “Stump Mark” segment. Shaw provided two “stories” to co-host Mark Consuelos who had to determine which was true. Consuelos answered incorrect, so Shaw won a “Live” mug and T-shirt, then she had a chance to win a trip to Antigua by answering a question about a recent show. Shaw answered incorrectly, but won consolation prize of a Roomba vacuum cleaner and is in a drawing for a trip to Antarctica. Shaw was interviewed about her experience for a story that appeared in the (Liberty, Mo.) Courier-Tribune on Jan. 22.
The Park Trio, the esteemed resident ensemble of Park University’s International Center for Music, appeared live on Kansas Public Radio’s “Classical Music in the Morning” on Jan. 22. Violinist Ben Sayevich, cellist Daniel Veis and pianist Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich performed selected works to help promote their concert that was held on Jan. 24.
Niko Barber, sophomore liberal arts student, was featured in the Johnson County (Kan.) Post on Jan. 24. Barber, the son of former National Football League linebacker Shawn Barber (1998-2007), including a three-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs (2003-05), is an equipment assistant with the Chiefs.
Melissa Ferrer Civil, ME ’20, who was appointed as the first poet laureate in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2024, was featured in Kansas City magazine on Jan. 24.
Maria Ioudenitch, a former violin student in Park University’s Youth Conservatory of Music and daughter of International Center for Music Artistic Director Stanislav Ioudenitch, appeared on KWJC-FM (Classical KC) in Kansas City on Jan. 25-26 as part of a rebroadcast of a 2013 National Public Radio “From the Top” performance. The father-daughter duo will perform together in concert on Wednesday, May 7, at the 1900 Building in Mission Woods, Kan., to close out the ICM’s 2024-25 season.
Emily Sallee, Ph.D., vice provost, participated in a question-and-answer article on “Reshaping Higher Ed: Access, Agility and Institutional Legacy” that was published on Jan. 28 in The EvoLLLution. In the interview, Sallee discusses the interdependence of legacy and innovation, leadership’s role and how to create structures for agility and collaboration.
Silvia Kofler, adjunct instructor of liberal education and management, appeared on the “Artspeak Radio” program that aired on KKFI-FM in Kansas City on Jan. 29. Kofler is working on a new collection of poems, Castles in the Air, and is the publisher/editor of Thorny Locust magazine.
Park University was ranked by UniversityHQ.org in a variety of its 2025 college rankings. National rankings in the top 25 include:
• Best Online Associate in Computer Science Programs, No. 7
• Best Online Associate in Psychology Programs, No. 12
• Best Online Bachelor’s in Software Development Programs, No. 13
• Best Online Associate in Accounting Programs, No. 19
• Best Online Bachelor’s in International Business Programs, No. 24
• Best Online Bachelor’s in Project Management Programs, No. 24
• Best Online Bachelor’s in Operations and Logistics Management Programs, No. 24
Upcoming Events
(All events are Central time and on the flagship Parkville [Mo.] Campus unless noted)
• Through February 7 — Art Exhibit: Park University Senior Showcase, Campanella Gallery (Norrington Center)
• February 7 — International Center for Music Concert: ICM Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• February 11 — Black History Month Event: Leadership Speaker Elijah Dormeus, 2:30 p.m., McCoy Meetin’ House
• February 13 — Black History Month Lunch and Learn Event: “Debunking the Myths of Black History: The True Story of Rosa Parks, Noon, McCoy Meetin’ House
• February 13 — International Center for Music Concert: Cellist Nikita Korzukhin and Pianist Ali Mammadoff Recital, 7 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• February 17 — President’s Day Holiday (all offices nationwide closed; Parkville (Mo.) Campus and Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus daytime classes cancelled; Spring I classes held as scheduled)
• February 20 — Arrr & Arrr, 4 p.m., McCoy Meetin’ House
• February 21 — Board of Trustees Meeting, Parkville Campus
• March 1 — International Center for Music Concert: Stanislav and Friends, 7 p.m., Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, Mo.
• March 9 — Spring I Term Ends
• March 10-16 — Spring Break (all offices nationwide open; no classes nationwide)
• March 12-14 — Missouri Conference on History, Adams Pointe Conference Center, Blue Springs, Mo. (hosted by Park University)
• March 14 — International Center for Music Concert: Violinist David Radzynski and Pianist Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan.
• March 17 — Spring II Term Begins
• March 21 — Women’s Networking Event, Noon, Watson Literacy Center
To view a comprehensive schedule for all events, including athletics and student life, visit park.edu/calendars/park-events-calendar.