The Crow’s Nest — January 3, 2025

Ceratti Earns AVCA-NAIA All-Midwest Region Honors

Izabella Ceratti, Park University Parkville (Mo.) Campus women’s volleyball opposite hitter, was named to the 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association / National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-Midwest Region first team. Ceratti led the Pirates with 366 points on the season (kills plus service aces plus blocks), as well as in kills with 344, hitting .240.

In additional athletics news, 12 Parkville Campus student-athletes — three from the men’s soccer team, six from the women’s soccer team and three from the women’s volleyball team — earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District recognition. Those honored include men’s soccer players Bradyn McIntyre, senior, and Grant Barry and Jacksyn McIntyre, juniors; women’s soccer players Brock Allen, Peyton Ayers, Cecilie Esbak Pedersen, seniors; Annalena Penshorn, junior; and Lilli Porsch and Piper Zeigler, sophomores; and women’s volleyball players Izabella Ceratti and Irene Verdino, seniors; and Avery Caskey, sophomore. To be eligible for this award, student-athletes must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), must compete in 90 percent of the institution’s matches played or start in at least 66 percent of the institution’s matches and must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.

A total of 24 Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus student-athletes were recognized by the Great Southwest Athletic Conference as 2024-25 Fall Scholar-Athletes. The list included 10 each from the men’s soccer and women’s soccer teams, and four from the women’s volleyball team. To qualify for this award a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and hold a GPA of 3.5 or greater.

International Center for Music’s Park Trio to Perform on January 24

The Park Trio, an esteemed resident ensemble of Park University’s International Center for Music, will perform in concert on Friday, Jan. 24, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the 1900 Building in Mission Woods, Kan. Tickets for the concert (before fees) are $30 for the general public and $10 for students, and are available through Eventbrite. The Park Trio, which includes Park ICM faculty Ben Sayevich, violin, Daniel Veis, cello, and Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, piano, is scheduled to perform the following selections:
          •  “Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 32,” composed by Anton Arensky. The piece includes four movements.
          •  “Piano Trio in E Minor,” Op. 90” (also called “Dumky Trio”), composed by Antonin Dvořák. The piece includes six movements.
For more information about this concert, visit park.edu/news/park-trio-concert-2025.

The next concert in the International Center for Music’s 2024-25 season will be a performance by the Park ICM Orchestra on Friday, Feb. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel on the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus. This annual valentine’s concert will feature guest conductor Jason Seber, former associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony (2016-22). For more information about this concert, visit icm.park.edu/park-icm-orchestra-valentines-concert. Admission to ICM Orchestra concerts in the Chapel are free, but attendees are asked to RSVP in advance.

Register for ParkAlert — the University’s Emergency Alert System

With the start of winter weather arriving across the country, Park University students, faculty and staff nationwide are encouraged to sign up for ParkAlert, a mass notification system that can alert the University community with time-sensitive messages via text, voice and e-mail. ParkAlert will be used to notify the University community with important/urgent/emergency messages and/or weather-related alerts and updates; it is not used for advertising or other unsolicited content. ParkAlert is designed to allow participants to choose the Park University campus they attend (or is in their area) and receive messages related only to that specific campus. ParkAlert adds another immediate notification mechanism to the University’s existing methods for alerts. The following are the available alert options:
          •  Short Message Service (SMS)/Text — Text message alerts to the mobile phone(s) that you register in the system.
          •  Voice — Similar to the text message, this service delivers a voice alert to your registered phone(s)
          •  E-Mail — An e-mail alert is sent to your registered e-mail address. (It is suggested that you register an e-mail address that is not a Park University account since the Office of Strategic Communications or the Office of Campus Safety may send an extended e-mail message to your Park e-mail address.)

To register, visit park.edu/about-park/campus-safety/park-alerts. If you previously registered, it is suggested that you verify your information and correct options by signing in to your account at park.omnilert.net/subscriber.php. After registering, please verify that you are signed up to the proper group(s) by selecting one or more campus centers. For those in the Kansas City area, it is recommended that you choose at least one campus (Parkville and/or Independence) AND the “All Kansas City Area Campuses” group.

Fishburn Archives to Celebrate National Puzzle Month with Park University Puzzles

In honor of Park University celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2025, the Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections will be placing puzzles — featuring images of buildings of the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus past and present — around the campus in mid-January. A 500-piece puzzle will be located in Mackay Hall, Norrington Center (of the Carnegie Library), the Academic Plaza (of Woodward Hall), Findlay-Wakefield Science Hall and Millsap Foyer (of Nickel Hall).

Faculty, Staff, Student News

Tom Kuehnel, sophomore political science major, authored “Why did NATO’s Post-Cold War Policy Toward Russia Fail?” that was published in the recent edition of InterAgency Journal, a journal on national security that is published by the Simons Center for Ethical Leadership and Interagency Cooperation. The article concluded that the failure of NATO-Russia relations can be attributed to a fundamental mismatch in their security perspectives and narratives.

Park in the News

Michael Davidman, ’23, was highlighted in a story that appeared in the Indianapolis Star on Dec. 5 in advance of a concert he was performing with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra on Dec. 8 (starts at approximately 41:00). Davidman’s appearance is a part of the 2025 American Piano Awards, which will culminate with the final rounds between March 31 and April 5, in Indianapolis. Davidman was a finalist in the 2021 APA which was won by Kenny Broberg, a 2021 Park University International Center for Music Master of Music graduate. A review of Davidman’s concert appeared on the NUVO Cultural Foundation’s website on Dec. 10.

Parkville (Mo.) Campus women’s volleyball senior Grecia Ung provided comments for a story about her sister, Argentina, that appeared on the Sports360AZ website on Dec. 5. Argentina, a women’s volleyball graduate student at Arizona State University, was named Big 12 Setter of the Year on Dec. 3.

Terry Calaway, Park University Board of Trustees chair, co-authored an opinion article titled “Paradigm Shift: DEI, Anti-DEI or Underrepresentation?” that appeared on the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education website on Dec. 8.

A story about the efforts of Park University’s George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and the Valor Medals Review Project, and specifically the Robb Centre’s efforts in reviewing Native Americans who may have been denied the Medal of Honor in World War I due to race, appeared in Task & Purpose, a publication for the military community, on Dec. 10. Tim Westcott, Ph.D., director of the Robb Centre and professor of history, was interviewed for the article.

A similar story related to indigenous World War I veterans who are being reviewed as part of the Valor Medals Review Project, appeared in Military Times (and four other related publications) on Dec. 24. Westcott was also interviewed for this article.

Matt Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, provided comments for stories that aired on KMBZ-FM in Kansas City on Dec. 10 related to the plans the Missouri Legislature has in store for 2025.

Harris was interviewed for a story that aired on KCTV in Kansas City on Dec. 29 related to the death of former president Jimmy Carter.

A story about Jenny Johnston, ’11, and her father, Tim, spending the last 14 years advocating for a trail that was finally built in a greenway in their Kansas City, Mo., Northland neighborhood, aired on KSHB-TV in Kansas City on Dec. 11. Johnston is the president of the Northland Chamber of Commerce.

J’Vonelle Simpson, ’13, was featured in the Jamaica Observer, a newspaper in her home country, on Dec. 17. Simpson, who was shot in the leg by a stray bullet when she was 6-years-old in her hometown of Kingston, used the incident to begin sports as physical therapy, including soccer, which landed her at Park University’s Parkville (Mo.) Campus as a member of the women’s soccer team. She is now a clinical laboratory scientist in the area of transplantation and histocompatibility.

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)
          •  January 13 — Spring Semester / Spring I Term Begins
          •  January 20 — Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (all University offices nationwide closed; Parkville and Gilbert daytime classes cancelled; Spring I classes held as scheduled)
          •  January 24 — International Center for Music Concert: Park Trio, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan.
          •  February 7 — International Center for Music Concert: ICM Orchestra, Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
          •  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 21 — Board of Trustees Meeting, Parkville Campus
          •  March 1 — International Center for Music Concert: Stanislav and Friends, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, Mo., 7 p.m.
          •  March 9 — Spring I Term Ends
          •  March 10-16 — Spring Break (all offices nationwide open; no classes nationwide)
          •  March 17 — Spring II Term Begins

To view a comprehensive schedule for all events, including athletics and student life, visit park.edu/calendars/park-events-calendar.