Writing Samples
In only five years, the Buchanan Initiative for Peace and Nonviolence has made an indelible mark on the entire Avila community.
CSJ values guided Mary Morrow-Bax ’64 during pivotal personal and professional challenges.
Seniors and juniors from Avila University’s School of Nursing served at two Kansas City hospitals this semester as part of the on-going COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Consolidating its strength in adult continuing education, Avila University announced today the creation of a new initiative, the Workforce Development Academy @ Avila University, which will begin workshops on March 25.
Senior Brandon Phillips earned the 2020 MarCom Platinum Award in January, the highest honor from one of the largest, most respected creative marketing and communication competitions in the world.
When head coach Marc Benavidez ’12 led the Avila Eagle football team to a signature win over nationally-ranked Kansas Wesleyan University on October 24, most of the attention rightly went to the outstanding performances of juniors Malik Nesbitt and Andrew Williams. But in improving to 3-1 for the 2020 season, Benavidez earned his 17th career win and became the winningest head coach in Avila football history.
Preparedness is essential to a successful career in imaging sciences. Understanding and correctly utilizing advanced imaging equipment can provide medical professionals an inside look at the human body, giving them a better chance of successfully diagnosing and treating the patient.
Since opening in March, the Avila community pantry Feed Your Friends has provided more than 120 households with nutritious meals and essential resources amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teachers helped Cornell Ellis ’13 during one of the most challenging periods of his life. Founding a nonprofit organization supporting educators was a fitting way to repay their support.
When Ryan Ratzlaff received the Beverly C. Allen ’73 Endowed Scholarship, he knew it would help him achieve his goal of earning his graduate degree in special education from Avila. But it wasn’t until he met Bob De Yong, the scholarship’s benefactor and member of the Avila Heritage Society, that he learned about the legacy of special education he was continuing.
Psychology Today recently featured research from Avila researchers Ashley K. Fansher, Ph.D. and Sara Eckinger about differences between users and non-users of dating apps. Fansher, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, and Eckinger, Program Coordinator for Eagles Aware, originally published their study in the academic journal Deviant Behavior in March earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Avila University $2.2 million in funding through the Title III-Strengthening Institutions Program. This grant will support the development of Project RISE, a new initiative designed to increase graduation and persistence rates among Avila students.
After Hayley Thagard graduated in 2015 from high school in Sabetha, Kansas, a small town near the Nebraska border, she was not ready to choose a career, or even a major. Community college made sense as a lower-cost, lower-risk choice to continue her education while she decided what she wanted to pursue.
When the curtain rises on the New Theatre and Restaurant’s production of “Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood” on November 22, Avila University will be well-represented both on- and backstage, highlighted by the professional debuts for undergraduates Gavin Merrill and Sam Stratton.
The interplay of politics, sex and religion in the United States concerns Leslie Dorrough Smith, associate professor of religious studies at Avila University, in her most recent book, “Compromising Positions: Sex Scandals, Politics, and American Christianity,” published on November 1 by Oxford University Press.
Alexis Delgado, a junior biochemistry premed major at Avila University, spent her summer break a bit differently than most of her classmates – she was crunching MRI data in support of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Miami as part of a “research experience for undergraduates”, or REU.
A capacity audience rapt with attention listened as Reggie Shaw shared his powerful, heart-breaking story of a moment’s inattention that changed his life forever during the 2019 Harry S. Truman Distinguished Lecture on October 14 in the Avila University Athletic Pavilion.
Growing up down the road from Avila University, Cathy Cyr Nigro witnessed the evolution of the school since it relocated to its South Kansas City campus.
“As a young girl, I went to school just up the hill from Avila, and you couldn’t leave without going by Avila,” she said. “Avila has been in my memory as far back as I can remember. We’ve seen it develop, grow and adapt to the community.”
Reaching graduation is just the first big challenge facing college students. Finding a job, or even knowing where to start looking, is the next formidable hurdle waiting for graduates when they receive their degree.
But for students such as junior Colin Hendricks, that upcoming hurdle is a bit less daunting thanks to the internship opportunities and professional resources available at Avila.
Avila University today announced the appointment of Timothy Klocko as vice president for finance and administration. In this role, Klocko will oversee all aspects of the financial life of the University, providing management and direction for Avila’s financial activities.
Avila University students spent a recent evening at a seldom-visited field trip destination: Lansing Correctional Facility.
Le plus. “The more.” It is a theme that winds its way through Avila’s past and present, passed down from the University’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It is a call to always try to do more. Whatever you do, do it the best that you can. There is a component of growth in le plus, and an aspect of excellence.
Avila mentors make an impact that lasts a lifetime. From the moment a student takes their first steps on campus, faculty and staff see their worth, dignity, and potential. This value is ingrained in the student experience from convocare to commencement, through mentorship.
Senior Grace Tibbetts studies emotions. Not just emotions, but how people recognize, interpret and act on those emotions. As a psychology major at Avila, her study of emotion recognition has shown her the rigor and reward provided by high-level academic research.
Wireless microsensors have enabled new ways to monitor our environment by allowing users to measure spaces previously off limits to research, such as toxic areas, vehicle components, or remote areas in the human body. Researchers, however, have been stymied by limited improvements in the quality of data and sensitivity of these devices stemming from challenges associated with the environments they operate in and the need for sensors with extremely small footprints.
The new technology could allow researchers to fit more biochemical probes onto a single biochip and reduce the cost of screening and analyzing changes associated with disease development, detecting bioterrorism agents, and other areas of research
Operation of modern-day technology requires an ever-increasing use of broadband frequency signals. This, in turn, has grown the demand for reliable, efficient methods of signal transmission that prevent interference and are more efficient in their use of the scarcely available frequency spectrum. These requirements are constrained, however, by reciprocity–a law of physics that forces the transmission of light to be identical in opposite directions.
Expansion of urban, suburban and exurban land in the United States over the past several decades has led to neighborhoods in very different parts of the country featuring patterns of roads, residential lots, commercial areas and aquatic features that are more similar to each other than the native ecosystems they replaced.