Melanie Lawder

Marquette 2014

Originally from the suburbs of New York, I now reside in downtown Milwaukee. I currently am a student at Marquette University, majoring in journalism with an emphasis on social justice and political science. I'm a news reporter for the school newspaper, The Marquette Tribune. I love writing, running, politics and social media.

Portfolio
The Marquette Tribune
02/07/2013
Input yields strategic plan changes | The Marquette Tribune

Marquette’s outline for the new strategic plan, which will guide its direction for the next five to 10 years, has been revised after a semester of student and faculty critiques at university forums. The inclusion of environmental sustainability in the plan's themes was among the changes for which Marquette students advocated.

The Marquette Tribune
02/12/2013
Marquette-ing Club puts on annual jobs fair | The Marquette Tribune

Marquette students will have the opportunity to get a glimpse into Milwaukee’s business world Wednesday at the second-annual Marquette-ing and Networking Event. The Marquette-ing Club, the school’s student marketing organization, will host the event in the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All students are welcome. Representatives from 26 companies will participate in the event Wednesday, including professionals from Kohl’s, the Milwaukee Brewers, Target, Summerfest,...

The Marquette Tribune
02/19/2013
College of Communication receives $8.3 donation for fellowships | The Marquette Tribune

An $8.3 million donation to Marquette’s College of Communication will give the college the opportunity to offer fellowships to three professional journalists each year beginning in fall 2013. The fellows will pursue a nine-month investigative journalism project with support from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and assistance from students and faculty in the College of Communication. Peter and Patricia Frechette established the fellowship to honor Patricia’s parents, Perry and Alicia O’Brien,...

The Marquette Tribune
02/19/2013
MU picks Holz as new Arts & Sciences dean | The Marquette Tribune

After five years of interim deans, Marquette’s largest college will finally have a permanent leader. Richard Holz, associate dean for resources and planning and professor of chemistry at Loyola University Chicago, has been selected as the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Holz, 50, will begin his duties as dean July 1. University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz announced Holz as dean in an email to the Marquette community Tuesday afternoon. “Dr. Holz is an accomplished and dynamic leader…

The Marquette Tribune
09/26/2013
MU faces 2 percent budget cut | The Marquette Tribune

After conducting a review of the national and worldwide financial outlook for higher education, Marquette has asked departments to reduce or return 2 percent of this year’s budget. Andy Brodzeller, a senior communication specialist at Marquette, said the budget cuts are a response to various external reports that predict higher education institutions will face considerable revenue challenges due to factors including the reduction of family wealth and income. “Marquette is not immune to the...

The Marquette Tribune
03/21/2013
Panelists discuss charter schools, survey results at Law School | The Marquette Tribune

A Marquette Law School poll released at a conference Wednesday suggests many Wisconsin voters still consider themselves uneducated on the subject of charter schools. While 42 percent of voters have favorable views of charter schools and 16 percent view them negatively, 42 percent of respondents said they do not know enough about the issue to form an opinion. The study was presented Wednesday at a conference titled “Charter Schools: Assessing the Present, Looking to the Future,” co-sponsored...

The Marquette Tribune
03/26/2013
Student group focuses on LGBTQA issues at forum | The Marquette Tribune

The Gender Sexuality Alliance “brought the rainbow” to Marquette at a forum Thursday to discuss issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally community. One of the most prominent topics of conversation focused on creating a more gender-neutral campus. Students also discussed the issues many members of the LGBTQA community face when identifying with some of the Catholic Church’s doctrines. Approximately 30 students attended. Susannah Bartlow, director of the Gender...

The Marquette Tribune
04/02/2013
Officers avoid charges for Derek Williams’ death | The Marquette Tribune

Though the inquest jury of Derek Williams' death recommended in February that the state file criminal charges against the three officers involved, John Franke, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, decided not to press homicide charges Friday. The three officers failed to respond to Williams' request for medical attention and he died in police custody.

The Marquette Tribune
04/09/2013
Unpaid internships could be more trouble than benefit | The Marquette Tribune

With summer looming, the internship application season is in full swing as Marquette students scramble to send out their cover letters and seize a position they can use to gain work experience. In this process, students may have to decide whether working without pay this summer is worth it. Director of  Marquette’s Career Services Center Laura Kestner said she conservatively estimates that 60 to 70 percent of Marquette students have an internship during their academic career. Among those...

The Marquette Tribune
04/18/2013
Sexual Assault Awareness Month highlights continuing efforts to prevent violence | The Marquette...

One in four women will be victims of rape or attempted rape by the time they leave college, according to a 2010 study from the U.S. Department of Justice. The number may be startling, but it is an unfortunate reality for college-aged women, who are at a higher risk for sexual assault than any other age group. April was named national Sexual Assault Awareness Month to raise awareness and help prevent all instances of sexual assault and harassment. On April…

The Marquette Tribune
04/18/2013
Sexual Assault Awareness Month highlights continuing efforts to prevent violence | The Marquette...

One in four women will be victims of rape or attempted rape by the time they leave college, according to a 2010 study from the U.S. Department of Justice. The number may be startling, but it is an unfortunate reality for college-aged women, who are at a higher risk for sexual assault than any other age group. April was named national Sexual Assault Awareness Month to raise awareness and help prevent all instances of sexual assault and harassment. On April…

The Marquette Tribune
04/25/2013
New Title IX director chosen | The Marquette Tribune

In the midst of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Marquette named a new Title IX coordinator last Thursday. The Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, the associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President, will now be the chief coordinator for implementing Title IX policies and procedures at the university. Title IX, which was passed during the civil rights movement under the 1972 Education Amendments, was created to prevent discrimination based on sex in education and remove obstacles...

The Marquette Tribune
05/02/2013
Fines for alcohol violations, one year later | The Marquette Tribune

This spring, the last day of finals will mark the close of Marquette’s first academic year with an alcohol policy that uses monetary fines to penalize students for conduct violations. Students and administrators reflected on the policy’s effects so far.

The Marquette Tribune
11/14/2012
Poet Mary Oliver receives honorary degree

Acclaimed poet Mary Oliver, 77, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Marquette University in front of a sold-out audience of 800 people at a ceremony in the Alumni Memorial Union yesterday. During the ceremony, she read several of her poems and answered questions about her writing process and inspirations.

The Marquette Tribune
11/14/2012
Poet Mary Oliver receives honorary degree

Acclaimed poet Mary Oliver, 77, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Marquette University in front of a sold-out audience of 800 people at a ceremony in the Alumni Memorial Union yesterday. During the ceremony, she read several of her poems and answered questions about her writing process and inspirations.

The Marquette Tribune
12/20/2012
Divorce rates lower during recession

What’s an indicator of a healthy and improving U.S. economy? Higher divorce rates, according to Abdur Chowdhury, a professor of economics in the College of Business Administration.

The Marquette Tribune
12/06/2012
Marquette seeks improvement in online evaluation participation

Every semester, course evaluations give students the chance to weigh in and tell their professors what they thought of class and instruction. To remind students of this annual semester tradition, the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment sent out an email to students on Nov. 26 stating that the course evaluations were up and ready for student feedback. Students have until Dec. 9, 2012, to complete their evaluations.

The Marquette Tribune
11/29/2012
Gov. Walker proposes higher education funding reform

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker proposed initiatives to change how public higher education would receive government funding at a gathering at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif.

The Marquette Tribune
09/06/2012
Academic dishonesty bring varied reports from colleges

Marquette students have never been implicated in a cheating scandal as large as the one that’s currently rocking Harvard University, where school officials are investigating suspicious similarities in more than one hundred take-home final exams from a Spring 2012 government class. While such a case has not arisen here, professors on campus maintain that preventing academic dishonesty is a problem that is not unique to Ivy League schools.

The Marquette Tribune
09/11/2012
Pilarz sets direction of strategic plan

The writing process for Marquette’s strategic plan is expected to pick up momentum with the recent creation of the strategic planning coordinating committee and the University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz’s articulation of five themes that will guide the plan’s progress. The members of this committee and the five themes were announced Aug. 28 in a letter from Pilarz to the Marquette community.

The Marquette Tribune
09/13/2012
Alumnus hired as vice president

When the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson was a freshman at Marquette, McCormick Hall was an all-male dormitory, the Alumni Memorial Union was under construction and the university president was the Rev. John Raynor. Now, almost two decades later, Hendrickson, 41, has returned to Marquette as the associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President and as one of three new Jesuits hired this year.

The Marquette Tribune
09/18/2012
College of Nursing debuts $4 million upgrade

The College of Nursing’s Simulation Technology and Learning Resource Center underwent a drastic $4 million makeover this summer. The center, renamed the Wheaton Franciscan Center for Clinical Simulation, mimics the confines of a hospital and was made possible by a $1 million donation from the Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Center and contributions from alumni and other supporters.

The Marquette Tribune
09/20/2012
Students choose graduate school beyond graduation

As the amount of homework steadily builds up and the temperatures slowly creep downward, the graduate school application season is looming for many Marquette undergraduates.

The Marquette Tribune
09/25/2012
Marquette Service Learning Honored

Marquette’s service learning program was selected as the Experiential Education Program of the Year by the National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE). The award will be presented to Marquette Oct. 5, at the annual NSEE conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee.

The Marquette Tribune
09/27/2012
Catholic vote split between conflicting ideals

There are certain known trends in voter demographics that consistently recur each election cycle – evangelical Protestants typically vote Republican and the Jewish population and black Protestants usually vote Democratic. But the Catholic vote is different from these in that the majority of Catholics do not consistently identify with one party.

The Marquette Tribune
11/02/2012
Syrian conflict discussed at Marquette

Last Wednesday, Lisa Wedeen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and visiting professor at Marquette, spoke at the Association of Marquette University Women’s annual Boheim Lecture.

The Marquette Tribune
10/04/2012
In forum, Pilarz talks strategy with students

Marquette Student Government sponsored a student forum with University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz and Provost John Pauly Tuesday to listen to student reactions about the five themes the administration decided would guide the university’s strategic planning process. Approximately 100 students attended the event and offered their opinions on strategic planning and what they believe to be the themes’ strengths and shortcomings.

The Marquette Tribune
10/09/2012
Russ Feingold speaks about bipartisanship at MU

Former Wisconsin Democratic senator Russ Feingold visited Marquette Thursday to talk about politics, broaching topics such as the current presidential election, campaign finance reform, American exceptionalism and foreign relations.

The Marquette Tribune
10/11/2012
Federal student aid to face large cuts, students worried

Ninety percent of Marquette students receive some sort of financial aid, which gives the university a vested interest in current political turmoil that may affect federal aid or government education funding. Unless the Congressional Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction comes to agreement on how to achieve more than $1 trillion in budgetary saving, a majority of government-sponsored discretionary programs will see a reduction in their federal funding starting Jan. 2, 2013, said Rana Altenburg,...

The Marquette Tribune
11/16/2012
MU seeking accreditation renewal for 2014

Every 10 years Marquette seeks accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, an agent of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Marquette’s decade-long accreditation expires at the beginning of the 2014 academic year. The university has the opportunity to renew this recognition through an accreditation reaffirmation process.

The Marquette Tribune
10/25/2012
Dean search finally drawing to a close

After almost five years without a permanent academic overseer, the students and faculty in Marquette’s largest college will begin to see some progress in the university’s hunt for a new dean.

The Marquette Tribune
10/25/2012
Marketing and communications VP says goodbye

The Vice President for Marketing and Communication Tricia Geraghty will leave her position at Marquette Nov. 9 to become the corporate vice president for marketing and public relations at Wisconsin’s Children Hospital.

The Marquette Tribune
11/30/2012
Fashion show to raise breast cancer awareness

The Courage to Dare foundation hosted its third annual fashion fundraiser Sunday in Marquette’s Weasler Auditorium to raise awareness and increase education about breast cancer in West Africa and among the African American community in Wisconsin.

The Marquette Tribune
11/01/2012
Law School releases final poll before election

Marquette’s Law School released the results of its final poll before the election yesterday, showing President Barack Obama leading among likely Wisconsin voters, 51 to 43 percent, over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The Marquette Tribune
11/01/2012
Lecturer discusses the unpleasant reality of "green" engineering

P. Aarne Vesilind, an author and former professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, visited Marquette Tuesday to discuss the unpleasant reality of “green” engineering and corporations’ motives for engaging in green activities.

The Marquette Tribune
11/08/2012
Shooting leads to domestic violence awareness

The shooting at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield on Oct. 21 has brought the issue of domestic violence and the question of whether law enforcement agencies are properly handling and reporting abuse cases into the limelight in Wisconsin.

The Marquette Tribune
09/04/2012
Fixes to old buildings due

The renovations were announced last Thursday in a university news brief. All of the renovations will be completed by the fall of 2015, said university architect Thomas Ganey. Ganey said the three buildings suffer from out-of-date infrastructure and that his office plans to replace their heating systems, elevators, data networks, plumbing, ventilation and air conditioning systems to make them more environmentally friendly and sustainable. He also stressed the need for handicap-accessible...

The Marquette Tribune
08/30/2012
Salchenberger appointed to provost's office

Among the multiple personnel changes in the Marquette administration this summer, the most prominent was the promotion of former College of Business Administration Dean Linda Salchenberger to the newly created position of associate provost for academic planning and budgeting.

The Marquette Tribune
08/27/2012
New alcohol policy cracks down on drinking

Monetary fines for conduct violations were implemented as part of an updated alcohol policy by the Division of Student Affairs this semester. Christopher Miller, vice president of student affairs, sent an email Tuesday notifying students of the policy change, stating that fines were enacted to reduce damage done on campus due to alcohol and drugs.

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
04/18/2012
53rd Street Community Garden 'bridges the gap'

It was a cold and windy day last May when an eclectic mix of people installed the 53rd Street Community Garden in Sherman Park. This project has since fostered and strengthened ties between local schools and residents.