The First 100 Days
Welcoming new students, digging for fossils, hanging out with a python— it’s all in a day’s work for Elmhurst’s new president. Here are some highlights from President VanAken’s first 100 days in o≈ce. 18
A Visit to the Sim Lab On July 12 President VanAken toured the College’s Simulation Center at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital and saw a nursing class in action. During the class, students practiced their nursing skills on each other and on the Center’s life-size, robotic manikins—interviewing “patients,” taking blood pressure, listening to heart sounds and more. The Simulation Center, a 4,600-square-foot facility representing a variety of health care environments, allows students to practice protocols and procedures safely and without the risk of harm to patients. “The Sim Lab was a big deciding factor in why I chose to come to Elmhurst College,” said Angela Gasbarre ’18. “It sets Elmhurst apart from other schools.”
Digging for Fossils On July 13 President VanAken stopped by Associate Professor Merrilee Guenther’s biology lab, where students Abbey Banas and Katie TiΩany were sorting through sediment from North Dakota in search of small fossil specimens from 38 million years ago. So far, the students have found mammal teeth, plant material and snail shells—all of which helped them reconstruct the flora and fauna of the excavation site. The Elmhurst eΩort was part of a broader project based in North Dakota, where paleontologists are working on large body fossils found at the site. Guenther noted that Elmhurst students have unusual access to research experiences, giving them a head start in the job market or graduate school. “They’re not going to get opportunities like this at bigger public schools,” she pointed out.