AROUND THE TOWER

AROUND the TOWER News and Events Across Campus

New learning community supports students interested in health care careers

ere’s a new program at UNK designed specically for students interested in health care careers.

e Health Science Explorers Learning Community, a partnership between UNK Health Sciences and Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center, is launching in fall 2020. e one-year residential learning community allows UNK students to learn more about health care professions while receiving support and guidance as they transition to college.

“So many students aren’t aware of just how many opportunities there are in health care,” said Brandon Drozd, who is coordinating the learning community. “By exposing them to these careers at an earlier stage, we can ensure students are taking the best path to professional success.”

e learning community is designed primarily for incoming freshmen, but it’s also open to transfer students. A declared major isn’t required to participate.

Students selected for the Health Science Explorers Learning Community will live together on a designated oor inside the Centennial Towers West residence hall, creating ready-made study groups and social connections among students with shared interests and classes. Each student will also be paired with an upperclassman mentor who lives in the learning community and studies health sciences.

During the fall semester, learning community participants will take the same “Opportunities in Health Sciences” course, allowing them to explore health care careers and pursue professional development experiences, including job shadowing, networking and career fairs. Drozd plans to bring in guest speakers from a variety of health care professions and schedule o-campus visits so students can see their work rsthand.

Lawmakers, Lopers share university’s impact at ‘I Love NU Day’

e large crowd lled one side of the balcony overlooking the legislative chamber.

Some wore blue, others red or black, but they were all gathered at the state Capitol in Lincoln for the same reason – to show their support for the University of Nebraska.

Students, sta, faculty and alumni from across the state came together March 10 for the third annual “I Love NU Advocacy Day,” an event that highlights the university system’s impact on Nebraska and its importance to the state.

About 40 UNK representatives, including roughly two dozen students, made the four-hour round trip from Kearney to meet with state senators and encourage them to support the university system.

Former Student Body President Nicole Kent of Benkelman was impressed by the turnout.

“It’s absolutely incredible to see the number of UNK students who are here,” said Kent, who serves as UNK’s student representative on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. “at tells me UNK students love Kearney and they love UNK. It tells me the university has made a really big impact on their lives, and I really hope our senators can see that.”

Reid Bednar, a junior from Grand Island studying middle level education, believes UNK embodies everything Nebraska values.

“at’s community and that’s being known,” he said. “All of our students are known on campus. at’s what college should feel like. A true college experience is where students are involved, and I think UNK does a great job of making sure students are involved. We’re one cohesive body.”

AROUND THE TOWER

Board of Regents approves indoor tennis complex

An indoor tennis complex planned for University Village scored another victory.

 e Board of Regents approved an agreement in December that allows the University of Nebraska at Kearney and City of Kearney to build and operate the $7.5 million facility.

Under the agreement, the city will construct, own and operate the six-court tennis complex located along North Railroad Street on the south edge of UNK’s University Village development. UNK will provide operational and maintenance support throughout the 25-year contract.

A donor-driven project, the tennis complex will be paid for primarily with private contributions and a $1.125 million grant awarded to the city by the state’s Civic and Community Center Financing Fund. Donor commitments are expected to cover about $5.5 million of the total cost.

 e tennis complex will serve the entire community, with opportunities for private and public tournaments, lessons, recreation and team activities for Kearney schools and UNK. A proposed  oor plan includes the six indoor courts, o ces, a meeting room, lockers and reception and lobby area.

Construction of the tennis complex is expected to begin this fall, with a goal of opening the facility in 2021. Six additional outdoor courts are part of the University Village master plan, a project that’s contingent on future funding.

Annual food festival celebrates UNK’s international students

 e aroma of exotic cuisine greeted guests as they entered the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Health and Sports Center.

Inside the gymnasium, long rows of tables covered in white cloths showcased the smorgasbord that awaited them.

Nepalese chicken curry, Spanish paella, Japanese rice balls, Korean bulgogi, Vietnamese sweet and sour ribs.  ese dishes and plenty more were on the menu for the 43rd annual Scott D. Morris International Food and Cultural Festival on March 7.

Hosted by UNK’s International Student Association, the free event featured food and drink from 11 di erent countries, as well as cultural performances ranging

from K-pop and martial arts to traditional Mexican dances.

About 100 students contributed to the event by assisting with the planning, preparing food, performing on stage or organizing informational tables with games and educational activities.

Tim Burkink, assistant vice chancellor for international a airs at UNK, called the festival a “hallmark” event for Kearney.

“It really is a celebration of our international students and the richness they bring to our campus and community,” he said. “It’s also a re ection of how much the community values our international students by joining in the celebration.”

Max Beal, Trey Janicek will lead UNK student body

Trey Janicek (l), Max Beal (r)

Max Beal and Trey Janicek have been elected as the student body president and vice president at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. ey took oce April 7, succeeding current President Nicole Kent and Vice President Katie Schultis.

As student body president, Beal will represent UNK as a student regent on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and serve as the ocial student body representative to the administration and public. e president also has the power to approve or veto legislation passed by the Student Senate.

Beal currently serves as a student senator representing the College of Business and Technology and he’s part of the Kearney Law Opportunities Program. He maintains a 4.0 GPA while studying business administration with a public law minor.

A junior from Kenesaw, Beal is president and founder of the UNK Pre-Law Society and president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He’s also a Chancellor’s Ambassador and a member of the UNK Honors Program.

Janicek is an agribusiness major with a 3.6 GPA. A member of the Phi Delta eta fraternity and Order of Omega Greek honor society, he serves as vice president of community service and philanthropy for UNK’s Interfraternity Council.

e junior from Bridgeport is also a resident assistant on campus.

Discovery Hall name of new $30M STEM building; August opening

Discovery Hall. e name says it all.

e NU Board of Regents approved this tting title in April for UNK’s newest building, a 90,000-square-foot facility that will promote collaboration and innovation across numerous academic departments, allowing students and faculty to pursue ideas that keep the university and state moving forward.

Known during planning stages as the STEM building, Discovery Hall will house UNK’s construction

management, industrial distribution, interior and product design, aviation, cyber systems, mathematics and statistics, physics, astronomy and engineering programs.

A number of events to tour, showcase and celebrate the $30 million building’s completion were held this summer.

e building located northeast of West Center and south of Ockinga Hall on UNK’s west campus will provide a crossdisciplinary environment that links science, technology, engineering and math programs. Inside the three-story structure, lab and classroom spaces are designed to meet each program’s specic needs while maintaining a level of exibility for collaborative projects.

Discovery Hall is the nal piece of a multifaceted project that replaces the 65-year-old Otto C. Olsen building, which has been on the state’s capital construction replacement list for more than 20 years.

AROUND THE TOWER

Tom Henning receives NU Presidential Medal of Service

Kearney businessman Tom Henning was the recipient of the 2019 Presidential Medal of Service, which celebrates Nebraskans’ support and advocacy for the University of Nebraska.

Henning, president and CEO of Cash-Wa Distributing, was recognized by University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen and NU Interim President Susan Fritz in December.

 e Presidential Medal is the highest honor that the NU president can bestow upon a community member.

Henning, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate, has been active in civic causes in Kearney and across the state for decades. He is a member of the UNK Alumni Association, Loper Athletic Club and UNK Chancellor’s Circle. He is a past member of the University of Nebraska Foundation Board of Directors and Mark J. Reid has been selected as University of Nebraska at Kearney’s next dean of the College of Education.  e appointment was announced March 9 by Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student A airs Charlie Bicak and comes after a national search. Reid was formerly associate dean of the College of Education and Human Services, and associate professor of secondary education, department of curriculum and instruction, at Texas A&M University-Commerce. He has a doctorate in curriculum studies from the University of Texas at Austin, his master’s in agronomy from Washington

served on the UNK committee for Campaign for Nebraska, the Foundation’s most recent comprehensive fundraising campaign.

As a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for UNK’s College of Business and Technology, Henning played a role in helping develop the college’s supply chain management emphasis – a

Reid selected as new College of Education dean at UNK

program with a 100 percent job placement rate. State University, and bachelor’s in agriculture from East Texas State University.

Reid took the position e ective July 1.

“I am honored to become a Loper and ecstatic to be joining the College of Education, which has a reputation for excellence. I graduated from high school in Brookings, South Dakota, so this feels like I am coming home.”

 e UNK College of Education includes the departments of Teacher Education, Kinesiology and Sport Science, Communication Disorders, Counseling and School Psychology, and Educational Administration.

Reid replaces dean Sheryl Feinstein, who retired in 2019.

UNK Alumni Association and University of Nebraska Foundation

BY THE NUMBERS

Total Alumni* 53,237

Alumni in Nebraska 32,875

Alumni in Kearney 4,913

Alumni Within 50 Miles of Kearney 12,997

59

Alumni in 59 Countries

50

Alumni in All 50 States

93

Alumni in All 93 Nebraska Counties

UNK Alumni Events (2019) 32 10 23

Events States Cities * Living alumni, 2019

Scholarship Money From UNF to UNK $2,426,947

2018-2019 UNK Academic Year

1,144 Students Receiving Aid From UNF Funds

1,771 Scholarships Awarded

Five-year Annual Fundraising Average* $6,417,464

*Annual average for years 2015-2019 Average Number of Gifts Given Annually*

3,974

*Five-year average, 2015-2019

2019 Endowment Value $60,500,000

Percentage of Alumni Who Have Ever Made a Gift 26.8%

FEATURE

Colorful Career

Jenna Pilant '09 fi nds happiness as designer, social media personality By TYLER ELLYSON - UNK Communications

Nothing about Jenna Pilant’s life is ordinary.

When the 35-year-old renovated her master bedroom, she went with purple carpet, orange and blue doors and a lime green bookcase.

For Christmas, her rainbow tree was decorated with disco ball ornaments, and she dressed her dogs in dragon costumes that matched her sparkly blue dress and cape on Halloween.

She’s not afraid to wear polka dot rompers, kneehigh, gold boots or anything in leopard print, and she owns a di erent pair of eyeglasses to match all of these out ts, which are usually accented by bright-red lipstick.

“I de nitely march to the beat of my own drum,” the Gibbon native said. “I don’t like trends. I do what feels best in my creative gut.”

Pilant sees things a little di erently than most. Not only does she color outside the lines, she chooses a palette that re ects her bold personality.

 e self-described “Jenna-of-many-trades” was

UNK graduate Jenna Pilant, pictured in her home o ce, describes herself as a “Jenna-of-many-trades.” She’s a successful upholstery artist, interior designer and design-and-style blogger in Southern California, and she has her own home renovation show on YouTube.

displaying this creativity long before she became a successful upholstery artist, interior designer and design-and-style blogger in Southern California, where she lives with her husband Darrell and their four “fur babies.”

UNK SUPPORT

Pilant’s world has been colorful since birth.

Her parents, Mike and Carol Johannsen, brought their oldest child home from the hospital to a yellow nursery with rainbow patterns and navy carpet.

At Gibbon High School, the do-it-all kid from small-town central Nebraska was active in choir, band, dance, theater and cheerleading. She was president of the school’s FCCLA chapter and vice president of the student council.

She also had big dreams.

“I loved growing up in the Midwest and I love everything Nebraska stands for, but being a more creative person, I felt like I needed to spread my

wings and get outside my home state to see what I’m really capable of,” Pilant said.

After graduating from high school in 2003, Pilant had her sights set on Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and its music business program.

She was accepted into the prestigious program, but decided to spend her rst year of college at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, which is just 15 miles from her hometown.

At UNK, Pilant quickly discovered she didn’t need to leave Nebraska to get the education she was looking for. She developed close relationships with faculty in the department of music, theatre and dance, received a scholarship and realized she could earn a degree without spending $40,000 a year.

“I felt like I could get the one-on-one attention I needed for my vocal progress and my musicianship,” Pilant said. “I don’t have one regret about deciding not to go to Nashville after that rst year and staying at UNK.”

Pilant participated in various choirs and theater productions at UNK, and she was also involved with Kearney Community eatre as a performer, director and board member.

Her on-stage talent led to a position as an on-air host with the local Fox aliate, where she worked for two years despite having no previous television experience.

“I only had my work ethic and this quirky personality,” said Pilant, who credits

UNK professors Anne Foradori and Janice

Fronczak with helping her land a gig she “had no business even applying for.”

To this day, Pilant considers Foradori a mentor and friend.

“She’s always been someone I can lean on and look to for advice, so I’ve been very thankful to have that relationship,” Pilant said. “ere’s just something to be said about going to a university where that family dynamic exists. UNK is a big university, but I very much felt seen and heard, and I felt like I had the support I needed to succeed.”

CALIFORNIA DREAM

On Memorial Day 2009 – less than a month after graduating from UNK with bachelor’s degrees in musical theater and music business – Pilant loaded her belongings into a Honda Accord and left for the West Coast.

She joined her then-husband omas, a UNK graduate working for the National Association of Music Merchants, in San Diego and hit the ground running. Pilant booked a commercial with Jerome’s Furniture, a Southern California business chain, and she appeared in a Wendy’s commercial and the music video for Orianthi’s “According to You.”

“I was having a lot of fun,” Pilant said.

But it was also exhausting.

Oftentimes, she would make the 120-mile commute from San Diego to Los Angeles late at night, crash on a friend’s couch, then audition for a role the next day before returning to San Diego to work whatever temp job she had at the time – receptionist at a chiropractic oce, promotional model for a liquor company, merchandise unloader for a large retailer, among others.

“I was literally doing anything and everything I could just to make ends meet and get the bills paid,” Pilant said.

After spending 11 months as the special events and art foundry manager at New Village Arts eatre in Carlsbad, California, where Pilant was hoping to join the acting company, she was feeling burned-out and lost.

Darrell, who she was dating at the time, asked a simple question while they were drinking wine on the sofa: “Are you happy?”

e answer was no.

Pilant quit her job, and within two months she’d launched her design-and-style blog – “Lucky Little Mustardseed” – and started a full-time upholstery business – Homebird Upholstery.

Using the skills she learned from her seamstress mother while assisting with do-it-yourself projects at the family farmhouse as a child, Pilant was ready to take on her rst client – a board member from New Village Arts eatre with a 1969 Airstream travel trailer that needed some interior upgrades.

Or so she thought.

“If I’m going to be truthful, I remember in March 2013 standing over the upholstery project going, ‘Oh God, what have I done? Have we bitten o more than we can chew Jenna? is is a little crazy.’”

ONE-WOMAN SHOW

It’s been seven years since Pilant started Homebird Upholstery, and the one-woman business is still going strong.

Pilant uses her “knack for bright colors” and love of all things vintage to turn once-tattered furniture into one-of-a-kind pieces for clients.

“It’s been quite a pinch-me moment, because people are really digging what I’m creating,” she said.

Her blog, which Pilant describes as “a mini-trip through this technicolor brain of mine,” has also taken o and she currently partners with Cabi to promote the fashion brand.

Pilant has 15,000 followers on Instagram (@jennapilant) and she recently launched her new website, jennapilant.com.

As if that weren’t enough, she also has a home renovation show – “Room Bloom” – that premiered in August 2018 on YouTube.

In the self-produced show, inspired by her love for HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” Pilant modernizes the Pauma Valley home she and Darrell purchased four years ago – room by room, project by project.

She calls it “a culmination of my constant need for creativity mixed with my lifelong obsession with colorful interiors.”

“Plus, what woman doesn’t want her home

updated by her own rainbow-tastic standards?”

e YouTube show, which currently has 25 episodes, allows viewers to follow the progress as Pilant renovates the home, sharing her design and decorating tips along the way. Each episode focuses on a specic project, such as building a custom headboard, reconstructing a replace, adding a wall or installing wallpaper.

“I’m trying to show the nitty gritty of it and really help people see the whole process and show them it’s not as easy as one may think,” Pilant said. “ere is a lot of work that goes into it.”

Pilant, who has already revealed her new family room, master bedroom, entryway and oce, estimates there’s about two years of content remaining before her dream home is complete and she shifts her focus to other houses.

e ongoing renovation project was featured in the August 2019 edition of San Diego Home/ Garden Lifestyles magazine. Her colorful creations and unique style earned Pilant the magazine cover and a 10-page, centerfold spread inside.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d have the cover of a magazine,” Pilant said. “To quote my grandmother Margaret (Dalby Fowler), I must be living right and paying the preacher, because I don’t know how that happened, but I am beyond grateful.”

Her interior design work is also featured in the current issue of Origin magazine, available at newsstands nationwide.

Although she doesn’t perform very often these days – Pilant refers to herself as a “way overtrained car and shower singer” – the UNK graduate isn’t second-guessing her decision to study music.

She believes all of those past experiences led to her current success.

“As long as I’m doing something that’s creative, I’ll be happy,” Pilant said. “at’s honestly been my main goal. I just want to be happy.”

FEATURE

LARGE HOUSING PROJECT PLANNED FOR UNIVERSITY VILLAGE

Millennium Development leads $48M privately funded development

By TODD GOTTULA - UNK Communications A new public-private partnership between the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a Nebraska investor will bring a $48 million housing project to the University Village development at UNK.

Millennium Development and UNK jointly announced the upscale townhome and apartment project at a March 16 news conference.

 e investor of the privately funded project is real estate developer Scott Rief of Grand Island. Rief’s company, Millennium Development, will build, own and manage the Kearney project. UNK will lease the land to Millennium.

“Partnering with the university is an opportunity you don’t get every day. When I invest in a community it’s about location, and UNK has a tremendous location,” Rief said. “I share UNK’s vision on what this space can be, and that makes this a very special and exciting partnership.”

 e housing development will be built in four phases, with the  rst including 86 units, a

Investor Scott Rief, middle, University of Nebraska President Ted Carter, left, and UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen discuss the Millennium Housing project being built at UNK’s University Village.

clubhouse, outdoor swimming pool, indoor and outdoor gyms, carriage house, attached garages and courtyard. It will be constructed southwest of the central green space at University Village.

Initial construction will include ve buildings – including a mix of apartments and townhomes – and two 10-plex units. e $14 million rst phase will also include a 5,000-square-foot retail space with a restaurant planned as the anchor business.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2020 and targeted for completion in June 2021. e housing is not just for university students, faculty and sta, but the entire Kearney community.

e overall housing development is planned in four phases over ve years and will include 230 units, which will be a combination of apartments, 10-plexes and townhomes.

Millennium Development’s partnership with UNK is the largest private investment on a construction project in the university’s history.

“is announcement is signicant because it demonstrates the desire of private industries and businesses in working with the university to invest in important community and business development opportunities,” said UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen. “Projects like these are the future of public universities, and are how universities will prosper and grow, thoughtfully and intentionally, through similar private partnerships.” Rief said the development will be “especially attractive” to students, young professionals and community members looking for “trendy, upscale and urban” living.

“is is a walkable city and community-based living where people will be comfortable in both outdoor and indoor spaces,” he said. “One way you rate a property is on walkability, and this location is a win because UNK is bringing in other amenities and projects that will make University Village a destination.”

e housing development is designed by Weaver Sherman Design out of Indianapolis, which was involved with a project at Purdue University similar to UNK’s University Village. Lincolnbased engineering and design rm Olsson also is involved.

University Village is a public-private development along Highway 30 south of UNK’s main campus planned as a mixed-use urban village featuring residential, retail, academic, recreation, community engagement and service industry facilities in a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood.

e 104-acre development includes Village Flats, a 99-unit, apartment-style housing complex for UNK students, sta and faculty completed in summer 2018, and UNK’s LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center, which opened in 2019. An indoor tennis complex and Regional Engagement and Alumni Center are also planned for construction.

FEATURE

Taking History to the Mat

A UNK student’s migration from wrestling to research Parker Witthuhn came to the University of Nebraska at Kearney to study history and political science. But most of all, he came to wrestle for the Lopers.

“Wrestling and being on a team is in my blood,” he said.

 at made su ering a career-ending injury, fracturing his L5 vertebra and undergoing surgery in 2017, very di cult. Witthuhn struggled with the loss of his ability to compete on the mat and suddenly having “way more time on my hands,” he said.

His UNK wrestling coaches suggested this was “an opportunity to push myself academically, and

Taking History to the Mat

that I should throw myself into my schoolwork to see what I could accomplish,” Witthuhn said.

He explained his passion for learning spans many fields, but his interest is piqued most when studying history and political science.

“I love diving into topics and finding similarities to things going on in the world today or finding roots and causes of current events,” he said. “Finding obscure facts and being able to trace the fallout from those events all the way up to today — that’s super fun.”

Parker Witthuhn

Witthuhn sought guidance from his teacher and mentor, Jeff Wells, Ph.D., of the history department in University of Nebraska at Kearney's College of Arts and Sciences. Aware of Witthuhn’s passion for history, Wells encouraged him to get involved in UNK’s undergraduate research program.

“I hadn't considered my writing good enough for publication until then and never really considered doing research until Dr. Wells showed me all the opportunities,” Witthuhn said.

Undergraduate research is highly supported and encouraged at UNK, according to Charles Bicak, Ph.D., senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs.

“We have a strong emphasis on students doing independent scholarly work,” he said. “It’s a distinguishing part of the UNK experience.”

Matthew Bice, Ph.D., director of undergraduate research and associate dean of graduate studies, echoed these comments, saying research projects are student-driven, allowing a project to capture the interest of the student.

“The undergraduate research experience provides transferable skills that transition into all aspects of life, making it a lifelong experience,” he said.

Under Bice’s direction, students present their research and scholarly work at UNK Undergraduate Student Research Day each spring. Wells and Bice both encouraged Witthuhn to consider a history-writing project to present.

Bicak was walking through the UNK union one day when he began talking with UNK alumna Carolyn (Wagner) Snyder '64. He enthusiastically told her about the campus’s annual day of student research presentations, which piqued her interest.

“During my career as a professor and librarian, I wrote a number of articles and a book related to libraries,” she said. “As I progressed, it was important to do research and writing. That importance is still present as students pursue careers, but even more so in today’s world of shortened words, sentences and text messages.” Already familiar with giving back to UNK — Snyder had established an endowed scholarship fund to benefit student library workers in honor of her mother, who also graduated from UNK — she decided to create the Wagner Family Writing Awards, which are given annually at the UNK Undergraduate Student Research Day, through a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation.

“Naming the award after our Wagner family was very special to me,” Snyder said. “My nephew Luke Wagner has joined me in the awarding of funds. I am so proud that it’s a family legacy that will continue through our scholarships and awards.”

The Wagner Family Writing Awards provide $750 to students who place first and $250 to students who place second.

The award draws many applicants, “which sends a signal that students see the importance of research and writing,” Snyder said.

While he was still some time away from writing his paper for Undergraduate Student Research Day, Witthuhn had begun to get a feel for what he wanted to research.

“I have always found World War I fascinating,” he said. “2018 marked the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I, and there hadn't been much research done on the students and staff that served from Kearney State Normal School. I decided this would be a really great topic that was relevant.”

Witthuhn began research for “WWI: Soldiers of Kearney State Normal School” with the assistance of Laurinda Weisse, archivist and assistant professor at C.T. Ryan Library, who helped him unearth documents.

“There were war letters from the students who served, newspaper articles from the Antelope student newspaper and Kearney Hub during the war, and primary documents for the project,” Witthuhn said. “I’d already be deeply engrossed in an interesting war letter or article, and Ms. Weisse would come rushing in saying she found something else new that I should see.

“These documents, including mud- and bloodsoaked letters, hadn't been written about or analyzed fully yet and were so intriguing. I was hooked and loved doing the research in the archives.”

Witthuhn’s dream job is to be a historian and to teach and research at a university, in large part after working with Weisse in the UNK archives. Weisse says that’s the best part of her job.

“Discovering, seeing, reading and even feeling primary source documents — there’s a lot of power in that,” she said. “I love my opportunities to work with departments and students and make our history come alive.”

Weisse helped Witthuhn connect his life as a UNK student to those here 100 years ago. “Making connections for people through history helps tell their own story,” Weisse said.

Witthuhn explained how he grew emotionally, connecting to the Kearney Normal School soldiers and their stories.

“It’s hard to imagine that students my age were leaving our campus to go to war. One soldier in particular, Clarence Olsen, became very real to me,” he said. “Clarence’s brother, Henry, was also a student at Kearney Normal but was not sent to fight. Henry received many letters from Clarence while he fought in France during the final phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.”

Witthuhn details in his research paper how Clarence Olsen, hours after penning a letter to Henry on Oct. 28, 1918, was hit by an exploding artillery shell and a gas grenade while going over his trench to advance toward the German line. The incident shattered Olsen’s legs, and the gas infected his wounds and caused partial paralysis in his arms.

“Clarence’s injuries caused both of his legs to be amputated in the field evacuation hospital before he was moved to Base Hospital No. 49,” Witthuhn said. “That hospital was actually nicknamed ‘Nebraska’s Hospital’ because it was created and staffed by members of the University of Nebraska’s Medical College at Omaha.

“The interesting and intriguing facts just kept coming. What started out as a project I was encouraged to do became a passion that I pursued with earnest.”

Witthuhn completed his research and paper, submitted his final copy for consideration for the Wagner Family Writing Awards, and then presented it last spring at UNK Undergraduate Student Research Day.

“It was an amazing opportunity and one that helped me grow incredibly as a researcher and writer,” he said. “While at the awards ceremony, the winners of the Wagner Family Writing Awards were being announced. I noted to myself how great that $250 second-place prize money would be. Little did I know my name would be announced as the winner of the award and a cash prize of $750.”

Snyder had the opportunity to read Witthuhn’s paper and was impressed.

“He had such a well-researched and captivating paper,” she said. “From utilizing the archives and library, to solid writing — it is what this award is all about.”

Witthuhn acknowledged that his experience opened his mind to his potential for creating scholarly writing and conducting research.

“The history department, the archivist, Carolyn Wagner Snyder — so many contributed to my growth and accomplishment,” he said.

And further, the award money paid for his books for the upcoming semester. “For that and more, I am really grateful,” Witthuhn said.

Witthuhn’s paper may be found at: openspaces.unk.edu/ undergraduate-research-journal/ vol23/iss1/12/