By Cole Hatcher, Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University has announced its February 2024 lineup of public events. Unless otherwise noted, admission is free.
Through March 24 – “Move: Mobility, Migration, and Belonging,” an exhibit at Ohio Wesleyan’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Featuring local and regional artists, the exhibit showcases artistic practices that consider how water has affected movement and belonging across history, place, and species. During the academic year, the museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed for spring break from March 9 through March 17. The museum is handicap-accessible and admission is always free. Call (740) 368-3606 or visit owu.edu/ross for more information.
8 p.m. Feb. 2, 9, 16, and 23 – Friday night guest nights, at Perkins Observatory, 3199 Columbus Pike (U.S. 23), Delaware. Content varies based on weather conditions, but may include a planetarium show, observatory tours, or stargazing with the 32-inch Schottland Telescope. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 on the day of the event and at the door. Reserve tickets by calling (740) 363-1257. Learn more at owu.edu/perkins.
4:15 p.m. Feb. 7 – Koritha Mitchell, Ph.D., award-winning author, feminist scholar, and cultural critic, presents “What if Americans Had Listened to Black Women of the 1800s?” She will speak in the Benes Rooms of OWU’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. A 1996 Ohio Wesleyan graduate and professor of English at The Ohio State University, Mitchell is the author of “Living with Lynching” and “From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture.” Her commentary has appeared in outlets including Time, The Washington Post, CNN, Good Morning America, The Huffington Post, NBC News, PBS Newshour, and NPR’s Morning Edition. Learn more at www.korithamitchell.com. Her presentation is OWU’s 2023-2024 Katherine Kearney Carpenter Lecture sponsored by the Ohio Wesleyan Department of English. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/English.
3 p.m. Feb. 11 – OWU junior recital featuring Aubrey Gerhardt, clarinet, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 – Ohio Wesleyan’s 2024 Economic Outlook Conference, featuring a panel of experts discussing their forecasts for the regional, national, and international economies, in Benes Room B of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Each expert will speak for 15 minutes and then respond to questions and comments from the audience and panel moderator Goran Skosples, Ph.D., associate professor of economics. The event is sponsored by the OWU Department of Economics and Business and by The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/woltemade.
7 p.m. Feb. 15 – Internationally recognized scholar, author, and public advocate Davarian L. Baldwin, Ph.D., presents “Beyond Diversity and Inclusion: Rethinking the Community Engagement Mission of Higher Education,” in Room 301 of Merrick Hall, 65 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Guided by his latest book, “In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower,” Baldwin will discuss how the current higher education model of diversity and inclusion has and has not served its mission of community engagement. He is the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Founding Director of the Smart Cities Research Lab at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His presentation is Ohio Wesleyan’s 2023-2024 Butler A. Jones Lecture, established in 1995 in honor of Jones, Ph.D., a former university professor. In contributing to the quest for equality among races, Jones submitted 10 briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving equal treatment of all citizens. The annual lecture is organized by OWU’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Social Justice Program. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/soan.
Feb. 16 and 17, OWU Music Festival Concerts
- 7 p.m. Feb. 16 – Festival Host Concert, conducted by professor Richard Edwards, in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Admission is free.
- 2 p.m. Feb. 17 – Festival Finale Concert, in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information about the festival, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
Noon Feb. 17 –Bishop Backers Winter Community Day and Delaware Expo 2024 featuring an OWU women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader and an expo of area nonprofit organizations and businesses. The expo will include children’s activities from the Delaware Community Center YMCA and Delaware Fire Department; a visit from Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s animal ambassadors (2-3 p.m.); a chance to pet and adopt dogs from the Humane Society of Delaware County; an opportunity to learn about CPR from Delaware EMTs; and a free raffle drawing for a big-screen television. The expo runs from noon to 3 p.m. in Gordon Field House, 105 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The OWU women’s basketball game tips off at 1 p.m. against the Tigers of Wittenberg University, and the men’s game begins at 3 p.m. against the Yeomen of Oberlin College, in the adjacent Branch Rickey Arena. Both teams will be celebrating senior day. Admission to all activities is free with a canned food donation to benefit the Delaware County Hunger Alliance. Parking is free and available in all OWU campus lots. Learn more or register for an expo exhibitor’s table at owu.edu/BishopBackers.
8 p.m. Feb. 20 – OWU faculty recital featuring Rachel Fitzgerald, Ohio Wesleyan Class of 2018, soprano, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
Feb. 23 and 24 – 2024 Republican Mock Presidential Convention: ‘The Elephant in the Room’
Ohio Wesleyan students will create a Republican Party platform and select presidential and vice presidential candidates. The two-day event, which simulates a national nominating convention, will take place Feb. 23-24 in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St. The event is free and open to the public. Learn more at owu.edu/mock.
- 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Feb. 23 – OWU’s 2024 Mock Convention will kick off with opening ceremonies followed by platform debates. (Doors open at 3 p.m.)
- 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 24 – Mock Convention-goers will select their 2024 Republican Party ticket in preparation for the November presidential election.
7 p.m. Feb. 24 – OWU senior recital featuring Jack Falko, trumpet, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
7 p.m. Feb. 25 – OWU faculty recital featuring Ohio Wesleyan’s woodwind faculty with Youmee Kim and Frank Chiou, piano, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
8 p.m. Feb. 27 – Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra, a 22-piece big band featuring many of the top players in central Ohio, in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The band’s ever-changing set list draws from the repertoires of the greatest bands of the 1950s, including Count Basie, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. Learn more about the band at www.famousjazzorchestra.com. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
9 a.m. Feb. 29 – Ohio Wesleyan’s 2024 Environmental and Natural Resource Symposium, featuring a panel of experts discussing how the environment and climate relate to economics, in Room 301 of Merrick Hall, 65 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Each expert will speak for 15 minutes and then respond to questions and comments from the audience and panel moderator, Will Georgic, Ph.D., OWU assistant professor of economics. This event is sponsored by The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/woltemade.
10 a.m. Feb. 29 – The Woltemade Big Problem Challenge Competition, in Room 301 of Merrick Hall, 65 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Ohio Wesleyan students have been challenged to use entrepreneurial thinking to create plans that could improve water quality in the Ohio River and/or Lake Erie. The individuals or teams that present the all-around best solutions will earn $3,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $500 for third place. The students will have five minutes to present their plans before a panel of judges with expertise in water issues and/or social enterprise. The challenge is sponsored by The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/woltemade.
2:30 p.m. Feb. 29 – Melissa Febos, MFA, author of the nationally bestselling essay collection, “Girlhood,” presents a reading, in Room 301 of Merrick Hall, 65 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. “Girlhood” has been translated into seven languages and was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, and named a notable book of 2021 by NPR, Time, The Washington Post, and others. Her craft book, “Body Work,” also was a national bestseller, a Los Angeles Times Bestseller, and an Indie Next Pick. Febos is a full professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program. Her reading will be followed by a question-and-answer session and a book signing. Febos’s presentation is Ohio Wesleyan’s David G. Osborne Lecture sponsored by the Department of English. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/English.
All Ohio Wesleyan public event information is subject to change. For the latest updates, visit owu.edu/calendar or “like” www.facebook.com/OhioWesleyanUniversityNews. For more Battling Bishop athletics events, visit battlingbishops.com.
