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2013 MLK Award Holly SinghWhen Moninder “Holly” Singh speaks to an international student about life in the United States or life on the Valparaiso University campus, Singh speaks from personal experience.

The director of international students and scholars at Valparaiso University, Singh came to the United States more than 20 years ago from New Delhi, India, to attend Valparaiso University as an undergraduate student. Heavily involved in issues centered on diversity as a student, he graduated in 1998 and later earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Valpo while working in the University’s international students office.

“Valpo, I should say, is my first home now,” Singh said. “Half of my life was in New Delhi, India, and half has now been here at Valpo. I always tell people that I was born and brought up in New Delhi, but I matured at Valparaiso.

Ask Liz Wuerffel and Allison Schuette to summarize the Welcome Project  in a brief statement, and they’ll do it in one sentence: How do we live with difference?

Of course, the multimedia venture is much more than that. But the statement gets to the heart and soul of the Welcome Project, which is a collection of stories from Valparaiso University students, faculty, and staff, as well as Valparaiso community members, that sheds light on the complex state of relationships on campus and in the surrounding community while helping others discover commonalities.

Wuerffel, adjunct assistant professor of art, and Schuette, associate professor of English, serve as co-directors of the Welcome Project. And for their work on the project, the two have been named recipients of the 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Award. Wuerffel and Schuette join Moninder “Holly” Singh, director of international students and scholars, as this year’s MLK Award recipients and will be honored at the convocation for the University’s 24th annual MLK Celebration on Monday, Jan. 21, at the Chapel of the Resurrection.

Celebrating 45 years of tradition, the Cambridge and Reutlingen study abroad programs have reached an important milestone. Established in 1968, these connections with England and Germany instituted a standard of internationalization that would encourage global interaction and expansion within the Valparaiso University community.

Members of Valparaiso University’s Greek life are excited to join the large number of other schools in hosting the philanthropic Dance Marathon. On Nov. 11, the marathon will kick-off Greek Life events for the 2012-2013 academic year.

One day, one completely normal day at Valparaiso University, students in the library were instantly entertained by sudden dancing in the lobby of the Christopher Center. Students from around campus joined forces in a flash mob to make an ordinary day in the library an extraordinary one.

The Valparaiso men’s basketball team has been picked to win the Horizon League Championship in 2012-2013, according to preseason polling of the league’s head coaches, sports information directors, and media members.

When internationally renowned artist Richard Hunt learned that his friend Josephine Ferguson had purchased a 7-foot stainless steel sculpture of his with the intent of displaying it as an outdoor piece at Valparaiso University, Hunt had a better idea. Hunt, a Chicago native, offered to create a larger outdoor piece for Ferguson and the University.