Campus News

Rockford University is hosting its second annual Dog Days of Summer event. RU Alumni and the general public are invited to pack up their pup and join us for a walk around RU’s beautiful campus.

What: Rockford University’s Dog Days of Summer event 

When: Saturday, July 27, 2024, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Where: RU Nelson Alumni Center Parking Lot, Rockford University, 5050 E. State St, Rockford, IL, 61108

Who: Rockford University Alumni and the general public

ROCKFORD, Ill. —Rockford University’s Advancement Office will host its second annual Dog Days of Summer event on Saturday, July 27. RU Alumni and the general public are invited to bring their dog and guests for a walk around our beautiful campus. 

Attendees will check in at the Nelson Alumni Center, 5050 E. State St. in Rockford, where they can pick up some goodies, pick up a campus map, and stroll around our scenic campus.

We’re excited to announce that The Canine Crunchery, Inc. will join us as a vendor this year. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to spoil your pup with wholesome treats and delights!

All dogs must be leashed and be updated on all vaccines. Don’t have a dog? All are still welcome to join us and enjoy a walk around campus. 

 For more information: Email alumni@rockford.edu or call 815-226-4007.

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Media-related questions or interview requests can be sent to Communications@Rockford.edu. We ask the media to RSVP by emailing us by 8:30 a.m. on July 26, 2024. 

Press Contact: 

Sara Myers

Rockford University Marketing & Communications

SMyers@rockford.edu

815.394.5052

By Sara Myers, Digital Media & Communications Specialist 

Performing Arts Alum Erin Nicole Farsté (2015) had done theater her whole life, but never considered it as a career until her senior year of high school. It was during her senior year that her friends encouraged her to look into Rockford University’s Performing Arts program, after Farsté saw RU’s Performing Arts Booth at a college fair she attended.

Farsté graduated from RU in 2015 and immediately started auditioning for productions all over the country through the group United Professional Theatre Auditions (UPTA), which is based in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Her current role is the understudy for the role of “Mother” in Children Theater’s Company production of Corduroy, based on the classic 1968 Children’s book. The production runs now through April 2. The Children’s Theater Company is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and tickets can be found on it’s website.  

During her senior year of high school, Farsté recalls her mother telling her theater would not be beneficial and to be realistic, so Farsté originally planned to be a doctor. 

“I was one of those people that was like, well I have to prove it to you,” Farsté said. “This is the only thing I can do. I actually auditioned for the (Missouri) state show, which was Jekyll and Hyde that year for the Missouri Thespian Festival.”

Farsté, who is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, got cast in the show and told her mother, who was still not convinced. Later though, Farsté said she finally stood up to her mom and told her she wanted to do theater full time and study it in college. She then attended a college fair at the Missouri State Theater Festival where she found the Rockford University booth and met Timm Adams. 

“Everybody in my cast was like, Rockford (University) is amazing and a big deal and you’re so lucky,” she said. 

Once she was at RU and accepted into the BFA program, she became a member in acapella group Vocal Collective and worked with different professors within the theater department that inspired her. When she worked on the show “The Trojan Women” it set off her love for Greek theater. Farsté said her favorite musical she performed at RU was “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”

Once Farsté graduated from RU, she immediately began traveling for her work. 

“My dream was always to leave and perform out of state as often as I could,” she said. “I decided to take a chance and they (UPTA) had me in their 2016-17 season. We had very intensive training before we would go on the road and perform for elementary schools and community centers around Minnesota and Wisconsin.”

Farsté followed that tour with another one for the National Theatre for Children in Minneapolis. She performed with a smaller group and went around to elementary schools in the south (Texas, Louisiana, and more) where she taught electrical safety to elementary students. Her contract with the theater was seven months. When that tour was over she said she realized she had grown tired of the touring life, after two back-to-back acting gigs on the road.

It was then that she decided to stay in the Twin Cities area and settle down. Since making that decision she has worked in most of the theaters in the Twin Cities, such as Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Artistry Theater in Bloomington, and Old Log Theatre in Excelsior.

It was during that time that she started working as a social media manager, which she said gives her the flexibility to juggle theater and work. 

Minneapolis’ Acting Scene

Her current role in Corduroy has been challenging, she said, but also very rewarding. Before the production started she prepared every day by memorizing her lines and when she comes into rehearsals she is learning more about blocking and how the character has developed from rehearsal.

When looking toward her future, Farsté sees herself staying in the Twin Cities area and continuing her theater career there.

“There’s a lot of theater opportunities here,” she said. “More theaters are starting to pop up around. As a Black actress, there’s a lot of opportunity for me. There’s a lot of Asian theater here in town and a lot of Latinx theaters in town, and Indigenous theaters in town.”

Farsté said she is ultimately grateful for her time at RU for giving her the tools she needed to be a working actor today.

“The rigorous training from musical theater to singing with Vocal Collective to the amazing teaching that Miss (Deborah) Mogford and Jeff (Hendry) and Timm (Adams) have been able to provide for the students,” she said. “That’s really how I’ve been able to have a thriving career in theater. Just being at the right place at the right time has definitely helped as well.”

Record Amount of Donations and Donors Enhance Opportunities for Students

Rockford, IL (April 29, 2021) – Rockford University, the region’s leading private four-year institution, today announced that its seventh annual Day of Giving event raised more than $86,500 for its annual fund in just 24 hours through social media platforms.

The Day of Giving, held on April 28, harnessed the power of social media to raise funds that provide support all across our campus in areas like student scholarships, campus improvement, student life, and academic excellence.

This year’s campaign raised $86,594, a 98.5 percent increase over last year with a record number of donors – 341 – a 29 percent increase over last year. Donations were made by individuals across the country and throughout the world and are still being accepted through the Day of Giving website: https://www.givecampus.com/schools/RockfordUniversity/day-of-giving-2021/?a=4487010

“Day of Giving 2021 was an incredible day in the history of Rockford University,” said Stephen Kull, Vice President for Advancement, Rockford University. “Thank you to all of our supporters who continue to step up and invest in Rockford’s only four-year institution. With record-breaking fall enrollment, coupled with another record-breaking Day of Giving, we remain strong and ready to continue positively influencing our students’ lives. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Rockford University Board of Trustees, who, through 100 percent buy-in, provided a significant dollar-for-dollar match. Sincere thanks also to our Alumni Board and other donors who encouraged contributions with matching dollars. We are proud to be known as Rockford’s university and consider it both a privilege and responsibility.”

Each year, Rockford University awards more than $10 million in institutional aid, scholarships, and grants, including $2 million awarded directly to students from the region. This financial aid, made possible in part by generous alumni and friends, puts the university’s top-ranked education within reach for students who might not otherwise be able to attend.

ABOUT ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY

Rockford University is a private four-year, co-educational institution founded in 1847 offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in traditional liberal arts and professional fields. The University offers more than 80 majors, minors, and concentrations, including the bachelor’s degree completion program for a B.S. in Management Studies. Through its Graduate Studies department, degrees are extended to include the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and Master of Education in Urban Education, (M.Ed.). Rockford University is home to one of only 11 Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) chapters in Illinois, the most prestigious honor society in the United States. Named by The Princeton Review as a Best Midwestern College and is a U.S. News & World Report Best Midwest Regional University, Rockford University currently serves approximately 1,250 full-and part-time students.

For more information: Emma Bergstrom, Rockford University, 815.847.0472, ebergstrom@rockford.edu

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ROCKFORD, Ill. — Rockford University’s Spring 2018 Forum Series continues with a free author lecture from an alumna on Thursday, Feb. 15.

The Surprising Effect of Stories on Sane
(and Crazy) People: Jacquelyn Mitchard, ’73 
Thursday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m.
Severson Auditorium, Scarborough Hall

The thing that authors want most is connection, which is the whole reason they write stories. The New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard recounts some of the most moving, and scary, stories about the way readers feel about her stories.

A Chicago native and graduate of Rockford College (now Rockford University), Mitchard is a professor of creative writing in Miami University of Ohio’s low-residency Masters of Fine Arts program, and lives on Cape Cod with her husband and their nine children. She was the first author to be featured in Oprah’s Book Club.

With the exception of Performing Arts events, the Forum Series is free of charge. Events take place on the Rockford University campus, 5050 East State Street, Rockford. Tickets are required and can be obtained by contacting the Box Office at 815-226-4100 or boxoffice@rockford.edu.

Other highlights of this semester’s Forum Series include lessons on forgiveness from a Holocaust survivor, an appearance by Rockford’s new mayor, a visit from a New York City-based jazz pianist and a musical presented in collaboration with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra.

View the full lineup at www.Rockford.edu/forum.