Dayton native who worked with top musicians to teach WSU students

A Dayton native famous for his work with high profile musicians is working with Wright State students for a performance later this spring.

Next week Dwight Rhoden, the founder of Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company, will be at Wright State rehearsing with students and teaching some classes, according to the university. Students will perform in one of Rhoden’s works during a spring dance concert from April 20 to April 23 in the Creative Arts Center at WSU.

Rhoden, a Dayton native, began dancing at the age of 17 and has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Rhoden has worked with high profile performers such as Prince, Kelly Clarkson, Paul Simon, Marvin Gaye and the band U2, among others, according to Wright State.

Clifford Williams of the ballet company will also host an event starting at 5 p.m. Saturday in room 170 of the Creative Arts Center at WSU. The event is free and open to the public, according to WSU.

“This is a rare chance for people to see the making of a modern dance performance,” said Gina Walther, associate professor of dance.

The visits will eventually culminate with a performance by the ballet company on Sept. 28 in Dayton’s Victoria Theater.

Cedarville University is launching a new program that will allow students to get a bachelor’s degree in three years instead of four. Cedarville will offer 12 degrees on the three-year track which will all begin in the fall of 2017, according to the university.

The three-year programs will allow students to save up to $15,000 on their degree, the university estimates.

An attorney who represented a person from Netflix’s “Making A Murderer” documentary will speak at the University of Dayton later this month.

Laura Nirider, Brendan Dassey’s post-conviction attorney, will present “A True Story of a False Confession” at 5 p.m., Feb. 22 in Sears Recital Hall of the Jesse Phillips Humanities Building at UD. The event is free and open to the public but seating will be limited, according to the university.

Wright State will dedicate the Vishal Soin Innovation Park at 11 a.m. on Friday. The dedication will take place inside the former corporate headquarters of the Wright-Patt Credit Union at 2455 Presidential Drive.

The Vishal Soin Innovation Park, supported by a gift from the Soin Family Foundation, is located on the south side of Colonel Glenn Highway, directly across from campus.

University of Dayton faculty, staff, students and alumni are being asked to give back to their local communities and make a gift to the University of Dayton Fund for Experiential Learning.

The request is part of a campaign called “I Love UD,” which first started in 2013, that runs until Feb. 24, according to the university.

Sinclair Community College and 11 other community colleges have been selected to share a $2.9 million grant to offer a certificate program for retail workers.

The League for Innovation in the Community College, which is administering the grant, will work with Sinclair and the other colleges selected over the next two and a half years to offer the certificates. The league expects more than 1,200 retail workers will enroll.

Around 86 percent of college students have cheated in school in some way, a recent survey shows.

Kessler International, a digital and accounting forensics group, surveyed 300 students from public and private universities. The survey also showed that 54 percent of students think cheating is OK and some even said that it was necessary to compete with other students.

The dean of the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University, is leaving for a job at Florida International University.

Joanne Li, has been appointed the dean of FIU’s college of business, according to a FIU statement. She will start there in May.

Li has served as the dean of WSU’s business college since 2012.

OSU recycling win

For the fifth year in a row, Ohio State University topped the Big Ten Conference in the annual “GameDay Recycling Challenge” by diverting more waste than any other Big Ten university.

The challenge is a national competition among colleges and universities, to promote waste reduction and sustainability at home football games.

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