Advertising and promotion students Sydney Lammers and Amy Morales are among four students statewide to win Adcraft Club Foundation scholarships. Each received a $2,500 gift.

Acting at its July 8 meeting, WMU's Board of Trustees gave its seal of approval to a resolution authorizing the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine to acquire the physical assets of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center.

The year-to-date total is more than $31.4 million, with one month left in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Grants for instruction accounted for most of the total, at more than $4 million.

The early registration deadline for booth space is 5 p.m. Friday, July. 31, for Bronco Bash, set for 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, on the Sangren Pedestrian Mall.

The event in downtown Kalamazoo Thursday through Saturday, July 23-25, features food from over 30 restaurants, music and a variety of beers from local breweries and a wine bar.

Learning community applications are being accepted through Friday, July 24, for the Broncos FIRST program, which aims to improve persistence toward graduation for undergraduate students.

The Black Arts Festival is returning to a seven-day format for the first time since 2010 and moving to a new location for its 2015 celebration. This year's festival will run Monday through Sunday, July 13-19

The Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Stalking Policy and Procedures were first rolled out and implemented as an interim policy in January.

WMU Board of Trustees signed off on a recommendation to allow the College of Aviation to become part of a nine-state tuition reciprocity program, making enrollment in the college more accessible to nonresident students.

Dorothy L. (Bladt) Franzen, WMU associate professor emerita of education and professional development, died May 9, at age 91. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 11, at Redmond Funeral Home in Kalamazoo.

The home of the WMU Alumni Center on Prospect Hill is slated to open during WMU's Oct. 23-25 Homecoming celebration. The site, formerly known as East Hall, has been under renovation since mid-2014.

Work on the building that now houses the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences began during Floyd's presidency. The engineering building opened for classes in September 2003.

Flags on all campuses of WMU will be lowered Thursday, July 9, in honor of Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason P. May, of Chesterfield, Michigan., who died June 29 while aboard the USS Essex.

Trustees will consider several other agenda items, including the campuswide adoption of a sexual misconduct policy, when they meet in formal session at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, in 157-159 Bernhard Center.

The College of Education and Human Development is launching the 24-credit certificate program to respond to a need for ESL educators. Completion of the program fulfills the state ESL requirements.

WMU is partnering with Wayne State University to improve the health of Michigan's foster youths with the help of a $75,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.

WMU alumnus Stephen John and senior Joseph Barnett have received the inaugural Brian Patrick Thomas Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, for their invention, NeoVent.

The first race of the 10th annual Miller Energy Criterium bike race at WMU's Business Technology and Research Park on Saturday, July 11, kicks off at 8 a.m.

Sara Karsten and Katherine Vena finished the 2,200-mile course from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Fairhope, Alabama, using two and a half of the four days allotted for the race.

The University is seeking donations of basic household items for more than 40 incoming students who have aged out of the foster-care system. A drop-off station will be set up in Harrison Hall on scheduled dates.

The 22nd annual Kalamazoo Blues Festival will feature three days and nights of local, regional and national blues bands Thursday through Saturday, July 9-11, in the Arcadia Creek Festival Place.

Except for essential and emergency services, WMU offices will be closed Friday, July 3, in observance of U.S. Independence Day, which falls on a Saturday.

Members of the Mid-American Conference Council of Presidents, the governing body for the MAC, have selected WMU President John M. Dunn to chair the council for another two-year term.

Rainie Quang, a senior accountancy major and management minor, recently received a $10,000 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Scholarship. She hopes to one day open her own tax preparation business.

Dr. Susan Freeman's book, "Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History," was awarded a prestigious 2014 Lambda Literary Award.

"Seeking Shelter From the Storm: Architecture in 18th-century New France" is the theme of the two-day open house at the site scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 27-28.

Undergraduates Shelby Flanagan, Andrew Laws, Alainah Montemayor, Justin Clark and Holly Toner will use the scholarships to study abroad during the 2015-16 academic year.

At its June 3 meeting, the WMU Board of Trustees approved the retirements of 20 employees. Trustees also signed off on one faculty resignation and granted one sabbatical leave.

The successful partnership between the Soga Japan Center and Kalamazoo Public Schools earned the center one of this year's eight Champs awards. Michiko Yoshimoto, the center's outreach coordinator, accepted the award.

The festival runs from 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday. Admission is $8 and $4 for students with a valid ID. Proceeds benefit Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes.