Call her “Your Highness”

If you’re headed to Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Saturday, March 12, stay on the lookout for Sarah Gorecki, the city’s 2011 St. Patrick’s Day Queen.

Media Credit: Dean Battaglia

Gorecki, a DePaul student, was crowned “St. Patrick’s Day Parade Queen” on Feb. 20 in a contest sponsored by the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130. The contest, which had over 100 contestants, is part of the larger St. Patrick’s Day festivities; a series of events celebrating Irish heritage in Chicago.

And although her last name is of Polish descent, Gorecki, whose mother’s family is Irish, is no stranger to Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities. According to an article in The DePaulia student newspaper, her aunt is the executive director of the Irish Fellowship of Chicago, and the family has been involved with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade since Gorecki was young, riding on the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls float.

For more information about the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, visit www.chicagostpatsparade.com. And here at DemonTracks, we say to all of ye:  stay safe while you celebrate this weekend!

Reunion Weekend 2009

Reunion Weekend 2009 was a hit! More than 700 DePaul alumni and their guests descended on the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses on Oct. 16-18 to reunite with one another and reignite their passion for DePaul!

Flipping through a DePaul yearbook at Reunion Luncheon

One of the coolest things to happen?  Alumni from 50 or more years ago were inducted into the new DePaul Fifty Year Club at an inauguration ceremony held during the Reunion Luncheon. Nearly 150 alumni were recognized and received a membership certificate and pin. Their smiles said it all!

Sharing food and friendship at Hub 51

On Friday night, Oct. 16, another generation of alumni (most of them from the classes of 2004-2009) gathered at local hotspot Hub 51 and mingled downstairs at Sub 51 for hors d’oeurves and drinks with fellow grads. For just $20-25, it was a pretty sweet deal!

Saturday night, about 350 alumni and guests came together for the Reunion Dinner and Celebration at The Drake Hotel. Members of the reunion classes enjoyed a cocktail reception downstairs, while alumni from The DePaulia and from DePaul’s Study Abroad programs gathered at two similar receptions upstairs. Following the receptions, everyone met in the ballroom for dinner. Fr. Dennis, president of DePaul, shared news about the university and thanked everyone for coming back to show their school spirit.

Check out photos from the various Reunion Weekend activities by visiting the DePaul Spirit Flickr page or the DePaul Alumni Association page on Facebook.

All in all,  Oct. 16-18 was a terrific weekend of visiting with old friends and meeting new ones. And the Office of Alumni Relations is already busy planning for next year — Hope to see you in October 2010!

But wait — before you start planning for Reunion Weekend 2010 — take a moment to reflect on your years at DePaul and leave a comment to share a DePaul memory, shout out to a favorite professor, or let us know what you thought of this year’s Reunion Weekend. Thanks!

DePaul Debuts Television News Program

“Welcome to ‘Good Day, DePaul,’ a newscast produced entirely by DePaul students… .” Sound familiar? Well, it shouldn’t! It’s the opening line of DePaul’s first-ever TV news show, “Good Day, DePaul,” one of the latest developments of the university’s budding College of Communication.

Students currently in the graduate journalism program run the show — from the control switch board to the anchors and reporters at the desk – and it’s all supervised by journalism professor Dr. Lisa Pecot-Hebert. Dr. Hebert was quoted in the DePaulia saying, “I figured if we had an award winning radio station and newspaper, then why not have a television presence?”

Each newscast is 10 minutes long and is taped once a month. It can be seen Monday through Friday on the DePaul channel at 5 p.m. in dorms around campus. Eventually, newscasts will be uploaded to the College of Communication website for all to see.

“I’m proud the TV station has a full studio and students are able to produce a whole show,” says graduate student Suzanne Traub. “Considering the station only began last quarter, it is impressive to see what other students can put together.”

“It’s great that members of the DePaul community are seeing news about DePaul reported by their peers,” says graduate student Natasha Roman. “It’s a wonderful way to both get the news out and to also show them how DePaul is making efforts to expand its communications program to match those of other well-known universities.” Check out a clip of the debut newscast:

And view a behind-the-scenes tour of the newsroom with anchor Gia Teolis.

We’ll be watching closely for new developments but for now, as they say in broadcasting, Good Night and Good Luck and ‘Good Day, DePaul!’

DePaul University @ Inauguration

We promise not to go overboard on the Obama posts, but because it is a historic moment, there’s a lot of activity here in Chicago and in Washington D.C. that involves the DePaul community:

If you’re on the microblogging site Twitter, you can follow a group of journalism students “tweeting” the event in real time on inauguration day @dannythedemon, and check out The DePaulia for more student reporting.

If you’re on Facebook and you’d like to follow on-and-off campus activity involving the inauguration, check out From DC to DePaul: News, Views and Images from the Inauguration and discuss the event with other students, faculty, alumni and staff.

And while you’re at it,check out the following articles on DePaul students and faculty making news in connection to the inauguration:

Bruce Newman, a DePaul marketing professor, is quoted in this Chicago Tribune article about Obama-related products — from playing cards to mints — available.

Here is an article from news blog The National Post that highlights the DePaul students traveling to D.C.

DePaul Spirit Flickr Photo of the Week

A classic (1978!) DePaulia Staff Photo from Flickr user and DePaul alumnus billbike16.

Photooftheday.5p.m. 001

Originally uploaded by billbike16

Here’s his caption:

“It is the evening of the day…”
–Marianne Faithfull
It’s 5 p.m. and the newspaper is done. Left to right, Pat Quinn, Steve Hudomiet, Mary Kilzer, Mary Gapa, Bill Bike, Jean Dziekan. 1978.

Join the DePaul Spirit Flickr group and check out more DePaul pictures – or add your own!