Participants are invited to register for the Iowa Regents Institutions 2013 Disability Awareness Summit Thursday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Suite 2520 of the University Capitol Centre in downtown Iowa City. The theme is "Tools for Change."

As the wrecking ball swings at the old Hancher Auditorium and other flooded arts buildings, students, faculty, and staff look forward to reuniting on a newly-constructed arts campus.

Today the overwhelming majority of scientists in Iowa, the United States, and across the world agree that biological evolution explains the diversity of life on our planet.

Brett Van Sloten, a senior offensive tackle from Decorah, spent the last two summers as a UI Foundation intern, attending I-Club meetings all over Iowa to show donors and fans what it’s like to play football and study business management.

The University of Iowa will host the 23rd annual Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, in Hubbard Park on the UI campus, the first time that the festival has been held in the fall as the official kickoff to the 2013 UI Homecoming Week.

Former Congressman Jim Leach, also a visiting professor in the UI College of Law, will present “Bridging Cultures: the Heart of the Fulbright Program” at an upcoming UI event celebrating the legacy of Fulbright programs at the university.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development have established a Humanities Advisory Board to advise them on humanities issues, stimulate collaboration among humanities faculty, leverage resources in support of humanities scholarship, and identify areas of interdisciplinary research.

The University of Iowa conducted a test of its Hawk Alert emergency notification system Wednesday morning. Although some Hawk Alert subscribers received more than one message due to an error, UI Public Safety Director Chuck Green said the technology worked as intended.

New University Librarian John Culshaw takes a gander at predicting what current library essentials might just go the way of card catalogs and rubber date stamps by the time current students reach milestone reunions.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a jam session by jazz faculty members from 8 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at George’s, 312 E. Market St. in downtown Iowa City. The performance, part of a monthly series, is free and open to the public.

The UI American Sign Language Program in the Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures will host Deaf Awareness Week Saturday, Sept. 21 through Friday, Sept. 27. Activities include an American Sign Language (ASL) story time, workshops on interacting with deaf persons and interpreters, and a sports night.

The University of Iowa Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center will co-sponsor FRIENDS Day, a conference for children and teens who stutter, their family members, and clinicians Saturday, Oct. 5 at Heartland Area Education Agency 11 in Johnston.