The team followed up a respectable 2015-16 inaugural campaign with a 15-6 record this season, but was not that highly regarded by the national tournament officials, who seeded UofL 41^st out of 48 teams in the D1AA division. The Cards’ strong tournament run included an 8-1 record over three days including a win over sixth-seeded Cornell, which eventually finished as the tournament runner up.

鈥淎fter struggling against really good teams in a previous tournament at Indiana, we knew we had to get better,鈥� Bibelhauser said. 鈥淲e put a lot of work with our middle hitters and by the time we got to Kansas City we felt pretty good.鈥�

On the first day, the Cardinals went undefeated, including the win over Cornell. The team also went undefeated on day two and won its first round game on day three before playing and losing to Delaware, which won the entire tournament.听

“It sucks to lose when you鈥檙e so close to being able to play on center court in the finals of our division, but it was great. We were so close you could almost taste it and I鈥檇 love to go back and have a repeat of that experience next year,”听Bibelhauser said.

To make the Cards improbable run even more impressive is that the team faced significant financial and logistical obstacles before they could even take the court. Due to limited availability at the Student Recreation Complex, the team struggled to figure out where they could practice, as well as how to pay for court time and team travel/equipment expenses.

鈥淲e had to rent off campus courts to practice, which were about $1,000 and then pay a couple of thousand dollars that would allow us to travel to tournaments. It was hard, but we鈥檝e gotten better at fundraising,” Bibelhauser said. “We raised money by hosting a couple of different tournaments and our guys did court set up for the local JVA (Junior Volleyball Association) tournament which allowed us to travel to Kansas City.鈥�

For more information about the club volleyball team, contact Bibelhauser at听 502-777-9582 or visit its .

According to McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg, a disturbing trend shows that students across the nation have demonstrated a decline in basic civic knowledge, which led to the creation of the Young Leadership Academy.

鈥淚n order to be fully and civically engaged in the future, our young citizens must come to understand the foundations of the American constitutional order,鈥� Gregg said. 鈥淥ur Young Leaders Academy is designed as a kind of boot camp in constitutionalism, aimed at helping these outstanding young students become more informed citizens and more articulate advocates of the causes they care about.鈥�

The curriculum was presented by UofL faculty with the intent to not only explain the origins of the formation of the federal government, but offer the back story and concepts that fueled the federalism/anti-federalism debate that raged during the country鈥檚 formative years.

鈥淎t the end of the week we had six different groups actually debate the pros and cons of federalism and judicial review,鈥� said McConnell Center program director Glyptus Ann Grider Jones. 鈥淚t was interesting to see how this generation conceptualized the debates surrounding the debates over the Articles of Confederation and the move toward the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and put them into their own words.鈥�

Questions have been raised about why the iconic landmark was removed, where it is now, and whether or not it is coming back. According to UofL Director of University Planning, Design and Construction Kenneth Dietz, Mother Nature is the reason the cannon is currently sitting in a University鈥檚 storage facility.

鈥淭he primary problem was the wood wheels and spokes, which is typical of a parrot gun of that time period,鈥� Dietz said. 鈥淲hen a wood wheel is in a static position on the ground it鈥檚 susceptible to rot due to moisture, which then allows easy access to wood eating insects. When we got to the scene eight months ago the damage was so bad that the cannon was already on the ground, so we went about looking for a solution.鈥�

In 2010, the cannon suffered the exact same damage and was successfully repaired. But the artisans who worked on the battery in 2010 are not currently available, leading Dietz to search for alternative solutions.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to line up parts, as there are some people who still make wood wheels, and asking area blacksmiths and听Physical Plant if they would be interested in replacing the wood wheels, making repairs and re-installing the cannon. We have also been given the name of the curator of a Civil War museum to recommend other qualified craftsperson,” he said.听

The cannon was dedicated May 13, 1978, to honor General John Alexander Logan, an 1851 law school graduate who served under multiple generals including General Ulysses S. Grant, during the Civil War.

Logan returned to his home state of Illinois serving multiple terms in the U.S. Congress as both a representative and senator and ran for U.S. vice president in 1884. He also founded the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans that was instrumental in the creation of Memorial Day.听

Dietz says the landmark will return, but the timetable and cost for the repair is not known at this time.听听

The group was a part of the Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) created through XPRIZE and听Singularity University in alliance with Deloitte. According to IPP program director Sean Watson, the goal of the two-day tour is听to help senior business executives from leading companies explore the future of manufacturing and product development, as well as discover new ecosystems and partnerships that they can tap into to thrive in the emerging agile manufacturing paradigm.听

鈥淎s we looked at the lay of the land in manufacturing, we saw that Louisville was doing some really special things and a lot of it centered around the capabilities of the university,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e wanted to expose these companies to an industrial ecosystem outside Silicon Valley 鈥� the places you typically think of as centers of innovation in the world 鈥� and to introduce them to places doing dynamic things and are emerging as new centers and new 鈥榖rain belts鈥�.鈥�

While the tour was created for informational and educational purposes, UofL Senior Director of Research Support & Development William A. Metcalf says he is hoping that the exposure will lead to additional public-private partnerships.

鈥淗opefully, they see some of the exciting things happening here and want to get involved, whether that鈥檚 research or to co-locate here and hire our students,鈥� Metcalf said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not selling anything today, per se, but we鈥檙e talking about what we do. Hopefully, they find that interesting and want to be a part of it.鈥�

More photos from the tour are .听

After finishing in the top three four years in a row, the team finally and a $5,000 cash prize, besting more than 50 other student teams from across the country.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be more proud of them and are just so pleased that all of their hard work paid off,鈥� said Speed School acting dean John Usher. 鈥淭hey put so much time and effort into it and do it all on a volunteer basis, so it鈥檚 just so great to see them finally get the win and recognized for their accomplishments.鈥�

鈥淭o finally get first, it feels like we won for this season鈥檚 team and for everyone who鈥檚 been on the team,鈥� said team co-captain Kevin Compton. 鈥淎ll of our alumni were proud and happy about it. Without them starting it and passing down the knowledge that we were able to use, first place would never have happened.鈥�

What makes the accomplishment even more impressive is that the student team had to completely rebuild their rocket after it exploded during a mid-air test prior to the competition.

鈥淒uring the explosion I don鈥檛 think anyone was really processing what was happening. We were just sitting there with our mouths wide open,鈥� said co-captain Ben Stringer. 鈥淎fter the initial shock, we went right back to work. I don鈥檛 think that it even crossed anyone鈥檚 minds that we should give up. We put the time in, soldiered on and made it happen.鈥�

The breakthrough win is even more notable because the Speed School does not offer an aeronautics-specific major and the students receive no academic credit for their hard work. But, according to Usher, the NASA experience is already paying off.

鈥淭hey may not get any academic credit for it, but they are in high demand when they graduate from engineering. We are getting a lot of our students placed at some major hi-tech companies because of the experience they鈥檝e gotten from the rocket team,鈥� he said.听

NASA started the competition to help develop the technologies needed to further space exploration, with the goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s. Since 2011, UofL鈥檚 teams have earned 10 awards, including Best Vehicle Design, Safety Award, Project Award and more.听

More information about the team is available below:听

Harvard鈥檚 鈥淩econnecting America鈥� national campaign, formed following the 2016 election, identifies the root causes of national divisiveness and encourages community-based action plans that address those issues. McConnell Scholars Robert Gassman and Frank Bencomo attended the campaign kickoff and are creating programming targeted at the next generation of voters 鈥� local middle school children.

鈥淲hat we want to do is instill in this younger generation how to have healthy civic dialogue and teach them how to be able to talk about important issues without having this polarized, toxic atmosphere,鈥� Gassman said. 鈥淲e thought this programming would be valuable to that age group because if we can get to them before they are polarized in high school then there would be a healthier dialogue moving forward.鈥�

鈥淲e seem to have this sports team attitude when it comes to politics 鈥� with scoreboards and who鈥檚 winning and losing 鈥� that is dividing us,鈥� Bencomo said. 鈥淲e want to start them on a path so they can understand that these issues have history, are complex and based on policy, not just personal views.鈥�

The two scholars have worked with local school teachers this semester to develop age-appropriate lesson plans and resources and they plan to launch the pilot program this fall as part of Constitution Week. The program will specifically target 11-and-12-year-old JCPS students.

鈥淩obert and Frank walked away from the Harvard conference energized and ready to challenge the politically divisive rhetoric in our country,鈥� said GlyptusAnn Grider Jones, the McConnell Center鈥檚 adviser for the Harvard IOP partnership. 鈥淭hey identified the U.S. Constitution as a tool to engage middle school students in the constitutional amendment process and help illustrate how student voices matter in politics.”

The McConnell Center has been part of the Harvard IOP鈥檚 National Campaign conference since 2010.

鈥淲e are excited about the potential of this partnership,鈥� said Dr.听, director of the McConnell Center.听鈥淓conomics is one of the areas in which teachers have asked us to provide professional development听opportunities for them. This partnership with will allow us to help Kentucky听teachers and听students better understand and discuss economic issues and principles.”听

This innovative program brings together Kentucky civics teachers with their peers from across the country to study topics such as 鈥淭he American Experience,鈥� 鈥淭he Basics of Economics,鈥� 鈥淲hy Trade?鈥� and 鈥淯nderstanding Taxation.鈥�

A day-long tutorial held last month on the Belknap campus was led by Dr.听, director of academic programs at Strata, and Dr.听, associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. Harrigan said the chance to engage teachers and students alike through the McConnell Center was an opportunity too good to pass up.

鈥淲e are pleased to return to Kentucky this spring and to work with such an accomplished institution like the McConnell Center as we pilot new ways to reach teachers and students with economic education,鈥� Harrigan said. 听

鈥淲e have always had outstanding students interested in being McConnell Scholars, but now we are clearly a desired scholarship for top students for Kentuckians who were not even considering joining the University of Louisville 10 years ago鈥� said Dr. Gary Gregg, director of the McConnell Center.

The McConnell Center has held annual scholarship interviews since 1992. Of the 30 finalists invited last weekend to interview for an intense, two-day selection process, the average ACT score was higher than 30 and the average GPA was 4.18. The pool will be narrowed to 10 students who will begin their tenure as McConnell Scholars at an August annual intellectual retreat.

Throughout听the past 25 years, more than 250 McConnell Scholars have received more than $3.5 million in scholarships. Scholars take an advanced series of seminars and have access to opportunities to travel the nation and the world. Alumni have gone on to win prestigious scholarships, including numerous Fulbright and Truman awards, and have pursued prestigious law and graduate programs ranging from Oxford to Harvard and from UCLA to the University of Pennsylvania.

The event, the second in the center鈥檚 “Promises and Perils of the American Presidency” public lecture series, featured UofL alumna and University of Virginia government professor Barbara Perry, who said that the first month of a Trump presidency has clearly shown that not all presidents are alike.

鈥淚n 2008 I was asked to examine whether or not it mattered who was in the White House because maybe it was thought that it didn鈥檛 matter because all politicians are alike,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淚 find it fascinating because, in part, Trump won the election because he played off of that, saying that all politicians are bad or crooked and that he wasn鈥檛 one of those. But it does matter who鈥檚 in the office. That鈥檚 been made clear through the first few weeks of that presidency and it has mattered throughout our history.鈥�

Perry, the director of Presidential Studies and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at UV, says a president鈥檚 success depends on a combination of factors.

鈥淵ou also have to surround yourself with good people. George Washington had Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as the Secretary of the Treasury,” Perry said. “It鈥檚 helpful to note that many presidents who were strong leaders were not afraid to surround themselves with the best and the brightest.鈥�