The Debby Ellis Writing Center

Over the past academic year, four of our consultants and tutors (Mia Figueroa '26, Kendyl Feuerbacher '27, Eliana Solis '26, and Ashten Wheeler '25) applied for the King Creativity Fund with a proposal to create a mural for the new Tutoring Center. We're excited to announce that this group was selected as King Scholars!

Together, they digitally designed a mural that celebrates the cultures of both the Writing Center and the Tutoring Center within the Learning Commons. Featuring our two mascots, AP Whiskers and AP Woof, the mural embodies their vision for fostering community. In the abstract for their project, they shared: "Our goal in having a creative piece done by a team of students is to create a spirit of community between tutors, consultants, and the student body for years to come."

We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication these students have put into this project. Today, a local contractor began the first stage of the mural's installation, and we can't wait to see the final result!

A special thanks to the King Creativity Fund, Dr. Joey King, Dr. Jessica Hower, and Christine Vasquez for helping bring this vision to life!

Would you like to get to know some of our consultants and tutors?

Two of our student workers, Emma and Marley, created these graphics to help everyone meet the Learning Commons staff. We hope you enjoy learning about some of our wonderful peer educators!

Let us know if there's anyone you recognize! 😎

Hi everyone! Long time no see! While we've missed you all, we have a lot to catch up on. 🤩

For those of you who don't know, over the summer, the DEWC overwent a major update. Thanks to a very generous donor, we were able to expand not only our space but also our operations. The DEWC now partners Southwestern's brand-new Tutoring Center, found in the newly refurbished space behind the DEWC. With this new space, all tutoring on campus has been centralized into a one-stop shop for academic assistance. Additionally, we are in the process of furnishing and testing out our new Accommodations Annex, a space for students who would like a quieter, less distracting room for appointments. Lastly, Classroom 115, found within the space, has also been updated and can be used for programming or large-group tutoring. The DEWC, the Tutoring Center, the Accommodations Annex, and Classroom 115 now exist under the umbrella name, the Professor John Score II Learning Commons! 🥳🥳🥳

The Director, Maurice, and I, the Coordinator, now oversee 34 student workers, made up of consultants, tutors, and some who dual-hat in both positions. We're so excited about this new journey and want to thank you for all the ways you helped pave the road for where we are today!

If you would like to learn more about this transition, you may read about it in these articles:

https://megaphone.southwestern.edu/2025/02/25/the-learning-commons-your-new-favorite-study-spot/
https://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/16491-southwestern-university-unveils-professor-john

We also have a semester Newsletter! If you would like to receive a copy of the inaugural Learning Commons Newsletter, please message us, and we're happy to email it you way.

That's all for now, but I hope to be back soon. We'll be working harder to keep our Facebook followers updated on all our adventures. Thank you for your patience and commitment to the DEWC!

With care,
Laurel

Join us in congratulating our senior consultants on their honor awards they received this past weekend for their outstanding academic performances!

We are proud to recognize (from left to right): Thuymi Phung for the Business and Sociology honors awards, Lillian Dolapchiev for the Biology honors award, Mel Richey for the Mathematics honors award, and Megan Kelly (not pictured) for the Psychology honors award.

We are excited to see what these seniors do next as they embark on their future endeavors!

The writing center is now open for the Spring 2023 semester! Check out our new hours and available appointments at https://southwestern.mywconline.com/

This November, we are grateful to our student staff and the Southwestern Community! We can't do what we do without your support and dedication to undergraduate and scholarly writing at Southwestern.

And a special thank you to everyone who came out to our Homecoming Celebration and Tailgating. We had so much fun seeing everyone!

The 2022-2023 DEWC staff invites you to our Homecoming Celebration on November 4th at 2 pm CT!

This year, we are entering an exciting time of transition with our services being utilized at an all-time high. We have new upcoming community events to connect more with students outside of the center. Additionally, we have acquired new assistive technology for reading and writing support.

We invite you to join us to not only learn more about the writing center and what we do on campus but to also honor Dr. Debby Ellis, a professor who played a key role in creating the center and is our namesake, and the work of our student writing consultants.

Please RSVP at https://forms.gle/Hi1i8NEdueEKY1Vs9; we want to ensure that we have enough space and resources to give everyone an enjoyable experience at our center. We hope you can join us to learn more about the writing center and meet us!

If you have any questions, contact Maurice Wilson at [email protected]

Happy SUnity Day from the Debby Ellis Writing Center!

Our writing consultants had a great time Southwestern's first Student Educators Summit!

We are proud to formally introduce Assistant Professor Whiskers, DEWC's mascot. He is here to help with developing students' writing skills and to take naps for them.

DEWC had a great time at Captain's Sweet Surprise today! Thanks to all the students and faculty who stopped by to say hi and pick up some cool stickers and pins.