Marathana Prothro, assistant professor of communication at Bluffton University, will present Bluffton’s annual Civic Engagement Day Forum titled, “Echo Chambers and Fun-House Mirrors: Navigating an Age of Alternate Facts, Distorted Reality and Fractured Relationships.” The presentation will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28, in Yoder Recital Hall.

As the Civic Engagement lecturer, Prothro draws from communication and media scholarship to sketch our media ecosystem and to suggest practices of engagement that foster connection rather than amplify polarization.

Prothro received her bachelor’s degree from Southwestern College in 2003 and her master’s from Wichita State University in 2010. Along with being an assistant professor, she is the divisional council member of communication and fine arts at Bluffton.

Civic Engagement Day is the culmination of a year-long exploration of the civic engagement theme “Please Don’t ‘Ghost’ Me!: Creating Space for Authentic Conversations.”

Forum is free and open to the public.

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Kathy (Gaines) Carr, a 1978 Bluffton graduate, long-time educator and community advocate, will address Bluffton University’s 2023 graduating class during the May 6 Commencement ceremony in Sommer Center.

Carr began her career with Fort Wayne Community Schools as a special education teacher in 1978, teaching severe and profoundly mentally handicapped students, moderately mentally handicapped students and students with learning disabilities.  During her 42 years with the district, she continuously took on advanced responsibilities and served as a resource teacher, dean of students, principal, manager of recruitment and hiring, and director of human resources. She earned both a Master of Science in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in Elementary School Administration from Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne.