Haley Robinson has spent every Tuesday evening over the past six months dancing with William “Billy” Geilfuss. Although Billy isn’t able to say hello or wave to her – in the traditional sense – when she arrives, she can sense his excitement in the way his face lights up. Billy is a non-verbal high school student with cerebral palsy who was paired with Haley as part of a partnership between Drexel University’s dance program in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy in University City.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will coordinate and oversee ecological monitoring projects by more than 40 national and regional environmental organizations in eight designated geographic areas in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware. The $3.2 million grant also calls for the Academy to develop baseline water-quality data and to integrate its existing long-term watershed research and monitoring into new datasets and models aimed at targeting specific areas in the Delaware watershed for restoration and conservation.

An exhibition of 143 of the prize-winning photos from the 57th Annual World Press Photo competition, the world’s largest and most prestigious annual international press photography contest, will makes its U.S. debut at Drexel University from Wednesday, April 30 – Wednesday, May 21.

Health care is rapidly moving from the doctor’s office to the palm of the hand, with 500 million people expected to use mobile health apps by 2015. This shift creates tremendous opportunities and risks for entrepreneurs, providers, clinicians and patients. “Health on the Go: the Law and Business of mHealth,” a conference to be held at Drexel University’s School of Law (3320 Market St.) on Friday, April 4, will explore this fast-growing revolution in the delivery of health care.

Drexel University’s museum-quality collection of more than 12,000 garments, textiles and accessories has been renamed The Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection in recognition of a $1 million commitment from Robert (Hon. ’13) and Penny Fox (Hon.’13). A ribbon-cutting event and reception will take place in early May.

“Witnesses to Hunger,” a groundbreaking project featuring the voices and photography of parents and caregivers who have experienced hunger and poverty first-hand, is returning to the nation’s capital on April 3 and 4.

Philadelphia-born artist Timmy Graham will have his first solo exhibition from Tuesday, April 1 – Sunday, April 20 at Drexel University. The exhibition, which is hosted by Drexel’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, will be on display in the URBN Center Annex’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (3401 Filbert St.). The gallery is free and open to the public Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Fashion visionary Ken Downing, fashion director and senior vice president for American luxury department store Neiman Marcus, will join Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design on Friday, April 11, for a day of conversation about spring trends and the future of fashion. Downing received the second annual Westphal Award in 2013.

In a follow-up to the world record-setting game of Pong that kicked off Philly Tech Week in historic fashion last year, Drexel’s Frank Lee, PhD, founder of Drexel’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio is planning an even bigger feat of video game hacking for the opening of this year’s celebration on April 4. A two-sided game of "Tetris," occupying more than 100,000 square feet of Brandywine Realty Trust’s 29-story Cira Centre, will give players a chance to square off from opposite sides of the city.

During World War II, more than a million African Americans fought in a segregated and discriminatory U.S. military. A landmark new documentary, “Choc'late Soldiers from the USA,” produced by Drexel University writing professor Gregory Cooke, tells the compelling, previously untold story of 140,000 of these African American men and women who were stationed in Great Britain, and how they crossed a racial divide to forge an unexpected bond.

The film will make its Philadelphia debut at Drexel on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Auditorium of the Bossone Research Center (3120 Market St.). A question-and-answer session and reception will follow the screening from 8 – 9 p.m.

Drexel University’s Sigma Phi Epsilon will host its biggest annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraising and head shaving event this year in the hopes of raising $55,000, more than any past event held by the fraternity, for children’s cancer research.

During a trip to her parents’ homeland of India, Rina Patel witnessed the pain of a starving woman carrying her crying baby and the suffering of four orphaned siblings. This experience together with the stories she had been told about her own parents’ childhoods forever changed her life. A student in Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, Patel wanted to help underprivileged women and children in India. For that reason she established Aahana, a non-profit organization that recently received 501(c)(3) status from the U.S. Government.

As part of an initiative aimed at making a visit to the science museum as stress-free, fun and educational as possible for children on the autism spectrum, families and teachers now can access “museum stories” on the Academy’s website. The museum stories are a pre-visit tool to prepare children for what they might experience in the museum, where loud noises, unfamiliar sights, bright and dark rooms, and unpredictable live animals may cause discomfort and stress.

Mariana Chilton, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Public Health, was appointed to the National Commission on Hunger. As  part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (H.R.3547), the 10-member commission focuses on developing new innovative methods to help solve the looming concern of hunger in the U.S.

Fashion journalists heralded the return of floral prints and motifs for spring 2014 – but did they ever really go away? From the rococo rose to the pop art daisy, floral motifs have been a perennial favorite. On March 8, Drexel University’s Historic Costume Collection, a treasure trove of textiles and garments spanning more than 200 years, is once again opening its doors to the public with “In Bloom: The Fashion for Florals,” the next installment in a series of quarterly events which include an educational seminar on a particular aspect of fashion history and a specialized viewing of the collection.

Most college tours will show you the dorms, the dining hall, the library – but what if a tour could give you a glimpse of what college is really like? Of the excitement, heartbreak and soul-searching that actually goes on during those life-changing years? “Welcome to Campus: Not Your Ordinary College Tour,” a co-production by Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and Philadelphia’s avant-garde Swim Pony Performing Arts theater company, brings those highs and lows of young adulthood to life through an interactive theatrical tour experience.

Tianna Gaines-Turner, a low-income mother of three children from North Philadelphia, will attend the State of the Union address as a guest of Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey on Jan. 28, the Senator announced today. Her attendance marks a new achievement of a Drexel program raising the voices of families living in poverty to gain a place in the national conversation.

The Democratic City Committee and Drexel University will host a debate among the democratic gubernatorial candidates vying for the chance to challenge incumbent Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in the November election.

After 30 years of filming and photographing the world’s most violent wars and conflicts, award-winning British combat photographer Sebastian Rich turned his lens to something more beautiful but no less powerful – the world of dance. From Sunday, Jan. 26 – Saturday, Feb. 8, an exhibit of Rich’s dance photographs will be on display as part of the 42nd annual Dance on Camera Film Festival, part of the Lincoln Center Film Festival. Following the Dance on Camera festival, “Bullets to Ballet” will come to Drexel’s URBN Center Lobby from Feb. 10 – Feb. 21.

The City of Philadelphia was one of three cities and a total of five areas selected for a Promise Zone designation, a federal initiative to accelerate revitalization efforts in targeted areas. The Promise Zone initiative is led by the White House with support from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice. 

“Raw to Refined: String, Tape, Sponges and Vinyl,” a new exhibition of artwork created with unconventional materials, will open at Drexel University’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (3401 Filbert St.) on Tuesday, Jan. 14 and run through Friday, March 21. The gallery is free and open to the public Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.