The Toledo women’s basketball team soaked up some rays Thursday in Sorrento and played its second exhibition game in the evening during its fifth day in Italy.

The Rockets had the morning and early afternoon free to relax on the beach, before claiming a convincing 79-39 victory against the Sorrento All-Stars in Vico Equense, Campania.

UToledo started its day at a private beach, where the view was spectacular and the water was crystal clear.

“The beach was awesome,” freshman Mali Morgan-Elliott said. “We swam some and got a lot of sun. We also did a little shopping. It was a fun day.”

The team then met up with the coaches and staff in the early afternoon for their walk-through and pre-game meal at the hotel.

At the exhibition contest, senior Mariella Santucci and junior Tanaya Beacham paced a balanced attack with 20 and 19 points, respectively. In all, 12 of Toledo’s 13 players that saw action found the scoring column, and three additional players contributed at least six points.

“We were much more patient offensively,” Head Coach Tricia Cullop said. “We worked the ball well and took a lot of good shots. At the same time, our defense stepped up. We did a much better job denying, and that means a lot to me.” 

“You could see the results of our 10 team practices before we left tonight,” said Beacham, who is averaging a team-high 17.5 points in the two exhibition contests. “I feel as though those really helped us take control of the game early.

“I just try to do my job every time I step out on the court. It doesn’t matter if I’m running the floor, grabbing an offensive rebound, or playing defense. As long as I do my job, it all works.”

Toledo will take part in a boat excursion Friday on the Mediterranean Sea.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to join The University of Toledo to march in the Toledo Pride Parade Saturday, Aug. 17.

“The University of Toledo has maintained a presence at pride parades and festivals in past years with our LGBTQA+ initiatives and our student organization Prism, formally known as Spectrum,” said Dr. Michele Soliz, UToledo assistant vice president for student success and inclusion. “We invite everyone in the UToledo community to join us to celebrate our inclusive campus and city.”

UToledo community members are asked to meet at 11 a.m. to check in for the parade at the corner of Adams and Warren streets. Look for the rainbow UToledo shirts to find the University’s spot in the parade.

The parade will start at noon on Adams Street and head toward Promenade Park, where the Pride Festival will take place until midnight.

“The Office for Diversity and Inclusion will sponsor several tables at the festival, which will feature food, vendors and family activities,” Soliz said. “Help us show our Rocket pride and Toledo Pride.”

Sign up to receive a free UToledo Pride T-shirt while supplies last: Go to The University Toledo Pride Parade website.

The University of Toledo College of Nursing and ProMedica are partnering to launch Nursing Now Northwest Ohio, joining a global campaign aimed at improving healthcare by raising the status and profile of nursing.

A celebration formally announcing the initiative will take place Thursday, Aug. 8, at 3 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1050 on UToledo’s Health Science Campus.

The event will feature leaders from the University and ProMedica, including UToledo President Sharon L. Gaber, ProMedica President and CEO Randy Oostra, UToledo College of Nursing Dean Linda Lewandowski and ProMedica Chief Nursing Officer Deana Sievert.

A keynote address on the impact of nurses on the health and well-being of communities will be delivered by Dr. Faye Gary, the Medical Mutual of Ohio Kent W. Clapp chair and professor of nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

Nursing Now is spearheaded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the International Council on Nursing.

The three-year campaign — which leads up to the 200th anniversary of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale’s birth — is focused on ensuring nurses have a strong voice in healthcare policy, encouraging investment in the nursing workforce, recruiting more nurses into leadership positions, and improving healthcare worldwide. National and local groups from more than 80 countries have since joined the campaign.

Nursing Now Northwest Ohio will highlight the impact of nurses in our community and around the world, and focus on expanding the influence of nurses in the region through a variety of service and educational initiatives.

The Toledo women’s basketball team laced up its traveling shoes Wednesday during its fourth day in Italy. The Rockets said goodbye to Bologna and hello to Sorrento.

The Rockets jumped on a high-speed Italian rail early Wednesday and made the more than four-hour ride to Naples through the countryside.

Upon arrival in Naples, they ate homemade pizza at Gino Sorbillo Lievito Madre al Mare and secured a quick bus tour through the city.

Toledo then made the trek along the coast to scenic Sorrento, where it will spend the next two days.

“The great thing about today was our team had the opportunity to experience a different type of travel,” Head CoachTricia Cullop said. “They had the chance to ride on a high-speed train. To think we traveled from Bologna to Naples in only four hours is pretty amazing. It’s at least an eight-hour car ride. I also thought the drive from Naples to Sorrento featured some of the most spectacular views I’ve ever seen. It was unbelievable.”

The Rockets had a small amount of time to relax after checking in the hotel before wrapping up the day with dinner at O’ Parrucchiana La Favorita in the heart of the shopping district in Sorrento. 

“I loved Bologna, but there seems to be a little more to do in Sorrento,” freshman Soleil Barnes said. “The trip has far exceeded my expectations, and from the little I saw in Sorrento this afternoon, this place is going to be awesome.”

Toledo will spend a majority of Thursday at the beach before playing its second exhibition game during the trip. The Rockets will battle the Sorrento All-Stars.

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences will welcome a new class of medical students with an official white coat ceremony Friday, Aug. 9, at 10 a.m. in Nitschke Auditorium.

The white coat ceremony, held during the week of orientation, is a long-established tradition for first-year medical students that emphasizes the principles of their chosen profession and prepares them for the journey to become medical professionals.

This year, 175 students will take part.

“This ceremony underscores the foundation of the medical profession for first-year medical students,” said Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “The white coat serves as a symbol of their entry into medical school. It reiterates their commitment to professionalism, educational excellence, and their service to others through medical care.”

Seventy-six% of the incoming class are from Ohio, and nearly one-third are from northwest Ohio. A total of 14 states — including California, Illinois and New York — are represented.

In addition to the presentation of a white coat, the event will include a welcome from Cooper, a keynote address on humanism in medicine, and a recitation of the Medical Student Pledge of Ethics.

A livestream of the event is available on the College of Medicine and Life Sciences white coat ceremony website.

In addition to first-year medical students, UToledo also has white coat ceremonies for students in a number of other programs.

• The College of Medicine and Life Sciences will host white coat ceremonies for students in the Physician Assistant Program Friday, Aug. 23, and students in the Biomedical Sciences Program Thursday, Sept. 5.

• The College of Nursing will hold a white coat ceremony for incoming undergraduate and graduate students Wednesday, Sept. 4.

• The College of Health and Human Services will hold a white coat ceremony for first-year physical therapy and respiratory care students in their junior year, which is the first year of their professional program, Friday, Aug. 30.

• The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will hold a white coat ceremony for students in both the Doctor of Pharmacy Program and Pharmaceutical Sciences Program Thursday, Aug. 22.

Stop by the Farmers’ Market at the Lake Erie Center and pick up some fresh produce, bread, handcrafted beauty products and more.

Local farmers will be at the center, 6200 Bayshore Road in Oregon, Friday, Aug. 9 and Sept. 6, from 3 to 6 p.m.

“We are looking forward to a wide selection of farmers, vendors and food trucks at our markets this summer,” said Rachel Lohner, education program leader at the Lake Erie Center.

“We feel these markets are important because they give us a chance to interact with the community and educate the public about the research that occurs at the Lake Erie Center,” she added.

Due to the rough growing season, the first market scheduled in July was canceled.

“We also value the markets as a way to partner with local farmers and show that we appreciate the efforts they devote to feeding us and protecting our environment at the same time,” Lohner said.

For more information or to join the Lake Erie Center Farmers’ Market as a vendor, call 419.530.8360 or email lakeeriecenter@utoledo.edu.

The University of Toledo football team will play a home-and-home series with San Jose State, UToledo Vice President and Athletic Director Mike O’Brien announced today.

Toledo will host San Jose State in 2023 and will make the return trip to San Jose in 2028.

The contest will mark the first regular-season game between the two schools. The only other meeting was a 27-25 Rocket victory in 1981 at the inaugural California Bowl in Fresno. Toledo triumphed on a 41-yard field goal by Tony Lee with just 15 seconds left on the clock.

“We are very pleased to add San Jose State to our non-conference football schedule,” O’Brien said. “They have a proud football tradition and play in a very competitive conference [Mountain West]. Many of our fans will remember the thrilling bowl game played between our two schools back in 1981. We look forward to an exciting series.”

Toledo will open up its 2019 season at Kentucky Saturday, Aug. 31, before hosting Murray State in the home opener Saturday, Sept. 14.

Full-time UToledo employees and retirees may purchase tickets at half-price. UToledo students are admitted to home games free with ID.

To purchase season tickets, single-game tickets or away-game tickets, stop by the UToledo Athletic Ticket Office, located in the Sullivan Athletic Complex at Savage Arena, go to the Toledo Football Ticket Central website, or call 419.530.GOLD (4653).

Five years after a water crisis in Toledo left half a million residents without safe tap water for three days, environmental scientists from the U.S. and Canada will board research vessels and fan out across western Lake Erie to collect water samples at nearly 200 locations in four hours in a united effort to create a high-resolution picture of this summer’s harmful algal bloom (HAB) and ultimately protect the public drinking water supply.

The second annual HABs Grab on Wednesday, Aug. 7, will bring together researchers from The University of Toledo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Bowling Green State University, Wayne State University, Michigan Technological University, Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research and LimnoTech. The HABs Grab has nearly doubled in size this year with the addition of Canadian partners, including the University of Windsor, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

A major goal is to estimate the mass of total microcystin toxin for one day during the peak of algal bloom season, as well as to characterize the different forms of microcystin and the genes that produce them.

“Collaboration is critical in our efforts to understand a harmful algal bloom as large as Lake Erie’s — the lake is simply too large for one organization to handle,” Dr. Thomas Bridgeman, director of the UToledo Lake Erie Center and professor of ecology, said. “This massive one-day sampling event allows us to not only analyze the current bloom, but focus on unraveling the mystery of why some algal blooms are highly toxic, while others are less so.”

Bridgeman, who has studied algae in the Great Lakes for nearly two decades, and his research team at UToledo collect samples and track cyanobacteria throughout Lake Erie’s western basin once a week every summer during algal bloom season.

“Harmful algal blooms are an international issue,” Bridgeman said. “The ultimate solution is to prevent blooms from growing in the first place by preventing water pollution. In the meantime, discovering what triggers a bloom to start producing toxins would be a large step toward protecting people, pets and wildlife.”

HABs Grab is funded by NOAA’s ECOHAB research program.

“The main goal of the project is to develop a bloom toxicity forecast, and the HABs Grab provides data to estimate toxin mass in the lake,” said Dr. Justin Chaffin, leader of the HABs Grab project who is based at Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory. Chaffin earned his Ph.D. in biology from UToledo in 2013 while studying in Bridgeman’s lab.

“This coordinated effort will assist in improving the accuracy of microcystin toxin concentrations in HAB forecast products,” Deborah Lee, director of the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, said. “It is a true testament to collaboration and coordination across institutional and international boundaries.”

The Lake Erie Center is UToledo’s freshwater research and science education campus focused on finding solutions to water quality issues that face the Great Lakes, including harmful algal blooms, invasive species and pollutants.

Toledo completed its 10th and final full-team practice Friday in advance of its trip to Italy. The Rockets are slated to visit Venice, Bologna, Sorrento and Rome from Saturday, Aug. 3, through Tuesday, Aug. 13.



“I was very pleased with how quickly this team picked things up over the course of these 10 practices and how they were able to follow through with what we were teaching,” said Head Coach Tricia Cullop. “They got along very well and have continued to grow and improve. I can’t wait to see them apply those skills in our exhibition games in Italy.”



The NCAA allows teams to take a summer foreign trip every four years. This is the Rockets’ first opportunity since their trip to England and Spain in 2015.



The Midnight Blue and Gold left Aug. 3 for an 11-day basketball and cultural excursion to Southern Europe. Toledo will play three exhibition games and do some sightseeing in the home country of senior Mariella Santucci.

The Rockets will compete against the Bologna All-Stars Monday, Aug. 5, the Sorrento All-Stars Thursday, Aug. 8, and the Rome All-Stars Saturday, Aug. 10.



Junior Tatyana Davis thought the 10 practices were extremely beneficial to build team chemistry and is excited to get started on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

”These 10 practices have been great, especially since we have six newcomers in our program,” Davis said. “I feel like we’re taking the right steps to build our team chemistry, and this trip will only make it stronger.”



Davis added, “I’m so excited for this opportunity to travel to Italy. I can’t wait to see where Mariella grew up and experience a culture that is different from my own.” 



The 11-day excursion was entirely paid for through fundraising efforts by the women’s basketball program.



“We can’t thank the generosity of our fan club [The Igniters] and Toledo community enough for making this trip a reality,” Cullop said.

The Toledo women’s basketball team spent its first day in Italy Sunday taking in the sights of Venice before spending the night in Bologna.

“To finally be here is truly a pleasure,” Cullop said. “We hit the ground running in Venice, and everything we did today was awesome. On top of all that, we had the opportunity to meet Mariella’s whole family and that was a treasured moment. Just to see the smile on Mariella’s face has made the trip worth it.” 

The Rockets hit the ground running after their seven-plus hour overnight flight to Amsterdam, followed by a two-hour connection to Venice. UToledo took part in a 30-minute boat ride to Venice City Center, where they ate lunch at Ca Dogi before going on a one-hour guided walking tour through San Marco Square. After the tour, the team split up into groups and went on a gondola ride down the Grand Canal.

The team then reconvened at their bus before making the two-hour trip to Bologna, the hometown of Santucci. After checking into Hotel Tre Vecchi, the Rockets were on their own for dinner and entertainment for the remainder of the evening.

“The last 24-plus hours have been fast paced, but at the same time, it’s been really exciting,” junior Tanaya Beacham said. “We got right off the plane and went straight to a boat in Venice and then traveled a couple hours to Bologna. It doesn’t get much better than that. This trip is a dream come true.”

Monday the Rockets will take part in a cooking class in the morning before playing the first of three exhibition games against the Bologna All-Stars.

Following the contest, Toledo will eat dinner with Santucci’s family at a local restaurant. 

The University of Toledo Department of Art will host two weeklong art day camps for kids ages 7 to 11.

There will be a morning camp and an afternoon camp Monday through Friday, Aug. 5 to 9. Children can be registered for one or both sessions.

The morning session is called Wizard Camp. Projects will include wand making, dark forest terrariums, flying dragons, dragon eggs and more.

Afternoon campers will explore Art Around the World as they make projects celebrating the artwork of several global regions, including Mexico (Día de Muertos masks/piñatas), Andes Mountains (collage painting), France — Notre Dame (stained-glass window suncatchers), Egypt (painted rocks and scarab paintings) and China (dragon puppets and paper lanterns).

There will be a supervised lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions. Those staying all day are encouraged to bring a lunch and beverage; lunch is not provided.

The camps will be held in the Center for the Visual Arts on the University’s Toledo Museum of Art Campus.

The cost of the workshops is $60 for either morning or afternoon camps or $105 for both camps and includes all materials and supplies needed for the projects. Workshop fees are due prior to the first day of the workshops.

To register, go to the UToledo Department of Art website.