Remember, Reimagine, Rebuild

Lt. Gen. Ron Dardis, adjutant general for the Iowa National Guard during last year's flood, and U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack are among several guests scheduled to give remarks Monday, June 15, during the University of Iowa's flood commemoration, "Remember, Reimagine, Rebuild."

The event, free and open to the public, will take place at the Old Capitol Museum, which will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and include displays of flood-related photographs and research, audio excerpts from the StoryCorps oral history project and a musical performance. Information about flood-related research grants secured over the past year will also be made available.

A formal program begins at 12:15 p.m. on the west terrace of the Old Capitol, overlooking the Iowa River. UI President Sally Mason will give brief remarks, as will Dardis, now director of the state's Rebuild Iowa Office, who will speak on behalf of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver; Loebsack, D-Iowa; Eric Rossow, a 2009 graduate of the university who helped with sandbagging efforts during the flood; and others. The formal program will conclude with a reading by Marilynne Robinson, a member of the Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and recipient just this month of the Orange Prize for Fiction.

In case of inclement weather, the program will be held in the Senate Chamber on the second floor. More...