Javier Evelyn: Turning an allergy into Alerje Inc.

Man standing in front of Alerje sign

When Javier Evelyn ’06 was a student at Illinois State University, he at times felt left out when dining with fellow students on campus. Still, this adversity would later motivate him to launch Alerje Inc., a Michigan-based food allergy management innovation team.

A Redbird academic advisor finds her niche writing romance novels

A woman wearing a gray blouse posing with books in front of her.

Julie (Boyd) Navickas’ evolving hobby as a romance novelist has been a decade in the making. When the three-time alum and current School of Communication academic advisor was an organizational communication graduate student at Illinois State, she enrolled in a scriptwriting class.