See more photos of Buena Vista University's Buenafication Day activities.

Students, faculty and staff performed service on Buenafication Day, a beloved campus tradition. See photos and video of the day's activities, courtesy of BVU's campus media.

Bill SP'92 and Sherry (Courtright) SL'76 Zinn were honored as BVU "Parents of the Year" in April. Bill and Sherry were nominated by Andrew and Hanna Zinn, both current BVU students.

Over 40 Buena Vista University students participated in four service trips during spring break, enabling them to volunteer their time and service to a variety of people and programs.

Cadet Mason Nielsen received the Governor's ROTC Award for outstanding achievement from Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. The award recognizes ROTC members for academic, athletic and leadership accomplishments.

Buena Vista University's tenth annual Scholars Day was held April 25. The event provided students from all disciplines an opportunity to present their best presentations, original research, academic posters, artistic creations, and performances.

Participants in the Disaster Relief trip experienced the after-effects of a weather-related disaster and gained an understanding of the long process of recovery and rebuilding when they traveled to Greeley, Colo., and assisted with cleanup efforts from last year's catastrophic flooding.

BVU students traveled to Staten Island, N.Y., where they partnered with two organizations. Project Hospitality focuses on hunger, homelessness and outreach to individuals with HIV/AIDS, and Tunnels2Towers concentrates on Hurricane Sandy relief work.

Students concerned with environmental issues and conservation traveled to Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula to volunteer at the Widecast Sea Turtle Station, where they netted, weighed and tagged turtles before releasing them back to the ocean.

BVU students traveled to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and volunteered in nearby Copse, where they assisted with many day-to-day activities at the West Haven Children's Home, an orphanage for disabled children.

Buena Vista University students expressed their creativity during the "Chalk the Walk" event. The event was sponsored by the Fundamentals of Arts Management class, which provided chalk for students to create art in front of Victory Arch.

Buena Vista University has announced that Dr. Richard Lampe, professor of biology, will be the 2014 Commencement speaker on May 24. Dr. Lampe has served in faculty and administrative roles at BVU since 1976.

Buena Vista University hosted high school students from across the Midwest at the fourteenth annual Cultural Leadership Conference. The CLC offers high school juniors and seniors from diverse populations a firsthand look at college.

Members of the Buena Vista University Student Activities Board attended the National Association for Campus Activities regional conference in St. Paul, Minn., where they received several awards.

When Shannon Woods set out from Chariton for college in 1996, she planned to be an FBI agent, but she ended up on a different criminal justice path as a lawyer.