Town & Gown
TALK President’s Message It hardly seems possible that our 2013–2014 Lunch at the Forum series is wrapping up on May 1. Our program committee is already laying the groundwork for another exciting season. Showcasing our professors and their students is the easy part; selecting only five speakers each year from an enormous pool of talent is always the challenge. Town & Gown membership letters will go out this month. I hope that , if you have enjoyed our events and the nearly sold-out luncheons this year, you will join or renew your membership. Dues are 100% tax deductible and help to grow our endowed scholarship fund which provides funding – in perpetuity – for students in need of financial assistance as well as special Town & Gown campus projects. Membership is a genuine investment in the future of both Chapman students and the University campus. You will note in this issue our slate of officers for 2014-2015. One amazing element of our working board is that members simply do not want to rotate off. The rule is that after three two-year terms, board members must step down for at least a year to give others a chance to serve. Most line up again after a year’s sabbatical enthusiastically waiting to re-enlist! If you think you would like to be a part of an extraordinary board, please let me know of your interest. I’m in the roster. I look forward to seeing you at the Forum.
Penni McRoberts President
of THE
SPRING 2014
TOWN
Lunch at the Forum Twentieth Season Concludes with “Edutainment”: Education or Entertainment? Higher Education in the Internet Age On May 1, Associate Professor William L. Cumiford, Ph.D. ’63, Department of History, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will be the guest speaker at Town & Gown’s Annual Meeting Luncheon. His presentation will be on “Edutainment:” Education or Entertainment? He will look at higher education in the Internet Age. With all the electronic devices at the fingertips of students today, enabling them to receive and transmit information and play games at nearly warp speed, how do you keep their attention in a slow moving classroom? Dr. Cumiford recognizes and appreciates the need to teach students differently than when we older adults attended college. American higher education stands at a critical juncture in the early 21st century as traditional classroom instruction gradually yields to various modes of on-line education which raises questions about the changing nature of learning and the acquisition of knowledge. Dr. Cumiford will address the question of how our ideas of “knowledge” and “learning” are being affected in the Information Age. He will also discuss the potential consequences of bringing education and the entertainment media together in redefining higher education in the new millennium. Linda Ruth 1st VP, Programs
T&G Angel Collects Angels Town & Gown board member Donna Attallah’s angel collection has grown so large (5,150) that she now houses it in its own condominium near her residence! At Christmastime she has enough angel ornaments to decorate numerous trees. A Chapman alumna, class of ‘61, and director of Town & Gown’s gift committee, Donna also is a member of Chapman’s board of trustees. She and her late husband, Fahmy, have been responsible for a number of important contributions to the university, including the Fahmy Attallah, Ph.D. Piazza, the Fahmy and Donna Ford ’61 Attallah, Ph.D. Library of Arts and Humanities and the Donna Ford Attallah Academy for Teaching and Learning at the College of Educational Studies. A native of Victorville, California, Donna retired after 40 years as a kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Cypress School District. In the meantime, she met and married Egyptian-born Fahmy, a school psychologist, poet and an astute businessman. Donna continues to give of her time, her talents and her resources, to both T&G and to Chapman. Now she has a new acquisition: a cute dachshund puppy named “Sammy” who accompanied her to the Winterfest dressed as “Sammy Claus.” Anita Storck Editorial Board