Autumn Scene 2012 by Colgate University

scene Autumn 2012

News and views for the Colgate community

Celebrating the $480 million Passion for the Climb campaign

scene

Autumn 2012

Celebrating the $480 million Passion for the Climb campaign 24 Transformations

Passion for the Climb lifts Colgate ever onward and upward

31 Voyagers

Meet five Colgate people who are living “true to the mem’ry”

36 Above and beyond

The campaign by the numbers

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

Letters

Work & Play

Celebrating Colgate’s favorite number

Life of the Mind

Arts & Culture

Go ’gate

New, Noted & Quoted

The Big Picture

Stay Connected

Class News 76 Marriages & Unions 76 Births & Adoptions 76 In Memoriam

Salmagundi: Puzzle, photo caption contest, Rewind

DEPARTMENTS

Cover illustration by Kazushige Nitta Left: Colgate students have spent their school breaks building homes in Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia with Habitat for Humanity — just one way of transforming communities and themselves through volunteer groups, service-learning classes, internships, and social change–oriented career counseling through the Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (“the COVE”). News and views for the Colgate community

scene team

Contributors

Volume XLIl Number 1 The Scene is published by Colgate University four times a year — in autumn, winter, spring, and summer. The Scene is circulated without charge to alumni, parents, friends, and students.

Kazushige Nitta (cover) has illustrated numerous books, including Theodore Geisel’s posthumous My Many Colored Days. He also creates conceptual imagery for clients such as Newsweek, Swiss Bank, the Wall Street Journal, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He has received the New York Society of Illustrators’ Scholarship Competition, International Competition Advertising, and Book awards, as well as a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum award.

James Leach (“Transformations,” pg. 24, and “Voyagers,” pg. 31) retired in 2005 as vice president for public relations and communications after 25 years at Colgate. He has redirected his energies to a second career as a higher education communications consultant, freelance writer, and nature photographer.

Freelance writer and editor Phoebe Outerbridge ’88 (“Getting his patients back on track,” pg. 47) has written articles for many schools and universities including Princeton University, Princeton Day School, the Taft School, and Lawrenceville School, along with other corporate and nonprofit clients. She lives with her family in Pennington, N.J.

Allison Curley ’04 (“Treating stroke — an app for that,” pg. 68) obtained her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. By day, she studies the neurobiology of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia as a postdoc at Pitt. By night, she pursues her true passion — science writing — as both a freelancer and a regular contributor to the Schizophrenia Research Forum.

Vice President for Communications Debra Townsend Managing Editor Rebecca Costello Associate Editor Aleta Mayne Director of Publications Gerald Gall Coordinator of Photographic Services Andrew Daddio Production Assistant Kathy Bridge

Contributing writers and designers: Barbara Brooks, Director of Marketing and Public Relations; Matt Faulkner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications; Matt Hames, Manager of Media Communications; Jason Kammerdiener ’10, Web Content Specialist; Karen Luciani, Art Director; Katherine Mutz, Graphic Designer; Timothy O’Keeffe, Director of Web Content; Mark Walden, Senior Advancement Writer Contact: scene@colgate.edu 315-228-7417 www.colgateconnect.org/scene

scene online

Printed and mailed from Lane Press in South Burlington, Vt.

If you’re moving... Please clip the address label and send with your new address to: Alumni Records Clerk, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346-1398.

Listen

Ivory Tower Half Hour: http://tinyurl.com/ColgateByrnesIvoryTower Political science professor Tim Byrnes discusses the news with other panelists on one of central New York’s longest-running PBS shows.

Watch

Move-in day: http://tinyurl.com/ColgateMoveinTimelapse12 See eight hours compressed into 1 minute and 45 seconds on this time-lapse video of move-in day on Whitnall Field.

scene: Autumn 2012

Look

Alumni news: colgate.edu/alumni Have you seen the latest headlines about Collin McLoughlin ’10, who landed a spot on NBC’s The Voice, and other alumni on the move?

Talk

Get social: facebook.com/colgateuniversity Join the discussion about all things Colgate on the university’s Facebook page. Feel free to share your ’gate-related photos, too!

Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the university, the publishers, or the editors. Notice of Non-Discrimination: Colgate University does not discriminate in its programs and activities because of race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, national origin (including ancestry), citizenship status, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran or military status (including special disabled veteran, Vietnam-era veteran, or recently separated veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected category under applicable local, state, or federal law. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the university’s non-discrimination policies: Marilyn Rugg, University Harassment Officer, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346; 315-228-7288.

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

As we celebrate

the extraordinary conclusion of Passion for the Climb: The

Campaign for Colgate, I have often reflected on how apt our chosen theme turned out to be. At its heart, the story of our campaign is about Colgate people — and how this loyal and steadfast community pulled together during a very difficult time in our nation’s history to uplift the next generation. You helped us to reach a total of $480 million, including $141.5 million for financial aid. The second-largest campaign ever by an American liberal arts university, Passion for the Climb exceeded the total raised in all five of Colgate’s previous campaigns combined. On behalf of so many, I want to extend my thanks to everyone in the Colgate community who took part in this historic and profound endeavor. Again recalling “In 1819,” your generosity lives “true to the mem’ry of those 13 men of yore … to strive as they strove then.” Beyond your financial support, many of you gave of your time, from serving as volunteer gift agents, to hosting gatherings, to attending events. In particular, the university owes a great debt to our volunteer campaign chairs, Jim Elrod ’76 and Denis Cronin ’69, for their dedicated leadership and monumental efforts on behalf of their alma mater. I would also like to acknowledge Vice President Murray Decock ’80 and his staff in institutional advancement for their tireless dedication and enthusiasm in stewarding the important relationships between Colgate and its many supporters. A word on the vision and leadership of my predecessor, Rebecca Chopp, who rallied so many members of the community to craft a purposeful, comprehensive, and forward-thinking strategic plan and to develop this expansive campaign to fund its ambitions: she raised great expectations for a great university — not to merely stay competitive, but also to become the nation’s leading liberal arts institution. Much has been given, and much promised. The full impact of this campaign will continue to be felt far into the future. But it is much more than beating a financial goal, or reaching a summit. What truly matters are the results you can see and feel on the campus and in its people each and every day. Although this issue of the Scene brings this story to life most overtly, everything at Colgate has been touched in some way. Long after the campaign celebrations, a passion for the climb will remain a part of our DNA.

Watch our end-of-campaign video with — and for — members of the Colgate community at colgate.edu/ passionfortheclimb. Janna Minehart ’13

At this college on a hill, Colgate people have always cared as much about the ascendance itself as they do about reaching the top. Every Passion for the Climb supporter made a commitment to helping the next band of Colgate climbers to move — as the spirited Colgate song “In 1819” reminds us — “up the hill with profound determination” in pursuit of their academic, professional, and personal endeavors. And profound determination would be demanded. When Colgate set out to fund its multifaceted strategic plan through the campaign, the nation was enjoying an economic boom. The university had set its sights high, with goals that were both deep and broad: to raise $400 million to enhance research, teaching, and leadership programs; fortify the campus infrastructure; and build the endowment and our capacity to award financial aid to deserving students. Little did anyone know of the financial meltdown that would ensue just 18 months after the campaign’s public launch. In the midst of a worldwide recession, when many respectable institutions scaled back their campaign targets, Colgate’s remarkable alumni, parents, and friends continued to step up. In fact, when we reached our original summit 18 months in advance, we set new goals, including another $40 million for financial aid, and climbed beyond those as well. That support speaks volumes about the historic loyalty of our community. It is an expression of allegiance to our deepest values, our people, and our mission.

News and views for the Colgate community

scene

Letters

Summer 2012

News and views for the Colgate community

Taking Comics Seriously The Tenacious Tenney Silent Stones

The Scene welcomes letters. We reserve the right to decide whether a letter is acceptable for publication and to edit for accuracy, clarity, and length. Letters deemed potentially libelous or that malign a person or group will not be published. Letters should not exceed 250 words. You can reach us by mail, or e-mail sceneletters @colgate.edu. Please include your full name, class year if applicable, address, phone number, and/or e-mail address. If we receive many letters on a given topic, we will print a representative sample of the opinions expressed. On occasion, we may run additional letters online.

Let me second the feelings expressed by David N. Wilson ’50 (Letters, summer 2012). The Scene has become a wonderful conduit of the vitality and richness of current Colgate life for us old-timers. I was particularly interested in several seemingly disparate items in the summer issue. First, Professor Aveni’s find of an ancient Mayan calendar, which apparently “foresaw another 7,000 years beyond December 2012.” In his work Fractal Time, Gregg Braden describes the Mayan experience in roughly the same way — that thousands of years ago, the Mayans were able to ascertain that the universe moves in cycles, and that the end of the current cycle and beginning of the next will occur around the winter 2012 solstice. He believes that during this time, the earth will be moving out of a roughly 2,000-year-old era under the influence of the Piscean constellation — an age of separation, of divide and conquer — into one under the influence of the Aquarian constellation — an age of unity and holism, of drawing the global community together. As we move into this new age, perhaps this explains the growing interest in social entrepreneurial ventures such as those described in that same issue of the Scene: Maggie Dunne’s Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrich-

Mayan calendar

scene: Autumn 2012

ment Project and Dr. Mark Mandel’s hair care product project supported by the Entrepreneurs Club. When I was at Colgate more than 55 years ago, we did not have anything like the Thought into Action Institute or the Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education through which students are taught to create jobs for themselves through entrepreneurial means. I had to teach myself, and I’m still at it — overseeing a business improvement district in Washington, D.C. Previously, I led the transformation of a once-underserved commercial district that I had visited frequently 56 years ago (as a member of the Washington Study Group) for its one successful venture — a jazz club — into an eclectic blend of successful ethnic restaurants, nightclubs, boutiques, and art galleries that employ many of those living in the immediate vicinity. I applaud Colgate for establishing and supporting these campus programs. Stephen Greenleigh ’57 N. Bethesda, Md.

On football scholarships I’d like to extend my gratitude to the Patriot League and Colgate for deciding to offer football scholarships (Scene, spring 2012, pg. 25). As a proud former player, I’m excited that Colgate will have the added resources it needs to take the program to even more impressive heights, and I am deeply disappointed that some members of the Colgate family feel that scholarships should be reconsidered (for example, R. Michael Smith’s letter, summer 2012). Colgate produces the best student-athletes in the business. This is why we chose to better ourselves in Hamilton. The Ivy League doesn’t maximize team potential because its teams don’t participate in the national FCS playoffs; Colgate does. We chose Colgate because Coach Biddle exemplifies leadership and we

wanted a stellar education without sacrificing our athletic dreams. To say that we could never compete with larger schools is ludicrous; we came very close to achieving the ultimate reward in ’03 when we played for the national championship. Yes, Delaware imposed their will on us, but ask Western Illinois, UMass, or Florida Atlantic if we were competitive. Football scholarships will lead to a national championship some day. Look how close we came without them! Second, by implementing football scholarships, we will be able to recruit in such a way that when we win the Patriot League, we’ll be able to win a higher percentage of our postseason matchups. What better way to celebrate our 120-plus–year football tradition than to make the national title our goal every year? Third, football scholarships will offer opportunity to highly qualified students who would otherwise be unable to afford Colgate. Additionally, many football players graduate in the top 5 to 10 percent of their high school classes; we will be more competitive than ever in attracting them. More outstanding recruits will choose Colgate over the Ivies since we have differentiated ourselves with scholarships. Furthermore, Colgate football contributes just as much diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, religion, and geographic region to our campus as any other organization. Scholarships will allow us to continue to attract student-athletes from all walks of life without sacrificing academic standards. Colgate invests in people first. The football program doesn’t have to generate millions of dollars to be valuable enough to deserve scholarships. As with many other sports, football teaches the qualities that we pride ourselves on as Americans: hard work, competitiveness, perseverance,

John Frieser ’04 Endicott, N.Y. I so strongly agree with R. Michael Smith ’70 (Letters, summer 2012) that I felt compelled to write in support of his sentiments. Although not a Colgate alumna, I am a native of Hamilton. Since my mother lived here all her life, my husband and I spent many weekends and vacations here, frequently enjoying Colgate’s concerts, lectures, and sports events. In 2006, when we decided to retire from our respective professions, we chose to leave the Philadelphia area and retire

in Hamilton. Since living here, we’ve continued to take advantage of much that Colgate has to offer, and now, as a village trustee, I am even more cognizant of the intertwining of Colgate and Hamilton. Awarding football scholarships is nothing but a bad idea. Colgate is known for its fine academic standing, not for its football team. It should stay that way. Furthermore, now that the public knows so much more about the long-term ill effects of football injuries, and many former pro football players are speaking out even to the extent that they would not let a child of theirs play football, I can’t think why Colgate would start offering football scholarships. We can only hope that in several years, football will be a sport of the past. All four reasons that Mr. Smith gave against awarding scholarships, and indeed, against football in general, are right on target and completely sensible. I hope that Colgate reconsiders its decision. There are many other sports that are less dangerous and teach the same positive qualities of teamwork, good sportsmanship, and development of physical skills.

Neill Joy told us that the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales helped people one hour at a time for their entire journey. He also told us about the poem “The Nurse’s Song” by Coleridge. One nanny tried to get the children to stop playing for whatever reason.

But the nurse — exhibiting patience, tolerance, and long-suffering — let the children keep playing. And theater director Atlee Sproul let me study every night in the Dana Arts Center, helping me with friendliness and whatever I needed! The English department knew that love and love alone (the spirit that is Colgate!) is the answer to the world’s problems. Edward T. O’Donnell Jr. ’70 Philadelphia, Pa.

Andrew Daddio

toughness, commitment, and accountability. Our student-athletes will carry these skills into the workplace. The return on this “investment” will be a great and noble one. Finally, I want to address the “dangers of playing football” argument. Yes, there’s risk in football. It’s a physical game. But you know what else is dangerous? Life. By choosing to play, we assume the risk. People get injured in automobile accidents all the time. Do we abandon automobile travel? No. We establish rules, provide education, and continue to improve technology to increase safety. It’s the same in football. The rules are amended to increase safety, we teach our players to hit properly, and helmet technology is constantly improving. During my senior year, a Cornell lacrosse player was struck in the chest and tragically died on the field. Does that mean that we should not value lacrosse? Of course not, because the sport has value, as do all sports. Some NFL players claim they wouldn’t allow their sons to play. I know one who doesn’t regret allowing his sons to play: Archie Manning. Football will not be dead in 25 years. The most popular sport in America is not going anywhere. The best of Colgate football is still to come, and scholarships will only strengthen Colgate’s continued greatness. Go, ’gate.

Deborah S. Kliman Hamilton, N.Y. The picture of the English department in the Slices contest of the spring 2012 Scene (pg. 80) speaks volumes to today’s world. Jonathan Kistler told us that Prince Andrew Bolkonski in Tolstoy’s War and Peace found meaning and purpose in life not in fame, power, money, or pleasure, but in loving and helping other people. Professor Kistler also told us that the patients in the hospital in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain found happiness not in food, hypochondria, complaining, or self-centeredness, but by bringing love to all the world. (I told Professor Kistler Colgate was the Magic Mountain and he agreed!)

What they’re saying… on Colgate’s Facebook page August 20/ Colgate University It is move-in week. What do you remember about moving in? Sarah Rakov ’93 I remember I had sprained my ankle two days before going to Colgate for the beginning of freshman year. Not an easy campus to traverse on crutches, but everyone was so helpful, I had no problems. Katie Briggs Freeman ’03 Carrying my violin up the hill (before the nice steps were put in below Persson) and my parents parking next to my now-husband’s parents on Whitnall, although we obviously didn’t know that at the time!

Dana Giorgio Gelegonya ’01 I remember the students welcoming all the freshmen as we pulled onto campus! And I remember Ron Varnum ’00 jumping into my parents’ car when he saw that I was from New Jersey! Rob Collum ’75 Catching up on my colleagues’ activities from the summer at the KDR house; and then some “air-time” off the rope swing out at Lake Moraine! Virginia Robbins ’80 A pile of snow outside of the Field House. I knew it was a cold climate but still … snow in August? Turns out they had just finished filming Slapshot and it was ice from the cleared rink. Upon reflection, it was a prescient first impression!

News and views for the Colgate community

work & play 6

Campus scrapbook

Just bead it: Jewelry crafted by Mayan Indians was among the offerings at this year’s Native American Arts and Culture Festival in Sanford Field House, which attracted 1,200 visitors — the greatest attendance ever. Photo by Gabriela Bezerra ’13

Andrew Philipson ’14 donates blood at the Coop as part of a campus Red Cross blood drive. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Yo, heave ho! First-years pull together to test their strength and teamwork skills at the Konosioni field day. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Hitting the books at Case-Geyer. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Fun with food at Frank. Raider showed up to help celebrate the dining hall’s recent facelift. Students can now nosh on new dishes, including a pasta du jour station, grilled panini, and made-to-order omelets from morning to night, as well as expanded vegan and vegetarian options. Photo by Gabriela Bezerra ’13

From moose to minke whales, an Outdoor Education crew interacted with nature as well as community members during a two-week exploration of Newfoundland’s coast in June. Photo by Abigail Rowe

Aurora y Zon del Barrio inspired salsa and merengue dancing at the fifth-annual ALANApalooza. Photo by Andrew Daddio

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream: Staff members serve up cool treats on arrival day. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Chillin’ at the Coop. Photo by Andrew Daddio

scene: Autumn 2012

Live and learn

E F

News and views for the Colgate community

Clowns were dunked, carnival games were mastered, and Holy Smokes BBQ was devoured by the end of the Welcome Back Block Party that brought together community and university members during the first week of classes.

The energy of exploration

As he was riding horseback through a Chilean property called Valle California, assessing the land as part of his summer internship, Colin Shipley ’15 found himself wondering why on earth he forgot to bring gloves. Perhaps it was the globetrotting. Within one week in June, Shipley had gone from 90-degree temperatures on a trip to Uganda and Rwanda with the Benton Scholars to this blizzard in Chile on an eight-week project supported by a Milhomme International Internship. Created by Phillip Milhomme ’60, the program provides funding to students eager to gain business experience and enhance their global competency by interning abroad — which is often not financially feasible. Shipley’s interest in sustainability had linked him up with Warren Adams ’88, whose company, Patagonia Sur,

Google ambassador, world traveler

Andrew Daddio

work & play

Colin Shipley ’15 in Patagonia, Chile

invests in and protects ecologically valuable properties in Chilean Patagonia. Shipley explored the potential for using renewable energy on the Valle California property, which is owned by Patagonia Sur. He first spent several weeks in Santiago researching renewable energy options — including solar, wind, and hydro — and developing cost and energy estimates for each of those options. Then Shipley spent a week in Patagonia, traversing land that is only accessible by horseback, and surveying sites that seem to have a high potential for the various types of energy he researched. “What I love about going abroad is figuring things out for myself and surviving in an environment that I’m not completely comfortable in or haven’t experienced before,” Shipley said. He wasn’t just referring to the fact that he doesn’t speak Spanish, but also the experience he gained calculating stream-flow rate, studying wind directions, and snapping pictures to develop his analysis of the site — all without gloves.

scene: Autumn 2012

Selected by Google as a “student ambassador,” Viktor Mak ’15 finished his training at a summit in California in August and is serving as a Google representative on Colgate’s campus this fall. He was accepted into the elite program — which included only 150 current Google interns and recommended college students — after being nominated by Claudia ServadioCoyne, manager of Colgate’s student technology resource group. In his new role, Mak (who works in the ITS department during the academic year) will act as a liaison between Google and Colgate by coordinating events and tutorials on campus. Before joining the Google team, like any well-qualified “ambassador,” Mak, of Fort Myers, Fla., expanded his global knowledge. Through a combination of Colgate’s Benton Scholars Program and his own initiative, Mak’s adventures took him to four continents and five countries over the summer. He kicked off his summer plans when he flew to Kigali, Rwanda, as part of the Benton Scholars Program’s annual trip abroad for first-year students. Mak and the group then traveled to Buhoma, Uganda, where

Views from the hill What’s your favorite club or activity on campus? “The Muslim Student Association. I’m not a Muslim, but I’ve always been fascinated by its place in American culture — probably because I’m a child of the 9/11 attacks. It’s a very enlightening experience.” — Jack Ngyen ’15, St. Louis, Mo. “Working at the community garden. A lot of people don’t know we have that here, but they have free veggies at the vegetable stand, and it’s great to donate a couple of dollars. Anyone can work in there, and it’s one of my favorite things to do since I’ve been here.” — Hagere Yilma ’16, Gaithersburg, Md. “The figure skating club. I’ve met some amazing people and really enjoy the practice time on the ice. I compete with them, travel and compete solo, and also am on the synchronized skating team.” — Anna Gilman ’15, Pasadena, Calif.

helping the campus community better understand how to use the free services provided by Google, including e-mail, video, blog and image hosting, document sharing, and more. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Academic views of campus life

Viktor Mak ’15

they volunteered in a hospital, tested the area’s water quality, and conducted sanitation surveys. “We were trying to find the correlation between bacteria in the water and illness in people who use that water source,” Mak explained. The Benton Scholars also joined up with President Jeffrey Herbst to talk to Ugandan government officials about current issues. While in Uganda, Mak began his own project where he took photos of families, students, soccer teams, and hospital patients. Color printer in tow, Mak provided more than 300 Ugandans with the first photos they have ever owned. Then, through a grant from the Benton Scholars Program, Mak spent five weeks in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. He studied Spanish in the mornings and volunteered his afternoons at Trama Textiles, which employs women to do “backstrap loomweaving” — an ancient Mayan weaving technique. Mak even developed an initiative for the Trama workers that expanded their small business to the international market. He created an online store, through which the women have already accrued profits. From Guatemala, Mak traveled to Hungary, where he was born and visits with his family every summer for vacation. Not wanting to “sit around,” Mak said, he e-mailed professors at neighboring universities about research opportunities. With a professor at the Central European University in Budapest, Mak investigated the challenges of ensuring media diversity in the age of the Internet. Now, back on campus, Mak is

First-year students spend their initial days at Colgate adjusting to life in their new milieu. We asked professors in psychology, anthropology, physics, and sociology to share their insights on campus life. The first weeks of school are of special interest to psychology professor Carrie Keating, who studies social bonds and what makes or breaks them, as well as the psychological forces that give root to human dominance, hierarchy, and leadership. “By observing students’ nonverbal behavior, I glean hints about which way they are leaning,” Keating said. “Are their smiles real or fake; are their laughs happy or nervous? Do their body postures say ‘come hither’ or ‘go away’?” Anthropologist Nancy Ries, who has taught Core: Russia as a first-year seminar, sees similarities between the residence hall experience and the Soviet revolutionary experiment of communal living. “Students have joked that sharing hygiene facilities with others requires tactics quite similar to those of Russia kommunalka dwellers,” said Ries. “They guard their personal hygiene products like soap, shampoo, and body wash. None of those products are

shared or left in the collective bathroom either. The shower caddy — a mundane plastic object — provides a way for students (especially females) to maintain ‘self-other’ boundaries, a small exertion of privacy in the collective space.” Physics professor Beth Parks sees communal living in the context of

Back on campus Just before the fall semester began, Colgate asked alumni from far and wide to offer advice to the Class of 2016. Via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, alumni gave guidance ranging from the practical to the pithy. Here’s a sampling, and to see more, visit www.youtube.com/cuatchannel13

“Take advantage of the liberal arts education. Individuals who graduate with a good working knowledge of current data-related tools as well as the ability to think analytically and communicate effectively will be highly sought after.” — Rob Lowrance ’93, recruiter

“Don’t be good at everything. Take some risks…. Join a club that you don’t understand, try out for a show. Just go out there, fail at something, and be weird. You can learn a lot that way.” — Michael Torpey ’02, actor and comedian

“Spend time in town getting to know the community and its residents.” — Katherine Pezzella ’09, assistant director of Greek Life, College of Charleston

“Take Intro to Astronomy in the fall. Spring isn’t as warm as it sounds.” — Jennifer Sharp ’98, project archivist, Connecticut Historical Society “Go to professors’ office hours, not only for help with a class — amazing conversations and new friendships await.” — Giselle Winchester ’10, Spanish teaching assistant, Syracuse University

its impact on energy use. She has deployed student researchers to audit energy patterns on campus as a means of raising their awareness as well as improving Colgate’s carbon footprint. “Once students arrive on campus, their energy use changes,” Parks said. “In most of the United States, one of the main ways people use energy is by heating and cooling their houses, but because college dorms don’t have much surface area per person, hot water for showers becomes a bigger fraction of their energy use. Similarly, students at Colgate don’t drive very much, because even if they have cars, most don’t have daily commutes.” Sociologist Chris Henke teaches a class simply called Food. “We eat food so that we can be nourished, but we also eat to create bonds,” he said. Henke added that this is especially true for international and multicultural students. “Through the cultural organizations on campus, they are able to demonstrate to others who they are.”

“Don’t try to do things that people want you to do. Go make that statement. Be bold. Be different.” — Sian-Pierre Regis ’06, cool-culture entrepreneur “There are so many opportunities available to you: Career Services, going to athletic events, social activities, and of course, the amazing professors. But, you only get what you give.” — Ayanna Williams ’08, Peace Corps educator, Morocco

Remembering 9/11 with service

In honor of 9/11, students rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to help several nearby organizations as part of an afternoon of service on Friday, September 14. Their efforts were inspired by the national movement to create a positive way to forever remember that tragic day in 2001. Students volunteered at 10 locations including Madison Lane Apartments, Community Memorial Hospital, and Camp Fiver. The service opportunities were organized by the Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education. Emily Luba ’16 helped the Community Bikes nonprofit by preparing used bicycles for needy children and adults. Emphasizing that some adults will use the bikes to travel to their workplaces, she said, “A bike opens up a whole world of transportation.” Luba added that the painful memories of 9/11 should “propel us to give back and make a difference.” On the eleventh itself, students, professors, and community members

News and views for the Colgate community

Natalie Sportelli ’15

scene: Autumn 2012

Challah for Hunger

Shiny loaves of challah — plain, chocolate chip, poppy, and cinnamon sugar — enticed students to a table in the

Duy Trinh ’14

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stood on the steps of Memorial Chapel to pray together and remember the lives of the seven alumni who were killed. These vigils inspire “a recommitment to live peaceably with each other,” said university chaplain Mark Shiner. They also offer a chance “to cut across faith lines . . . we need to understand each other more,” added Putter Cox, Protestant campus minister. That evening, Philanthropists at Colgate hosted an a cappella concert at 110 Broad Street, featuring the Dischords, Resolutions, Swinging ’Gates, and Colgate Thirteen. Dagan Rossini ’13, a member of the Dischords, said that while choosing songs such as “1234” by Feist, “Carry On” by Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye, his group was aiming to “uplift people’s spirits.” More than 100 people attended the concert, and donations were dedicated to the 9/11 Relief Fund. — Thomas Cardamone ’13

As part of a day of service in honor of 9/11, students assisted elders at Madison Lane Apartments.

Coop the Friday after Rosh Hashanah. The bake sale was put on by the Colgate chapter of Challah for Hunger. “Half of the money raised goes to the American Jewish World Service, and this year, the other half goes to the Hamilton Food Cupboard,” explained Becca Friedland ’13. “We thought that would be a great way to give back to hunger issues in Hamilton,” added Friedland, who founded Colgate’s

Downtown Hamilton was a bustle of activity over the summer. Here’s a look at some August happenings. During the Concert in the Park — featuring musicians Taiward, Joe Mettler, and McDowell Brothers and the Birdseed Bandits — youngsters kept busy with the Children’s T-Shirt Painting Workshop on the village green. Using recycled materials like tires and rubber stamps to fashion their creations, young designers could bring their new apparel home, free of charge. Nature lovers breathed in the fresh summer air

chapter during her sophomore year. On the Thursday before, the mouth-watering smell of baking bread was wafting out of the Saperstein Jewish Center. The group bakes 60 loaves and sells them at five dollars each — cinnamon sugar flavor is the overwhelming best seller. “We usually donate about $2,000 a year,” Friedland said, adding that they try to have approximately a dozen bake sales a year. And the members of Challah for Hunger don’t just do it for the ‘bread’. “You get a break from work, you meet new people, and it’s for a good cause,” said Ariel Sherry ’15. “For some people who aren’t necessarily religious, it helps them connect to Judaism in a cultural way instead of a religious way,” added Albert Naim ’14, who helped with the baking. Jayne Tamboia ’13, who had never eaten challah before, commented the next day that she was pleasantly surprised by how good the “doughy, sweet bread was. I especially liked it toasted for breakfast.” Friedland put it most simply: “It’s tasty, therapeutic, and philanthropic. Everyone wins.” — Katie Rice ’13

during the Madison Lane Nature Trail Walk and Benefit that toured local diverse ecological habitats including evergreen, wetland, meadow, and orchard reVillage Green gions. Proceeds from the lawn sale went to the grounds beautification fund for Madison Lane Senior Living Complex. Parlez vous Francais? Held in the Hamilton Center for the Arts, the Fantastic French Story Time for Waddlers and Toddlers brought families together to read picture books, learn nursery rhymes, and sing songs — all en Francais. Participants were also given ideas to further delve into the language together at home. Rainy weather could not dampen the celebration of the Colgate Bookstore’s 10th anniversary in its downtown location. In honoring the occasion, the community chowed down at a hot dog roast under tents in the bookstore’s parking lot. Having moved from a small location on campus to the heart of Hamilton in 2002, the village store sells a variety of apparel and gifts, in addition to boasting a collection of more than 22,000 books — making it the largest downtown independent bookstore in central New York. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Get to know: the man behind the camera Andrew Daddio, photographic services coordinator since June 2008 – winner of 10 (including four first-place) awards from the University Photographers’ Association of America

The mouth-watering smells of cinnamon and baking challah wafted out of the Saperstein Jewish Center.

Healing power of music

One year, after singing 200 shows, Grammy Award winner Joanne Shenandoah developed vocal nodules that threatened to ruin her musical career. For treatment, Shenandoah sought the help of native healers whom she credits for curing her through a ceremony of song and prayer. “I could immediately sing after the ceremony,” Shenandoah said,

Go figure:

A snapshot of Colgate students from around the globe

218 international students 8% of the first-year Class of 2016 45 nationalities are represented 53 from China 9 African nations are represented 1 men’s basketball team player from

Leposavic, Serbia

Digital vs. film I haven’t shot a piece of film in nine years. My first digital camera was 1999, and last time I shot a piece of film was in 2003. Digital is easier in a lot of ways. The one thing I’ve never been able to replicate is film grain. People person The students I work with are the most rewarding aspect of my job. And I like being around students on campus. People in that age group are open, excited, and, by virtue of being here, they’re smart. I like that youthful energy. Also, I’m primarily a people photographer. I love having a real moment, breaking down resistances to capture a true glimpse into the essence, the soul, the personality of the person.

emphasizing her belief in the healing power of music. In September, Shenandoah performed at the ALANA Cultural Center, where she explained how music can be a dynamic force in an individual’s daily life. The purpose of her music is “to lift the soul, spirit, and mind, and [in doing so] give us hope and peace for the future,” she said. Shenandoah sang three songs: including We Will Rise Up, A Woman’s Song, and Mother Earth Speaks. As she sang, she played the guitar, at times accompanied by Chris Vecsey, Harry Emerson Fosdick Professor of the humanities and Native American studies and religion. “The music played greatly on my emotions,” said Nicole Schroeder ’15, adding that, “there was a deep resonance within the music.” Hosted by the Native American Studies Program, Shenandoah’s performance kicked off the Native American Arts and Culture Festival. The event was meant to display “how Native American culture is alive and well today,” said Vecsey. — Thomas Cardamone ’13

Kodak moments: tricks to loosen up subjects Sometimes you have to be silly. I have a standard opening: “Say ‘Thela Hun Gingeet,’” which is a line from King Crimson’s album Discipline. People say, “You want me to say what?” Click. I also have little bits — I actually memorized the entire Austin Powers routine from when his fake identity was a photographer. Photographic memory Certain things are seared into my memory. I can do entire passages from books, including the last several paragraphs of On the Road. I can recite conversations I had 20 or 30 years ago. I have to be engaged and aware, and it has to have significance — otherwise, I don’t remember it at all. Free time My wife and sons [5 and 7] are the best things that have ever happened to me. I will never ever get back any time that I lose now, so it’s important to me to be a good dad. Last summer I built them a clubhouse, and this summer I built a chicken coop. I love to read. I’m usually reading a regular book, some technical book or journal, and, because I’m a hardcore politics junky, I spend a lot of time reading news. I like art: namely, film, photography, literature, music, and painting. Also, I have a strong interest in philosophy and comparative religion. On religion I was raised Roman Catholic, but formally converted to Buddhism in 2000. I am fascinated by Vedantic Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, and am drawn to both. Why Buddhism and Hinduism Vestigial memories from another life, I guess. I saw a movie about reincarnation when I was in eighth grade, and it really fascinated me. I started reading about Hinduism and Buddhism when I was about 20. The Bhagavad Gita and Thus Spoke Zarathustra [Friedrich Nietzsche] have made the greatest impression on me of anything I’ve ever read.

9,360

miles to Colgate from Black River, Mauritius (home to 1 student)

63% more international students today

Career nirvana A high point of my career was meeting the Dalai Lama at the University of Portland. When he entered the VIP room, I took a shot and he saw the flash. He then came over in his flip flops, shook my hand, saw my malas [Buddhist prayer beads], plunked them, and giggled like a little child.

than 5 years ago

18 economics majors (their most popular Duy Trinh ’14

concentration)

45% males and 55% females among international students

Grammy Award winner Joanne Shenandoah

Parting words Images are the true vocabulary of the human mind. We remember dreams in images. Our memories are often recalled in images. Images transcend all language and time frames and many other things that normally separate us. — Aleta Mayne

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

Duy Trinh ’14

First camera When I was 16, I found a 19-year-old Sears Tower Rangefinder through the classifieds. I bought a roll of Kodachrome on the way home, and I shot the whole roll in about 15 minutes.

work & play Andrew Daddio

James Allen Smith ’70

scene: Autumn 2012

Passion for the Climb Honoring the tradition of our 13 Baptist founders, Colgate’s Board of Trustees opens its meetings with an invocation. Trustee James Allen Smith ’70 composed this prayer for the board’s spring 2012 meeting, but its message transcended that occasion, encapsulating the university’s mission across the generations. As well, the effort he undertook to craft it was a quintessential manifestation of the theme of the Passion for the Climb campaign undertaken by Colgate to support that enduring mission. For that, we thought his prayer — and his account of writing it — would be the perfect capstone to the Scene’s essay series.

I’ve sometimes wondered what those 13 men with their 13 dollars might have said in their 13 prayers. Sadly, we have no archival record of their words. I thought it would be a challenge — an exercise of both the historical and religious imagination — to try to compose their 13th prayer. I wondered especially how their language of prayer would have addressed educational aims. I embarked on cursory historical research, skimming the minutes of early meetings of the Baptist Education Society and triennial gatherings of the General Missionary Convention. I then looked at religious treatises that might have been on the shelves of our Baptist founders. I searched for prayers and sermons delivered by some of our more famous 19thcentury seminarians. And I waded through a dissertation on the early history of Baptist colleges and universities, which relied on Howard Williams’s dissertation for its account of Colgate’s beginnings. (Williams, Class of 1930, was a longtime history professor and Colgate’s archivist.) Above all, I was looking for language that might echo the words of prayerful Baptists in upstate New York in the 1810s. On the cusp of the Second Great Awakening, they were profoundly concerned with the education of Baptist preachers and missionaries. I wanted both a particular

voice to help us imagine our founding moment — the meeting in 1817 when Daniel Hascall and 12 others set in motion the plans for the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution — and a more general voice that would remain resonant in our own time. By way of a prayer and in search of values that endure, I have cobbled

together phrases and metaphors, the thoughts and aspirations, of early 19th-century Baptist educators from Colgate and elsewhere. The words are from long ago; the spirit should be familiar. — James Allen Smith ’70

Our 13th Prayer A

charge to keep we have! A God to glorify! To the exalted One, who watches over travelers and pilgrims as they make their way along life’s paths and who sheds His light to help us see and surmount all stumbling blocks; We have planted — and those who come after us will cultivate — an institution in this congenial soil. It will grow and flourish in this village where we have made a sacred and solemn covenant between college and community. We are in this place — and will remain here — because close and successful application to study is best accomplished in a place of retirement from the feverish strife of life. The morals of youth will remain forever safe in a country village, and the health and vigor of their constitutions will be sustained in these hills, woods, and fields. In this close and familial community, let us always inculcate in our charges the dignity and grace of manners, the habits of morality, and the spirit of charity and gratitude; In this place of earthly beauty, let us take instruction from nature, which displays the eternal truth of God. The deeper knowledge we acquire of nature will be the key to unlock the storehouse of creation and open to us the treasures of the universe; Let us also look far beyond this place, for we have a sacred charge to use our learning in service to others. We will serve our nation and seek to preserve its democracy through intelligent citizenship, knowing that an ignorant democracy can become the most oppressive and odious of tyrannies; Let us acknowledge the brotherhood of all peoples, extending our reach to those abroad — the sick in need of healing, the ignorant in need of learning, the hungry in need of nurture, the oppressed and enslaved in need of liberation; Let us begin to build an institution where those of limited means will have manifold opportunities offered to them. Let us help to elevate them out of the obscurity to which they seem by economic circumstance to be so hopelessly condemned; Let our school, as it grows, become an instrument of higher learning in diverse disciplines so that it may prepare young people for useful service to others in many fields of endeavor; But in the end, let us never forget that even the highest learning without virtue is like a torch in the hands of a lunatic. Our torch must burn forever with one flame — a single bright fire emitting both intellectual and moral light as it illuminates our path. Amen.

Lucky 13

Alumni records 1,360

celebrate birthdays on the 13th of the month

366

got married on the 13th

972

of their children were born on the 13th

were born on the 13th AND have children born on the 13th

live at house number 13

190

have 13 in their e-mail address

Colgate people can recite the words

“13 men with 13 dollars and 13 prayers” backward and forward in their sleep. But there are also plenty of obscure ways that lucky number 13 plays out for Raiders. As Colgate heads into the “Year of 13,” we offer some intriguing tidbits.

Ever do the math on Hamilton’s zip code?

13 3+4+6= 13 When the college was chartered in 1819, its constitution had 13 articles. 11 current Raider athletes wear the number 13. The women’s volleyball team is scheduled for 13 home matches this season.

Colgate’s motto, “Deo ac Veritati” (For God and for Truth), has 13 letters.

Memorial Chapel’s tower bell isn’t rung very often, but when the occasion arises, it will toll 13 times.

There are 13 stairs between each landing in Alumni Hall.

13 Page 13 is the showplace

The dinosaur egg in the Robert M. Linsley Geology Museum is one of a clutch of 13.

There are 13 buildings on campus where academic classes are being held in 2012–2013.

There are two Colgate Days (Friday the 13th) in 2013 — in September and December.

for Colgate tradition, history, and school spirit.

Professor Kiko Galvez’s photon quantum mechanics lab is transforming physics education. Here, Galvez (left) shows David Craig (middle) of Le Moyne College and Walter Smith of Haverford College a demonstration.

scene: Autumn 2012

FSEM132, CORE139 Election Methods and Voting Techniques Chris Nevison, professor of computer science MWF 12:20-1:10, McGregory 320 Andrew Daddio

life of the mind 14

Syllabus

Taking quantum mechanics beyond theory

While physicists consider the centuryold theory of quantum mechanics to be the most successful physical theory ever invented, they have spent several decades figuring out the best way to teach it. Professor Enrique “Kiko” Galvez is at the forefront of that effort. Starting in 1999 with a grant from the National Science Foundation, Charles Holbrow, now an emeritus professor, and Galvez embarked on a project that at the time seemed farfetched and bold. Taking advantage of stunning research discoveries of only a decade earlier, they created a series of physics experiments that could illustrate the most puzzling abstractions of quantum mechanics in the laboratory for undergraduates to see. “By 2005, we had not only satisfied our wildest expectations, but we also started disseminating and designing prototypes that others could adopt,” Galvez said. For the lay person, Galvez explained it this way: “The predictions of quantum mechanics rely on philosophically troubling precepts, such as ‘superposition,’ where, taken to an extreme case, objects can be traveling through two separate openings at the same time. “Another example,” he explained, “is ‘realism,’ where the physical reality of an object can be undefined, meaning that an object can be two distinct things at once. And then there’s ‘nonlocality,’ where two objects can be so

intrinsically linked, or ‘entangled,’ that doing something to one affects the other instantly, regardless of where it is.’” Previously, these predictions, and others, were considered impractical for classroom instruction in physics. “Quantum mechanics everywhere was taught in a mechanistic sense,” he said. “That is, using the mathematics and predictive power of the theory, but ignoring its philosophical consequences.” So, in order to get students excited about experimentation, Galvez created a way to show that these fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics are true. “We see them in action right before our eyes — although not literally, as the light is too weak for our eyes to see them. But at least they are within an arm’s length! We use light, which in the quantum world is made of photons. So we call them ‘photon quantum mechanics laboratories.’” Galvez has given talks at national and international conferences about the experiments, which led to the hosting of annual workshops at Colgate, where professors from some of the nation’s leading research universities learn how to replicate the experiments in their own labs. The most recent workshop, in August, welcomed professors from Haverford, the University of San Diego, and elsewhere. It was sponsored by the Advanced Lab Physics Association and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Course description: This course gives us tools to assess the fairness of U.S. election methods and how policy decisions relate to the process in terms of both voting technology and different ways of conducting elections. On the reading list: Chaotic Elections, Donald Saari Deliver the Vote, Tracy Campbell Stealing Elections, John Fund Electronic Elections, Michael Alvarez and Thad Hall Key assignments and activities: Examination of case studies. Labs held to construct profiles on voting methods. End-of-semester debates. The professor says: “Our course of study will lead to current debates about voting technology: How effective are different modern systems — such as electronically scanned paper ballots and direct recording electronic voting machines — for accurately and securely recording votes and protecting against voting fraud? How can we systematically compare and weigh the risks associated with different voting methods?”

Natalie Sportelli ’15

our students to read and think more deeply.” Since the workshop’s inception, attendance numbers have grown, with several Colgate alumni participating this summer. Teachers were able to join the program free of charge thanks to funding by Colgate’s Division of the Arts and Humanities, the Upstate Institute, the dean of the faculty, and departments within the humanities division. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Colgate’s third-annual Humanities Workshop for High School Teachers

Witherspoon explained that the program aims to “provide [teachers with] intellectual nourishment and exploration of ideas that can guide their growth as educators.” He added that the workshop is meant to act as a springboard for sharing ideas, from educator to educator. The teachers, from high schools across upstate New York, gained a greater perspective into college and graduate-level teaching strategies of humanities-related course material. “[The workshop] offered me a chance to stretch my brain a little bit,” said Annalea Sininger, a teacher at Union-Endicott High School. “We think about higher philosophical questions, then look to see how we can bring them to a level where we can teach

With curricular reform that involved Colgate professors Joe Amato and Beth Parks, Colgate students taking the first-semester physics course get a unique experience: an exposure to quantum mechanics with a lab on superposition. At the upper level, the curriculum is even more daring: “Colgate is only one of two schools in the country that has an actual laboratory section for Quantum Mechanics,” said Galvez. “Everywhere else, it’s just a theory course.”

Intellectual nourishment for high school teachers

Students working in neuroscience professor Deb Kreiss’s lab got firsthand experience treating their own obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients: lab rats. By inducing OCDlike symptoms in the rats, Kreiss and her students have conducted studies that will facilitate future development of better methods to treat the more than three million humans with OCD. The research builds on the theses of two Colgate graduates. Data from research in 2011 by students in Kreiss’s lab suggest that injecting rats with clomipramine (a drug used to treat OCD in humans) during the rats’ early lives (neonatal period) produces OCDlike behaviors when the rats reach adulthood. The researchers assessed a variety of OCD behaviors in the rats, including exploration in a maze, marble burying, and food hoarding. The researchers were able to see a significant difference in behavioral symptoms between lab rats treated with clomipramine during the neonatal period and control rats that

L to R: Professor Deb Kreiss, Jenny Panger ’15, and Lillian Laiks ’15 observe and record a lab rat’s obsessive behavior.

Natalie Sportelli ’15

The words of Shakespeare, Saint Augustine, and John Perry echoed their wisdom anew as 16 high school teachers participated in Colgate’s annual Humanities Workshop for High School Teachers July 23 through 27. This year’s workshop centered on exploring literature with motifs pertaining to “Cultivating Memory, Creating Identity.” It was led by philosophy professors Ed Witherspoon and David McCabe, English professor Susan Cerasano, and French professor Patrick Riley. In selecting this year’s theme, the professors chose literary works that offer a window into the human identity, from The Merchant of Venice and Maus to The Ethics of Memory and A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. “We thought it was a good time to explore issues like: What is our identity as human individuals? and What is the community identity of a culture or a group?” said Witherspoon, the program’s director.

Researching OCD treatment

Live and learn In August, several members of LASO (the Latin American Student Organization) traveled to Santiago, Chile, to compete in the World Universities Debate Tournament in Spanish. LASO president Gabriella Cortes ’13 reflected: As Christopher Mendoza ’13, Cindy Gaete ’15, Arlene Robles ’15, Rose Quispe ’13, and I embarked on our new adventure, we felt nervous, but ready to take on a new challenge. At the opening ceremony, the 72 debate teams were announced, representing universities from Spain, the United States, and several South American nations. We were up against the best teams from each university, which meant the competition included talented people who had been doing this for much longer than we had. We prepared to be pushed in such a way that would bring out the best in each of us. Before going on the trip, we prepared for four months with John Adams, coordinator of the Colgate Speaking Union, and Jimmy Salgado Juarez ’15, an experienced debater. We met weekly throughout the summer via Skype. We started out training in English and then practiced in Spanish. John mentioned throughout that “You learn a lot more by being part of a real debate competition.” And that’s exactly what we found. The debate subjects ranged from international topics such as the North Korean nuclear plan to more philosophical ones like “Without God, there is no law.” The first debate we did was on immunity for dictators if they give up their power. Admittedly, after this first debate, I felt defeated and embarrassed — but I learned a lot over the next few days. We had great support from Dean Thomas Cruz-Soto, who took notes on how to improve. We gradually saw improvements in ourselves — and other students noticed as well, giving us suggestions and answering our questions. The biggest lesson I learned was to not only consider others’ opinions, but also to support my own. I have grown much more confident, and I plan to continue using all the skills I’ve learned.

News and views for the Colgate community

Nathan Lynch ’14

Native Americans perform at the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, one of the religious communities studied by Nathan Lynch ’14.

received a placebo during the same early life stage. Further experiments on the rats in their adulthood by student researchers during summer 2012 revealed that medications used to treat OCD such as fluoxetin or Prozac made the neonatal-clomipramine– treated rats act more like the placebotreated control rats. “It’s so interesting to see what is happening; you can’t ask a rat, ‘How do you feel about this, are you feeling a little OCD today?’” said research assistant Lillian Laiks ’15, who worked with Jenny Panger ’15 and Lauren Kasparson ’15 last summer. Now entering the second phase of their research, the team will inves-

William Peck

life of the mind

tigate the harvested brains of the clomipramine-treated and control rats to determine the protein content of specific brain regions known to be altered in OCD patients. Similarities between abnormalities in the neural circuitry of clomipramine-treated rats and human OCD patients would support this protocol in rats as an effective animal model for testing future strategies for the treatment of OCD. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

These geology majors spent nearly six weeks in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and several national parks over the summer as part of Geology 320: Techniques in Field Geology, taught by professors Karen Harpp, Amy Leventer, William Peck, and Bruce Selleck. In addition to the Rockies, the class conducted research at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho, Yellowstone National Park, the Flaming Gorge area of Utah, and the Wyoming Basin Province.

scene: Autumn 2012

Diversity and Devotion in Utica

On a hot afternoon in July, young children sifted through clothing, household items, food, and toiletries in the Caring Corner at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Utica. Their families, mostly Karen refugees from Burma, are the newest, but largest, percentage of the church’s congregation. “Because the kids are the ones who speak English, many of them do the shopping for their families,” explained Nathan Lynch ’14. “The church converted their balcony into a store to give out supplies to the refugees because food stamps only go so far; plus, they can’t buy non-edibles with them.” This scene of a religious institution addressing the needs of its shifting community is just one that Lynch witnessed while conducting research last summer on the melting pot of religious diversity found in Utica. Lynch, who wrote journalistic profiles that both reflect trends in the city and feed into the changes that are happening, said, “The city has a dynamic immigrant population that is filling the void left by the aging of other ethnic groups who traditionally resided there. So we’re seeing religious buildings, and even whole church denominations, start to cater to the needs of these new citizens.” A news editor at the Colgate Maroon-News, Lynch became interested in delving more deeply into this phenomenon after writing an article last fall for the paper’s “Portraits of Belief” — a series chronicling aspects of religion in the community. He wrote about a Bosnian Islamic group in Utica who purchased a former Methodist church and converted it into a mosque. “This was happening at the same time as the Ground Zero mosque debacle,” explained Lynch. “So, there were these two contrasting stories, one of controversy and this other of community support.” Religion professor Georgia Frank, who has visited the mosque in

Utica with her classes, saw the article. “She told me, ‘You could turn this into a whole summer research project,’” Lynch said. In addition to interviewing clergy and congregation members, Lynch, an English/creative writing and history double major, attended services and Sunday schools, and did historical research to provide context to these contemporary situations. The Scarborough, Maine, resident kept a blog called Diversity and Devotion in Utica and hopes to publish his work in the Maroon-News, as well as in an external religion journal. Lynch, who pursued a youthoriented angle for some of his profiles, said that two strong themes emerged: “One is of communities being revitalized and new congregations starting. The other is of walls of ethnicities breaking down.” In addition to Tabernacle Baptist Church, Lynch also profiled: a traditionally Syrian and Lebanese Antiochian Orthodox church that has attracted converts from many other religions and parts of the world; a Buddhist temple whose members are mainly Vietnamese; the increasingly diverse membership of the oldest, largest Catholic church in Utica; and two 19th-century women from the region canonized as Catholic saints this year, Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Marianne Cope, who ministered to lepers in Hawaii. Lynch’s portraits covered both the positives as well as the challenges and controversies faced by the communities, from poverty to cultural clashes.

Little white lies

We’ve all done it — when self-doubt creeps in before a big event, we pump ourselves up with inflated notions that may not be entirely accurate. Psychology professor Carrie Keating has been one of the researchers looking into this natural act of self-deception. In a recent study, she found that female students who take leadership positions on campus score higher on measures of self-deception. Women in leadership positions may have to “conveniently forget about some negatives [such as the fact that] women who behave in a dominant fashion may be perceived as more masculine,” Keating explained to the Wall Street Journal. Her research has also attracted the attention of Cosmopolitan.

In another recent study led by Keating, women were instructed to sketch outlines of their bodies on sheets of paper. Then, some were asked to read a story about dating while the others were asked to read about buildings and architecture. When the women went back to the drawing board, those who had read about dating sketched themselves as slimmer compared to their earlier drawings. And those who read about architecture didn’t vary their sketches much. Keating believes that the women who drew themselves differently after reading the dating story actually perceived themselves that way because they “subscribed to the feminine thinness ideal and were motivated to block out perceived negative information about their bodies” in order to be more confident about dating. Researchers don’t concur on what happens in the brain during selfdeception. On the other hand, they do agree that while self-deception is common, it can beome an unhealthy habit if it spirals out of control.

Exploring racial identity

For Kelsey John ’13, understanding and integrating her ethnic heritage has been a journey. “My parents always told me I was Navajo and a mix of European but never in a way that created a dichotomy,” she said. “I always felt like outsiders defined me differently even though I didn’t necessarily feel different.” Over the summer, John took an academic look at an intensely personal experience. In an attempt to look beyond well-established racial identity

models, she sat down with several of her fellow biracial/multiracial Colgate undergraduates, listened to their identity stories, and noted how their narratives defy categorization. “A lot of models are very rigid, and they all seem to have a solid outcome,” said John. “What I’ve found in my own life is that there’s very rarely a solid outcome; it’s a fluid motion.” John piloted her project while traveling with Professor John Palmer and Colgate’s South Korea Study Group in fall 2011. During her months abroad, she conducted interviews with multiracial South Korean school students, surveying their conceptions of what it means to be Korean, or black, or white. “I wanted to take the idea and bring it back to Colgate and explore the identities of multiracial people on campus, because I believe they provide a unique perspective on how we think about race.” To gain access to that perspective, John developed interview questions based on her knowledge of current scholarship and the biographies of prominent biracial individuals. The answers she received highlighted the ongoing impact of racial classification. “We live in a world that still buys into the idea of racial categorization, whether biologically or socially constructed,” she said, “and this is what the students are touching on — that it is an oppressive mechanism.” But, she draws a positive conclusion from her transcripts: “These students are bringing new perspectives and new identities into the conversation, helping society think about race differently for the first time.”

Aveni to receive premier award

Professor Tony Aveni is the recipient of the 2013 Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Research, given to a scientist in recognition of interdisciplinary excellence that has contributed to American archaeology. Aveni, the Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of astronomy and anthropology and Native American studies, will be given what has been called the premier award for interdisciplinary research in archaeology. Aveni will formally receive the award at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology next April in Honolulu. There will be a half-day symposium in his honor. Kelsey John ’13

Get to know: Zhou Tian, assistant professor of music

Born in Hangzhou, China, Zhou Tian began studying music composition as a middle-school student at the Shanghai Conservatory. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, a master’s at Juilliard, and a doctorate at the University of Southern California. Tian arrived at Colgate in 2011. Tell us about your recent projects. Last summer, I worked on two projects in China. One was to record Poems from the Song Dynasty, a commissioned work I composed for mixed chorus and full orchestra in 2011. The CD was released in China this fall. The second project was to prepare for the U.S. premiere of my Grand Canal Symphonic Suite, performed by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at its season opening in October. It was originally commissioned to celebrate the Grand Canal of China as a permanent world heritage site. The suite was performed during a nationally televised celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and was selected as a theme at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Now I’m working on an orchestral piece commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Describe the composition process. Imagine working alone every day for six months, and during that time you’re imagining the whole orchestra playing. I use a piano to give a sense of what’s being created, but that’s nothing compared to the real thing. All that time, the piece is in my head. After I write it out and submit the work, it’s going to be three to four months before it’s prepared for a premiere. That’s when I go to the first rehearsal, where I hear someone play my music for the first time. The orchestra, the conductor, the concert master — everyone is there for the piece I created. It’s a lot of pressure, but I know I’ve created something I like, and it’s a magical moment. Critics note Chinese, French, and American influences in your music. Where did you pick up your international style? Every time I write a piece, I try not to think about Chinese elements, because I know they’re in my blood. As for American culture and music, I just love it. I’m fortunate to have studied with top-tier composition teachers in this country — like Pulitzer Prize winners Jennifer Higdon and Christopher Rouse. So the American influence came from my education. I played a lot of French piano music when I was young, and early 20th-century French composers — Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel — were among the first to adopt Asian culture in their music. Perhaps that’s why I feel close to French classical music. How do you teach others to create music? Composers need to be very expressive of what’s in their minds. If they have nothing to say, it’s just exercises. We learn the most from listening to other works critically. A sensitive and sophisticated ear, combined with music theory, allows us to develop a stronger inner hearing so we can “hear” the sound of the finished work in our head while composing. In general, students start by writing short piano pieces, then they go to piano-plus-one before they complete a short piece for a small ensemble. I always invite musicians in to play student-composers’ works, because hearing a performance is perhaps the best lesson a composer could have. — Mark Walden

News and views for the Colgate community

Professor DeWitt Godfrey’s Concordia sculpture in Lexington, Ky., weighs 14,000 pounds and took 14 hours to install.

known for world-class public art, according to the Herald-Leader newspaper and a video by LexArts, the sponsoring organization. It was chosen by local citizens from among hundreds of submissions and 14 finalists. Next stop: the renowned Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., where it took four days to install Lincoln, the largest work of art ever featured on the property. The 30,000-lb structure, composed of 72 cylinders, was commissioned as a permanent installation. “Each of my installations responds directly to its site and context, literally and referentially,” said Godfrey. “Lincoln flows down the slope, nestled into the side of the hill, quoting the dry-stack stone walls that define the New England landscape.” And finally, after a 500-mile road trip to Lehman College in the Bronx, Godfrey and Jackson installed the smallest of the three works. “In and out in 36 hours. A new world record,” Godfrey posted on Facebook. Layman, a long, low sculpture, fits under a pedestrian overpass where, Godfrey said, “it redefines and reframes a marginalized architectural feature,” blocking and channeling some of the light. Godfrey relied on Jackson’s help with planning, building models and cylinders, assisting with all of the installations, and driving the occasional truck. “We started as teacher and student, and became colleagues and collaborators,” Godfrey said. “It is hard to imagine how I could have completed this work without him.”

Three huge installations. Six weeks. Three cities. No small task for any artist, but especially so for one whose sculptures weigh thousands of pounds and have to be hauled by tractor trailer to their ultimate destinations. The logistics alone could use a creative genius. And, of course, there’s the actual art, which can be in development for months or even years. This summer, art professor DeWitt Godfrey, along with Chase Jackson ’13, traveled more than 2,400 miles, starting from Colgate’s Paul J. Schupf Studio in Hamilton, for 13 days of installation — during a heat wave that at one point topped 105 degrees. They clogged highway traffic with flatbed semis, and intrigued street gawkers with gargantuan cranes and lifts. First stop: Lexington, Ky., for the installation of Concordia, a stack of 15 giant steel cylinders that sit atop the roof of an early 20th-century art deco building on Main Street, and lean against the taller wall of the building next door. “Concordia forms a figurative buttress on the roof of the Downtown Art Center,” said Godfrey. “It shoulders the structure as art supports community.” Concordia’s installation is part of the southern city’s goal to become

Living Writers goes international

DeWitt Godfrey

arts & culture

Heavy lifting for public art

scene: Autumn 2012

This semester, Rebecca Friedland ’13, a double major in peace and conflict studies and pre-med, is reading about revolution and war in Peru, Iran, Africa, and elsewhere around the globe. That’s in her English class. The stories have begun coming to life through the classroom visits of nine authors whose works have an international bent — including Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, Azar Nafisi, and Alexandra Fuller — for Colgate’s Living Writers series. The first live author event took place on September 13, when Ha Jin visited Friedland’s classroom to talk about his book Waiting, a love story set during China’s cultural revolution. Friedland and her classmates had the chance to ask about anything that piqued their interest. The author later

Preview

Herakles Block Directed by Thomas Irmer November 14–16, 8 p.m. November 17, 2 and 8 p.m. Little Brehmer Theater Limited seating; call the box office at 315-228-7641 for information Herakles Block will synthesize two short texts written by iconic playwright Heiner Müller. Considered the most important German playwright in the second half of the 20th century, Müller is best known for his Hamletmachine (1977) and Quartet (1982). In addition, he wrote poetry and prose poems, all the time attempting to blur the lines between texts for the stage and texts for the page. Working closely with Thomas Irmer, Colgate’s Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Artist-in-Residence, students will not only act in the production, but will also develop a research workshop to combine two of Müller’s lesser-known works. The project will allow for a greater understanding of the playwright’s complex world and will follow his own ideas of collage and montage for freedom of interpretation and innovative staging.

For information on other arts events, visit the events calendar at colgate.edu

Renowned architect retained for art center plans

Colgate has partnered with David Adjaye, one of the world’s leading architects, to begin the design process for a new art and cultural center envisioned for the Village of Hamilton. In this initial phase of the project, Adjaye has been meeting with members of the community and studying the proposed space. He will articulate a vision for the scope and scale of the structure and create a schematic design and budget that can be used for future planning discussions with the village, as well as fundraising. Adjaye Associates is an internationally acclaimed practice with experience in creating cultural spaces around the world. It was chosen from among 12 firms that responded to Colgate’s request for proposal (RFP), which called for “a distinctive and stirring architectural solution” for 18-20 Utica Street. The building — the former site of Parry’s Hardware, which has relocated — is now owned by the Hamilton Initiative. The Colgate University Center for Art and Culture (CAC) would be a visible and public extension of the university’s commitment to the arts. The RFP outlined the CAC as a flexible space to accommodate a wide range of activities and audiences, with the potential to become a “transformative force in the university and the village.” Collections from Colgate’s Picker Art Gallery and Longyear Museum of Anthropology would be relocated to the new space. Adjaye is renowned for his artistic sensibility and passion for collabora-

Ed Reeve

gave a public talk in Persson Auditorium, and signed copies of his book. For Friedland, the opportunity to take this seminal Colgate course is an unexpected bonus in her senior year. “Living Writers ties in with my other classes, especially Human Rights and Human Security, where we are discussing authoritarian states and the violations within,” she said. First hosted nearly 25 years ago by the late professor and author Frederick Busch, Living Writers has acquired such a following that most events are streamed live online. Also, approximately 200 alumni, parents, and friends are participating in a truncated version of the course online. For more information, visit colgate. edu/livingwriters.

David Adjaye

tion and interdisciplinary dialogue. With offices in London, Berlin, and New York, he has been commissioned for prestigious residential, commercial, and educational projects in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world. Presently, he is lead architect for the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture and History, which is scheduled to open in 2015 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He is also working on a neighborhood in Doha, Qatar, and an urban revitalization project integrating affordable housing, education, and cultural resources in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood. “It was not just Adjaye’s significant talent and experience, but also his sensibilities about the importance of the surrounding environment and the impact his buildings can make on the community that led us to enthusiastic support of his selection,” said David

Hale ’84, Colgate’s vice president for finance and administration. “What is important to me about this scale of project is that it allows me to make very special, jewel-like buildings,” said Adjaye. “I really love being able to engage the community, to talk about sustainability, to talk about creativity, to talk about innovation, outreach, and education.” On a recent visit to Hamilton, Adjaye said that architecture, for him, is about two things: people and light. “To understand people’s interpretations — of home, public, civic, rural, urban spaces — has been fascinating, because it’s different everywhere. And it’s also about light: the discourse of light is absolutely different to each latitude and longitude.” Calling the light in Hamilton “luminescent,” Adjaye will scientifically study the angles and colors of the light as well as visit the site in different light conditions. “I need to understand how people use the light that’s available to them in their day, and how they use their day,” he explained.

The Strong and Silent type

Returning to campus in September to install his exhibition Strong and Silent, artist and photographer Mark Robbins ’77 could see clearly how his artistic growth began at Colgate. Explaining the earliest work in the show — three short experimental films Robbins made as a student — he said: “They have to do with issues relating to gender roles in sports and social life at Colgate, which was still a predominantly male institution when I was a student. Those themes, and the ideas discussed in my liberal arts classes, are evident in my work today.”

“[The exhibition] reflects broadly on Mark’s interests in history and fiction, in the figure and style, and in social order and decorum,” said art and art history professor Linn Underhill. Strong and Silent, which ran through October, looked at the evolution of Robbins’s portfolio, highlighting artwork he produced as a student as well as his more recent pieces. Until recently, he was dean of the Syracuse University School of Architecture; he is now executive director of the International Center of Photography in New York City. In Playbook, a new large-scale mural created for this exhibition, he places contemporary Colgate football players within the iconographic space of classical friezes. In close proximity, viewers find photographs of neo-classical male sculptures, which portray the theme of the masculine form and the body in motion as a “kind of choreography.” Robbins gave a lecture about his work preceding the opening reception for the exhibition. There, Riana Lum ’13, a student in Professor Lynn Schwarzer’s ARTS 405: Issues in Recent Art class, asked about the Playbook mural, which was set tightly opposite a wall where viewers could stand. Lum wanted to know why Robbins created such a small distance for the audience to take in the expansive mural. Robbins reflected on how a person is affected by space and how we alter and create atmospheres. “His setup of the exhibition further emphasized this by really forcing the viewer to interact with the artwork,” Lum said. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

A rendering of Playbook, a large-scale mural that Mark Robbins ’77 created for his Strong and Silent exhibition in the Clifford Gallery.

News and views for the Colgate community

Courtesy of the Green Bay Packers

go ’gate

In August, the Green Bay Packers and their president, Mark Murphy ’77, hosted Nate Eachus ’12 and his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in an NFL preseason football game.

In the NFL preseason, former Colgate football standout and All-American Nate Eachus ’11 reported to Kansas City Chiefs camp as an undrafted free agent and impressed the team’s management enough to make the roster. “I made the team, but I’m not done yet. I want to help this team win,” Eachus told his hometown-area newspaper The Standard Speaker of Hazleton, Pa. “I understand what my role is as a rookie. I’ll do what it takes, be it on special teams or whatever, to help make K.C. a winner.” Earning playing time during the preseason, Eachus started with joining the first team in the opening game as a fullback after injuries decimated others in the position. He wasn’t able to touch the ball in that game, but made up for it in the final two preseason contests. After a 98-yard rushing

Patriot League membership additions

Bob Cornell

At the third-annual Kick with the Raiders event, kids got autographs from men’s and women’s soccer players and competed in relay races, shooting on the goalies, and one-on-one matches against the players.

Nate Eachus makes Kansas City Chiefs roster

scene: Autumn 2012

performance on 10 carries against the Seattle Seahawks, Eachus survived the first round of cuts. He had runs of 20 and 17 yards on his first two attempts and followed those with five more runs of 11 or more yards. He scored a rushing touchdown late in the game for Kansas City’s lone score in a 44-7 loss. In addition, Eachus laid a great block to allow quarterback Brady Quinn into open space to scamper for 41 yards. The block caught the attention of many on the coaching staff, including head coach Romeo Crennel. Eachus continued his success in the backfield in the preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers. The Drums, Pa., native came through with another brilliant performance, with a team-high 99 yards on 21 carries. He ended up rushing for 206 yards during the preseason, which ranked him third in the National Football League. However, Eachus had an uphill battle — the team had already set Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis as the Chiefs’ top two running backs. Kansas City originally planned to keep four backs on the roster, but because of Eachus’s performance, the team kept five. He made his NFL debut on September 9 with the Chiefs. “I’ve dreamed about this my whole life,” Eachus told The Standard Speaker. “I always believed I could make it this far.”

The Patriot League has announced two new members that will join the league in 2013–2014. Boston University and Loyola University of Maryland accepted invitations into the conference, which increases the membership to 10 full members. Boston University — which will join in 18 sports — has had a remarkable recent history in numerous sports, including winning the Commissioner’s Cup in the America East for the past seven years. During that time, the Terriers have won 40 America East Conference championships in 14 sports. Signing on in late August, the Loyola Greyhounds will compete in 17 sports in the league and just recorded one of the school’s finest years on the field. The men’s lacrosse team won the NCAA title, while the women’s lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, and the men’s bas-

ketball team competed in the NCAA Tournament. Lacrosse and basketball were key elements in the decision for both schools to be invited. The Terriers and Greyhounds have nationally ranked programs in women’s lacrosse, which will make the league stronger. Women’s lacrosse will now get an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, with eight teams playing in the conference. Neither school competes in football.

Vicky Chun ’91 named interim athletic director

Upon the departure of David Roach, Vicky Chun ’91, MA’94, was named interim director of athletics on August 1 and will carry on the duties while a nationwide search is conducted this year. Chun became senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator in October of 2008, after serving as associate director of athletics beginning in July of 2007. She has overseen corporate sponsorship, event management, marketing, and promotions, as well as all personnel matters for the division. In addition, Chun has had supervisory duties for several teams, the sports medicine staff, and the Outdoor Education Program. She has also served as the administrative liaison for Daktronics Sports Marketing, ECAC Hockey, and Colgate’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. “We are very fortunate to have someone of Vicky’s experience ready to lead the athletics division,” said President Jeffrey Herbst. “Given her years with Colgate and her involvement in athletic leadership positions in organizations around the country, I am confident the athletics department will excel in the short- and longterm future.” Nationally, Chun serves on the NCAA Championships cabinet and the executive board of the National Association of College Women Athletics Administrators, where she also chairs the Professional Development and Educational Committee. On campus, Chun serves on the Colgate Disciplinary Conduct Board, the university’s Advisory and Planning Committee, and as chair of the Faculty Affirmative Action Oversight Committee. She was inducted into the Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor in 1999, and has received the Howard Hartmann Award and the Maroon Citation.

Raider Nation

Fan spotlights with Jamie Mitchell, assistant athletic director

Baum shines at Vail lacrosse shootout

Peter Baum ’13, the 2012 Tewaaraton Award winner, traveled to Vail, Colo., over the summer for the 40th annual Vail Lacrosse Shootout, which featured some of the best players in the country suiting up against each other in a bracket-style tournament. Baum played for the Maverik Elite team, which faced off in the championship game against a Merrill Lynch squad that featured Tewaaraton Award finalist Will Manny of the University of Massachusetts. Baum scored three goals in helping Maverik to the title with a 16-10 win, and he was named the tournament’s most valuable offensive player. In the semifinals of the tournament, Baum led Maverik with an impressive six goals in a 19-7 win to earn a spot in the championship game. The 10-day Vail Shootout features men’s and women’s elite teams, while Despite the Raiders’ 10-0 lead early in the second quarter of the season opener for Colgate and Albany, the Great Danes came out on top with a 40-23 victory on their home turf.

also hosting high school teams and master’s squads. The event is considered the most prestigious annual club lacrosse tournament in the world, according to its website.

New softball head coach

Melissa Finley is the new head softball coach at Colgate, coming to Hamilton after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania. While with the Quakers, she was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. As Finley’s first recruiting class led the way, Penn won the 2012 Ivy League South Division title in 2012. She led the on-field practice planning and instruction for outfield, hitting, and pitching, and also was the director of the team’s softball camps. “We are thrilled to have Melissa Finley as head softball coach,” said Vicky Chun, interim director of athletics. “She brings a tremendous wealth of experience as an extremely decorated student-athlete at Princeton, and as a successful assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania.” Prior to her coaching career, Finley was a four-year starter in the circle and also in centerfield for Princeton. She had a career record of 22-18 and batted .334 in her four seasons. She led the Tigers to three NCAA Regional Tournament appearances by winning three Ivy League championships (2002, 2003, 2005). She was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2003 and an All-Ivy selection all four years. Finley holds Princeton’s all-time and single-season records for home runs and is third all-time on the list for RBIs. While at Princeton, she was a member of the Canadian National Softball Team and played in the Pan Am Games in 2003, the Canada Cup (2003, 2004), the U.S. Cup in 2003, and the International Sports Invitational in 2005. Finley graduated from Princeton in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. She also earned a degree in marketing from the Wharton School of Business at Penn in 2010 and got her master’s in organizational dynamics from Penn in 2011. Bob Cornell

“As a fierce advocate of the Raider Nation, I have learned how to lead with passion and determination from our past three athletic directors: Dave Roach, Mark Murphy ’77, and Fred Dunlap ’50,” Chun said. “I am excited to partner with President Herbst, Dean Doug Hicks, the Board of Trustees, and, of course, the incredible Colgate students, coaches, staff, faculty, alumni, and parents as we continue to emphasize the important role athletics plays in developing strong, capable leaders at Colgate.”

Beth Holcomb

Athletics administrative assistant Game: Volleyball; lost to Syracuse 3-1, 8/24/12 What is your favorite sporting event? I will not miss a men’s hockey home game. The atmosphere is amazing … the music, the crowd, the action on the ice — it’s thrilling! Plus, I know most all of the student-athletes on the team and they are all wonderful young men who are a blast to watch compete. What’s it like working with our student-athletes? I wouldn’t call it work at all. These young men and women are all incredibly talented, intelligent, and dedicated … who wouldn’t want to work with people like that? What athletics events are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to seeing the Spink [Tyson ’16 and Tylor ’16] brothers on the men’s hockey team. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching them (hopefully) on the ice at the same time! I predict they will be our ‘secret weapons’!

Mark Linebaugh ’04

Colgate’s director of men’s basketball operations Game: Field hockey; 5-1 victory over Siena, 8/30/12 What was your favorite moment as a Colgate studentathlete? A home game during my junior season against American — we made a half-court shot as time expired and won. It was Senior Day, and that was a really special group of seniors that year, so to have their final home game end that way has always stuck in my mind. How does it feel to now work at your alma mater? I am extremely appreciative of this opportunity. Coach Langel has put a great staff together with guys who truly care about our kids and our school. I am excited to be able to help give back to the program that gave so much to me. What was your favorite game that you watched as a student-athlete? It is hard to choose between the 2003 football playoff game that we hosted in a heavy snowstorm and that sent our guys to the national semi-final, and our 2004 women’s basketball team who won the Patriot League Championship on Cotterell Court. It was an exciting time to be part of the Colgate community.

Nicole Zenker ’13

Game: Men’s soccer; tied American 1-1, 9/22/12 What are your career aspirations? I am looking into either becoming involved in sports marketing or a teacher. I am working as a sports marketing and promotions intern for Colgate athletics, to gain experience in the field. What groups and organizations do you participate in? I am the captain of the women’s club soccer team, as well as a campus tour guide. Also, I am affiliated with Greek life, as part of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. I am part of the Waterville Elementary club, which involves student teaching in that school district. What advice would you give prospective students looking to attend Colgate? You only have four years — don’t waste your time. Get involved in as many things as possible. If you are interested in something, do it for yourself and not for anyone else. Also, have fun!

News and views for the Colgate community

new, noted , & quoted

Books, music & film Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists. The Vitamin Cure for Women’s Health Problems Helen Saul Case ’00 (Basic Health Publications) The Vitamin Cure for Women’s Health Problems — a recent installment in The Vitamin Cure series — is a reference for discovering natural, drug-free alternatives for healthy, everyday dietary supplementation or when traditional medicine disappoints. Helen Saul Case supports her knowledge of orthomolecular nutrition and its use for women’s health problems with extensive research into the scientific studies of nutrition and supplementation. She also shares how good nutritional guidance, natural alternative options, and reliable vitamins are cures that are generally not offered as options in the modern medical tool bag. Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War R.M. Douglas (Yale University Press) Immediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized and helped Orderly and Humane to carry out the forced relocation of German speakers from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany. The numbers were almost unimaginable — between 12 million and 14 million civilians, most of them women and children — and the losses horrifying. At least 500,000 people, and perhaps many more, died while detained in former concentration camps, while locked in trains en route, or after arriving in Germany exhausted, malnourished, and homeless. A Colgate history professor, R.M. Douglas The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War

R. M . DOUGLAS

scene: Autumn 2012

is the first to tell the full story of this man-made upheaval. Based mainly on archival records of the countries that carried out the forced migrations and of the international humanitarian organizations that tried to prevent the disastrous results, the book examines an aspect of European history that few have desired to confront. Integration and Peace in East Africa: A History of the Oromo Nation Tsega Etefa (Palgrave Macmillan) In Integration and Peace in East Africa, Colgate history professor Tsega Etefa analyzes the development of indigenous religious, commercial, and political institutions among the Oromo (the largest ethnic group in East Africa), primarily focusing on two relatively peaceful centuries in its history. The people of the Oromo nation have promoted peace, cultural assimilation, and ethnic integration. From 1704 to 1882, the nation witnessed flourishing commerce and communication networks that advanced the maturation of Oromo law and government, integration of foreign ideas, and assimilation of the Oromo into other East African cultures. The Forbidden Book Joscelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro (The Disinformation Company) The Forbidden Book is a multifaceted mystery that focuses on the sensitive and serious issue of religious extremism. The evocative setting of Venice and the Veneto dominates the story’s action, supplemented by vivid scenes in Santiago de Compostela, Provence, Washington, and the Vatican. Occult beliefs and practices fuel the action as the main characters become embroiled in an aristocratic sex-magick plot. On one level, this is a murder mystery set against the conflicts of Islam and the West, but the book also delves into

knowledge based on Guido Mina di Sospiro’s expertise in Catholicism and Colgate music professor Joscelyn Godwin’s studies of the Western esoteric tradition. Underlying the fast-paced action are moral and political dilemmas, the conflict of religions, and the frightening possibilities of the occult. Contrast: A Biracial Man’s Journey to Desegregate His Past Devin Hughes ’91 (Round Table Press) In 1967, the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage. Devin Hughes was born two years later to a black father and white mother who fled to Washington, D.C., to escape the racism of the Deep South. Bigotry still ran rampant, and light-skinned, green-eyed Hughes felt its pull from both ends: strangers who didn’t know he was half black and friends who didn’t care that he was half white. Hughes was also consumed with his dysfunctional family life: a father who offered an alternative education in the form of “street life” and religious exploration, and a mother whose drug use zombified her. Despite his parents’ flaws, they were his greatest believers. They taught Hughes that anything was within reach, that their mistakes needn’t be his choices, and that he was destined for greatness. Relación del festejo que a los Marqueses de las Amarillas les hicieron las Señoras Religiosas del Convento de San Jerónimo (México, 1756) Edited by Frederick Luciani (Iberoamericana) Theater was frequently performed in the convents of Baroque Spain and the Spanish colonies, but relatively few works have survived. This scholarly edition of the text of a complete festejo — an evening of festive entertainment involving theater, music, and dance — gives new evidence of the vibrancy of this tradition. The festejo was performed by the nuns and lay women of the Convent of San Jerónimo in Mexico City in 1756 in honor of a visiting viceroy and his retinue. It included plays that were visually

In the media elaborate, secular in content, and jocular in tone, sometimes taking a satirical view of convent life itself. But under the cover of spectacle, praise, and self-deprecating humor, the Hieronymite nuns were adept at promoting the interests of their order and convent. Luciani — a Colgate professor of romance languages and literatures — transcribed and edited the text of the festejo that was originally written by Joaquin Barruchi y Arana in the 18th century. The Best Sunset in Venice Julian Padowicz ’54 (Fireship Press) A sequel to his novel Writer’s Block, The Best Sunset in Venice revisits Julian Padowicz’s cast of characters. Kip learns that his bride, the attractive widow Amanda, is not only creative, but also rather accident-prone. In Barcelona, she develops an allergic reaction that makes her face swell to the degree that she no longer resembles her passport photo, leading to the couple’s detainment in Spain. Upon returning to their home in Venice, Mass., they discover that Amanda’s late, abusive husband, Scott, is not quite as “late” as she represented him to be. Later helping to resolve the problem are personalities including a former Green Beret–turned-smuggler, a group of partying psychologists, and a woman colonel in the Israeli army. After a prolonged sojourn in Europe, the senior newlyweds, Kip and Amanda return to the coastal village of Venice, Massachusetts.

Kip is the kind of person who is accustomed to his bread always landing jam side down, so the retired literature professor has mixed feelings about the unexpected success of his new book. On one hand, he is thrilled more than he dares admit, even to himself. On the other, he is afraid that it’s all a dream from which he will wake up bitterly disappointed. However, what awaits him on his return are adventures as diverse as being befriended by a thrillseeking former Green Beret, getting analyzed by a group of partying psychologists, massaged by an outspoken woman colonel in the Israeli Army, and meeting his wife’s very deadly real husband. It’s the kind of thing that could only happen to the long-suffering “Kip” Kippur.

www.FireshipPress.com

Live Your Dreams, Change the World: The Psychology of Personal Fulfillment for Women James Campbell Quick ’68, David J. Gavin, and Joanne H. Gavin (American Mental Health Foundation Books) By interviewing successful females who have overcome challenges to reach their full potential — Helen Thomas, Brooke Shields, Ebby Halliday, and others — James Campbell Quick and his co-authors offer a comprehensive view of setting and achieving

goals in Live Your Dreams, Change the World. This book is intended to act as a primer for women who aspire to live fulfilling lives while working in their chosen field of work. The Nature and Culture of Rattan: Reflections on Vanishing Life in the Forests of Southeast Asia Stephen Siebert ’78 (University of Hawai‘i Press) The Nature and Culture of Rattan examines the ecology, use, management, and cultural importance of one of the world’s most important forest products. Stephen Siebert has written about the knowledge, practices, and lives of rattan cane collectors and artisans in three southeastern Asian forest villages where he lived and worked for 25 years. Siebert focuses on crucial issues in tropical forest conservation and management, including government policies, household livelihood strategies, conflicts between local resource use, Western approaches to protected area management, and the value of integrating scientific inquiry with traditional ecological knowledge and practice. Also of Note: With Harlem Jazz Adventures: A European Baron’s Memoir, 1934–1969 (Scarecrow Press), Fradley Garner MA’70, international editor of Jersey Jazz, has translated and edited the memoirs of his friend Timme Rosenkrantz, a Danish baron who loved swinging jazz and wrote about the masters of Harlem back in the golden era of jazz. In Common Sense, Legal Sense, and Nonsense About Divorce (Xlibris Corporation), Lenard Marlow ’54 shares his expert advice in the field of divorce mediation. The book argues that divorcing husbands and wives deserve better than the legal system has given them, and explains how turning to the law can transform from representing legal nonsense to legal sense.

“The current generation of European leaders may be an uninspired one, lacking in what the elder President Bush called ‘The Vision Thing.’” — Ray Douglas, professor of history, commenting to Bloomberg News on the euro crisis and the ambivalence of the major European political powers

“It is really exciting to be the first person to look at a result, and even more exciting when the result can be made sense of on the theoretical side.” — Data analyst and physicist Ben Cerio ’07 shares his excitement in being part of proving the existence of the Higgs boson particle, on Eveningtribune.com (Hornell, N.Y.)

“You delete the e-mails, then you wind up missing the sales. We set out to build a tool to never miss a deal again.” — Katie Finnegan ’05 talks to Forbes about the motive behind creating Hukkster, a website designed to watch shoppers’ favorite sites for the best online sales

“Gesturing is a sort of middle ground between doing something and talking about something.”

— Spencer Kelly, associate professor of psychology, explains to NBCNEWS.com how gesturing is an integral part of communication

“Partnering with Patagonia Sur enables our students, professors, and alumni to experience the reforestation project firsthand, while also engaging in research and adventure in one of the most incredible places on earth.”

— John Pumilio, sustainability coordinator, tells the Globe Newswire about Colgate’s partnership with the Patagonia Sur’s University Conservation Circle

“We want to make it possible for Facebook or the U.S. Census Bureau to analyze sensitive data without leaking information about individuals.” — Michael Hay, assistant professor of computer science, speaks to technology review.com about a new mathematical technique developed to analyze large data sets of personal information without infringing on privacy rights

News and views for the Colgate community

Passion for the Climb lifts Colgate ever onward and upward

Geology professor Rich April recounts the first time he saw his lab. It was 1976. Buildings and facilities are where the magic happens; people and ideas embody the spirit of the place.

“Jim McLelland took me downstairs in Lathrop Hall to a

room with ‘Geochemistry’ on the door. He said, ‘This will be your lab.’ He opened the door, and there was only one piece of equipment in there: a pizza oven.”

he cornerstone on Lathrop Hall, home to the geology department when April arrived 36 years ago, reads “1905.” The cornerstone on the new Robert H.N. Ho ’56 Science Center, where today April and his colleagues from environmental studies, geography, geology, physics and astronomy, and biology keep their offices and labs (complete with millions of dollars worth of modern, sophisticated scientific instrumentation — and that pizza oven), says “2007.” The century between the dedication of Lathrop — a model science building when it opened — and of the Ho Science Center — a prototype for teaching and creating knowledge in the sciences today — is just one continuum among the many that make up the history and future of Colgate. There has always been, and will always be, the need for another new building, or facility, or piece of equipment. Colgate people always provide, and always will, so long as their university delivers — as it always has — on its promise to send out into the world successive generations of bright, creative, critical, global thinkers and doers. Buildings and facilities are where the magic happens; people and ideas embody the spirit of the place. As librarian, Joanne Schneider said of the new Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, “It’s a space for people — working alone, together, interacting. It’s like an incubator,” bringing to mind what President Emeritus Everett Needham Case said more than a quarter-century ago, at the

rededication of the library he had built anew in the 1950s: “It’s what’s inside that counts.” Through Passion for the Climb: The Campaign for Colgate, Colgate set out to fund its plan to amplify the mission of preparing every student for a life of success and leadership through the liberal arts. At a time when the nation’s economy was reeling, Colgate people made their university a priority. Colgate believers gave $480 million to Passion for the Climb — the sixth comprehensive campaign for funds in the university’s 193-year history — which closed its books June 30. Their support underwrites programs, centers, and institutes where professors and students vigorously pursue new knowledge, confronting both timeless tenets and urgent questions of the day. And their support helps students come to know the responsibilities of citizenship, building a foundation of skills for a life of meaning, purpose, and success. That support sustains a campus that can be life changing, both for its physical presence and for the profoundly personal experiences that happen here. And that support makes it possible for the most qualified students, regardless of their personal means, to afford a Colgate education. The support garnered through Passion for the Climb, said longtime leader among the faculty Bruce Selleck ’71, “enabled us to raise our expectations.” Here, we share highlights of the impact of this grand statement of support made by Colgate’s people.

By James Leach, Rebecca Costello, and Aleta Mayne Illustration this page by Kazushige Nitta

scene: Autumn 2012

106

Annual Fund Scholarships= $1,060,000

Commitments of $10,000 for financial aid that support current students in the fiscal year in which they are given

Opportunity and access “Financial aid is the critical priority for Colgate in the years ahead.

179

new endowed scholarships created

By expanding access, we open our classrooms to diversity of thought and background — and we ensure that the university is able to admit the world’s brightest undergraduates regardless of their financial means.” — President Jeffrey Herbst 10 years of growth in financial aid 2002–2003

2012–2013

Average Annual Growth Rate

Financial aid expense

$24.6M

$46.255M

6.5%

Endowment support restricted to financial aid

$6.8M

$12.781M

6.5%

Percentage of aid expense supported by endowment

16.2%

27.6%

What does that growth mean in terms of access and opportunity for students? In the last five years alone, Colgate has been able to offer financial aid to 44 additional students in the incoming classes — a 16.3% increase.

44 4 =176 slots

classes

Millennials striving

In 2010, a group of young alumni joined forces to support the next generation of students through the creation of the Millennial Scholars Program. The idea: gifts — of any size — from alumni in the Class of 2000 and later years could be designated for financial aid and then pooled together. Every $10,000 raised results in the naming of a Millennial Scholar. Because these gifts are designated through the annual fund (as opposed to an endowed scholarship fund, for which interest must accrue and be withdrawn over time), they are immediately put to work. In the last year alone, Colgate’s millennial generation had pooled $23,000 — as well as pledges that will support two Millennial Scholarships each year through 2016–2017. The first two recipients will be named later this year.

MORE aided students

Thirteen Sisters Scholarship “The coolest thing I’ve learned at Colgate is number theory,” said Karen Kelley ’13. How appropriate, then, that Kelley — a math major from Minneapolis — would be the first recipient of a scholarship with Colgate’s lucky number in the name. The Thirteen Sisters Scholarship was created by 12 alumnae from the Class of ’83. In celebration of their 25th Reunion and in honor of their enduring friendship, the women pooled their resources to create an annual endowed scholarship to be awarded to a young woman who would become their “Thirteenth Sister.” “While Number Theory was one of the hardest classes I’ve taken, it was where I discovered mathematics, math’s more beautiful and elegant older cousin,” said Kelley. “There is a certain artistry to writing a proof. It isn’t just a series of computations, but a precisely thought-out, logical journey through a problem. Everything from the organization of steps and word choice to the clever methods used and succinctness displayed in the proof can allow a reader to observe the mathematician’s abilities. Number Theory also introduced math as an opportunity to be adventurous in an academic environment.”

Opportunities for global study “Through Colgate’s new portable aid initiative, aided students can study in nontraditional destinations. In fact, we have been able to increase students’ financial aid awards in order to allow them to pursue new avenues for study abroad, and to use their financial aid abroad.” — Kara Bingham, director of off-campus study

News and views for the Colgate community

Innovating science education and research “The Ho Science Center has enabled us to innovate the way we teach, giving us greater ways to engage students in the classroom via embedded lab exercises and group discussion.”

— Enrique “Kiko” Galvez, director, natural sciences and mathematics division

Multidisciplinary research and collaborative learning

Social behaviors in ants

Whole-ecosystem restoration of acidified streams in the Adirondacks

Mental-health trajectories of race-minority youth

Mathematical methodologies for art and design

Synchronization of neural networks

SCHOLARSHIP IN THE DIGITAL AGE “ At the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, our librarians and technologists collaborate with faculty and students on new modes of learning, and expressing that learning.” — Joanne Schneider, university librarian

637,234 visits in 2011–2012

(a 146 percent increase over 2003–2004)

88,276 books

Lorenzo Ciniglio

checked out by students (21 percent increase over 2003–2004)

614,000 ebooks available between 2005 and 2012

46 senior thesis carrels added to original

30 to address student demand

Professor Beth Parks shows first-semester physics students how to measure motion on the scale of nanometers. Colgate teaches modern physics earlier in a student’s career than most schools.

Case-Geyer hot spots In my first year at Colgate, I quickly learned that my college library is not just the place for checking out books and doing reserve reading. — Natalie Sportelli ’15 Learning labs My Cancer Biology class learned about the library’s technology and reference capabilities during an information session in the Cronin lab.

scene: Autumn 2012

The Hieber Café My Spanish study group met here regularly to review class notes and study for tests. Chai lattes and Starbucks coffee kept us alert and motivated!

Seminar rooms Great for study groups or meetings, these rooms have long tables and large LCD screens for presentations. I’m in the Breast Cancer Awareness Coalition; we met in the Herbst Seminar Room.

Exhibitions The library often brings artists to present their work. I attended a lecture by Jeff Gordon (artist and friend of Andy Warhol), whose art was featured last spring.

The reading room Bring your novel or textbook and take a seat on one of the cushioned chairs. But be sure to be quiet — students strictly enforce silence here!

Illustrations by Katherine Mutz

Grants of up to $150,000 from the Harvey Picker ’36 Interdisciplinary Science Institute support multidisciplinary research teams led by Colgate professors to creatively address intractable scientific questions. “Our aim is to help faculty and students to be truly integrated, agile, and open in terms of finding solutions,” said Damhnait McHugh, director. A sampling:

SUPPORT FOR TEACHING, RESEARCH, and LEARNING

3,275 3,275 students taught — in the last 15 years alone — by Marilyn Thie, Adam Burnett, and Tony

Aveni, the first recipients of the Jerome Balmuth Award for Teaching and Student Engagement,

created by Mark Siegel ’73 in honor of legendary professor Jerry Balmuth.

$15.6 million for endowed faculty chairs and faculty salaries 7 Endowed professorships 24 Tenure-track or tenured faculty positions added since 2007 9:1 Current student-faculty ratio, down from 10:1 in 2008 $1.4 million for faculty-student research fellowships $1.7 million for the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research

Grant funding highlights 100+ Faculty research grants totaling nearly $7.5 million 135 Institutional grants totaling $13 million 40+ grants from the National Science Foundation, including 4 major research instrumentation grants totaling nearly $1.2 million $800,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supporting postdoctoral fellows in the humanities and core curriculum $1.2 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for undergraduate

science education and K-12 science outreach

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES — LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY Through the Upstate Institute, students use their liberal arts acumen on behalf of local nonprofits — and the university serves as a knowledge hub for the region. Dialogue about regional issues In 2008, when New York Regional Interconnection (NYRI) proposed the construction of a 190-mile–long power line through central New York to New York City, the institute hosted information sessions and public hearings on the controversial topic.

Navigating health care reform It’s very possible that Augusta Gillespie ’13 knows more than anyone else about how national health care reform will affect the delivery of health care to low-income residents in New York. That’s according to Michael Fitzgerald, Madison County’s commissioner of social services. As an Upstate Institute Summer Field School fellow, Gillespie took on the gargantuan task of decoding the complex implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on his department’s involvement with Medicaid. The field school provides stipends for students who get real-world work experience while bolstering the capacity of regional organizations. Each county was required to identify administrative functions they would like to surrender to the state, and which to keep, and “there was a lot of prognostication going on,” said Fitzgerald. “I had to consider improvements and complications of applying for Medicaid through the new system,” said Gillespie, a political science major who is keenly interested in policy analysis. “Augusta thoroughly analyzed what the ACA really says, what the state intends to do, what other states are doing, and what the Supreme Court decision implies,” said Fitzgerald. “She made a solid recommendation to the county’s policy makers about what Madison County’s role should be in health care delivery for the next 10 years. Her work will help our staff, policy makers, and residents prepare for that eventuality.” Having presented Gillespie’s findings at a statewide gathering of policy makers in September, Fitzgerald said, “I am proud to say that Madison County was the only county that did purposeful research and analysis to make sure that our answer reflected the best solution for our residents, our staff, and our taxpayers.”

$56,000 in Upstate Institute grants to date support faculty research — a sampling: African American Networks, 1890-1990 Lake Effect Snow Patterns Inclusive Preschool Special Education Services Invasive, Exotic Earthworms Eccentric Spiritualities in Early New York State

News and views for the Colgate community

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES — LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

It takes a village

Supporters of Colgate funded the Hamilton Initiative, LLC, to focus on real estate and economic development, making possible the renovation of several key downtown buildings including the Colgate Bookstore, Palace Theater, Hamilton Theater, and, most recently, the Colgate Inn. Facilitating healthy cultural and business climates in Colgate’s hometown, the initiative also provides commercial and office space to a variety of retail, restaurant, residential, and service businesses — and manages the operations of the Barge Canal Coffee Co., a popular social space for Colgate students and community members. “I hadn’t been back to Colgate in about ten years and was dumbfounded by how much the downtown and campus have changed since we were in school. Major changes like the renovation of the Colgate Inn, the movie theater playing new releases, and stylish boutiques made me question if I was really in downtown Hamilton!” said Amy McKnight Fazen ’97.

A hub for the performing arts

The Palace Theater presents national acts, educational and community theater — and many Colgate productions, from plays developed through academic classes to cabaret to concerts. “Charred Goosebeak gave me the opportunity to work with someone as talented as Jim Belushi. It not only helps us push our talents to new levels but also shows us what a great lifelong skill something like comedy improv can be. It was a night I will never forget,” said Ryan Diehl ’12.

scene: Autumn 2012

Survey says

It can be daunting to ride the Indian railways alone, especially when some people at your destination might be suspicious of you. But that didn’t stop Ameetosri Basu ’14 from persevering with her study of technology transfers and their effect on human capital. “Technology transfers are when skills, machinery, and technology are shared between two companies — one from a developed country and one from a developing country,” she explained. Basu spent last summer looking at three textile companies in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu that have recently collaborated with corporations from abroad. An economics and international relations double major, Basu wanted to gauge how such exchanges affected the value of employees’ skills, and how the Indian companies changed afterward — “an area that hasn’t been covered much in the literature,” she said. Her research was supported by the Lampert Fellowship, established by Ed ’62 and Robin Lampert P’10, under the auspices of Colgate’s Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, which sponsors faculty research and preparation for students interested in public affairs careers. Political

science professor Navine Murshid served as Basu’s mentor. Basu surveyed 110 employees in various positions. She was, at times, confronted with uncertainty by those she was interviewing. “They thought I was the supervisor’s kid or something. Sometimes they would come back with the answers blank,” she said. But Basu pushed back until she received completed surveys. In the end, her study gave a positive impression of technology transfers. “There was a huge amount of improvement in how they worked, how much work they did, the quality of the product, and hiring,” Basu said. “Also, the work culture became much more democratic — they encouraged suggestions and interdepartmental communication.” Basu shared her findings with company supervisors and, in some cases, high-level management. “I hope that domestic firms in developing economies are more open to considering collaborations with foreign firms,” she said, “and that the technology transfers and knowledge spillovers that result are a way of developing their human resources.”

Colgate’s Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education, which was endowed by Jonah Shacknai ’78 and renamed in memory of his son, sponsors service-learning opportunities in Hamilton, central New York, and beyond, including alternative break trips. Recent offerings included: Empowering disadvantaged children with the Caroline Wambui Mungai Foundation school, Wangige, Kenya Income generation in Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic Community building in the Oglala Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

Balance and discourse For Alan He ’12, the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization provided valuable experience in promoting major campus events and the chance to interact with the featured guests — including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, and national journalist Michael Barone. Established as a forum for civic debate and scholarly research, the center aims to enliven the intellectual discourse on campus by sponsoring speakers and events that challenge prevailing ideas and promote genuine diversity of thought. “The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization brings a lot to Colgate in terms of political balance and discourse,” said He. In his senior year, the political science major received the Richard L. Stone ’81 Civic Freedom Award for his “outstanding contributions in promoting the ideals of freedom and Western civilization.” His experience in working with the center helped to prepare him for his career today as a news associate at the CBS Evening News in Washington, D.C.

Building 21st-century leadership The Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate brings figures on the world stage to campus. In April 2008, nearly 5,000 people streamed into Sanford Field House to hear His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speak about happiness. A glimpse at foreign service

Lasting leadership lessons

Months after participating in the Robert A. Fox ’59 Leadership Institute, Viktor Mak ’15 still finds himself debating the topics that were discussed there. Launched in 2005, the institute is a collaborative project of the Dean of the College division to further students’ leadership skills. “One of the leadership exercises required us to first develop a strong attachment to a viewpoint, articulate and justify our choice to a group, and finally compromise on a solution,” Mak explained. “The exercise demonstrated the different styles of presentations and forced us to negotiate. I use the skills that I learned there every time I present an idea or need to find a solution.”

Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

DEVELOPING CAREER SKILLS

“Apparently, ours was the first American student group to ever visit the Korean Embassy in China,” reflected Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14, who blogged about the week she spent in China over the summer of 2011 as part of the Benton Scholars Program. “We were briefed on hot topics between the United States, Korea, and China. This gave me a look into the workings of the Foreign Service, which is essentially my dream job,” she added. The program, founded by Dan Benton ’80, infuses leadership and global themes into the Colgate experience through special activities and selected courses, including international travel. “It was amazing to see the people, places, and things we learned about in our Modern East Asia course,” said Hernandez-Stopp. Just as important, Benton Scholars share their experiences with others on campus. For example, the group who went to China partnered with the Class of 2015 Benton Scholars (who had traveled to Africa) in bringing Deborah Brautigam, author of The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa, to campus. The scholars invited members of the Chinese Interest Association, African Student Union, and Colgate International Community to read the book and participate in a discussion with the author. “The Benton Scholars Program has helped us to attract a group of creative, energetic young people to Colgate,” said political science professor Tim Byrnes, “and it has offered a structure through which those students can explore their interests in particularly active ways that benefit not only the ‘Benton community,’ but also the entire campus.”

new funds support a variety of summer career development opportunities

Quick-change artist Being crammed into a small dressing room with a lot of different personalities, Margaret Schuelke ’15 was sure to improve her people skills — especially since some of those people were relying on her to make them look good. Schuelke spent last summer as a wardrobe intern at the Glimmerglass Festival through the Francesca Zambello Arts Administration Fellowship. The fellowship was established in 2011 by Wally Kraemer ’58 in honor of Francesca Zambello ’78, artistic and general director of the opera venue in nearby Cooperstown. Schuelke said her internship exposed her to every facet of managing wardrobes for three professional productions: Aida, Armide, and The Music Man. She tackled everything from the lessglamorous duties of doing laundry and sewing torn petticoats, to 16-hour days of taking down one show and setting up for the next day’s show, to helping actors with one-minute quick changes on set. “This was the first time I got to see what the professional standards are like,” said Schuelke, who manages Colgate’s costume shop. The theater major intends to develop a career in wardrobe management. “I love being backstage — knowing how the magic is created that the audience never knows about.”

“We have had probably the best year in the history of the Debate Society. The most recent rankings had us ranked eighth in the world and fourth in the United States. In the last couple of years, we have traveled to Manila, Botswana, Turkey, Ireland, England, and throughout the U.S. ” — Travis Steele ’12

News and views for the Colgate community

SUPPORT FOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

Saturday Night Lights “ The new lights at Andy Kerr Stadium have really been a program-changer for our teams. They allow for night games for football and lacrosse and make TV coverage possible. We can also be more flexible with our game and practice schedules. I drove by the stadium at 6:00 this morning and the field hockey team was out there practicing.” — Shaun Richard, associate director of athletics

Endowed coaching chairs

honor the legacies of former coaches — teachers and mentors who imparted life lessons on character, resilience, and perseverance — while helping Colgate to recruit and retain the best coaches for today’s scholar-athletes. Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap Endowed Chair for Football

Four uses for the Glendening Boathouse on Lake Moraine (three miles from campus):

Theater The University Theater staged 1,500 Meters Above Jack’s Level at the boathouse.

Mark S. Randall Jr. Endowed Chair for Swimming and Diving

Nautical playground. Try out a sailboat, canoe, kayak, rowboat, paddle boat, or single rowing shell for free. Mile marker. “We just ran six miles, to the boathouse and back.”

John W. Beyer Endowed Chair for Men’s Soccer Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Chair for Men’s Ice Hockey

Men’s lacrosse players pump iron in the new Mark P. Buttitta ’74 Varsity Weight Room, where student-athletes build strength to help stay injury-free and rehabilitate from injuries.

Fostering health and well-being

FINANCIAL STABILITY FOR THE FUTURE The campaign’s impact on Colgate’s endowment

A holistic approach to wellness “You can’t have a great swimming program without a pool,” said Thad Mantaro, in an analogy to the potential created by the Shaw Wellness Institute’s new space in Cutten Hall. That new space is a key aspect of the institute’s evolution, which began in 2004 as a modest initiative to advance wellness at Colgate. Now a fully endowed entity, the institute is able to focus on the holistic development of students and the Colgate community at large. Mantaro, who joined as the institute’s first fulltime professional director in January, himself is a product of the expansion. The first-floor center includes a multipurpose room for wellness events, a library of books and media on living holistically, offices, a student work area, and a location for nutrition counseling, wellness coaching,

and biofeedback. The institute is named for benefactors Jay ’76 and Debi Shaw, supporters since the early days of the initiative. Mantaro said the institute promotes wellness around campus in a variety of ways, such as Wellness Wednesday gatherings where students and Colgate community members can learn about peer health, mindfulness, healing arts like ayurveda, and fitness. Erin Murray ’13 is a student programming intern and president of Peer Health Educators, a student group that collaborates with the institute. She said that her main goal is to spread awareness that it’s about balance, “being purposeful in your decisions, and making conscientious choices.”

15-20% Shaping up at “the Trudy”

12%-20% increase in daily usage in the Trudy Fitness Center’s first month, over the previous year • 530 people, on average, worked out each weekday and 267 on each weekend day • 432 memberships were sold to community members

scene: Autumn 2012

$800 M

$687.5

$700 M

MILLION

$600 M $500 M

$510M $400 M

$459.3 M

June 30

Base for Colgate’s rowing teams.

$300 M $200 M

2004

2005

Market value

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Without gifts and their associated investment return

Returns on endowments funding the operations of six of the campus’s newest buildings (Ho Science Center, Case-Geyer, Persson Hall, Glendening Boathouse, Little Hall, Trudy Fitness Center) will ensure that Colgate can cover costs such as heating and other utilities, plus repairs and maintenance, for the lives of the buildings.

$10M

for building endowments

Meet Alex, Noor, Marvin, Eddie, and Erin. Five people who embody the Colgate of today. Their individual stories reveal how the myriad aspects of the Passion for the Climb campaign have combined to support the transformative experiences of so many Colgate people. By James Leach

Alex Crawford ’12: Tech that teaches

isten to Alex Crawford talk about his work with school groups and you might mistake him for a member of the teaching staff. You wouldn’t be all wrong. Crawford was employed at the Ho Tung Visualization Lab in the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center for all four of his undergraduate years, and he clearly owned the position. When the lab opened in March 2008, school groups visited from Hamilton and Cazenovia. “Now, we draw from as far away as Rome, Utica, and Binghamton,” said Crawford. “As the visits increased, we thought, ‘If they are going to come this far, let’s give them something more,’ so we started doing some other science demos, everything from bottle rockets and a Van de Graaff generator, to visiting the greenhouse and geology museum. That makes it more of a general science experience.” In his first year at Colgate, as part of his financial aid package, Crawford had a work-study job providing computer support for students. When he learned that geography professor Adam Burnett needed some fly-through animations of western terrain for his geomorphology class, Crawford designed the 3D demonstration using data from the U.S. Geological Survey. That project launched his undergraduate career as a designer and assistant in the sophisticated Vis Lab. Located on the top floor of the Ho Science Center, the lab is a 55-seat domed theater — a planetarium, essentially — with the capability of projecting displays of the planets, constellations, and other astronomical objects, as well as 3-D animations and

Campaign touchpoints

• Ho Science Center • Financial aid • Howard Hughes Medical Institute research funding

shows made for a dome environment. (You can see it on pg. 38.) Ten computers drive the programming under the dome. In the production room, Crawford learned to use the customized high-end Macs and PCs, which run on sophisticated software similar to that used for Hollywood animations, to create projects for the lab. The job, with all its training (“it was fun,” he stressed), took the place of a traditional work-study position. Having attended Colgate on financial aid, Crawford said, “It had to be a paid position, or I couldn’t do it.” Crawford noted how rare it is for a liberal arts college to have such a sophisticated setup, and how unique his experience was to be not simply learning under the dome, but actually creating content. He and fellow student designer Karen Alley ’12 were the only two undergraduates at the 2011 summer conference on “You can do high-end research here if visualization in science education you want to. Professor Leventer is sponsored by Gordon Research, an international nonprofit spon dead set on making sure I’m the first sor of science conferences. A double major in geography author on a paper coming from my thesis.” and geology, Crawford spent his junior-year winter break studygeology and geography departments housed in the ing five volcanoes on the border of Argentina and Ho Science Center made for “a good experience, from Chile, on an extended study trip led by geology my perspective,” he said, adding, “One thing that’s professor Karen Harpp. In the semester prior, the happening is more collaboration.” students in the class designed research projects, Crawford said he wouldn’t have been able to atthen led their projects on site. “It put us in control, tend Colgate without financial aid. “I received some and it really worked,” said Crawford. The class built named scholarships, including one from someone an online field guide for any other group that might in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where I’m from. study the volcanoes. Colgate covers a percentage of My dad grew up with the grandson of the person for additional costs so that aided students like Crawford whom the scholarship is named. It’s nice to have a can take advantage of off-campus programs that personal connection.” might otherwise be out of reach. “Coming from a After graduation, Crawford spent the summer in working-class family,” he said, “to have that sort of Bryce Canyon as a visiting park ranger. “They were an opportunity is really great.” looking for a geology major with an astronomy back Grants from Colgate as well as the Howard ground,” he said. “I’m pretty sure the presentation Hughes Medical Institute made it possible for Crawskills I learned in the Vis Lab got me the internship.” ford to spend summers on campus. Over two sum Those same skills are sure to serve Crawford at mers, he served as a research assistant to his geology the University of Colorado, where he’s offsetting faculty adviser, Amy Leventer. “You can do high-end the cost of his graduate program by working as a research here if you want to,” he said. “Professor Levteaching assistant — a job he relishes. “It’s only after enter is dead set on making sure I’m the first author having the experience here that I can say I’d go on on a paper coming from my thesis.” for a PhD. I know I want to be teaching. I’m going to In fact, Crawford presented two senior theses — be an academic.” the second for honors in geography. Having both the

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

Voyagers

ike many other professors at Colgate and elsewhere, history professor Noor Khan had spent years telling her students that Wikipedia — the open-access, online encyclopedia written and edited by users worldwide — was not a valid reference for their academic work. Then she casually mentioned to colleagues at a faculty retreat that she was thinking of using Wikipedia in her teaching, not as a source, but as a tool to help students think about information in the digital age. Present at the retreat were librarians and information technologists from the Collaboration for Enhanced Learning (CEL), a partnership of experts housed in Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology who help faculty incorporate emerging technologies into their courses. When Khan speculated about bringing Wikipedia into her coursework, she said, the people from CEL were there to help her make it happen. In addition to the traditional paper she required in her senior seminar on Egypt in the 20th century, Khan had her students “interact with a Wikipedia entry.” In a two-part assignment, she asked them to verify or improve upon an entry about Egypt, and then explain what they did and why. “Some students wrote an entire entry,” said Khan. “Others edited existing entries. In one interesting case that demonstrates how learning has changed, a student didn’t edit the entry so much, but created hyperlinks to other entries.” Writing to explain what they did, said Khan, was as helpful to the students and to her as the actual changes were to Wikipedia users. “It required the students to consider who was using the information — in a way that they are not used to thinking.” That discussion led to conversations about what Khan called “the extreme saturation of information. It used to be about knowing where to look for the answers. But now, there are so many answers, it’s about prioritizing a surfeit of information and figuring out which information is most useful.” In a course that considers Egypt in the context of the modern world, said Khan, “the conversation about

how information works didn’t seem like a tangent at all.” The moral of Khan’s Wikipedia story is that the vision for Case-Geyer — where librarians and technologists would collaborate with faculty and students in new modes of learning — has come to fruition across the disciplines. Khan is a first-generation native U.S. citizen who has lived and studied in Cairo. She had an earlier

This fall, Khan and her husband, Nady AbdalGhaffar (senior lecturer in Arabic), are partnering to teach a Middle Eastern studies course titled Living Egypt, which includes an extended study trip to Egypt between semesters. Emphasizing history and culture in the modern era, the course will pair students with local “language partners” while they are in Egypt. Khan expects that the Colgate students and their Egyptian partners will get to know one another in advance during online conversations via Skype throughout the fall. “The possibilities of technology have changed everything,” said Khan, who added that YouTube and new technologies for listening and recording have enabled her husband to incorporate spoken Arabic into classwork that was once limited to reading and writing. Newly tenured at Colgate, Khan was educated at the University of Chicago. While she describes the opportunities she received at a larger school as “wonderful,” she is an advocate for the advantages of a small liberal arts institution. “As an undergraduate, I couldn’t expect to spend a half hour with my professors in their offices on a regular basis. At Colgate, I know the name of every one of my students. And I know a lot about any student who will major or minor in one of my fields, not just from class, but also from films and performances, or Heretics Club, or ALANA activities. There is a real sense of Colgate being a learning community. As a result, I’m able to give an education that’s even better than the one I got.” Colgate’s expectation that professors will be both teachers and scholars helps ensure that they stay current, Khan said. Her new book, Egyptian-Indian Nationalist Collaboration and the British Empire, was released last fall, and she is already considering her next research project. For this academic year, Khan is also serving as director of the fast-growing minor in Middle Eastern studies and Islamic civilization, which focuses on understanding the Middle East and North Africa in the context of the wider Islamic world. “There’s an interdisciplinary nature in all we do,” she said. “It works in part because we are small, but we are just big enough to have this vibrancy.” Andrew Daddio

Noor Khan: Connected

“There’s an interdisciplinary nature in all we do. It works in part because we are small, but we are just big enough to have this vibrancy.”

scene: Autumn 2012

introduction to the reach of social media during the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The daughter of parents from India and Pakistan, Khan’s interest in the revolution was personal as well as professional. When friends asked her to explain the situation growing out of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, she posted the answer on her Facebook page. Soon her primer was being shared among friends

Campaign touchpoint

• Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology

of friends and beyond, eventually leading to an interview with The Nation online and a call from a reporter in Iran. “Before that, I really didn’t understand the power of the social network,” she said.

arvin Vilma first visited Colgate on a summer college tour organized by the Oliver Scholars Program, which works with exceptional New York City students of African-American and Latino descent. The son of Haitian immigrants, Vilma was raised in Queens. The Oliver Scholars Program recognized his academic potential at an early age and supported him as he transitioned to the Trinity School, one of the city’s top independent college preparatory schools. That Vilma doesn’t volunteer this information indicates the modesty that is part of his charm. He is making his mark at Colgate, but you need to know the details in advance to get him to talk about it. On that summer tour, he was struck by the beauty of Colgate’s campus. When he returned to visit that fall, he attended a French class taught by Helene Julien. “I was blown away by the literature and the discussion. It was analytical and lively and lighthearted, all at the same time,” he said. “I’d always been interested in French, but I’d never before thought of pursuing a degree in it.” So, he enrolled the following fall, and a transformation began. Originally envisioning a major in international relations or political science, Vilma has come around to French and sociology. And from the career he once imagined in law or government, his Colgate experience so far has him thinking more about public policy and education: “how to improve teaching strategies, how to make the classroom environment better for students, how to improve pedagogy.” The move from one of the most densely populated and diverse communities in the United States to rural Hamilton took some cultural adjustment. “I’ve learned to enjoy the moments I spend with people a lot more, because it’s so much smaller here. And there’s definitely a different look than back home.” His neighborhood in Queens is almost entirely West Indian, Latino, and Indian. As a sophomore, Vilma said, he expanded his social circle on campus. “Once you start putting yourself out there, you can have a grand old time.” He’s put that outlook to work as an intern at the Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE), gathering material for the center’s newsletter and doing outreach to increase diversity among its participants. The past two summers, Vilma returned to the city, commuting more than an hour each day to work full time with Breakthrough Collaborative, a college preparatory nonprofit organization. There, he taught animal science and English literature and served as dean of students to middle-schoolers from underprivileged backgrounds. The COVE’s Levine-Weinberg Fellowship, which provides funding for students interested in careers in community or public work, underwrote his work. His participation in the Robert A. Fox Leadership Institute, which brings together students from across campus at the beginning of each academic year, as well as other Colgate-sponsored workshops and presentations,

prepared him to get the most from his internship. “I really learned how to work effectively in diverse spaces,” he said. His other COVE experiences include traveling to the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to winterize homes as well as distribute books and clothes to Native American children. “That experience helped me reflect on the work I’m doing now and might do in the future to have a positive impact on communities like the Lakota,” he said. And at Colgate’s Donovan’s Pub, he spearheaded a fashion show for the area charity Cinderella’s Closet, which

Vilma’s aspirations don’t end there. The alumni who mentor budding student entrepreneurs through the Thought Into Action (TIA) program helped Vilma get his dream of an event-planning company up and running last year. He realized his goal of helping nonprofits organize “awesome and affordable” events when he and his sister Merlyn (a student at the University of Buffalo) staged a gala in New York City that helped South Bronx United raise $30,000. Next, through TIA, he plans to develop a program to provide high school students in Queens with experiential learning that will help

“Once you start putting yourself out there, you can have a grand old time.”

Andrew Daddio

Marvin Vilma ’14: Humble humanitarian

Campaign touchpoints

• Fox Leadership Institute • Levine-Weinberg Fellowship • Max Shacknai COVE volunteer • Financial aid

offers gently used prom dresses free of charge to area teens in need. During the academic year, Vilma has volunteered at Hamilton Central School two days a week, tutoring and working with local students on their skills in conversational French — practical experience for the work he sees himself doing after graduation. Even that plan has another layer: “I’d like to teach on a Fulbright, or maybe study for a year on a Watson Fellowship.” His work-study job helping students apply for postgraduate fellowships will serve him well when it comes time to prepare his own applications. Staff in the fellowship office, where he has worked since his first year, regard Vilma as a colleague.

them to connect the classroom with the real world around them. Vilma will be away from campus this coming spring, studying in Dijon, France, with a group led by Professor Bernadette Lintz. He said the program in France, like his education at Colgate, would be out of his reach if not for financial aid. He describes that assistance as “Colgate investing in students,” adding, “The university helps you make the most of the experience.”

News and views for the Colgate community

Eddie Watkins: Fern nerd

Campaign touchpoints

• Ho Science Center • Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute

• Upstate Institute

In the interdisciplinary arrangement that distinguishes the Ho Science Center, Watkins shares space with astronomers, physicists, geologists, geographers, and colleagues in environmental studies. “I feel enriched as a scientist being able to walk next door and talk to colleagues in physics.” Two flights up, he can consult with geologists about where to find the limestone outcroppings that support a particular species of endangered fern. A study of plant stress physiology that Watkins has undertaken with Colgate biologist Nancy Pruitt and Missouri plant scientist Mel Oliver was funded through a grant from the university’s Harvey Picker ’36 Interdisciplinary Science Institute. “Students grow up in this environment where they see biolo-

scene: Autumn 2012

Andrew Daddio

ddie Watkins wore a hard hat when he first toured the greenhouse, under construction in the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center in 2008. A self-described “fern nerd,” Watkins was interviewing for a position in biology. Major research universities were also recruiting him. “If I was going to work on tropical plants, I needed a place to grow them,” he said. “I was overwhelmed by what Colgate had to offer, and especially this brand-new greenhouse.” Watkins started teaching at Colgate that fall. When he arrived, the department owned only five or six common species of ferns. Today, through his efforts, the greenhouse holds about 125 species, including several that are extremely rare. “It’s not a collection for collection’s sake,” he said. “We use this for research. I can’t take two years to go off and study one of these varieties, but I can go to the greenhouse and pluck off a leaf and collect the spores and have a lot of material for students to work on.” Watkins’s irresistible enthusiasm is evident when he describes the genesis of a delicate fern growing under glass in his office. His wife, Colgate ecologist Catherine Cardelús, brought a dried specimen of the fern back from a trip to Ethiopia. Watkins appropriated a small sample, “stuck it in a pot, and it grew! I don’t know anyone else in the world who has one growing.” The species, which is unusually drought-tolerant, will inform his work in plant stress physiology. His students are undergraduates who have the opportunity to study with a professor doing research at the leading edge of his discipline — Watkins is president-elect of the American Fern Society. The advantage of studying with scholars who are active researchers is demonstrated in the experience of one of his first Colgate students, Tyler Coolman ’11, who called from graduate school to tell him, “I was so well prepared. I had no idea.”

“Students grow up in this environment where they see biologists talking with physicists and geologists, and it becomes a natural part of how they think.” gists talking with physicists and geologists, and it becomes a natural part of how they think. And that is the future. Not many schools can compare,” he said. Colgate’s Upstate Institute supports Watkins and his students in their research on the endangered American Hart’s Tongue Fern, one of only a handful of New York plants protected under the Endangered Species Act. Fewer than 4,000 of the plants exist, more than 90 percent within a two-hour drive of Colgate. While studying the plant’s ecology, physiology, and molecular biology, his students learn to work with local landowners to protect the species. Among the students who arrived on campus at the same time as Watkins was Weston Testo ’12, straight from his family’s sheep farm outside Albany, N.Y. As a first-year student, Testo started working in Watkins’s greenhouse lab. Over the next four years, they became “colleagues,” Watkins said. “We’ve traveled all over the world together — Costa Rica, Panama, Australia, Alabama — looking for information about this endangered species of fern that Wes studies.” When Testo graduated in May, he received the Botanical Society of America’s Young Botanist Award — which Watkins won 15 years ago. Testo also won the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, providing $30,000 per year for three years of research. Even before that, colleagues from around the country were

calling Watkins about Testo: “Would you tell this guy to apply here?” (He chose the University of Vermont.) Michael Britton ’12 also traveled to Panama and Costa Rica with Watkins. Britton is working on the unusual occurrence of blue iridescence in some ferns, Watkins explained. Britton also studies the cinnamon fern group, common in the northeast and sometimes mistakenly eaten by people who think they are dining on edible fern fiddleheads (cinnamon ferns are toxic; some other fern species produce fiddleheads that are not). Britton had two papers ready for publication in professional journals when he headed off to graduate study at Florida International University. The late University of Michigan scholar and National Academy member Herb Wagner encouraged Watkins when he was a high school student. Although Watkins never studied under Wagner, it was Wagner who guided him to the programs where he developed his expertise and international reputation. When Watkins talks about why he is drawn to teaching undergraduates, he recalls the advice of his mentor: “‘Ideas developed in the classroom live on,’ he said. ‘You need to be just as excellent in the classroom as you are in your research.’” If Herb Wagner were advising an aspiring young fern nerd today, there’s little doubt he’d send that student Eddie Watkins’s way.

Erin Nash ’12: A need to lead

Held at the university’s Palace Theater in town, “it’s about making sure kids appreciate each other’s differences,” she said. Nash connected with villagers at the other end of the age spectrum in a course called the Sociology of Age, Aging, and the Life Course taught by Professor Meika Loe. After being paired with selected Hamilton elders, the students produced digital stories about the elders with help from the staff at Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, gaining technical skills in programs like Final

students chosen for the program, which is sponsored by the career services office, prepared in advance by researching 17 nonprofit agencies. Once in the nation’s capitol, they taught each other about their chosen agencies before going into the field for tours and on-site presentations. Nash twice traveled to the Dominican Republic on alternative break trips organized through the Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE). “It was a culture shock,” said Nash. On her first trip, Nash led three days of workshops — in Spanish — on health, sanitation, and leadership. Then she went into the field with her students and built latrines for five days. In January, she taught leadership skills to young Dominicans, and then helped them paint murals sharing positive messages that address issues such as domestic violence or alcohol abuse. “It wasn’t Americans helping Dominicans,” she said. “It was Americans helping Dominicans help Dominicans.” For students such as Nash who receive financial aid, Colgate helps cover expenses for those alternative breaks as well as study abroad. Nash, who studied for a semester in Wollongong, Australia, her junior year, had arrived at Colgate expecting to major in biology and pre-med until two early electives in psychology turned her head. She graduated in May and Campaign touchpoints began working in human resources at AXA • Benton Scholar • Upstate Institute Equitable. • Max Shacknai COVE volunteer • Financial aid Her dream job, she • Case Library and Geyer Center • Palace Theater said, is to some day for Information Technology become a motivational speaker. That day may be Cut Pro while they develop firsthand appreciation closer than she imagined. In February, Nash’s high for their subjects. Nash researched and worked with school adviser asked her to return to Central Square former Hamilton Mayor Larry Baker. “It was a wonto address freshmen and sophomores. In April, derful experience because I got to meet people in the she shared her inspiring Colgate experiences at a Hamilton community and become close to them,” Presidents’ Club gathering. Then, Nash addressed said Nash. The digital stories are archived on the Colthe local district conference of the N.Y.S. Council on Leadership and Student Activities. And in November, gate website (http://tinyurl.com/SOAN333ElderStories). she will address the council’s statewide conference, During spring break her sophomore year, Nash the 25th-annual edition of the same conference she traveled to Washington, D.C., for a “Civil Societies organized as a high school junior. Spring Immersion,” which she described as “an eye Funny where leadership leads. opening look at the operation of nonprofits.” The 10

“We had a great discussion with a professor at Moscow University about the role of religion in modern Russian society. It introduced me to what it means to understand someone else’s culture and way of life.”

Andrew Daddio

y her junior year in high school, Erin Nash had already been elected president of the student board of New York State’s Council on Leadership and Student Activities, which runs statewide leadership conferences. And she believes that her record as a high school leader in nearby Central Square is the reason Colgate invited her to become one of the university’s inaugural Benton Scholars. The 20 or so students admitted to that program each year are emerging thinkers and leaders with the promise to have a positive impact in the world. That promise is nourished through exposure to global issues and leaders, including visitors brought to campus through the Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate. A 10-day Benton Scholars trip to Russia with faculty program leader Tim Byrnes was her first trip abroad. While there, Nash said, “We had a great discussion with a professor at Moscow University about the role of religion in modern Russian society. It introduced me to what it means to understand someone else’s culture and way of life.” As well, Benton Scholars are encouraged to think about what it means to make a difference in the 21st century. Putting her Benton Scholars experience to work on campus, Nash founded Students for Global Engagement as a forum for discussing global issues. Nash’s Colgate opportunities built upon each other in ways that allowed her to make a difference for others at every turn. In 2010, as a student fellow in the Upstate Institute’s Summer Field School, the psychology major worked with autistic children at the Kelberman Center in Utica. That experience, and a fellowship at the Drama-Play Connection outside of Boston the next summer, inspired her to take psychology professor Regina Conti’s course Bonding Across Boundaries. Nash taught drama games for the course’s hands-on component, the Oz Project — a theater arts workshop bringing together Hamiltonarea children with and without special needs to learn about cooperation, teamwork, and inclusivity.

News and views for the Colgate community

beyond ABOVE

0 8 $M4I L L I O N

AND

20%

the campaign by the numbers

more than original goal of $400 million

t was on a Colgate Day — Friday, July 13, to be exact — that the university marked the successful end of Passion for the Climb: The Campaign for Colgate. President Jeffrey Herbst and 26 members of the university community rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in a moment of jubilation, for the university had greatly surpassed its initial $400 million goal. Despite a global recession that began only months after the kickoff in March 2007, the campaign reached its initial goal significantly ahead of schedule. Herbst used that momentum to raise the bar, months announcing a new challenge. Having met the original goal for financial aid, Colgate would set out to raise additional funds for aid. In an effort dubbed Forty for the Climb, a group of leadership investors put forth a challenge encouraging others to match their gifts to financial aid. When the Passion for the Climb campaign officially How early Colgate met original closed, the university had completed the second-largest campaign ever by a U.S. liberal arts college. Here, we share a snapshot of this triumph.

$169

M I LLI ON more than the total raised during all of Colgate's five previous campaigns

$400 million goal

$1,000,00 0

00 $2an5d,0 up

Liberal Arts and Academic Excellence

$82,408,933

and up

$250 or less

18,431 gifts

$13,471 – average gift $213 – median gift 36

scene: Fall Autumn 2012 2012

$132,040,034 Student Life

$30,031,138

96 gifts

Illustrations by Katherine Mutz

1,139 gifts

Financial Aid Endowment

Endowment and Annual Fund

$204,033,719

Other initiatives

$31,486,910

$ $480,000,734

TOTAL

thank you

DONORS

23,301

3,062

1,815

233

5,923

185

Friends

Alumni

Master's graduates

Parents and grandparents

Other

Denis Cronin ’69, P’09, P’10

Campaign chair, 2004-2007; Chair, Board of Trustees

Widows of Colgate alumni

“Passion for the Climb has enjoyed the full and passionate participation of students, faculty, alumni, parents, and friends. On behalf of the board, I thank all those who have contributed to this transformative, collective effort.”

Giving rate for the 2012 Senior Class Gif t drive

95%

from the campaign’s leaders

Jim Elrod ’76, P’04, P’05, P’12 Campaign chair, 2007-2012

82%

Alumni who contributed to the campaign

“This campaign was about building upon our long-term fiscal strength as we seek to attract the most qualified students and provide them the best education possible.”

$731,517: Total given by faculty and staff members

Murray Decock ’80 Campaign director, vice president of institutional advancement

“It is a testament to our thoughtful and generous community that, together, we prevailed over so many economic obstacles. The realities of the recession only strengthened our resolve.”

Grants from government agencies

$20.5 M

and foundations = $20,481,381

2,185 Volunteers logged an estimated 174,800 hours of time and effort

Campaign Giving VS. Dow Jones Industrial average

FINANCIAL AID

$141.5 Million total committed Endowment

Additional

$400 M

$350 M

The Forty for the Climb challenge: $40 million: Additional goal announced in September 2011 90: Challengers who collectively committed the first $20 million $54 million: total raised between January 2011 and June 30, 2012

NA IGI L

0 $M4IL0LION

GO L A

Original goal

$450 M

$87 M

$9.5 M

$132 M

$480 MILLI

$500 M

M PA I G N

$300 M $250 M $200 M

TYPES OF GIFTS Not all gifts to the campaign came to Colgate immediately. In addition to multi-year pledges of support, 203 alumni chose to include Colgate in their estate plans. Pledges

$55,171,706

Bequests

$103,157,196

Cash

$321,671,832

$150 M $100 M

$322 M

$50 M

June 2004

June 2005

June 2006

June 2007

June 2008

June 2009

June 2010

June

2011

News and and views views for for the the Colgate Colgate community community News

June

2012

37 37

Students from a mix of disciplines from science to art propose and create projects for the Ho Tung Visualization Lab. The Making of a Star and Her Entourage Physics and astronomy professor Jeff Bary worked with 20 students for more than a year on a show that takes viewers inside the Milky Way to witness the formation of young planetary systems. Flight Through a Cell Biology students and Professor Ken Belanger created a show that takes viewers inside the nucleus of a cell. The Ides of March Professor Robert Garlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classics students reenacted the assassination of Julius Caesar and placed it inside a 3D model of where the event took place in 44 BC.

scene: Autumn 2012

Vis lab visits March 2008â&#x20AC;&#x201C;August 2012 38,363 Total attendance 374 Class sessions 203 School groups 738 Shows (public, private groups, Colgate events)

Andrew Daddio

News and views for the Colgate community

Behind every comment or concern is someone who genuinely cares about Colgate. Jump in, get involved, and let’s work together on behalf of your alma mater. We’re here to listen! — Tim Mansfield, director of alumni relations (tmansfield@colgate.edu) Questions? Contact alumni relations: 315-228-7433 or alumni@colgate.edu.

scene: Autumn 2012

Don Rith ’56

stay connected

Your portal to alumni programs, volunteer opportunities, career networking, and more

Learn

Get out the map Colgate professors and staff members have been crisscrossing the map this fall, offering lectures and talking with alumni about poetry, history, sociology, sustainability, and more. The intellectual road show continues throughout the academic year, so check out our online calendar for events in your area. Whether you’re near Long Island or Catalina Island, we’re on our way. colgate.edu/alumnievents

Connect

Stand up and be counted Nearly 15,000 alumni made a gift, attended an event, or volunteered for Colgate during the last fiscal year. That’s almost 54 percent of our alumni family. Thank you! You can strengthen your connection to Colgate in any number of ways — through social media, by joining a tailgate, hosting alumni in your home, making a gift, sitting in on a faculty lecture, playing a round of Seven Oaks golf, and much more. colgate.edu/stayinvolved Real World series We’re revamping our legendary Real World program to have an even greater impact on seniors as they prepare for life after Colgate. Now a series of

events throughout the academic year, Real World will offer multiple, diverse opportunities for seniors to connect with alumni. Want to share your expertise or career advice? colgate.edu/alumnivolunteer Alumni of Color news This year, the Alumni of Color (AOC) organization moved “Shaping Your Vision” — the annual professional alumni mentorship program with students — to Family Weekend in order to allow parents to participate as well. Would you like to receive more information about this event and other AOC news? E-mail lmasse@colgate.edu Events your way Planning a get-together with Colgate friends? Whether you’re hosting a birthday party, golf outing, or just hanging out, let us know in advance. We’ll send you free stuff — from cups and cocktail napkins to bumper stickers. All we ask in return is that you send us a photo from the event! colgateconnect.org/gateway

Celebrate

Year of ’13 For Colgate people worldwide, 2013 will mark the Year of ’13. To commemorate this once-in-a-century occurrence, events will take place on the 13th of each month through

December 2013 — from faculty lectures outside Hamilton to networking receptions on campus and abroad, sports events, and more. colgate.edu/yearof13 Passion for the Climb celebration tour President Jeffrey Herbst is visiting 13 cities, from Hong Kong to Palm Beach, in the coming months to honor the university’s accomplishments, showcase the Colgate experience, and look ahead to the university’s exciting future. colgate.edu/presidentialtour Reunion 2013 May 30–June 2 If your graduation year ends in 3 or 8, 2013 is your reunion year. Mark your calendars now and call your friends to start planning your special Colgate weekend on campus!

salmagundi

Piece Core

Rewind

The titles of seven books from Colgate’s core curriculum through the years have been cut into jigsaw pieces, and many of the pieces have been removed. Each remaining piece here is correctly spaced. Can you identify the titles from the sections shown on each piece? See the solution on page 69.

Puzzle by Puzzability

13 Words (or fewer) Submit your creative, clever, or humorous caption of 13 words or fewer for this Salmagundi photo to scene@ colgate.edu or attn: Colgate Scene, 13 Oak Dr., Hamilton, NY 13346. The winner will receive a Colgate Scene T-shirt, and the best caption will be announced in the next issue. Deadline: December 7, 2012.

Reflections of Colgate through the generations In 1941, shortly before the school year was to start, 300 of us “smarties” with our new green freshman beanies and black ties gathered on campus to be “oriented.” There were 1,000 students at Colgate when I enrolled. We freshmen were assigned seats in the chapel and were expected to attend a certain number of sessions. Freshmen could not have automobiles, nor join a fraternity. When the Japanese bombed U.S. ships in a harbor in Hawaii on December 7, we wondered, “Where’s Hawaii?” Classmates gathered around the radio in the Commons to hear what details were available. I decided to join the Navy Air Force when I turned 18 in February. Although I initially passed the rigorous eye test for Navy pilot, eight months later, I failed the same test and went to boot camp. After boot camp, I went to quartermaster’s school, then was sent to V12 at Harvard to get the necessary physics courses, and then went to midshipman’s school. I eventually got on a carrier (Kearsarge) as a Navy Air Force fighter director (by this time, the war was over). My Stillman roommate, Bill Braunig, took the same route to his commission. Many students stayed at Colgate to get their required physics courses and then went to midshipman’s school. Many joined the Army or Army Air Force. About 90 percent of our Class of ’45 joined up. By 1945, 17 of our 300 smarties had given their lives for our country. I came back in 1946 (to graduate the following year). The campus was covered with other students returning to complete their education. Many returned with wives. Temporary homes were built for them. My wife and I attended the reunion in 1950. We went back to campus in 1995 for my 50th Reunion. By then it was a completely different school. I’ll end with Kingfish, a principal character in the Amos ’n Andy radio show (a favorite of my era): “tempest sho do fidget.” — Bob Husselrath Do you have a reminiscence for Rewind? Send your submission of short prose, poetry, or a photograph with a description to scene@colgate.edu.

scene: Autumn 2012

Above: Not your father’s college library. Students use a full panoply of digital media tools to create video narratives, podcasts, websites, poster presentations, and more at the new Anita Grover MD ’74 and Tom Hargrove P’14 Digital Learning and Media Center in the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology. This fall, 258 students are using the center to work on academic projects in courses with 13 professors, in disciplines ranging from the classics to educational studies, religion to Russian. Photo by Andrew Daddio Back Cover: Fitness for the body— and the environment. The Trudy Fitness Center has been recognized for its green technology and energy efficiency with gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Weighing in were factors such as 20 percent greater energy efficiency and 30 percent greater water efficiency than a typical building of its size, in addition to green construction materials and 89 percent of the construction debris diverted from a landfill. Photo by Justin Myers News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Colgate University

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