VOL. 10 FALL 2021
A community newsletter
who live within a 300-mile radius of Colgate returned home to isolate. All faculty and staff have been strongly encouraged to seek out testing prior to the start of the fall semester or participate in Colgate-hosted clinics before arrival day. For those who were unable to pursue these options, the University offered a free at-home test kit. Individual faculty or staff members may require students to wear masks within the classroom or in a private office regardless of the area’s official masking guidelines. Federal law currently requires face coverings on public transportation, in Student Health Services, on the Colgate Cruiser, and in any health care setting (vaccination sites, testing sites, etc.).
Mark DiOrio
“We are all in this together.”
Colgate Plans for New-Normal Fall Semester
olgate University has announced fall semester plans that reduce COVID-related restrictions while keeping a close eye on global, national, and local infection data and growing concerns about the rapid spread of the delta variant. The variant’s emergence has shaped steps — developed collaboratively by the University’s Task Force on Reopening the Colgate Campus, Emergency Operations Center, and Executive Group — that students took on arrival day, Sunday, Aug. 22. Students were asked to limit the number of family members or friends coming to help with move-in, and they were asked to check in immediately upon arrival to receive a rapid antigen test. A second test took place five to seven days later to protect the health and safety of
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the campus and Hamilton communities. On arrival day, face coverings were required for all employees, students, and guests — indoors and outdoors, when physical distancing is not possible. Until the second negative test results are returned, all students were expected to continue to wear face coverings while indoors in public areas, and anywhere physical distancing is not possible, regardless of vaccination status. Masks continue to be required for unvaccinated individuals anywhere on campus. Any student who tested positive upon arrival was required to isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms. Due to an increase in the number of students on campus this semester and a decrease in available quarantine and isolation space, students
Laura H. Jack, vice president for university communications and acting chief diversity officer
“We are all in this together,” Laura H. Jack, vice president for communications and acting chief diversity officer, said in a letter to the University community. “To keep the community safer, especially as we all travel back to campus from around the country and globe, where COVID-19 infections are increasing, we need to think about the campus as a whole and respond with individual, responsible actions and some self-sacrifice.” Masks provide an additional layer of protection against COVID-19, but vaccination remains the best prevention against an outbreak. The University issued a vaccination requirement for all faculty, staff, and students this summer and has logged nearly 95% participation to date, with a limited number of religious and medical exemptions. Further progress will be logged on the Health Analytics Team dashboard. “Let’s remember all that we learned about caring for each other last year,” Jack wrote. “If something is expected, we ask you to take this responsibility for yourself and others seriously.” -Mark Walden
hen Colgate Director of Facilities Operations Jason Wallace isn’t coordinating the University’s army of custodial and maintenance staff, he is leading about 11,000 United States Army Corps of Engineers as a newly decorated brigadier general in the 416th Theater Engineer Command. Wallace, who has been with Colgate since June 2019, has served his nation in the military for a total of 29 years, three in active duty and the remainder as part of the U.S. Army Reserves. On July 24, Wallace was promoted from colonel into his new brigadier general role at the Fort Ontario State Historic Site in his hometown of Oswego, N.Y. “I handle the logistics and the administrative side, including personnel or, what we would call human resources at Colgate. I make sure we have the right supplies where we need them, that
Steve Hughes
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Colgate Director of Facilities Operations Jason Wallace is sworn in as a newly minted Brigadier General in Oswego, July 24.
the equipment works, and everything is properly maintained west of the Mississippi.” Wallace is a graduate of Clarkson University with a bachelor of science in civil and environmental engineering, and he holds a master of business administration from SUNY Oswego. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where he earned his master of strategic studies degree. In his military service, Wallace has helped the reserves respond to five hurricanes, and he has been involved in countless building projects, including constructing a new water treatment plant in Iraq. His highest decorations and awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, and the Bronze de Fleury Medal. When Wallace leaves campus for the day, he heads home to start work for the military. “Colgate has been very good to me. I do Army work every night. From emails to personnel management and making travel plans, it’s all very time-intensive,” Wallace said. “A lot of that stuff is cross applicable. It has helped me with all of my work here. Clearly, years in the army being around construction and maintenance has been critical. It’s also helped with my leadership as we work to foster team development in Colgate’s Facilities Department. It’s always one team, one mission.” Associate Vice President for Facilities and Capital Projects Steve Hughes said Wallace’s work at Colgate has had an impact on their team building and day-to-day success. “Jason and his leadership qualities have made a positive impact on our Colgate community. He supports our teams with the same passion as he does for our country, and for that I am grateful,” Hughes said.
Andrew M. Daddio
Colgate Facilities Director by Day, Brigadier General by Night
Upcoming Theater Events Visit Colgate.edu/theater for updates about event times, virtual event links, and additional performances for the fall semester. October 22 Time TBD Brehmer Theater Just Sole! Street Dance Theater Company Dance performance by members of the Just Sole! Street Dance Theater Company. October 29–30 All Day Virtual New/Normal Diaries: A Festival Gallery A virtual collection of short plays, monologues, video work, dance, visual art, and other modes of artistic expression, which explore, express, interrogate, trouble, embrace, and/ or negate the possibilities and impossibilities of New/Normal. November 12–14, 16–17 Times TBD Brehmer Theater The Juniors by Noah Diaz University Theater fall 2021 production. Directed by Kat Yen ’09. Performed by Colgate students.
Daniel DeVries
Carbon Neutrality and Biomass
n important component of Colgate University’s journey to becoming the first university in New York state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2019 is the use of wood chips as our primary source of energy for heating and hot water. Colgate’s use of wood chips to power its steam boiler is considered carbon neutral by the U.S. EPA, which establishes the nation’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards. While this might seem counterintuitive to some, Colgate Director of Sustainability John Pumilio explains how biomass heats our campus and lowers our carbon footprint. “Colgate purchases all of our wood chips, about 8,000 tons per year, from Gutchess’ lumber mill in Vernon, N.Y., less than 20 miles away from campus. The wood chips are a by-product of the mill’s operations, ultimately sourced from well-managed state and private forests. This includes Gutchess’ own 29,000acre forest that has been owned and sustainably managed by the company
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for over a century. As long as there is no land-use change, the use of Gutchess’ wood chips in Colgate’s wood boiler is a climate solution.
“Colgate purchases all of our wood chips, about 8,000 tons per year, from Gutchess’ lumber mill in Vernon, N.Y., less than 20 miles away from campus.” John Pumilio, director of sustainability
Sustainably managed working forests can be an important aspect of combating climate change, Pumilio said. As young trees grow, they actively capture carbon from the atmosphere, but as they age, the amount of carbon they take in decreases. Harvesting those trees makes way for new growth that can continue the cycle of carbon sequestration. The harvested trees taken to Gutchess Lumber are then
milled and used in a variety of furniture and building applications, storing the carbon held within the wood for generations. “Arguments against the carbon neutrality of wood can be validated under certain circumstances, but some of the research against the use of biomass assumes that the source of wood is coming from clear-cut forests or a land-use change, or that it’s shipped long distances for electric generation in large-scale power plants,” Pumilio said. “Colgate’s use of biomass is entirely different. It’s a small, local operation using wood for steam in a state where forest biomass and growth continue to increase year over year.” The use of these wood chips not only saves the University money, as wood is cheaper than fossil fuels over the long term, but it also supports Colgate’s sustainability goals set forth in the Third-Century Plan because locally produced wood is a renewable resource and a win for the climate when used in place of fossil fuels.
LifeLong Learning Opportunities at Colgate
Katy Jacobs
Join one or more of the illuminating LifeLong Learning courses at Colgate this fall. The majority of offerings are being held virtually, and all classes can be accessed with a single $40 annual membership fee for one person, or $70 for a family membership. No registration is required.
Colgate Continues to Invest in Sustainable Infrastructure
he new Spear House parking lot may look mostly the same as before, but massive stormwater storage chambers hidden 8 feet below the surface — as well as several other improvements above ground — make this project a substantial investment in sustainable infrastructure at Colgate. The construction crew, led by Landscape Project Manager Katy Jacobs, completed a major excavation of the site and installed the new drainage system during the summer as part of Colgate’s ongoing stormwater management master plan. “We’re working on incorporating green infrastructure,” says Jacobs. The storage chambers look like huge, oblong domes, surrounded by drainage stone. The system will act like an enclosed pond — storing stormwater and releasing it gradually into the ravine located south of the parking lot. “The system has a storage capacity of more than 150,000 gallons; that’s enough water to raise the level of Taylor Lake by one inch,” Jacobs says. Managing the flow of stormwater will substantially reduce erosion on the hillside and flooding on Lally Lane and Taylor Lake.
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Hydrology is the study of the properties of water circulation. According to Jacobs, the stormwater storage system installed at Spear House allows the parking lot to function hydrologically more like green space. Stormwater runoff is captured and stored in the ground, enabling sediment and other pollutants to settle out before it is released at a slower, controlled rate. The system isn’t just for strategically placed parking lots — it is installed underneath the Benton Hall parking lot and underneath the new tree-lined oval located between Burke and Pinchin Halls. Colgate Director of Sustainability John Pumilio is enthusiastic about the project, which also included installation of an electric vehicle charging station, LED lighting, and native landscaping. “It’s an example of Colgate’s commitment to sustainability,” Pumilio says. “Native plantings will not only reduce surface runoff during heavy rain events, but will also attract pollinators and absorb additional carbon as they mature.” -Jasmine Kellogg
email: llp@colgate.edu website: colgate.edu/community/
lifelong-learning
COVID-19 Update: What Do We Know Now, and Where Do We Go From Here? Thursday, September 9 2:30-4 p.m. Presenter: Associate Professor of Biology Geoff Holm Softball: The How, What, and Why to an Ageless Sport Monday, September 20 2:30-4 p.m. This is an in-person class at the Eaton Street Softball Field, Hamilton, N.Y. Presenter: Colgate Head Softball Coach Marissa Lamison-Myers Celebrating Dolly Parton: 75 Years of Song Monday, October 4, and Wednesday, October 6 2:30-4 p.m. Presenter: Hamilton College Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley, author of Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2020) Images of African Americans in Black American Literature Thursday, October 14; Wednesday, October 20; and Thursday, October 28 2:30-4 p.m. Presenter: Phillip M. Richards, Colgate professor of English emeritus
Colgate Athletics Highlights
History, Education, and Recreation at the Beattie Reserve Thursday, October 21 2-3:30 p.m. The class will take place at Colgate’s Beattie Reserve, Bonney Road, Hamilton. Presenters: Susan Beattie and Colgate Director of Outdoor Education Ben Oliver Racial Disparities and Health Care Thursday, November 11 2:30-4 p.m. Presenter: Carl Iver Hovland Professor of Psychology and Public Health Emeritus at Yale University Jack Dovidio Museum Matters Engage with the current exhibition at Picker Art Gallery and learn more about the Picker collection Thursday, December 2 2:30-4:30 p.m. Presenter: Curator of Picker Art Gallery and Co-Director of University Museums at Colgate Nicholas West
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elcome your favorite Colgate student-athletes back by taking in one of the many exciting home competitions slated for the fall. Visit gocolgateraiders.com for full details and schedules.
Men’s Golf Hosts Alex Lagowitz Memorial All-day tournament at Seven Oaks Golf Course September 4 & September 5 Volleyball Hosts Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament vs. Princeton September 10, 7 p.m. vs. Cleveland State September 11, 11 a.m. Men’s Soccer 9/11 Alumni Weekend vs. UC Santa Barbara September 10, 7 p.m.
Women’s Hockey Home Opener and Banner Ceremony vs. RIT September 24, 5 p.m. Football Hosts Lehigh: Homecoming Weekend September 25, 1 p.m. Field Hockey Hosts Lehigh in Patriot League opener: September 25, 11 a.m. Women’s Soccer Hosts Navy in 2021 Spring Patriot League Championship Rematch October 2, 1 p.m.
vs. Princeton September 12, 5 p.m.
Pre-season training photos by Shae Labbe ’19
LifeLong Learning Opportunities at Colgate
Members of the local community are invited to subscribe to receive email updates from Colgate University regarding its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sign up at colgate.edu/
communityupdates. Concerns: Call 911 or the Hamilton Police Department with any immediate, lifesafety concerns. For concerns about student behavior in the village, please contact COVID19@colgate.edu.
Editor Daniel DeVries Cover Photo Mark DiOrio Laura H. Jack Vice President for University Communications and Acting Chief Diversity Officer Joanne Borfitz Associate Vice President for Community Affairs and Auxiliary Services
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FALL 2021
A community newsletter