scene Winter 2011
News and views for the Colgate community
The Forgotten Freedom Fighter Beyond the 11th Modernism at the Fringes
scene
Winter 2011
26 The Forgotten Freedom Fighter
History professor and biographer Graham Hodges gives radical black abolitionist David Ruggles his due
32 Beyond the 11th
After the 2001 terror attacks, Susan Retik Ger ’90 turned her personal tragedy into an opportunity to improve the lives of others
36 Modernism at the Fringes
Herbert Mayer ’29 and the World House Galleries
3
Message from President Jeffrey Herbst
4
Letters
6
Work & Play
13
Colgate history, tradition, and spirit
14
Life of the Mind
18
Arts & Culture
20
Go ’gate
24
New, Noted & Quoted
42
The Big Picture
44
Stay Connected 2011 Alumni Council Election
45
Class News 77 Marriages & Unions 77 Births & Adoptions 78 In Memoriam
80
Salmagundi: Puzzle, Slices contest, Rewind
DEPARTMENTS
On the cover: Guard Joe Hoban ’11 gives some pre-drill coaching at the annual Shoot with the Raiders community event on Cotterell Court. Photo by Janna Minehart ’13 Left: Payne Creek scenic by Andrew Daddio News and views for the Colgate community
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scene team
Contributors
Volume XL Number 2 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.
Graham Russell Gao Hodges, George Dorland Langdon Jr. Professor of history and Africana and Latin American studies (“The Forgotten Freedom Fighter,” pg. 26), has taught early American and New York City history at Colgate since 1986. Several of his books have brought to light neglected but significant historical figures such as AsianAmerican actress Anna May Wong and Revolutionary War Loyalist Colonel Tye.
Professor of Art and Art History Mary Ann Calo (“Modernism at the Fringes,” pg. 36) teaches courses on modern and contemporary art history and American art. She is the author of several books and numerous articles. Her research interests include the history of art criticism, American art and culture between the world wars, and the visual art of the Harlem Renaissance.
Managing Editor Rebecca Costello Associate Editor Aleta Mayne Director of Publications Gerald Gall Coordinator of Photographic Services Andrew Daddio Production Assistant Kathy Bridge
David McKay Wilson (“Bikes Belong,” pg. 54) has written for more than 80 university and college alumni magazines, The New York Times, and the Harvard Education Letter. The founder and president of the Bike Walk Alliance of Westchester & Putnam, which works with municipalities to promote cycling and walking, he logged 2,300 miles on his bike in 2010.
Contributing writers and designers: Director of Web Content Timothy O’Keeffe Art Director Karen Luciani Graphic Designer Katherine Mutz Director of Marketing and Public Relations Barbara Brooks Senior Advancement Writer Mark Walden Online Community Manager Jennifer McGee Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Matt Faulkner
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scene online
Contact: scene@colgate.edu 315-228-7417 www.colgateconnect.org/scene Printed and mailed from Lane Press in South Burlington, Vt.
Listen
In the Studio: www.colgate.edu/video The Resolutions, the university’s original coed a cappella group, used the audio studio at Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology to record a CD.
Watch
World Affairs: www.colgate.edu/about/ presidentjeffreyherbst/podcasts President Jeffrey Herbst discusses a range of topics with influential campus guests — such as philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah — in a new podcast series called Colgate Conversations: World Affairs.
Get connected
Community: www.colgateconnect.org Parents are invited to join our online community and utilize the wide range of tools available on our renamed website.
Look
Boathouse Production: www.flickr.com/photos/colgateuniversity Check our flickr site for photographs of the theater production 1500 Meters Above Jack’s Level, held in an unusual location: the Glendening Boathouse.
Talk
Latest news: http://blogs.colgate.edu As you read the latest stories about campus and alumni happenings, your comments and thoughts are always welcome.
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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. 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 on the basis of race, color, national origin, citizenship status, sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, physical or mental disability (including AIDS), age, marital status, sexual orientation, status as a disabled veteran of the Vietnam era, or any other category protected under applicable law. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the university’s nondiscrimination policies: Keenan Grenell, Vice President and Dean for Diversity, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346; 315-228-6161.
Online Scene subscription: sceneletters@colgate.edu To stop receiving the printed Scene, e-mail us your name, class year, address, and e-mail address and put Online Mailing List in the subject. We’ll send you an e-mail when we post new online editions (www.colgateconnect.org/scene). 10%
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scene: Winter 2011
Message from President Jeffrey Herbst
With approximately 16 months
left in the Passion for
the Climb campaign, we have already exceeded our goal of raising $87.5 million for financial aid. Yet, in typical Colgate spirit, we have decided to step up our ambitions — by raising an additional $40 million so that more students of limited means can receive one of the best educations in America.
I believe that raising more funds for financial aid is Colgate’s most important strategic goal. Today, we are dependent on a large percentage (much greater than many of our peer schools) of students paying full tuition at a time when our society has lost considerable wealth. That is a significant risk to the university. We simply must be able to diversify our admissions pipeline in order to draw from a larger proportion of American society. At the moment, we lose on the proverbial “cutting room floor” outstanding students who want to come to Colgate but whom we cannot afford because of our limited financial aid resources. These are very high quality, well-prepared students who would add to the vitality and diversity of our campus. Vice President and Dean of Admission Gary Ross ’77 has shared with me some examples of the students we currently cannot admit. We have changed their names and removed identifying information, but I think that you will find their stories compelling: “Scott” (West Coast) 3.78 GPA/1490 SAT testing. (The SAT scores shown for each example are the combined critical reading and math score.) In 1996, Scott was in a car accident with his grandparents, parents, and sister. He was the only survivor. Since age 4, he has been raised by his aunt and uncle. He wrote his personal statement on being his family’s ‘anchor’ after their death. Scott is also an Eagle Scout and student representative to the school board. Teachers say Scott has “limitless potential.”
They also say she “exemplifies excellence” in the classroom. She serves as captain of the ice hockey and soccer teams and made the all-state team for soccer. When her coach suffered a debilitating stroke, she and her teammates rallied the community and raised more than $15,000. Our eventual goal is to make Colgate need blind, so that we can admit the very best students irrespective of family means. It will take time and considerable financial resources to meet that goal; however, along the way, every single student we are able to provide with assistance is a victory. Since its inception, the Passion for the Climb campaign has been a great success. Despite the daunting economic challenges of the last few years — when many nonprofit organizations saw substantial declines in the gifts they received — our campaign remains ahead of projections. Everyone at the university is extremely appreciative of the extraordinary commitment Colgate alumni have shown, especially in these difficult times. As I travel around the country, I am grateful for the enthusiasm with which Colgate’s supporters have seized on our goal for financial aid. I look forward to working with you to ensure that no student who wants to come to Colgate is hindered by a lack of family resources — a great goal for a great university. President Herbst chats with students at a reception in the Hall of Presidents.
“Patricia” (Northwest) 3.83/1530. Patricia earned top praise from a teacher as “one of the brightest and most articulate students I have encountered in 32 years.” She is co-editor of her school’s literary magazine and is described as a leader in the classroom. Her essay speaks to her life as a child being raised by parents who come from very different places. “Lisa” (Northeast) 3.84/1460. Lisa is legally blind and wrote a compelling essay about this challenge. Her mother grew up on an island in the Pacific, so this perspective has helped shape her childhood. She is the captain of the field hockey and ski teams, vice president of student government, and treasurer of the National Honor Society. Her teachers speak to her compassion toward others and her modesty in light of her achievements.
Andrew Daddio
“Jane” (Northeast) 4.05/1380. Jane ranks in the top 2 percent of her class. Teachers describe her as the most incredible ever taught at the school.
News and views for the Colgate community
3
Letters
scene
ings. Find my contact info atop this issue’s 1960 class notes.
Autumn 2010
News and views for the Colgate community
Steve Greenbaum ’60 Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Mott and the WSG
“Diary from Haiti” superb
Globetrotter: Jeffrey Herbst, Colgate’s 16th President The ’Gate Shopper’s Gift Guide The Accidental Filmmaker
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.
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scene: Winter 2011
I think the Scene has become a fantastic magazine. Wonderful articles. I read it from cover to cover. “Diary from Haiti” (summer 2010) was superb. I really appreciate the Colgate connection. My dad, uncle, husband, brother, and niece were all Colgate graduates. Unfortunately, when I went to college, women were not yet accepted at Colgate. Keep up the good work! Shirley Searing Preston Rochester, N.Y.
Speirs: From the Bottom of a Well A friend of my classmate Bruce Barth was attracted to a book titled Shouts From the Bottom of a Deep Well while browsing in a used bookstore. Seeing that it was written by Russell Speirs from Colgate, he gave it to Bruce. Bruce, knowing that Russ was my faculty adviser and Shakespeare teacher, sent the book to me. Professor Speirs’s dedication is as follows: “To the many students who put up with me on good days and bad days, in good years and bad years, from 1923 through 1971.” To you graduates who knew Russ and loved him, to those thespians in Masque and Triangle (many of whom are named in this book) who were fortunate enough to be involved with him in creating drama for Colgate, I will lend to you this delightful autobiography wrapped in his poetry and decorated with his whimsical draw-
One reason I attended Colgate was to try to join the Washington Study Group. I got acquainted with Professor Rodney Mott. He encouraged me, and we became friends (a lot of us did). Regretfully, WWII came along and we all changed direction. Thank you for writing about Mott (“Founding the Washington Study Group,” Letters, autumn 2010). Harold Duncan ’44 San Antonio, Texas
Bob Howard’s timeless lessons The passing of Bob Howard ’49 (In Memoriam, autumn 2010) should be a reminder to all alumni — and the institution he loved so dearly — that Colgate exists today because we stand upon the shoulders of Colgate men like him.
that for Colgate to be more than a name and a place, it must protect and impart the importance of Colgate’s past — its teachers, its staff, and its people — while building a better future. Bob served Colgate in the admission and alumni offices. He understood and tended to the lifeblood of the university: its students and its alumni. As the adviser to the Colgate Thirteen, he was an anchor for the group at a critical time in its history, and for that, the Thirteen and Colgate will benefit for years to come. While Colgate has changed, the core of what Bob taught us remains timeless. Bob’s language of love was living. Through his own example, he taught so many that we must embrace life with a sense of possibility, do the work that needs to be done, and connect with all those who touch our lives. There are few at Colgate today who know of Bob Howard. Yet the Colgate community needs to pause a moment and remember this man from the Class of 1949 because our lives are better because of his. Scott Williams ’80 Bethesda, Md.
Remembering Ole Kollevoll
Bob taught us that people matter. No effort, however simple or small, went unrecognized by this graceful, thoughtful man. He had an innocence of heart open to all who crossed his path, and those who did meet Bob were instantly infused with the true “spirit that is Colgate.” He understood
Our beloved former hockey coach Ole Kollevoll ’45 (In Memoriam, pg. 78 this issue) died in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 11, giving me yet another reason to never forget that date. Playing for Ole and then coaching Colgate’s freshman baseball and hockey teams [under Ole’s tutelage] while I was in grad school played a big part in my going into coaching for a part of my life. I’m sure it played a similar role for others as well. Ole had a very positive effect on people. You looked up to him, and you did not want to disappoint him. He was a man’s man, and a great role
model for a bunch of impressionable young hockey players. I feel sad that he is gone, but I feel lucky to have known him and very thankful to have played for him. Ole Kollevoll will be missed by all of us, but forgotten by none of us.
about winning, and about ourselves. He did it well! At the front end of the modern era of hockey at Colgate, he was to all his players a great and memorable coach — and he made it a privilege to play for Colgate — and for Ole Kollevoll!
Dick Johnson ’64 Duxbury, Mass.
Bob Meehan ’65 Boxford, Mass.
Remembering Coach Ole (the Camel) Kollevoll is a lot easier than trying to forget him. He has been unforgettable to many of us since leaving Colgate. The impact he had on ’gate student athletes on and off the field across the sports he coached, especially hockey, was and is his living legacy, and will be with those of us whom he coached until we die. He never let us forget why we were at Colgate; first and foremost, to get an outstanding education, and, oh, yeah — play hockey, and win! When we crossed the hockey lockerroom threshold and entered Starr Rink for a practice or to play a game, everything else in our lives was to be left outside that room. We were there to learn, play hard, and win. In so many ways, as accomplished as we thought we might be as players, he not only coached us on how to play the game, but he also taught us about the game,
In five short years after starting Colgate’s modern hockey program, Ole’s Colgate teams went to the ECAC championships, only to be stopped by the eastern champions Harvard in 1963 and Providence College in 1964 — an amazing accomplishment considering that, unlike most successful programs, his Colgate teams had very few Canadian players, consisting mainly of northern New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts high school players who excelled under his tutelage. What kind of coach was Ole? Ole was not a screamer, and he never belittled a player. There were plenty of “doggone its” and “goldang its,” but he would never swear; neither would he tolerate swearing. When we were underperforming, a typical between-period talk went like this: “You guys are disappointing me, your school, your parents, and coaches who worked so hard to get you here, and most of all yourselves. Now let’s turn this thing around!” We learned on and off the ice that success demanded perseverance, consistency, commitment, accountability, sacrifice, teamwork, giving your all until the last whistle, and, yes, Norwegian stubbornness! His developing these qualities in players led to successful doctors, dentists, lawyers, teachers, professors, administrators, leaders in transportation, business, and finance, distinguished military careers, professional athletes, and some who gave their lives in the service of their country.
His former players can only reverently say, “Thank you, coach. We are very, very proud of you. You inspired us until the end of your game, and still do!” Kurt Brown ’64 Sarasota, Fla.
Spread the word on fitness One of Colgate’s great legacies to the world has been to instill in the Colgate family a fanatical commit-
ment to physical fitness. We need an in-ground whirlpool, steam bath, and massage facilities. Let us put on a conference on physical fitness and invite the national news media and people from all over the world to this conference at Colgate, to give the world our love of physical fitness! Edward T. O’Donnell Jr. ’70 Wilmington, Del.
Relive the exhilaration and challenge of liberal arts learning. Nine of Colgate’s engaging professors will adapt their most popular material for alumni, family, and friends who yearn for a serious academic experience. Outside of the classroom, enjoy fitness June 22–26 activities, golf at Seven Oaks, and the Village of Hamilton, from the Farmer’s Market, shops, and restaurants to a historical walking tour. Summer on the Hill — Think Colgate Study Group, closer to home and all grown up. Course options Making Art Modern: Cezanne, Picasso, and Kandinsky — Mary Ann Calo, art and art history Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra — Margaret Maurer, English Telling Right from Wrong: The Search for Objective Morality — David McCabe, philosophy and Core Modernity Alien Invaders: Exotic Species and Biodiversity — Timothy S. McCay, environmental studies and biology Human Memory: The good, the bad, and the ugly — Douglas N. Johnson, psychology Evolution and You: Frank Frey, biology and environmental studies The Great Recession — Nicole Simpson, economics The Swinging Gate: U.S. Immigration Policy in the 21st Century — Ellen Percy Kraly, geography The American Way of Graft — Michael Johnston, political science For details on schedule, accommodations, meals, and registration, call 315-228-7433 or visit www.colgateconnect.org/summerhill. Registration deadline: May 16, 2011
News and views for the Colgate community
5
work & play
Campus scrapbook
A B
A
B
Groove is in the heart. Students rehearse for their December Dancefest performance. Arielle Sperling ’14 guides Audrey Lapp in the Learn to Skate program offered by Colgate Figure Skating.
The Golden Dragon Acrobats jumped through hoops to wow the audience in an event sponsored by the Chinese Interest Association.
D
Hunkering down in Case Library during finals week.
E
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow — and let’s go tobogganing.
F
Students and area children build gingerbread houses to facilitate the building of real houses as part of a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.
Photos A, B, C, and F by Janna Minehart ’13; photos D and E by Andrew Daddio
C
C
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scene: Winter 2011
D E
F
News and views for the Colgate community
7
Andrew Daddio
As former President Bill Clinton began speaking to a crowd of 5,000 at Colgate on Oct. 29, he explained that he would be talking about “all these apparently disparate things that are going on in the world” through a framework outlined by three clusters of problems: inequality, instability, and unsustainability. “One of the things I picked up [on while] traveling around America, is how hard it is for people — especially if they’re having a hard time paying their bills and staying in their homes and holding onto their jobs and educating their children — to make sense of all the things that are happening,” he said. Relating the problems in America to what’s happening on the global stage, Clinton spoke of what he’s gleaned through his international travels in working with his nongovernmental organization. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), whose members have made 1,700 commitments valued at $57 billion, has already affected more than 220 million people in 170 countries. “One thing I’ve learned is that intelligence and effort are
evenly distributed, but structure and opportunities are not,” Clinton said. From longtime poverty and devastation in Haiti to drug wars in Mexico to the financial crisis in the United States, Clinton explained how each country’s problems affect us all because of our interdependence. “We can’t get away from each other and we can’t escape the consequences of our actions on others, around the corner or around the world.”
Village Green
Phil Lanoue
work & play
President Bill Clinton provides perspective on U.S. and global challenges
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scene: Winter 2011
Discussing climate change and CGI’s environmental work, Clinton said improved sustainability efforts are one solution for improving the economic situation. “It’s the number one thing we can do to modernize the economy, to bring back manufacturing, to increase the employment base, to rebuild the middle class in America, and I have some evidence to support that,” he said, greeted by applause. Following Clinton’s talk, Colgate
ArtsPower presented the musical The Rainbow Fish, based on Marcus Pfister’s children’s book, at the Palace Theater. The sold-out performance was part of Act Now — Educate Forever, a program that invites schools and the public to a live theater production that gives teachers and parents teaching material to meet the New York State Learning Standards. The curriculum connections touched on such themes as family relationships, values, history, and communication skills. Stretching the parameters of acoustic swing, Caravan of Thieves performed their unique brand of gypsy-flavored songs at the Barge Canal Coffee Co. on Dec. 4. Much dancing, stomping, singing, and laughter was reported at the cozy coffee shop. The show ended with an acoustic version of the new Caravan song “Raise the Dead,” with the audience on their feet, clapping to the beat. Leslie Yacavone, owner of The Peppermill kitchenware store, led cooking classes for A Holiday Meal to Remember, held at Bridle Creek Bed & Breakfast in December. The menu, created by Yacavone, included mini Stilton cheesecakes, haricot verts with warm bacon vinaigrette, pork medallions with pomegranate cherry/merlot sauce, and chocolate mint truffle torte. The Colgate Bookstore’s Jane Austen Book Club hosted an author event and discussion followed by a full English-style tea at the Colgate Inn. David M. Shapard, editor of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice and The Annotated Persuasion spoke and answered questions about the process of annotating Austen’s works. He then led a group discussion about Persuasion and signed copies of his own books. Afterward, the group assembled for afternoon tea in a private room at the Colgate Inn. Families gathered at Heritage Farm for Breakfast with Santa Claus, a holiday pancake feast followed by a photo opportunity with Old Saint Nick in the poinsettia-filled greenhouse.
Go figure Let’s get physical With the new Trudy Fitness Center about to open, the Scene got the skinny on the Colgate community’s physical fitness last semester.*
312 students worked out every week day (Mon.–Thurs.)
202 students worked out every weekend day (Fri.–Sun.)
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faculty/staff worked out each week day; 24 each weekend day
32 community members worked out each week day; 19 each weekend day
14,646.5
lbs of total weights in the Wm. Brian Little Fitness Center
4 murals of athletes lifting weights 16 elliptical machines 14 treadmills 224–320
oz of sanitizer sprayed on the equipment each week * numbers were averaged and collected at press time
Kevin Williams ’10
Service in memory of Kevin Williams ’10
An emotional service was held Dec. 6 in Memorial Chapel in memory of Kevin Williams ’10, who died October 4 after a yearlong battle with an inoperable brain tumor. The service, filled with moving songs and stories and pictures of the 22-year-old, was open to everyone who had been touched by his short life. Williams’s family was present, as well as his fiancée, Kathlin Ramsdell ’10, and her family. Williams had been battling the tumor with radiation therapy and chemotherapy, staying in Stanford, Calif., with his family. While at Colgate, Williams majored in geology and geography. He was captain of the water polo team, raced on the ski team, and participated as a summer fellow at the Upstate Institute, working on land-use issues in Cazenovia. He also enjoyed kneeboard surfing and volleyball. Geology professor Amy Leventer described Williams as seeming “to have been born on the sunny side of life,” remarking on his “curiosity, knack for asking the right question, and for encouraging great discussions.” Ellen Kraly, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of geography and director of the Upstate Institute, noted his “quiet presence, wicked humor, poise, and professionalism.” Six fellow members of the water polo team went up on the Chapel stage to show support for their teammate. Chip Molten ’12 and Mike Schon ’12 both spoke about how Williams was one of the first people to reach out to them before even coming to Colgate. Molten said that Williams
was the person who most helped him during a difficult first year at Colgate, and Schon echoed a phrase Williams often repeated: “Enjoy life and live it to the fullest.” The Williams family launched a blog at kickingkevinscancer.blogspot. com to keep his friends updated throughout the treatment process, and his friends from home created a Facebook group as an outlet for words of encouragement. Last April, members of the Class of 2010 hosted a Trivia Night at Donovan’s Pub and raised money toward his medical bills. During the service, Williams’s father, Rich Williams, shared how one of his son’s last wishes was to come back to Colgate. Since that was not possible, the family has established a memorial fund within the geography and geology departments to keep Williams “here at Colgate forever.” — Elizabeth Stein ’12
‘Rap troubadour’ drops his take on evolution
Waving peace signs in the air and repeating choruses of “I’m ‘A’ African,” students and professors hardly looked like they were gathered in Love Auditorium to learn anything. Yet they were treated to a unique and original lesson in evolutionary biology — in rap format. Baba Brinkman, a “rap troubadour” from Vancouver, Canada, brought his award-winning performance to campus on Dec. 1. Without a doubt, he proved that it is possible to drop a beat while explaining Darwinism. Brinkman originally composed the rap at the request of a committee honoring Dar-
win’s bicentennial in 2009, after the chairperson heard his rap of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. He researched evolution and then submitted his lyrics to a handful of scientists to ensure their factual correctness — so, as he noted, it’s the first ever peer-reviewed rap. Reworking classics by the Notorious B.I.G. and Dead Prez, among others, Brinkman deftly presented heavy and complicated information in a fun and engaging format. His rhymes explained, for example, how all human life came from Africa — at one point in history, the species was concentrated there. Hence, as he noted, everyone in the audience could proudly shout, “I’m ‘A’ African.” Geology professor Constance Soja helped bring Brinkman to campus, having seen his performance while leading the Australia Study Group in spring 2010. “It’s unconventional, and that’s the goal,” she said. “[It’s] science, even though he’s not a scientist … it’s rap, so it’s music, it’s performance, it’s social commentary. I just thought, this is so unique and innovative.” Indeed, Brinkman managed to apply the abstract scientific concept of evolution to modern social issues, such as teenage pregnancy in violent inner-city neighborhoods. Because life expectancy is lower there, in theory, the biological need to pass on genes manifests itself earlier — leading to higher levels of pregnant minors. Soja liked that Brinkman made the connection between evolution and our world today, and hoped that students left the performance with a new perspective on Darwin’s theories. “Darwin and evolution speak across the ages; evolution relates to
Rapper Baba Brinkman
Janna Minehart ’13
President Jeffrey Herbst presented him with questions submitted by students. Kendall Dolbec ’11 asked what career advice Clinton had for Colgate’s graduating class, given the current global economy. “Start by asking yourself, ‘What could I do that would make me happiest and make me feel most fulfilled and make me feel most useful?’” Clinton said. “Then I would say, ‘Can I do that now?’ If the answer is no because of the economic circumstances, then I would find something I could do that was useful and that I’d learn something from for a couple of years.” Adding that students shouldn’t make a long-term decision based on the country’s economic standing, he said, “You’ve got to believe your country’s coming back — I do. You never bet against America.” The event in Sanford Field House was part of The Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate, sponsored by the Parents’ and Grandparents’ Fund.
News and views for the Colgate community
9
lican victories at all levels of government — federal, state, and local. Undergraduates on both ends of the political spectrum had a chance to engage with Barone. Max Weiss ’11 and Andrew Philipson ’14 represented the College Democrats, while Alexandra Nieto ’12 and Kate Hicks ’11 served as the voice of the College Republicans. Weiss, Philipson, and Barone sparred briefly over “Obamacare” and the Troubled Asset Relief Program; debated whether Republican enthusiasm around the 2008 presidential elections was underreported or simply nonexistent; and exchanged words over the question of biased reporting at FOX News. The College Republicans had Barone looking forward: would a new Republican majority be able to roll back the welfare state? In Barone’s estimation, the public will back reductions in government if that government is perceived to be cumbersome, but Congress will have to find ways around a presidential veto if it wants to take action, he said. When will the nation retreat from the open field and return to a period of trench warfare? “I will tell you the answer to that question about two or three years after it happens,” he quipped.
FOX News contributor offers views on 2010 election
On Cosmopolitanism
Janna Minehart ’13
Kwame Anthony Appiah visited campus to speak about his book Cosmopolitanism, the summer reading assignment for first-years.
In late October, just before the 2010 voting, FOX News contributor, Washington Examiner columnist, and author Michael Barone shared historical perspective on elections and the current U.S. political climate. The event was sponsored by the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization; Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; College Republicans; and College Democrats. Barone, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, cast America’s recent political past in martial terms. Since 1960, he said, the country has alternated between periods of “trench warfare” and “open field” politics, the former characterized by stable electorates and predictable outcomes, the latter by volatile issues and unpredictable voter behavior. After shifts in the early ’80s and ’90s, and again in 2005, he said the country has entered a period of open field conflict over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the environment, the economy, and big government. Questions about government’s function and proportion stretch back to the beginning of the republic, but in the 20th century, “progressives and New Dealers wanted to encourage a culture of dependence,” he said. “Progressive rhetoric,” Barone continued, no longer holds its own against the bedrock principles of the nation’s founders. He predicted that proof would come in a wave of Repub-
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scene: Winter 2011
Speaking to a packed house at Memorial Chapel, Kwame Anthony Appiah charged his audience with but one task: see one foreign, subtitled film per month. After all, he pointed out, others around the world must do this any time they wish to see popular American movies. Such was the theme of the philosopher’s October 4 lecture, based on his book Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, the summer reading assignment for the incoming Class of 2014. Appiah first discussed the etymology of the term cosmopolitan, explaining that it comes from the word cosmos, or world, and politan, the word used in ancient Greece to refer to a citizen of a city. The concept, he said, is that we are all citizens of the world. Appiah spoke of the importance of respecting the right of each individual to live his or her life by his or her chosen ideals. “Reading his book and hearing him speak were very different experiences,” said Kara Brounstein ’14. “I thought that he did a good job in elo-
Talking points
Janna Minehart ’13
work & play
everyone,” she said. “It’s got a bad rap — pun intended — but I think he explains that it doesn’t have to be frightening, that it’s something we can embrace in any society.” — Kate Hicks ’11
“One of the saddest things … is to see the forest being cut down… When you see the trucks carrying away the big trunks of trees as though they’re carrying away the souls of people.” — V.S. Naipaul at his talk during Colgate’s fall 2010 Living Writers series “By appointing a special negotiator to the Middle East on day two of his administration, [President] Obama manifested an understanding of the problems of this region and laid the groundwork to the significance of the process.” — Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Egypt, on the U.S. role in the Middle East peace process “War isn’t over, but it’s changing.” — Scott Straus, an expert on genocide, human rights, and African politics, discussing the varied landscape of violence in Africa during the second annual Schaehrer Memorial Lecture “Hazte valer.” — Patti Solis Doyle, a Latin American political operative who worked on the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, repeated this Spanish phrase that roughly translates to “make yourself valuable” when she came to campus and encouraged students to become agents of change
The medicalization of desire
When documentarian Liz Canner came to campus in the fall to screen her new film Orgasm Inc., it was a flashback for Professor Meika Loe, whose Women, Health, Medicine class from six years ago is shown in the movie. Loe’s current students in Gender, Sexuality, and Society got the chance to watch the former students discuss the pharmaceutical industry’s ongoing search for the female Viagra and learn about the medicalization of women’s sexuality. Using a humorous slant, Canner gives viewers a look inside the medical industry and the marketing campaigns that she asserts are reshaping our everyday lives around health, illness, and desire. Through the
Liz Canner
Colgate students appear in a scene of this new documentary.
course of filming the documentary, she began to suspect that a cadre of medical companies might be trying to take advantage of women — potentially endangering their health — in pursuit of billion-dollar profits. Loe and Canner met through their involvement in the activism around the FDA hearings for female Viagra. Loe had just released her book The Rise of Viagra, and she invited Canner to campus to observe her class. In Orgasm Inc., Colgate students are shown talking about the pharmaceutical industry’s research into women’s sexual problems and the larger issues that might actually contribute to those problems, such as the lack of sex education in America. The film served as an eye opener for students — and community members — who attended the screening of Orgasm Inc. in Love Auditorium. “The students experienced a dramatic paradigm shift in watching the film and talking with the filmmaker in thinking about how pharmaceutical marketing not only shapes our needs and desires, but also creates a sense of normal — normal womanhood, normal sexuality,” Loe explained. “This generation has grown up with pharmaceutical advertising and really takes it for granted.” “The documentary is a real wakeup call about the role pharmaceutical companies, the medical world, and media play in issues that are supposed to be of a personal nature,” said Brittani DiMare ’12. “It’s scary that the sexual identity and body image of so many women are defined by media outlets or the agenda of large corporations,” said Christina Liu ’13. After the screening, Canner spent an hour answering questions from the large audience. She was as impressed with Colgate students as they were with her. Following her visit, she sent a letter to the university saying that, of all the campuses she’s visited on her tour, Colgate has “the most vibrant and active women’s studies department and women’s center with the most student engagement.” For Loe, that was a huge compliment to the department’s mission. Additionally, the movie’s release gave Loe the chance to reconnect with former students, whom she contacted to tell them that they are on the big screen. “It was fascinating to see where they all are in their lives,” she said.
Get to know: Thomas Cruz-Soto
Andrew Daddio
quently summing up the main tenets of his book while also expanding on his ideas and exploring new topics.” Appiah, a Princeton philosophy professor, spoke of the need for increased respect and responsibility for others in light of increased globalization, thanks in large part to the Internet. This idea especially resonated with Brounstein. “The cosmopolitan mindset is one that is almost inherent to us,” she said, stressing “the importance of being an individual and having our own ideas, but also being conscious of the influences that shape us, as well as respectful of other individuals in different cultures.” Peter McEnaney ’14 thought the lecture was especially relevant for first-years, who are new to Colgate’s broad range of opportunities to enjoy and people to meet. “As human beings — and more specifically, as Colgate students — it is our duty to challenge ourselves through interaction with people different from us,” he said. “We can learn from them; they can learn from us.” — Kate Hicks ’11
Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs, Director of International Services, Director of the ALANA Cultural Center Mantra: It doesn’t matter where you are from, it’s what you do while you are here. Recent initiatives: For many international students, once they come to campus, their life is here, so we’ve developed an initiative providing support, like meals, mall trips, and other activities during breaks — about 45 students came to a Thanksgiving dinner that was put on by Gerry Nash, the chef from Theta Chi. On working with students: They keep you young and engaged in everything they do. The cultural center alone had 174 events last year, 90 percent of them put on by students. There can be 500 people there, but they know if I’m not there. It’s important to me to be true to them. I also get involved in intramural sports — basketball and baseball. I came to Colgate weighing about 250 pounds and, four years later, I’m 207 pounds! Work philosophy: I had the opportunity to go to Japan last summer, and that was something completely out of my comfort zone. I want to be sure I am not catering to one particular group, but am reaching out and being diverse in what I’m doing and how I lead my life. Roots of his work: I wouldn’t be here if not for the access a college environment gave me. I’m a poor kid from Camden, N.J., a family of 11, where after high school, you went to work. College was never an aspiration for me until CHAMP [Creating Higher Aspirations and Motivations Project] — which gives 6th- to 12th-grade students math, science, and literature readiness and college tours — came around. I ended up at Muhlenberg College. I didn’t feel I fit into the eliteness of college from a socioeconomic perspective. What helped me was starting a group, Kid’s Council, that was similar to CHAMP. Those students helped me while I was helping them; they gave me a niche to fit into. That helped develop my character, finish college — and also gave me a job. Path to Colgate: I started working in sales for First Union National Bank before becoming an academic counselor for CHAMP. I secured my master’s in higher ed administration at Rowan University, and then was executive director of Kean University’s Gear Up program. On being three-time champion of the campus tailgate barbecue competition: This year, I won with some scalloped clams, but my signature dish is my ribs — it’s a secret marinade that I can’t share and traditional Goya seasonings. Cooking has kept my family together through the hardest of times, so being able to do that for other people is fun. Recently engaged: My fiancée, Rria Castillo, teaches sixth grade at Hamilton Central. She’s Dominican and I’m Puerto Rican, so we’ll get married in the Dominican Republic and honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Tunes of choice: I’m going to date myself: I grew up when MTV first started showing videos. In my car’s CD changer, I have Bon Jovi’s Greatest Hits, Wu Tang Clan, and John Legend.
News and views for the Colgate community
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On Insomnia … the Good Kind By Reid Blackman
In his research, philosopher Reid Blackman, who specializes in meta-ethics and moral psychology, is keenly interested in providing an account of what grounds our reasons for emotions. A visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Colgate since 2009, he teaches Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Environmental Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, and Introduction to Philosophy. Having completed his BA at Cornell, he earned an MA at Northwestern and a PhD at University of Texas at Austin.
I transferred out of Colgate after my sophomore year. I know, I know, I’m sorry. But, in my defense, I’ve returned; this time, as a professor. Colgate pushed me forward. And in a circle. This is at least partly due to Colgate philosophy professor– induced metaphorical vertigo and literal sleep deprivation, for which I am grateful. In the interim — between my first semester at Colgate and my return — came my senior year of college. The first question I asked myself: “Should I go to graduate school in philosophy or law school?” The second question immediately followed: “If I go to law school, this will be my last year doing philosophy; is that OK?” And a prompt response, delivered in a tone of incredulity: “Have you lost your mind, Reid?! — of course that’s not OK! You’re going to grad school in philosophy, and I don’t want to hear another word about law school! Idiot.” So, one of the biggest moments of my life was, in at least one important sense, not a choice at all. To not pursue philosophy
Andrew Daddio
work & play
Passion for the Climb
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scene: Winter 2011
would have been an act of betrayal against myself. Now, you might wonder what there is to get so worked up about. Most people think philosophy is an area of inquiry with no answers. But this is nonsense. If anything, the problem is that there are too many answers. Others complain that people doing philosophy are just expressing their opinions, so everyone is equally right. This is equally ridiculous; anyone who is even minimally reflective has recognized at one point or another that he or she was wrong about some important issue. It could be on something as abstract as the nature of a good life, whether God exists, or the relations between the mind or soul and the body, or as concrete as whether abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia are morally permissible, or whether individuals or countries have obligations to stop worldwide poverty. There are those rare individuals who think they have never been wrong or mistaken in their reasonings about any of these issues, that they are perfect when it comes to contemplating these matters. Anyone who recognizes the possibility of error in this arena, though, and has attempted to think through any of these issues finds error not just possible, but highly probable. Some will say, “Yes, well, when you change your mind about an issue, that doesn’t mean you are more right than you were before; it’s a change, but not an improvement. And the same holds for disagreeing with other people. It’s just a matter of opinion; no one is more right than anyone else.” But those who say these kinds of things are unaware that 1) they are offering a position on a philosophical issue; that is, the issue of whether there are truths to be discovered about these issues, 2) their answer is that there are no truths about these matters, and 3) they think their position on this philosophical issue is true! And they think someone who disagrees with them on this is equally right! So, their view is self-undermining, and it also requires one to believe one thing, while at the same time believing that the contradictory view is also right! In short, they are deeply confused, and should realize that anyone who attempts to provide a reason for thinking that philosophical discussions are merely a matter of express-
ing opinions on issues about which there is no truth is going to have to do some philosophy. In fact, in thinking about what I’ve written in the previous paragraphs, you’ve been doing philosophy. Thinking about philosophical issues, and getting others to think about them, is what I love. In my first semester at Colgate, philosophy professors taught me there are at least two worlds to explore. The first is a philosophical landscape. Sometimes someone can ask us a question that shows us that there is a part of the world of which we were previously ignorant. Philosophy begins with those questions. Doing philosophy, though, is a rigorous exploration of those new landscapes. Each possible answer is a feature of that philosophical landscape, and as it turns out, much of it is constituted by very crumbly rock. The second world is oneself. Because in doing philosophy, one holds before oneself one’s deepest-held convictions about the world and oneself, the sort of beliefs by which we lead our lives, the sort of beliefs that constitute our respective identities. And then one attacks. The beliefs and views one is given as one grows up are subject to the light of rational scrutiny, and, most often, found wanting. One wants to settle for a view that makes one feel good, or at least just settle for some view or other so one can feel as though one is standing on steady ground. But the philosophical spirit forbids comfort and complacency. I once wished I were an astronaut, or an inventor, or perhaps an explorer in, say, the 1400s. But doing philosophy, it turns out, is an activity of (self) exploration, discovery, and invention. I’ve been engaged in such activities for more than a decade, and the fact that it is only the beginning — that after another decade or two, I’ll find more faults with my views and get a deeper, more accurate understanding of myself and the world — well, it keeps me up at night.
8 Read more essays from our Passion for the Climb series, or see how you can submit your own essay, at www.colgate.edu/scene/pfcessays
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Arts Risin The '60s:
Homage to the Square © 2010 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Backdrop: Logo and poster for the 1968 Fortnight
In the 1960s — not once, but twice — students organized extraordinarily ambitious festivals that reflected a renaissance in the arts on campus and the cultural ethos of the decade. With the 1964 Creative Arts Festival, students were doing their part in the drive to build the Dana Arts Center. Chairman Harold Snedcof ’65 told the Colgate Maroon they were “seeking to disprove the cries
of our critics that we are a statusseeking, do-nothing, apathetic generation.” Their “anti-lecture” format
the likes of Josef Albers, William DeKooning, Jacques Lipchitz, and Jackson Pollock. In 1968, the Fortnight of the Active Arts shifted the focus to active collaboration between artists and students. Co-chair (with George Paul Brown ’68) Barnet Kellman ’68 said, “People should
see where art fits in, and realize that art is a structuring of material that fits into our daily lives, not just paint and canvas.”
placed students in direct contact with artists for spontaneous discussions about “what is currently preoccupying the mind of the creative artist” and featured an exhibition in Case Library including work by
Both festivals featured current and rising luminaries on the cutting edge of art, architecture, music, literature, theater, dance, and criticism, in extensive programs of discussions, films, workshops, performances, and exhibitions. Below is a sampling of who came.
1964 Creative Arts Festival
1968 Fortnight of the Active Arts
Norman Mailer Susan Sontag Milton Babbitt Philip Roth Gunther Schuller W.D. Snodgrass
R. Buckminster Fuller Merce Cunningham John Cage Joseph Chaiken (Open Theater) Vienna Academy Chorus The Doors
13 Page 13 is the showplace
for Colgate tradition, history, and school spirit.
Jennifer Cooney Vulpas
life of the mind 14
An illustration representing the Gretchen Hoadley Burke ’81 Endowed Chair in Regional Studies, which focuses research on upstate New York.
scene: Winter 2011
Distinguished faculty appointments
The following faculty members were recently appointed to distinguished chairs. Fernando Canales was named Mark S. Randall Head Coach of men’s and women’s swimming, director of aquatics, and instructor in physical education. Canales began his appointment at Colgate in August, having come from the University of Michigan. There, he was a member of the coaching staff that sent seven athletes to the Beijing Olympics, including medalists Peter Vanderkaay and Michael Phelps. He also represented Team USA at the FINA World Congress during the World Aquatic Championships and at the Pan American Games. John Carter has been named professor for the study of the great religions of the world and professor of philosophy and religion. Carter has been on the Colgate faculty since 1972. His teaching specialties include Buddhist, Hindu, and other Asian religious traditions, comparative study of religion, comparative religious philosophy, history of religion, theological issues of a religiously plural world, Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhala. He is also the director of both the Fund for the Study of the Great Religions of the World and Chapel House.
Enrique Galvez was named Charles A. Dana Professor of physics and astronomy. A faculty member in that department since 1988, he specializes in teaching experimental physics, electronics, and optics, and his research interests include experimental atomic physics, quantum optics, Rydberg atoms, and applied modern optics. He has received several grants from the National Science Foundation and the Research Corporation. The American Physical Society awarded Galvez the 2010 Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution. John Naughton has been named Harrington and Shirley Drake Professor of the humanities in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Naughton has been on the faculty since 1983. His teaching specialties and research interests include Dante, quest literature, the French novel, and modern French poetry. He has authored, edited, and translated several books. David Robinson has been named Robert Hung-Nai Ho Professor in Asian studies. A history professor who came to Colgate in 1996, he is fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; he has become a leading scholar of the history of Ming China, the Mongol Empire, and East Asia generally. His most recent book is Empire’s Twilight: Northeast Asia Under the Mongols. Robinson also has an earlier monograph on Ming China, is editor of and contributor to an edited volume on the Ming Court, and has published six articles plus two translations and multiple book reviews. Robinson teaches a wide variety of courses on East Asian history. Nicole Simpson has been named the first holder of the Gretchen Hoadley Burke ’81 Endowed Chair in Regional Studies, a rotating appointment. An economics professor, she came to Colgate in 2001; she teaches courses in macroeconomics, international economics, applied economic theory, and the causes and consequences of immigration. Her publications in the area of fiscal policy have focused on the relationships between education expenditure and growth and between social insurance and bankruptcy. More recently, Simpson has been working on issues of labor and capital mobility across borders. Christopher Vecsey has been named Harry Emerson Fosdick
Syllabus ENGL366: Literature and Medicine MWF 9:20 a.m., Lawrence 304 George Hudson, Professor of English Course description: Disease and the human condition, the healer and the healed, the cure and the failure of the cure, and the acceptance of death are at the heart of this medical humanities course. Fiction and poetry by writers who have been physicians — Anton Chekhov, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sir William Osler, John Stone, Lewis Thomas, William Carlos Williams, and others — are discussed in parallel with writing by non-physicians who recorded their encounters with sickness and with doctors. This course is particularly relevant to students considering a career in medicine. Reading list: On Doctoring: Stories, Poems, and Essays, ed. Richard Reynolds, MD, and John Stone, MD; Camus, The Plague; Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year; Kafka, The Metamorphosis; plus a wide range of materials, from Samuel Beckett’s play Rockaby to Perri Klass’s essay “Invasions,” to Emily Dickinson’s poem “There’s Been a Death” Key assignments: Find both a writer and literature on a condition not already discussed in class: write a paper on each. Special feature: Guest lectures by practicing physicians, including Thad Waites, director of the American College of Cardiology The professor says: “Medical humanities courses encourage students to regard the patient as an organism, not a mechanism. They invite consideration of the doctor’s responsibilities, address psychological and spiritual burdens, and stress human rather than material rewards. I wanted to make a course specifically for students in the science community, and I based it on one taught with great success by the poet and cardiologist Dr. John Stone at Emory University.”
World War II era to create documentary films that highlight the lifelong impact of war. • Max Counter ’10 is creating a learning environment in which Colombian university students can advance their English language skills through engaged conversation and critical-thinking exercises. • While participating in the intensive cultural experience of a Korean home stay, Matt Geduldig ’10 is helping Korean students learn about the language and the culture of the United States. • Julia Quintanilla ’10 is a languagelearning assistant within Mexico’s public education system, engaging students in classroom activities to build English skills. • Alison Wohlers ’10 is studying the effects of globalization on Moroccan identity through the manifestations of colonialism and the creation and legacy of dualistic cities. She is traveling throughout Morocco to conduct historical research and interview residents. • Tara Woods ’10 is helping teach English and American studies to German school students. Cross-cultural understanding will be at the center of her Fulbright year as she presents American history and culture to the students. “We are very proud of each of our Fulbright scholars,” said Ann Landstrom, assistant dean and director of the Office of National Fellowships and Scholarships. “Their hard work has made them ambassadors for our country and for the Colgate experience.”
Professor of the humanities and Native American studies and religion. He has been on the religion department faculty since 1982. His teaching specialties include American religious history and American Indian religion, history, and culture. The author or editor of numerous books, Vecsey has served as department chair and director of both the Native American Studies Program and the Division of the Humanities.
Colgate among top Fulbright producers
Every year, 600 colleges and universities submit applications for Fulbright fellowships. When the Chronicle of Higher Education published the program’s list of top producers this fall, Colgate tied for eighth place among bachelor’s institutions. In 2010-2011, seven Colgate alumni joined almost 1,700 scholars, artists, and young professionals in the State Department’s prestigious foreign exchange initiative, which dates back to 1946. • As an English teaching assistant in Indonesia, Victor Chiapaikeo ’10 is engaging secondary-level students through lesson plans that incorporate language acquisition and cultural exchange. • With “Voices from the War of Resistance,” Jessica Chow ’09 has been interviewing Chinese survivors of the Clockwise from top left: physics textbook collaborators Enrique Galvez, Charlie Holbrow, Beth Parks, and Joe Amato
Michael Schon ’12
Physics text reaffirms Colgate’s innovative approach
After four years of revising and a semester spent poring over printer’s proofs, physics professors Charlie Holbrow, Jim Lloyd ’54, Joe Amato, Enrique Galvez, and Beth Parks just released the second edition of the Colgateinspired textbook Modern Introductory Physics. The volume will continue to be used as the central text for Physics 120, a calculus-level survey class that has set Colgate apart for decades. Back in the early 1980s, when physics enrollment was down, Holbrow, Lloyd, and Amato (who have all since retired) set out to determine why and fix the problem. One of their solutions was to redesign the introductory course. They found that they needed
to bring incoming first-years back up to speed on algebra and trigonometry. So they detoured, where possible, around the mass of standard fare from Newton or Galileo, focusing instead on current concepts that answer the question, “Why do we believe in atoms?” The result was less overwhelming and more engaging. “Most universities start with mechanics,” said Galvez. “But ask physicists what’s exciting, and they’ll say something like ‘photons.’” This new approach to teaching modern physics required a different textbook. So they wrote one to support their syllabus. Quoting Winston Churchill’s exhortation to “be strong, be brave, be persistent,” the book thoughtfully presents the topic to students who are re-introducing themselves to physics after a hiatus from the high school lab. That pedagogy has returned Colgate’s physics department to its historic popularity and has been adopted by universities like Western Kentucky and Bryn Mawr. It has been successful enough to warrant the re-issuing of the book, updated with the help of Parks and Galvez, who arrived since that original brainstorming session decades ago. In its latest incarnation, Modern Introductory Physics — and its complementary lab material — further distances itself from pulleys and planes to present fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. “We end the new edition touching on the new physics of the 21st century,” said Galvez. At the authors’ request, royalties from the textbook support a special fund to underwrite departmental initiatives and guest speakers.
AMS scholarship: from health care reform to planet formation
Five Alumni Memorial Scholars presented their 2010 summer research projects at the Ho Science Center in October. Tyler Coolman ’11 examined the differences in medical practice and delivery of health care between the Latin American countries of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In addition, he looked for differences between modern medical practices and indigenous medicine and medical techniques, such as efficiency and availability. “In other words, do cheaper, more widely available indigenous practices equate
Live and learn Six students formed Colgate’s first Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team last fall. On November 20, they competed in the Northeast Regional Championship at Dartmouth College. Ryan Nelson ’12 reports: The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl is a national competition where teams present and argue answers to ethical dilemmas, with the aim of proving to the judges that their position — and more importantly, their reasons for taking that position — make their answer the most ethical. For example, would you butt into a stranger’s conversation at a bar if they were speaking insensitively about homosexuals; or, would you support a law to grant birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants? Questions like this become even more engaging when they change from “What would you do?” to “What should you do?” After deciding to put together a team, we quickly realized the uphill challenge we faced. No one had any Ethics Bowl experience, and we only had a month and a half to prepare our answers to the 15 regional championship cases. But with Professor Reid Blackman’s guidance, we dedicated ourselves to preparing. When we arrived at the tournament, where more than 20 universities were competing, we were nervous, but anxious to try out our arguments. After the preliminary rounds, we had accumulated the most points and were invited to compete in the playoff rounds. We proceeded to edge out a nail-biting win in the quarterfinals and moved on to the semifinals, where we narrowly lost to Stevens Institute (who won the tournament). We soon learned that we were not done competing. Following our elimination, the tournament director notified us that we had qualified for the National Championship this March! Looking ahead, we have new ethical cases to discuss, and a new level of competition for which to prepare. Moving onto the national stage will be daunting, but when we ask “What should we do about it?” our answer is simple. We will enjoy discussing issues and preparing the best we can.
News and views for the Colgate community
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Andrew Daddio
Rajan collected data on productivity and employee satisfaction through interviews, surveys, and company documents. After returning to campus, she qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the collected data under the guidance of Takao Kato, W.S. Schupf Professor in Far Eastern studies and economics professor. Margaret Swaney ’11 explored processes affecting planet formation around the young sun-like star GM Aurigae. She traveled with Jeff Bary, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, to Hawaii in January 2010 to collect data using the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea. Then, in June, they went to Germany to meet a collaborator at the Max-PlanckInstitut für Extraterrestriche Physik and learn data analysis techniques.
Colgate hosted the first Student Diversity Leadership Conference of the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium.
tion technology, faculty and student development, and diversity. The three-year grant will provide significant funding for the consortium’s MediaShare Project, a joint library–information technology initiative designed to facilitate the sharing of media collections and technologies, leverage resources, and enhance services through cooperation and coordination. It also will create the New York Six Network, a series of activities designed to help faculty, staff, and students on the six campuses to explore and develop useful, productive collaborations. These programs emerged from a one-year planning initiative, also funded by the Mellon Foundation. “We’re excited about working with our consortium partners to leverage these great resources and make them available to our campus communities,” said President Jeffrey Herbst. “Utilizing technology to its fullest potential is an important component of our academic mission here at Colgate.” In addition to Colgate, the consortium comprises five other upstate New York liberal arts institutions: Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College. Colgate recently hosted the consortium’s first Student Diversity Leadership Conference, at which student leaders from the six schools had a chance to make recommendations on what their schools’ administrations and faculty can do to enhance the overall college experience for multicultural and international students.
You say potato…
Nancy Ries, associate professor of anthropology and peace and conflict studies, was awarded the Cultural Horizons Prize by the Society for Cultural Anthropology for her article “Potato Ontology: Surviving Postsocialism in Russia.” The Cultural Horizons Prize is awarded yearly by a jury of doctoral students for the best article appearing in the journal Cultural Anthropology.
Colgate among six colleges awarded Mellon grant
The New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium, of which Colgate is a member, has received a $600,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support collaborative programs in the areas of library collections, informa-
The LOT in Edinburgh, Scotland, is one of the performance venues studied by AMS scholar Francesca Gallo ’11.
Francesca Gallo ’11
life of the mind
to the quality of care of modern practices?” he questioned. “Can this be defined in terms other than cost; for example, the satisfaction of the patient?” His research involved traveling to small towns in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, conducting interviews at free clinics. Francesca Gallo ’11 traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, to investigate whether the sacredness of church space could affect the experience of a theatrical performance, and, in turn, if a theatrical performance could affect the experience of church space and its sacredness. “I chose to conduct my research in the context of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe because it provided an opportunity to observe the mass operation of both active and deconsecrated churches as performance venues,” she explained. Gallo examined various perceptions of the sacred through interviews with audience members, theater companies, and venue caretakers. Meghan Healey ’11 spent 10 weeks as an intern at MIT’s Saxelab of Social Cognitive Neuroscience. There, she was trained to use functional magnetic resonance imaging and was involved in a project investigating the neural correlates of impaired social interaction skills in adults with autism spectrum disorders. Ruchira Rajan ’12 traveled throughout India to look at human resources practices in Indian firms, specifically through field research at the Indian automobile giants Maruti Suzuki Ltd., Honda Siel, and Tata Motors, and energy infrastructure company BHEL.
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scene: Winter 2011
There’s an app for that
About a dozen “hikers” — including six Colgate students — gathered at the corner of Lex and Astor Place in
Colgate Conversations with President Herbst
Conversations on world affairs take place at Colgate every day, and, of course, they can’t all be recorded and shared. But the highlights can. “Colgate Conversations on World Affairs” is a new series of 20-minute video interviews with visiting scholars — hosted by university president Jeffrey Herbst. A political scientist who focuses his scholarship and teaching on the politics of sub-Saharan Africa, Herbst launched the series with six interviews during fall 2010. He spoke in the Colgate studio with renowned political scientists, a philosopher, and an expert on digital educational technology. Subjects ranged from ethics and identity to African statehood, the war in Afghanistan, and the causes and consequences of genocide.
Abi Conklin ’13 uses her phone as part of the Indeterminate Hikes project.
Get to know: Mel Watkins ’62
Andrew Daddio
Peppermint’s teaching and research at Colgate spans new media theory and practice with an emphasis on digital-ecological art. He secured funding for the New York City trip through the university’s Beyond Colgate program, which provides opportunities for students to extend their coursework through travel to museums, research centers, and other destinations. Spencer Cavallo ’13 stretched his legs and the range of his studies during the hike. A physics major, he admits to not being especially gifted in the arts. “It was a good outlet to experience something as far away from my major as possible,” he said. Cavallo said the hikers often drew inquiring looks from passers-by as they took their “30 breaths” at each spot. One group of onlookers became a bit belligerent before breaking up in laughter and walking away. “We considered it a true brush with the wild and were grateful to have used our survival instincts (playing dead) to get away unscathed,” Conklin added. For all the Indeterminate Hikers, it was a walk on the wild side, armed only with an app, in the most cosmopolitan of cities.
Manhattan on a fall Saturday, smart phones in hand and exploration in mind. The group was with art professor Cary Peppermint, who had created what he called Indeterminate Hikes, a custom application for Android smart phones that led participants to various locations — or “scenic vistas” — in the East Village. At each spot, the application would offer a cryptic message about the locale, and hikers were invited to spend a meditative moment before taking photos with their phones. For Peppermint, the project was intended to cultivate the imagination of nature, wildness, and sustainability in a networked, cosmopolitan environment. What it did for Abi Conklin ’13, who is a studio art major and Japanese minor, was redefine what is meant by the term wilderness. “There was a blurring of the line between ‘wilderness’ and ‘civilization,’” she said. “At each vista, we would take a few minutes to look around and appreciate the area, take some pictures, and scout for things and sounds typical of the urban ‘wild’ — domesticated pets, car alarms, or couples squabbling.” Photos taken during the hike were stored on a database that participants can access and discuss. Besides a web presence, the project also was included as an installation in the Whitney Museum of American Art 2010 ISP Exhibition.
NEH Professor of the Humanities, Department of English When Richard Pryor died in 2005, after having revolutionized stand-up comedy with poignant yet profanity-laced examinations of race, The New York Times turned to a former employee to write his obituary: Mel Watkins ’62. Pryor had been a catalyst for Watkins’s interest in African-American humor and how it reflected and shaped society. Watkins explored that topic in his seminal book On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying and Signifying — The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor That Transformed American Culture. That book, published in 1994, would solidify his research interest and transform him into a sought-after commentator on the subject of black humor for media outlets and academic conferences. Watkins spent more than 20 years at the Times, where he became the first AfricanAmerican editor at the Sunday Book Review after having started at the paper as a copy boy. The Book Review section was a major focal point for literary life in New York City in the mid1960s to the mid-1980s, and Watkins was in the middle of it. “Some people talked about a new black renaissance in writing at this point. You had a number of young writers coming along who were trying new things, who were doing Afro-centric writing, using African-American folklore in their writing,” he said in discussing authors such as Toni Morrison, Ishmael Reed, and Alice Walker. While at the Times, Watkins won an Alicia Patterson Foundation grant to research the history of black humor, which laid the groundwork for On the Real Side. The Colgate alumnus, who now teaches at the university, uses the book in his course. It provides context about the social influences that forced black performers to put on blackface to perform in a minstrel show, led Lincoln Perry (aka Stepin Fetchit) to cultivate the shiftless character that would make him a movie star and occasional NAACP target, and resulted in the strange situation in which one of the most popular radio shows in U.S. history — Amos ’n’ Andy — featured two white men portraying African-Americans. “When white America wanted to find something out about black people, they turned to that show,” Watkins said of the radio program that ran from about 1928 to 1960. Watkins continues to study the evolution of African-American humor and share that with his students. He enjoys being in front of the classroom where he used to sit as an undergraduate. “In many cases, students don’t know why there is a Dave Chappelle or hip-hop or racial tension because they have grown up in a time when people think — assume — that everything is on an equal basis. I think the course helps them see it on a broader level.” — Tim O’Keeffe
Cary Peppermint
8 The videotaped conversations are available at www.colgate.edu/about/ presidentjeffreyherbst/podcasts, and on the Colgate University page on iTunes U.
Go to www.colgate.edu/podcasts to watch Mel Watkins discuss the evolution of AfricanAmerican humor and comedians such as Bert Williams, Stepin Fetchit, Redd Foxx, and Chris Rock in a wide-ranging interview for the Colgate Conversations podcast series. You also can go to the Colgate Conversations page for more download options.
News and views for the Colgate community
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arts & culture 18
No Sex, No Drugs, Just Rock ’n’ Roll
Images from the student-produced exhibition No Sex, No Drugs, Just Rock ’n’ Roll at the Picker Art Gallery. Left: Ritchie Blackmore, 1970. Right: Tina Turner, 1971. © Barrie Wentzell
scene: Winter 2011
Students in Photo History Seminar got a taste of stardom by producing their own exhibition of work by rock ’n’ roll photographer Barrie Wentzell. The exhibition, No Sex, No Drugs, Just Rock ’n’ Roll, was on view at the Picker Art Gallery Oct. 29–Dec. 17. Wentzell’s photographs of musicians such as Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, and the Beatles were already owned by the gallery. Many of his prints are candid shots of the stars performing and during downtime on tour. The course was taught in the spring semester by visiting Syracuse University professor Mary Warner Marien, and the students opted to put together the exhibition in place of writing a final research paper. Students researched the photographs and Wentzell’s artistic style, and even had the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with him. They selected the images to display, working with digital curator Jesse Henderson through Colgate’s digital archive, and compiled a catalogue to guide gallery visitors through the exhibition. Additionally, they consulted with local graphic designer Stephanie McClintick, who developed the promotional materials. The students themselves contributed the text for the brochures and the gallery catalogue, as well as the layout of the exhibition. “It was a real-life experience and a great application of the work we did throughout the semester,” explained Alayna Anderson ’11. To tie the project back to Colgate, Anderson researched Colgate Maroon articles to check out
the campus music scene at the time, learning that Colgate hosted The Doors and other major rock and roll bands. — Elizabeth Stein ’12
Gilbert & Sullivan on Wall Street
Passion, betrayal, global dominance, and office romance — such describes the operetta by Charles Veley ’65 that was recognized as the 2010 best new musical by the Academy for New Musical Theater. Gilbert and Sullivan on Wall Street tells the story of an operetta conductor who inherits his uncle’s $12 billion investment company and learns that golden dreams can hold hidden surprises. “It’s a frivolous view of contemporary Wall Street and what happens when a good guy comes up against a bad guy,” said Veley, describing his protagonist Frederick Freemarket and antagonist J. Geoffrey Behemoth as “exaggerated.” Themes of freedom in the marketplace as well as freedom to love are laced throughout. The light-hearted operetta is a bow to the musical comedies of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, with melodies from eight of the duo’s operettas. Veley was inspired after he and his wife saw a Gilbert & Sullivan show during the dot-com crisis. “Wall Street was absurd at the time,” he said. “The idea I had was, wouldn’t it be great to see Gilbert and Sullivan’s take on today’s follies?” In his professional life, Veley is director of global real estate development for United Technologies Corporation; however, he is no stranger to the pen, having earned his BA in Eng-
lish at Colgate and then a doctorate in English at Penn State. Before entering law school, he spent several years as a full-time published novelist. While Veley was working on Wall Street, the Wilton Playshop in Connecticut (with which he had been involved through prior theater performances) offered to have it premiere as the 2010 season opener. This gave Veley the kick in the pants he needed to finish writing, he said. Wanting to fine-tune it before the October premiere, he submitted his operetta to the Academy for New Musical Theater’s Search for New Musicals contest. The Los Angeles organization selected Wall Street as the winner of the 2010 new musical award. Veley’s prize was a workshop in which a cast performed the work in front of a panel of experts, who then gave him a detailed critique. He also won a concert reading at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, Calif., which took place in November. The Wilton Playshop show in October generated a lot of buzz and some additional activity for Wall Street. Troupers Light Opera of Darien, who performed the show in Wilton, was asked to perform it at the November meeting of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Society in Manhattan. Troupers will also perform the show with full orchestration in Stamford, Conn., in June, and the group has been invited to present Wall Street at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Gettysburg, Pa., this summer.
Clifford Gallery, electrified
An interdisciplinary artist team known as LoVid showed the Colgate community a playful way to create art with a variety of media. Tali Hinkis and Kyle Lapidus collaborated with students from a handful of departments to assemble their Rural Electrification exhibition in Clifford Gallery Oct. 20–Nov. 19. It included live video, analog and video technologies, prints, sculptures, fabrics, electrical wires, and electricity. On one side of the gallery, several 10-foot–tall towers stood in staggered rows. Circuit boards and conductive wires crossed the towers in the air. Jane Kelly ’11 helped LoVid with this piece, which is also called Rural Electrification. She spent about eight hours, mostly on a ladder, working with LoVid to assemble the wires around the towers.
Warren Wheeler
Rural Electrification, LoVid
ments that used a variety of digitalbased media. That student work was then put on display on the second floor of Little Hall. — Kiki Koroshetz ’11
Boathouse as theater
Although University Theater staged its fall production, 1500 Meters Above Jack’s Level, for five nights in October, Brehmer Theater sat strangely empty. Instead, groups of about 50 people met on the steps of Dana Arts Center and took a yellow school bus to Glendening Boathouse on Lake Moraine to watch the performances. English professor April Sweeney, the play’s director, had known for a while that she wanted to use the unusual location. “When I walked into the boathouse in 2007, I saw that space and immediately thought,
A new way to view art
1500 Meters Above Jack’s Level, the University Theater’s fall production
Andrew Daddio
“Working on the exhibition together was a great chance to get to know the students, and it was nice to later be able to see some individual students’ work,” LoVid said via e-mail. A video of chaotic black-and-white patterns danced on the white paper towers that Kelly helped LoVid assemble. LoVid’s handmade synthesizer created the live video, which changed based on the present atmosphere of the gallery and the visitors there. Another live video played on a television screen set inside a wooden structure in an opposite corner, as part of Fishy Panorama of Untangled Webs. The pace of the red, yellow, and white zigzags on the screen changed when someone touched metal pieces on the wood structure that respond to electricity in the body. A variety of colorful fabrics in obtuse shapes hung on a nearby wall, composing the piece called Mixed Media Collage and Patchworks Series. Several were video-generated images printed onto pieces of cloth that were sewn together. “We hope that the work will cause visitors to think in different ways about their bodies and how they relate to the world and electrical devices,” said LoVid. Art professor Cary Peppermint, who invited LoVid to Colgate, said their visit opened up new possibilities for making art. “Their work gave students permission to experiment with media outside of their comfort zones in a playful, fun way.” In Peppermint’s Digital Studio course, students responded to Rural Electrification in a series of assign-
set (designed by Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, assistant professor of English) and the memorable location as they stood waiting for the bus to take them back to campus. Students in the audience seemed especially intrigued by the use of a working bathtub, and with the acting, as well. Joining Gamez on stage was Michael Piznarski ’11, Octavia ChavezRichmond ’11, and Simona Giurgea, visiting assistant professor of English in the University Theater. — Kate Hicks ’11
I want to do this play and I can do it here. It was an impulsive decision.” Written by Argentine playwright Frederico Leon, the play tells the story of a family in transition, as a son seeks to move past the loss of his father by creating his own family. At the same time, he tries to help his mother recover and re-engage in life — no easy task, as she refuses to emerge from the bathtub. Melissa Gamez ’13, one of three student actors in the production, thought using the boathouse was an interesting interpretation of the play, fitting well with the water motif. “Clearly, water played a significant role for the personal and political implications of the play, but I believe that we had much more freedom to experiment with the water, as well as with each other [thanks to the venue].” The story, in fact, unfolds in a bathroom, and while it’s unique enough to have a character spend most of the play sitting in a water-filled tub, the unconventional location of the play added to the unfamiliarity. Yet Sweeney said this was her goal — she liked that the boathouse space was for storage, that it was so close to water, and that it was “foreign.” “The idea was to take the reality of a functional, utilitarian space, the best simulation of a real bathroom, and there would be a tension and a dialogue between the space of the bathroom and the space of the boathouse,” she said. “And inside both of these real spaces, allows another space for the play, for the fiction of the play to fit.” Following the Friday night performance, attendees spoke of the realistic
Green laser pointer in hand, John T. Spike gestured to a woman in the background of Caravaggio’s painting of the burial of Christ. Arms outstretched, she mourns the death of Jesus — yet Spike was concerned with her abnormally tall height. Because of her positioning in the back of the painting, she should theoretically be unseen. This, he noted, is one of the many optical tricks prevalent in the works of Caravaggio, an Italian Baroque painter. Such was the subject of Spike’s lecture on the artist in November. Visiting from Florence, Italy, Spike appeared as part of the annual Eric J. Ryan Lecture series. A renowned art critic, historian, and curator, he has written more than 20 books on Baroque and Renaissance art, including one on Caravaggio himself. Carolyn Guile, assistant professor of art and art history, noted that the visit fit within the context of commemorating the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio’s death. Colgate joined in the worldwide celebration, with the art and art history department having featured other lectures and films on the artist. Additionally, the department offered a seminar devoted exclusively to Caravaggio, which Spike visited before the lecture. Guile mentioned that part of Spike’s appeal is as an engaging storyteller, which was clear during his lecture. In an absorbing hour, he detailed the optical sleights present in some of Caravaggio’s repertoire, focusing on how the artist included many unprecedented effects in his work. “I want them to learn how to use their eyes,” Guile said. “I wanted someone who could synthesize what is in those pictures with how we see.” — Kate Hicks ’11
News and views for the Colgate community
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go ’gate
Colgate No. 1 for student-athlete graduation rate
Running back Nate Eachus ’12 (#32) rushed 44 times for a season-high 214 yards and four touchdowns as the Raiders toppled Georgetown 34-3 in the homecoming game at Andy Kerr Stadium.
Michael Schon ’12
Colgate recorded a 100 percent graduation success rate for its studentathletes, according to a report released by the NCAA in late October. That figure is the best of all Division I schools. Last year, Colgate shared the No. 1 ranking with Notre Dame, with each school touting a 99 percent graduation rate. “Being ranked No. 1 in all of Division I is a credit to the dedication of our excellent student-athletes, coaches, and staff,” said Director of Athletics Dave Roach. “We take great pride in the fact that our students strive for success on and off the field of play.” Colgate’s success rate outpaced the national average of 79 percent. The NCAA report covered Division I athletes entering school between the 2000–2001 and 2003–2004 academic years and who earned a degree within six years. The NCAA data differs from federal graduation statistics because students who transfer are taken into account. The NCAA’s figures, unlike the federal ones, do not penalize an institution for athletes who leave to attend other colleges, as long as they depart in good academic standing. Colgate was the only school with a 100 percent rate, while Notre Dame remained at 99 percent. Fellow Patriot League institutions Holy Cross and Lafayette were tied with the likes of Duke, Furman, and Northwestern for third, at 97 percent.
Colgate topped Connecticut, 5-3, at Starr Rink for their second-straight win over the Huskies and first-ever win against them at home.
Colgate 35th in NCSA Power Rankings
NCSA Athletic Recruiting announced that Colgate was ranked 35th among NCAA Division I universities, and 93rd overall in the 8th Annual NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings. NCSA Athletic Recruiting’s Collegiate Power Rankings assess the academic and athletics standards of all NCAA athletics programs across the country. The Power Rankings were developed to help prospective student-athletes and their families evaluate the particular strengths of the top colleges and universities at the Division I, II, and III levels. Fewer than 6 percent of colleges and universities earn a spot in NCSA Athletic Recruiting’s Top 100 for 2010, and Colgate is in this elite class. The rankings are calculated for each Division I, II, and III college and university by averaging studentathlete graduation rates, academic rankings provided by U.S. News & World Report, and the strength of the athletics departments as determined by the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup ranking.
Michael Schon ’12
Reviving rivalry, memories
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scene: Winter 2011
Ask Frank Speno ’56 about the tradition that is Colgate football and he’ll share stories about how he, as a 140-pound defensive back, went up against the human sledgehammer that was running back Jim Brown of Syracuse University. Or ask Al Short ’47, who will talk
about how he planted his foot in the rain-drenched muck of SU’s Archbold Stadium to kick an extra point that would be the winning margin in a 7-6 victory in 1945. These proud former players joined dozens of other alumni, young and old, at a special tailgate to mark the renewal of the historic rivalry between the Raiders and the Orange at the end of September. It was the 66th meeting of the two teams, and the first since 1987. The game would not end well for the Raiders, who would fall 42-7 at the Carrier Dome, but in the David-versus-Goliath tradition that is Colgate athletics, the team would compete hard against the bigger, faster Orange, dominate the time of possession, and gain more first downs. At the pregame tailgate, Short was welcomed by President Jeffrey Herbst and athletics director David Roach. The 84-year-old brought the ball that he had kicked through the uprights during that 1945 game, and his grandson Chris Dole pointed to what he said, with all sincerity, was the mark where his grandfather’s toe met leather. Short was presented with a new ball signed by current team members, and a jersey with his No. 17. Tom McGarrity ’79, P’10 reminisced about playing for Coach Fred Dunlap ’50, and said one of his favorite memories was a big win over Villanova, in a game that featured future NFL great Howie Long, back in 1978. Al Egler ’79 sported his No. 27
Raider Nation
Fan spotlights with Vicky Chun ’91, senior associate athletic director jersey from his playing days, and was glad to talk about his dad, Al ’51, who captained the 1950 team that beat Syracuse 19-14, marking the last time the Raiders beat the Orange. “Football is such a huge tradition and legacy here at Colgate, and this kind of event is a great chance for us to come back and see our old buddies, teammates, and friends,” said Egler.
Football wins 600th game
On October 16, Colgate became the 15th team in the Football Championship Subdivision to reach its 600th win in school history. The Raiders whipped its rivals to the west with a 44-3 win against Cornell at Schoelkopf Field. Nate Eachus ’12 rushed 25 times for a Colgate and Patriot League record of 291 yards. Greg Sullivan ’11 also gained more than 100 yards with 102 yards on eight carries and scored three touchdowns. The Raiders ended up with 502 yards of total offense with 440 yards on the ground. With the 102 yards rushing, Sullivan became the Patriot League’s all-time leading rushing quarterback with 2,112 yards in three-plus years. Eachus had a big day as well, with three touchdowns, and he went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.
First D1 hockey game on Cape
The Raiders were the first men’s hockey team, along with Army, to play a regular-season game on Cape Cod, Mass. They played in front of a standing-room–only crowd of 1,689 at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Memorial Skating Rink. The event featured a puck drop by 1960 gold medal–winning and former Army head coach Jack Riley. Captain Brian Day ’11, along with Mike McCann ’14 and Austin Smith ’12, tallied goals in a 3-1 win. The visit to the Cape also featured an alumni golf tournament at the Olde Barnstable Fairground Golf Course the morning of the game.
Women’s cross country earns first Patriot League title
Led by Elise DeRoo ’12, who won the individual title, the women’s cross country team came through with its first Patriot League title in team history, winning with 42 points. Colgate placed four runners in the top 15. DeRoo and Chelsea Burns ’12 led the
way, finishing first and second overall. DeRoo posted a school-record time of 19:17 to claim her second-straight Patriot League championship as Burns posted a personal-record time of 20:07. DeRoo was also named the Patriot League Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was voted onto the Academic All-Patriot League Team, along with captain Julie Tarallo ’11. DeRoo continued her success at the NCAA Northeast Regional as she qualified for the NCAA Championships with a time of 20:16.3, helping the Raiders to a 15th-place finish. She finished sixth and earned all-region honors.
Hockey alumni make way in NHL
At press time, four men’s hockey alumni had made an appearance in the early NHL season. Andy McDonald ’00 is in his 11th NHL season, now playing with the St. Louis Blues, and is inching closer to his 600th career game. Jesse Winchester ’08 entered his fourth season with Ottawa after re-signing with the Senators for two more years. He has played in more than 150 games for Canada’s capital team. Kyle Wilson ’06 made the Columbus Blue Jackets out of training camp and made an immediate impact with four goals and three points in 10 games. Mark Dekanich ’08 was called up by the Nashville Predators for the first team.
Men’s soccer claims Patriot League regular-season title
The men’s soccer team won the Patriot League regular-season title on home turf with an unbeaten mark of 5-0-2 against league opponents. Chris Miller ’11 was named Goalkeeper of the Year by the league, while Head Coach Erik Ronning won the Coach of the Year award. Steven Miller ’11 led the team with 12 points on a team-high five goals and two assists. Matt Schuber ’12 finished second on the team with 10 points on four goals and two assists. The Raiders finished with eight overtime games, seven of them going into double overtime. Five games ended in ties, while Colgate won two of the games and lost only one. The season came to an end in the semifinals of the Patriot League
Corey Landstrom, assistant dean of students and university discipline officer Game: Women’s Ice Hockey, 10/8/10. The Raiders defeated University of New Hampshire (#8 national rank) in OT 1-0! How long have you worked at Colgate? I’m in my 8th year. Why did you come to this game? I love ice hockey! My family and I support both the men’s and women’s ice hockey programs. Did you enjoy the game? What a great win! The team played well together, and nothing is better than an overtime win. Do you come to a lot of athletics events? We try to get to as many as we can. It is important to go. I would like to see greater student turnout because the studentathletes work hard and need that support. Do you have a favorite Colgate sports moment? My family and I have fun supporting the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams during playoffs. We’ve traveled to Hanover, N.H., Ithaca, N.Y., and Albany, N.Y., to name a few.
Joellen Kelleher Wall ’89 Game: Men’s Ice Hockey, 10/16/10. The Raiders defeated Brock University 3-2 in front of a full house in Starr Rink Resides in: Sugar Land, Texas (“The Land of Plenty”) Who did you bring to the game? My four children, Mary, Joseph, John, and Michael Mary’s take on the game: “This was fun … really, really fun!” Why did you decide to visit Colgate now? I want my kids to see this part of the country during the fall because it’s spectacular. Do you have a favorite Colgate sports memory? In 1986, I was on the volleyball team and we beat Syracuse University. I remember the Syracuse players were angry because we were there to be beaten.
Vicky Brondum, Colgate Bookstore director Game: Men’s Soccer, 11/2/10. The Raiders hosted Princeton University (#16 national rank) How long have you worked at Colgate? 9 1/2 years Why did come to this game? I’m the men’s soccer team’s biggest fan! What do you think the temperature is out here? A warm and balmy 30 degrees. How long have you been coming to the men’s soccer games? I’ve been a faithful fan for 9 years. What was Family Weekend like at the bookstore? It was crazy wonderful. What do you think of Colgate athletics? It is unique — the student-athletes are incredibly talented both on the field/court and in the classroom.
News and views for the Colgate community
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go ’gate
Tournament with a tough 1-0 loss to Bucknell. They completed their season with an 8-6-5 overall record. Although admitting disappointment over the loss, Ronning said, “I am proud of what this group achieved this season.”
Women’s soccer wrap-up
Michael Schon ’12
The women’s soccer team’s season came to a close in early November when it fell to Army 1-0 in overtime, in the first semifinal game of the Patriot League Tournament in West Point, N.Y. “We played an outstanding second half tonight,” said Head Coach Kathy Brawn. “We defended and attacked as a team and stayed focused in spite of some very physical challenges by the Black Knights.” The team completed the season with an overall record of 6-12-1. Forward Jillian Kinter ’13 and midfield/ forward Alyssa Manoogian ’12 finished the season as the point leaders, with Kinter leading the team in goals (6) and Manoogian leading the team in assists (5).
The men’s water polo team beat RPI 16-13 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association New York Division Championships at Hamilton College on October 23.
fense that posted four shutout wins. The senior has received numerous academic and athletic awards over the years, most recently the Thomas M. Wilson ’67 Memorial Endowed Leadership Award for Athletics and the Lasher Prize for English at the university’s Convocation Awards Program. Koroshetz has also received the Spencer Colwell ’41 Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund, was named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, and has been a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the Raider Academic Honor Roll every semester since her first year. In addition, Koroshetz is an active member of the community. She is the vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and volunteers at the Colgate Hunger Outreach Program, the Hamilton Elementary School, and with Uplifting Athletes at Colgate.
Koroshetz named scholar-athlete of the year In the second match of day two of the Colgate Invitational, the Raiders had a big comeback against Big Red, taking the final three sets to come away with a 3-2 win.
Co-captain Kiki Koroshetz ’11 was named the 2010 Patriot League Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was also selected to the 2010 Academic All-Patriot League team. Koroshetz, who has a cumulative GPA of 3.90, is an English major with a minor in psychology. She started in all 17 games for the Raiders this season and has been a solid part of the team’s de-
Michael Schon ’12
Field hockey closes season at Patriot League Tournament
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scene: Winter 2011
The field hockey team saw its season come to an end in early November with an 8-1 loss to American in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. The Raiders got their lone goal from Halle Biggar ’14, with the assist going to Laura Denenga ’11. Captain Kirsten Lalli ’11 tried to keep the Raiders in the game with 17 saves. She finished the year with 8 games at or
above 10 saves per game and reached 17 saves for the fifth time. Captain Allison Waugh ’11 came up big with two key defensive saves.
Intramural and club sports
During the fall semester, more than 600 students participated in approximately 40 club sports including baseball, cricket, curling, and cycling. The intramural programs, which operate at full capacity, are enjoyed by 630 students. Here are some highlights from the season:
Ultimate homecoming
Former Ultimate Frisbee club members returned to Hamilton en masse for Homecoming Weekend when 24 alumni from six class years participated in a scrimmage against current students. They flew in from as far as Portland, Ore., Des Moines, Iowa, and Chapel Hill, N.C. Five members of the women’s team — now in their fifth full season — joined 19 members of the men’s team, which has been one of Colgate’s most active club sports teams since its inception more than 20 years ago. Students and alumni will join forces for two summer tournaments in 2011. — Cody Tipton ’07
Smooth sailing
The sailing team had yet another successful season. Part of the MiddleAtlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Asso-
Other highlights
The English equestrian team is the top-placing club team in the region, ranking in 3rd place behind Skidmore and Morrisville, which are both varsity teams. Colgate has four out of the eight top open riders in the region. In its fourth season, the field hockey club finished with a winning record. The figure skating club ran a wellattended Learn to Skate session for community children. They have also started a synchronized skating team with Hamilton College, and on December 5, the synchronized team and individual players performed at Starr Rink.
The karate club ran a Kickathon during Homecoming Weekend to fundraise for the Wounded Warrior Project and will host their 15th annual Karate Tournament this spring. The ping pong club took their first trip to Hamilton College for the Intercollegiate Ping Pong Tournament and won the final championship. At the end of November, the club co-sponsored a competition to fundraise for Oxfam, a nonprofit organization that fights poverty. Despite a tough first loss on the road for men’s rugby, the club had a comeback and won four consecutive games. They led the league for four weeks, outscored opponents 191-61, averaged 31 points per game, and were undefeated at home in the regular season. They tied for second place in the league, but placed third on tiebreakers. The men’s soccer club went to the Regional Tournament in Pennsylvania, where they played the University of Delaware, SUNY New Paltz, Loyola, and University of Connecticut. The women’s soccer club attended the Penn State Tournament, where they played West Virginia University, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State, and Yale. The men’s squash club hosted and won their fall home tournament. In January, they traveled to the Naval Academy to play a club Patriot League tournament and then represented Colgate at the National Team Championships at Harvard.
Get to know: Elise DeRoo ’12
Andrew Daddio
ciation (MAISA), the team once again qualified for the America Trophy regatta at Cornell University, which was the end-of-the-season “regionals” last spring. The team entered into the fall season with a large group of energetic first-years who were very eager to sail for the squad. Homecoming weekend marked the second Alumni Regatta, during which approximately 10 alumni returned to compete against old friends. The following weekend, over fall break, we hosted our annual Colgate Open Regatta. With seven other MAISA teams competing for the win, Colgate finished first after a very close competition. The rest of the fall continued smoothly, with the sailing club ranking 23rd out of 46 MAISA teams. — Nate Swift ’11
– Hometown: Newtown, Conn. – Major: molecular biology You had a great season, having broken the Colgate record for the 6K, winning the Patriot League Championships both individually and as a team, and winning Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as running in the National Championship race. Share your thoughts. This season has been the most fun season thus far in my collegiate experience. There was great camaraderie between everyone on the team and an incredible teamwide commitment toward working harder in practice. My proudest accomplishment was winning Patriots as a team. The memory I have of that October morning is one that I will look back on for the rest of my life. What are your goals for next season? I’d love to consistently be in the 19-minute range for 6Ks. Where are your favorite runs on campus? My favorite run is a semi-hilly 10-miler known to everyone on the team as “Bonney Hill with extension.” The views you get about halfway through definitely make running the hills worth it! Tell us some of your team memories. I have a lot of silly and bizarre team memories: running around a bend on one of our workouts far away from campus, only to find a bunch of hens, geese, and other barnyard animals right in our path (we decided to hurdle them to keep on pace rather than stop and go around); when our team got caught in a freak hail/lightning storm on the trails in early fall last year; the time my teammate and I accidentally showed up in jeans to the only formal function at nationals.
The women’s rugby team at their homecoming weekend game
Your Scholar-Athlete of the Year award noted your 3.9 GPA in molecular biology. How do you balance your running and your studies? Running helps me manage my time that I dedicate to school work and also serves as a release for me, so I don’t see it as another job. Running makes me stay balanced. These are the two activities I’ve chosen to pursue in college, and I strive to do them to the best of my ability.
Janet Little
Do you have any good-luck rituals before competition? I quadruple-knot my shoes because I have a somewhat-irrational fear of my spikes coming untied and losing a spike (or two!) during the race. What’s your favorite song to run to? I’ve been listening to a lot of Matt and Kim. I like to run to the songs “Don’t Slow Down” and “I’ll take us home.” What’s one of your pastimes? I enjoy cooking and baking. I try to cook something nice or bake something fun at least once every week. — Kate Hicks ’11
News and views for the Colgate community
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new, noted , & quoted
Books, music & film Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists.
Long Way Home: On the Trail of Steinbeck’s America Bill Barich ’65 (Walker & Company)
In the run-up to 2008’s ObamaMcCain election, expatriate novelist and essayist Bill Barich returned from Ireland in the hope of rediscovering America. Inspired by John Steinbeck’s somewhat darker and more acerbic Travels with Charley in Search of America, written during the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy election, Long Way Home explores whom we have become in the half century since. In place of Charley, Steinbeck’s standard poodle, Barich travels with the ghost of Steinbeck himself, while Walt Whitman, Henry Miller, and other literary spirits also appear. Sidestepping Wall Street, he drives through the American heartland. Times are tough, yet despite their hardships, people are unwilling to surrender their personal connection to the American dream. As Barich reminds us throughout this richly rewarding book, in America, it is still the people who matter most. — Garner Simmons ’65
Pictures of the Highway Marc Black ’71 (Suma Records)
Award-winning folksinger/songwriter Marc Black has released a new CD, Pictures of the Highway, which includes 12 songs presented in a seductive tapestry of grooves and instrumentation — reminiscent of Randy Newman and Tim Hardin. The CD begins with the sultry opener “Red Lite,” continues with a love song to coffee (“Ooh I Love My Coffee”), and rounds out with the humorous “I Love You Rachel Maddow.”
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Hannibal The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World Robert Garland (Bristol Classical Press)
Classics professor Robert Garland has two new releases through Bristol Classical Press: Hannibal and The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World, Second Edition. In Hannibal, Garland spotlights the Carthaginian general whose military and political career made him one of history’s greatest survivors, Rome’s most formidable adversary, and the man who came closest to destroying the power base in Italy. At the same time, Garland writes, Hannibal did more than anyone else to bring Carthage to the edge of ruin. Garland investigates Hannibal’s unintended yet powerful legacy and concludes that he is both an inspiration and a warning to anyone who dreams big dreams. The second edition of The Eye of the Beholder is in paperback, with a new preface and updated bibliography. This first-ever book-length investigation into the plight of the disabled and deformed in Graeco-Roman society draws on literary texts, medical tracts, vase paintings, sculpture, mythology, and ethnography.
nied by more than 200 photos, this book tells the story of how Kerasote found Pukka, recounting the early days of their bonding as they explore the world. Walks become hikes and hikes become climbs, their adventures culminating in a rugged wilderness journey that teaches both Pukka and Kerasote something new about the dog-human partnership. Pukka is a love story as well as Kerasote’s take on raising a puppy. It will do pictorially what Merle did with words: show how dogs thrive when treated as peers while illustrating the many ways that dogs open the door to our hearts.
To Kill a Tsar
Al Rieber ’53 (pen name G.K. George) (SCARITH) In this work of historical fiction by G.K. George (Al Rieber), the eccentric Inspector Vasiliev exposes a conspiracy by a high-ranking Russian nobleman and a top official in the secret police to assassinate Tsar Alexander II. Inspector Vasiliev finds unexpected help in his work from Irina, a member of the revolutionary underground. The tale lures readers into the turbulent, terrorist times of 1880s Russia, with a plot full of twists and dramatic encounters. Rieber portrays the tensions and dynamics of life in Imperial Russia on the eve of Alexander II’s assassination as his characters grapple with the assassination plot and an unlikely romance.
The Current Economic Crisis and the Great Depression
Pukka: The Pup After Merle
Philip Salisbury ’65 (Xlibris)
Since the publication of the best-selling Merle’s Door, Ted Kerasote has received thousands of e-mails asking two questions: “Have you gotten another dog?” and “Are you writing a new book?” Pukka: The Pup After Merle answers both. Told in Pukka’s voice and accompa-
In The Current Economic Crisis and the Great Depression, Philip Salisbury offers descriptive and quantitative approaches that present new perspectives on the topic. He emphasizes similarities between the pre-Depression years and the current economic malaise. Readers will learn about the presence of a
Ted Kerasote ’72 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
In the media housing boom and bust in both situations being attributed to individuals reaching home-buying age. It explains that when this peak of home buying reaches its crest and ages beyond that time of life, a rapid decline in population occurs. This decline is followed by a housing crisis as the number of home-buying individuals declines. Foreclosures follow as unemployment increases and incomes decline. Behind it all, the book explains the trends that come with economic declines and how they affect millions of people around the world.
Sweet Chic: Stylish Treats to Dress Up for Any Occasion
Rachel Schifter Thebault ’97 (Ballantine Books) Founder and head confectioner of Tribeca Treats in New York City, Rachel Schifter Thebault combines a confectioner’s expertise with fashion sense to share a cache of popular dessert recipes that can be accessorized to fit any occasion. Transforming a basic dessert into a masterpiece brimming with personality and flair can be easy,
BookCase
A selection from the new titles shelf at Case Library • Writing for the Internet: A Guide to Real Communication in Virtual Space Craig Baehr and Bob Schaller • Is There Anything Good About Men? How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men Roy F. Baumeister • Beating the Bear: Lessons from the 1929 Crash Applied to Today’s World Harold Bierman Jr. • The Age of Obama: The Changing Place of Minorities in British and American Society Tom Clark, Robert D. Putnam, Edward Fieldhouse • The Wireless Spectrum: The Politics, Practices, and Poetics of Mobile Media Edited by Barbara Crow, Michael Longford, and Kim Sawchuk • Sweet Cider Days: A History of Mott’s in Bouckville, New York Jim Ford • Every House Needs a Balcony, a novel Rina Frank • Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey Eric Lax • Paris Vogue: Covers 1920–2009 Sonia Rachline • Bob Marley: The Untold Story Chris Salewicz
quick, and fun, according to Thebault. In the same way you’d plan an outfit, Sweet Chic pieces together devil’s food cake (the little black dress of delights) with such irresistible accessories as caramel buttercream, turns vanilla cookies (the crisp oxford shirt) into strawberry “shortcakes,” and blends brownies (the cashmere sweater of confectionery) with a swirl of mint for a showstopping number. For both the novice hoping to master the basics and the expert looking to add a little versatility to existing creations, Sweet Chic is a guide for memorable desserts.
Modern Irish Drama: W.B. Yeats to Marina Carr Sanford Sternlicht MA’55 (Syracuse University Press)
Modern Irish Drama presents a thorough introduction to the recent history of one of the greatest dramatic and theatrical traditions in Western culture. Originally published in 1988, this second edition provides extensive new material, charting the path of modern and contemporary Irish drama from its roots in the Celtic Revival to its flowering in world theater. The lives and careers of more than 50 modern Irish playwrights are discussed along with summaries of their major plays and recommendations for further reading. Including a selected bibliography and filmography, the book is a resource for students of drama studies and production companies alike. Sanford Sternlicht is an English professor at Syracuse University, where he teaches Irish, American, and British drama.
The Nature of New York David Stradling ’88 (Cornell University Press)
From the arrival of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon in the estuarial waters of what would come to be called New York Harbor to the 2006 agreement that laid out plans for General Electric to clean up the PCBs it pumped into
“The one thing you can’t do with energy is sit on your butt.” — Richard Kessel ’71, CEO and president of the New York Power Authority, in an Ithaca Journal article about his prediction of a future energy crisis
“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the coaching that goes on there…” — Syracuse University football coach Doug Marrone speaking with The Post-Standard (Syracuse) prior to his team’s matchup against Colgate
“I had never sung in my life besides maybe in the shower and in a silly senior musical… Honestly, I was afraid of embarrassing myself in front of these great singers.” — Yuni Shameshima ’13, in a New York Times article about starting college, describes how he went out of his comfort zone to join the Colgate Thirteen
“People’s ethical norms have deteriorated [in Afghanistan] to the point that whatever helps you survive from day to day is OK.” — R. Michael Smith ’70 talking to the Chronicle of Higher Education about his yearlong stint as a legal adviser in Afghanistan
“But it’s the Colgate maintenance team that deserves a bigger tip of the cap over Jones, who delivers a tough test. The large greens here are easily some of New York’s finest…” — Brandon Tucker, of TravelGolf.com, in his review of Seven Oaks Golf Club
the river named after Hudson, this work offers a sweeping environmental history of New York State. David Stradling, associate professor of history at the University of Cincinnati, shows how New York’s varied landscape and abundant natural resources have played a fundamental role in shaping the state’s culture and economy. Simultaneously, he underscores the extent to which New Yorkers have, through such projects as the excavation of the Erie Canal and the construction of highways and reservoir systems, changed the landscape of their state.
Also of note:
The novel The Korean Pipeline (Publish America) by Raymond Flanders ’52
follows three enlisted men from their initial recall to active duty to combat service in the Korean War. Korean pipeline was the term used for the large numbers of enlisted men who were funneled from civilian status to the front line in Korea in a matter of weeks as the war erupted. The book begins at the start of the war in 1950 and continues as it drags on, finally ending in a virtual stalemate where it all started, at the 38th parallel in July 1953. In Workplace Emotions: Emotional Intelligence in Bahraini Management (Outskirts Press), Richard Tzudiker ’73 and Suhaila Ebrahim AlHashemi, PhD, tell the story of how emotional intelligence turns around one of Bahrain’s largest companies. As management learns to recognize feelings, harness emotions, and adopt appropriate leadership tactics, signs of cultural change emerge in a corporation steeped in tradition.
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The euphoria that Frederick Augustus Bailey felt after escaping from slavery in Maryland on Sept. 3, 1838, evaporated soon after his arrival in New York City. It was 2 a.m., and Bailey was stranded. Broke, lonely, homeless, and worried about slave catchers, he had planned to find a black man named David Ruggles, who headed an organization famous among enslaved people fleeing from their bondage. But then, Bailey ran into a friend from home whom he had known as “Allender’s Jake,” now calling himself William Dixon. Dixon warned him against trusting anyone. Deep in distress, Bailey spent the night sleeping among wharf barrels on the docks as he anxiously pondered his next move. Luckily, Ruggles, who had been expecting Bailey, searched for the forlorn fugitive and took him home. There, at 36 Lispenard Street, Ruggles talked with Bailey long into the night about abolitionism. He advised Bailey that New York was unsafe and encouraged him to head to New England, where a fugitive could find work as a caulker or go seafaring. 26
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Ruggles helped Bailey to forge a new identity and to bring his fiancée, Anna Murray, to join him. When she arrived safely on September 15, the couple were married in Ruggles’s home. Soon after, the newlyweds left, armed with a $5 bill and a letter of introduction that Ruggles addressed to another black abolitionist, Nathan Johnson, in New Bedford, Mass. (the seaport known as the “Fugitives’ Gibraltar”). There, Bailey, now calling himself Frederick Johnson, found work as a caulker. Nurtured in New Bedford’s anti-slavery community, within a few years, having again changed his name, that man — Frederick Douglass — soared into prominence to become one of the most famous 19th-century Americans. But what more can be learned about David Ruggles?
David Ruggles’s significance, in fact, goes well beyond his role in one of the most symbolically important slave escapes in American history. During the days that
Ruggles sheltered him, Frederick Douglass observed his abolitionist activities, and learned that Ruggles was a man of action as well as words and feeling. Ruggles was the kind of black man whom Douglass wanted to emulate, and he did. But, although Douglass wrote about Ruggles in all three of his autobiographies, it has taken more than 160 years for Ruggles’s own full biography to be written. There are several reasons for this oversight. Having died in 1849, Ruggles didn’t live long enough to be part of the turbulent events of the 1850s and the Civil War. And other abolitionist figures such as William Lloyd Garrison and even Douglass himself cast a long shadow. In addition, historians have only recently come to realize that many blacks were an important part of the abolitionist movement. The scholarship has recently evolved from a paradigm of whites assisting helpless blacks, to recognizing that enslaved people and free blacks were not passive about their conditions.
Ruggles w as a man o f actio n as well a s w o rds and feeling
David Ruggles was born free on March 15, 1810, in Old Lyme, Conn., the first of the eight children of David and Nancy Ruggles, free blacks who were devout Congregationalists. His father was a respected blacksmith and his mother a noted caterer — both careers in which they were treated with respect by blacks and whites alike. The family lived in the Bean Hill area of Norwich, very close to the home of Samuel Huntington, the state’s governor. In that environment, Ruggles grew up as an educated man accustomed to a sense of equality. By the time he left formal education in his teens, he was well versed in theology and rhetoric, and had received special tutoring in Latin. His background served as a foundation upon which he would carry out his life. Early work as a seafarer brought him to New York City by 1825; he was likely present, then, for the 1827 celebrations marking the prohibition of slavery in the state. But even after slavery was officially outlawed, New York City was generally unsafe for blacks. Much of this had to do with their miserable economic status. They lived in the poorest neighborhoods, suffered most from health epidemics, and had shorter life expectancies. Public discrimination and insulting behavior toward blacks were rampant. Watchmen routinely harassed blacks and arrested them on the slightest pretext. To add insult to injury, journalists regularly derided the presence of free blacks in the city and they, as well as formal organizations, urged their expulsion from the country. Making matters worse, the city was highly receptive to Southern slaveholders who enjoyed visiting the new metropolis and expected to be allowed to bring their slaves with them to provide the amenities of home. Shops, hotels, and
Graham Hodges
In many ways, David Ruggles was the quintessential activist. He was the man who got everything going. I first became interested in Ruggles while writing my book Root & Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613-1863 some 10 years ago. One of the first things I found was his obituary, which was written by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. In it, Garrison lamented that Ruggles’s biography “had yet to be written.” In my books, I have found the re-creation of neglected but significant historical figures — such as Anna May Wong, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Colonel Tye, and Isaac Lyon — and occupations like cartmen and cabdrivers to be a most satisfying achievement. Of all these rediscoveries, Ruggles (1810-1849) is perhaps the most significant because he changed the course of abolitionism. The more I learned about Ruggles, the more fascinating he became. Ruggles personified radical abolitionism. A vocal antislavery activist, officer of the Underground Railroad, and champion of civil rights for blacks, he took a moral stance that overlapped with many associated reforms (such as temperance), tapped into religious communities, and crossed not only racial but also gender lines. Ultimately, he gave his life to the movement. His was a captivating story that had to be retold.
News and views for the Colgate community
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restaurants catered to wealthy Southerners, whose sizable presence meant that a runaway’s chances of encountering his former master was not slight. As well, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 (which gave slaveholders the right to recover escaped slaves) gave cover to illicit slave trading by Americans contracting with Portuguese sea captains and practically invited Southern masters to hire ruthless men to scour Northern cities in search of runaway slaves or to prey upon free blacks. Enabled by sympathetic judges in New York, kidnappers regularly came to the city and grabbed any black whose appearance resembled their quarry. Not only were fugitive slaves being captured and taken back, but also free men, women, and children were being kidnapped off the streets and sold into slavery down South. With that as the backdrop, by 1828, at only age 18, Ruggles had opened a grocery shop at 1 Cortland Street at the corner of Broadway, where he also lived. Although the neighborhood had a less-dense black population than the wards farther north, he appealed to the black community for customers by placing store advertisements in Freedom’s Journal (the nation’s first black newspaper). The journal’s editor, Samuel Eli Cornish, a Presbyterian minister, would come to have an important impact on Ruggles (for example, convincing him to adopt the associated reform of temperance and stop selling alcohol in his store). In New York City, black and white Presbyterians were prominent in urban ministry and the antislavery movement. Cornish’s First Colored Presbyterian Church became a home base for Ruggles. Membership there provided access to many other figures in the antislavery movement with whom Ruggles would work closely in the near future, including self-emancipated slaves James W.C. Pennington and Samuel Ringgold Ward. There is evidence that Ruggles also affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the parish of New York’s black working class. In that congregation, around the same time as Ruggles, was a recently freed woman named Isabella Van Wagener, who would later be known as Sojourner Truth.
Ruggles officially joined the abolitionist movement when he began combining the grocery business with antislavery activity. He hired escaped slaves Samuel Ringgold Ward, who later became a distinguished Congregational minister and proponent of expanded black civil rights, and his brother Isaiah Harper Ward. Ruggles also became a visible member of black literacy, self-improvement, and abolitionist organizations like the Phoenix Society and the American Antislavery Society, attending and soon speaking at their conventions. Joined by prominent abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, he began delivering electrifying speeches exhorting people to get involved with the resistance against slavery and the promotion of black self-improvement. When Garrison founded the Liberator, the newest print outlet for radical expression, in 1831, Ruggles became an agent and was soon canvassing young city blacks to help increase its readership. He also later became a general agent (one of very few black agents) of the Emancipator, the fledgling newspaper published by prominent white abolitionists Lewis and Arthur Tappan, who became two of his longtime supporters. Ruggles’s first publication in that newspaper launched another chapter in his abolitionist work: his prolific writings, which included hundreds of letters to the editor in many publications, as well as five pamphlets. His first was “The ‘Extinguisher’ Extinguished!” This diatribe against noted physician Dr. David M. Reese, who supported the American Colonization Society (a popular organization that planned forcible relocation of free blacks to Africa), was one of the first black imprints in the nation. In his essay “The Abrogation of the Seventh Commandment, by the American Churches,” Ruggles was again ahead of the curve, this time by aiming his message at a female audience. Capitalizing on the debate of whether slave owners could be considered good Christians, he pointed out that masters raping their enslaved women and having children with them constituted a violation of the Seventh Commandment against adultery, and that Southern women
By th e age o f 24, Ru ggles w a s a n exp eri enced an tisl a v e ry agen t, co n v e n tio n memb er, and w rit er The Freedom’s Journal was essential reading for blacks intent on learning about meetings of mutual relief, temperance, literary, and fraternal organizations. Editorials espoused black improvement and castigated perceived enemies of the black community. Ample space focused on efforts to improve black morality and education and used black heroes as examples to affirm self-discipline and achievement. The newspaper also covered current fugitive slave cases and illegal trafficking of slaves, and printed contemporary words of revolution, such as the fiery writings of David Walker. Walker demanded that blacks battle for their rights, beseeching fathers to teach their sons to confront slave masters, and counseling, “kill or be killed . . . had you not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant, who takes the life of your mother, wife, and dear little children?” By challenging racism, and emphasizing education and intellectual improvement, the journal’s writers heightened black consciousness, inspired racial egalitarianism, and created a culture of dissent. For the youthful Ruggles, all this was heady stuff and informed much of his thought and writing for years to come. Already imbued with abolitionist sentiments, he could see that the time to battle slavery and prejudice with one’s life was now. While making his living as a grocer, Ruggles publicized abolitionist sentiments in his advertisements, proclaiming, for example, that the “Sugars above mentioned are free sugars — they are manufactured by free people, not by slaves.” This alliance with the free produce movement had several effects. It brought him into contact with white and black women who were against slavery and for whom purchasing free produce goods was a conscious moral and political choice. Those female advocates of free produce then spread the word about his sin-free staples, thereby helping his business. Despite that support, his activities also attracted anti-abolitionist attention; he had to relocate his store several times, and on one occasion, it was burned down. 28
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were standing by, letting their husbands, brothers, and sons do this. He called upon Northern women to shun these women when they came North, because they were complicit. Ruggles quit the grocery business in 1833 to devote himself full time to the movement as an agent of the Emancipator. Constantly on the road, he traveled from town to town throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, selling subscriptions and making public speeches, spreading the word about abolitionism, and denouncing slavery. His efforts were among the earliest for any antislavery agent, and among the most dangerous; he became accustomed to working with and convincing large crowds of curious whites in settings far from New York City. Traveling alone in a countryside where he was likely to receive very little sympathy, Ruggles also showed considerable courage — mobbing of abolitionists was common, and he was fortunate to avoid an attack.
By the age of 24, Ruggles was an experienced antislavery agent, convention member, and writer. He had reached out to women and worked well with giants of the city’s abolition scene. In the rapidly developing world of black abolitionism, he had served an admirable apprenticeship. Now he was ready for larger responsibilities. Part of a youthful cohort of frustrated, intelligent, ambitious, well-educated activists who butted against the prejudices of white New Yorkers, Ruggles gave the new black radicalism a harder, more militant style and raised it to a higher profile. He summed it up by noting, “The pleas of crying soft and sparing never answered the purpose of a reform, and never will.” That comment nailed his controversial and revolutionary approach, which went beyond moral suasion (simply trying to convince slaveholders to give up the evil of slavery using nonviolent means) to
“practical abolitionism,” which embraced civil disobedience and self-defense — fighting injustices on the ground, in the street. In July 1834, New York City’s simmering racial tensions burst into flame in coordinated, widespread riots against blacks. Racist groups accelerated broader battles to overpower and drive out the black community and silence abolitionists, especially religious leaders. Ruggles’s response to this kind of harsh racism was to openly defy it by continuing — and escalating — his activities. For example, undaunted by the riots, he continued to operate the bookstore and antislavery circulating library that he had opened that spring on Lispenard Street. His new store was the first black-owned bookshop in the United States. In addition to selling paper supplies and classics of the abolitionist movement, it also served as a printing, bookbinding, and letterpress shop, especially of abolitionist materials. Several incidents indicate the pressures Ruggles faced. Anti-abolitionists published newspaper attacks against him. A mob organized in front of the shop on three different nights. When arsonists burned the store in 1835, Ruggles offered a reward for their arrest and quickly reopened his shop and library. In November 1835, Ruggles and four other men created the fabled New York Committee of Vigilance. The nation’s first of its kind, the committee stated that its mission was “practical abolition” — offering direct assistance to “protect unoffending, defenseless, and endangered persons of color, by securing their rights as far as practicable.” The officers were a mix of blacks and whites and included Ruggles, a restaurant owner, a broker, and two career abolitionists. Members helped fugitive slaves obtain “such protections as the law will afford” — battling kidnappers and providing practical support such as hiring lawyers for them. Showing his immense courage, Ruggles boarded a ship in the New York harbor to arrest its captain for carrying slaves. On another occasion, Ruggles boldly
marched into a private home in Brooklyn to inform the servants of the house that they were being unlawfully held as slaves. The committee held meetings and rallies all over town that were attended by, and raised funds from, blacks and whites alike to support their efforts. Ruggles also wrote a barrage of publications about illegal kidnappings on the committee’s behalf. A quintessential example of the committee’s activities was playing out just as Ruggles took Frederick Douglass into his home in 1838. The Darg Case involved a Virginia slaveholder, John Darg, whose slave, Thomas Hughes, escaped with approximately $7,000 of his money during a trip they took to New York City and sought refuge with a Committee of Vigilance member. In the ensuing battle for Hughes’s freedom, Ruggles and his colleague Barney Corse convinced Darg to free Hughes, provided that his money was returned. When the returned sum turned out to be less than the original amount, Darg had Ruggles arrested for grand larceny, and he was jailed for three days. In what became one of the most sensational antislavery cases of the 1830s, Ruggles represented himself during the trial, making him one of the first blacks in U.S. history to act as a lawyer. The Mirror of Liberty, which Ruggles published as the committee’s second annual report in 1839, is generally accepted as the first magazine produced by a black American. The magazine consisted of reports of local cases, reviews, the Committee of Vigilance’s report, poetry, and an essay on women’s rights. Ruggles received high praise for his new venture. The National Reformer of Philadelphia lauded him as a “thorough-going abolitionist — one that works by day and by night, with his hands, feet, and pen… He is the most successful, as well as the most inveterate enemy of the slaveholder.” Ruggles’s name was rapidly spreading throughout the North and the South. Beyond his organizational and publishing activities, Ruggles engaged in bold, confrontational acts of civil disobedience. For example, to protest that blacks were News and views for the Colgate community
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Ruggles engage d in bol d, co nfro n t a tio n al acts o f ci vil diso b edien ce not allowed to ride on streetcars, he would board them and refuse to get off. When conductors threw him off, he would file an arrest suit. After a series of similar incidents that he and others instigated on railroads, the railroad companies had to change their policies. These activities served to make practical changes in people’s lives.
During his most intensive period of activism in the 1830s, Ruggles created sinewy networks of collaborators who built the Underground Railroad, which owes a debt to him that its chroniclers have not recognized. His contacts, made as an agent for the Liberator and Emancipator and as a participant in conventions, knotted together the ties between the city and the upstate region. In one notable instance, in October 1835, Ruggles was one of several black men to answer the call to form a statewide movement. Organizers chose to hold the first meeting of what would become the New York State Antislavery Society. It was held in Utica to widen abolitionist appeals beyond New York City, and perhaps to entice greater involvement by abolitionist Gerrit Smith, a wealthy land baron who lived about 20 miles southwest, in the village of Peterboro in Madison County. (Just 13 miles from Colgate, Peterboro is now the site for the National Abolition Hall of Fame.) After opponents mustered opposition to the convention, an angry mob disrupted the ceremonies. The antislavery advocates had to abandon the city, and at Smith’s invitation, reconvened in Peterboro. The affair increased Ruggles’s status among upstate abolitionists and widened his circle of contacts; he met dozens who would later become supporters of his efforts, people from upstate towns such as Fayetteville, Warsaw, and New Hartford, and such counties as Ontario and Jefferson, all hotbeds of antislavery petitioning and rallies. One such future supporter present at the meeting was Abel Brown, a stalwart of the abolitionist movement who had attended the institution that was to become Colgate University (see Abel Brown: Colgate’s Heroic Abolitionist, pg. 31). By 1838, Ruggles’s home at 36 Lispenard Street had become the city’s central depot for the systematic network of conductors, safe houses, and freedom destinations between New York City and rural upstate sites. Runaway slaves coming north already knew or were quickly informed that his house was the most welcoming place in New York. Fugitives who stayed free as far as Philadelphia were invariably directed there. Among several major strands to his network, in Albany, N.Y., movement stalwarts like Brown ensured that freedom-seekers received a warm welcome. They could also find succor traveling through the Catskill Region into the Chenango Valley and the home of Gerrit Smith in Peterboro and then farther north. In numerous small towns, armed with a letter from Ruggles, they quickly found warm hearts who would help out on the way to free soil. As an indicator of the receptivity to his message, Ruggles received testimonials for his magazine from supporters in such rural towns as Cazenovia, N.Y. One may easily surmise that the commendations were implicit promises to harbor freedom-seekers sent their way from New York City.
Every aspect of his work took a physical toll on Ruggles. Barely scraping out a living, constantly in debt, working countless hours, and traveling in substandard conditions — not to mention several physical altercations in which he was seriously injured — by 1839, he was nearly blind and suffered terrible digestive problems. Through his connections with Lydia Maria Child, a children’s book writer who became an abolitionist and the first female editor of a newspaper, The National Antislavery Standard, in 1841 he moved to the budding antislavery stronghold of Northampton, Mass., to join the communitarian society there. Weary and in great pain, Ruggles determined to try a new medical treatment 30
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called hydrotherapy, or water cure. The rigors of hydropathical methods included endless baths, full body wraps in cold sheets, and bandaging, all of which demanded substantial inner strength and endurance. After months of treatment, he experienced relief from his ailments. Convinced of the powers of the water cure, he undertook the training to become a hydrotherapist himself, and soon, he was known and respected as Dr. Ruggles, treating blacks and whites alike. One of his first patients was Sojourner Truth, who entered his clinic in 1845. Not yet known as an orator, Truth was seriously ill and close to becoming an invalid. Ruggles treated her for a variety of ailments. Around that time, Frederick Douglass, with whom Ruggles had kept up a correspondence, visited Northampton, where he was pleased to find his old benefactor. Eventually, Ruggles borrowed money to set up a water-cure hospital. For the final few years of his life, he ran the hospital (Garrison once came to him for treatment there), while continuing to create an abolitionist community in Northampton to match the one he had left behind in New York City, as well as keeping up his writings (with the help of a scribe). Unfortunately, the water cure only worked so well, and Ruggles’s health began to rapidly deteriorate. As he lay suffering, in addition to a Bible, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Macauley’s History of England, and a history of the Mexican War by his bedside, sat the biography of abolitionist Abel Brown, his old friend from the Underground Railroad days in New York State. His mother and sister came to Northampton to care for him, to no avail. Ruggles died on December 16, 1849, at the age of 39. He had given his body as well as his career to the movement. David Ruggles, who held a transformational role in the band of outsiders reformulating the ideology of abolitionism in the 1830s, is important today for many reasons. By responding to the anguished cries of black New York families whose loved ones were being kidnapped and sold into slavery, he pushed the abolitionist movement into a more radical, confrontational stance. His insistence that a person attacked by slave catchers and kidnappers had the local right to resist “unto death” opened the door to violent resistance in the 1840s and 1850s and led to the devastating battle against slavery and white supremacy that shook our nation to its very roots in the 1860s. Consciously crossing racial and gender lines to bring more Americans into the battle, he created a substantial network of Underground Railroad activists whose efforts benefitted hundreds of self-emancipated people. A pioneering journalist, his articles, pamphlets, and magazines demonstrated the power of literacy against evil. Above all, he showed that the spirit of liberty resides in the hearts of all Americans, regardless of race, creed, or gender. Postscript In September, David Ruggles: A Radical Black Abolitionist and the Underground Railroad in New York City by Graham Hodges, from which this article was adapted, was awarded the 2010 Hortense Simmons Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge by the Underground Railroad Free Press, the highest honor bestowed in the international Underground Railroad community. Hodges is the George Dorland Langdon Jr. Professor of history and Africana and Latin American studies. From June 26 to July 22, 2011, he will direct a Teachers’ Institute on Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad at Colgate for the National Endowment for the Humanities (for details, visit colgate.edu/abolitionism/hodges). Images ©2010 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. David Ruggles portrait (pg. 26) courtesy of the Negro Almanac Collection, Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Other portraits include William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass (both collection of the author), Sojourner Truth (courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society), James W.C. Pennington (courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library), Lydia Maria Child (Library of Congress)
In a letter to his sister, Brown described the students’ routine as rising at 4:30 a.m., and assembling at chapel at 5:00 for prayers. Breakfast at 6:30 featured porridge and bread. There was meat, sauce, and bread for dinner; one could choose between meat and butter. Afternoon tea included cold water, bread, and butter (self-denial helped withstand the temptations of sin and of Satan, he said).
presence on campus became spotty due to his constant traveling to large religious rallies around the Northeast. Brown left the institution in April 1834 with an honorable dismissal but without a diploma. By then, he had become a licensed minister and itinerated around New York State, preaching the gospel mixed with rebukes of his auditors about “gambling, whiskey making, and other public sins.” His preaching style offended one doctor in Westfield, N.Y., who publicly struck Brown 30 times with a rawhide whip for allegedly slandering him. Brown knelt in prayer during the attack as “Christ held my spirit,” then returned home to pray for the doctor. Influenced by his studies and by abolitionist Gerrit Smith of Peterboro, Brown turned increasingly to abolitionism and included attacks on slavery in his sermons. He intended to cleanse the Baptist church of the sin of slaveholding and attacked the Southern Baptist Church for “holding property in slaves, buy and sell men of the spirit of gain — even Baptists sell Baptists — part husband and wife — parent and child…,” he said. In 1837, Brown’s crusade took him back to his old school, when, to the dismay of the faculty, he gave a speech advising members of the senior class to leave the college immediately or risk sustaining slavery. Brown angrily denounced reports that the faculty had dissolved a student
Brown and his fellow students primarily analyzed the Bible. An extremely devout young man, he considered the ability to read the New Testament in Greek a standard skill, writing, “There is an excellence in the Scriptures discernable only to those who possess the spirit of their Author.” Despite that claim, Brown’s professors found him deficient in languages, and he was admonished to work harder. It seems his activities as a prominent campus exhorter and conductor of numerous Sunday schools in Madison County were drawing his attention away from his studies. Soon, Brown’s
Anti-Slavery Society in 1834, and, noting that the professors had visited Southern Baptist conventions, accused them of putting worldly gain and seeking the support of Southern Baptists ahead of free speech on campus. He complained that “The Institution courts the support of Slaveholders and their apologists,” and that the professors “neglect to cry against the sin of slaveholding.” In his book A History of Colgate University, Howard Williams ’30 argues that the faculty had been drawn into the antislavery movement much against their will. Although opposed to slavery,
ABEL BROWN: COLGATE’S HEROIC ABOLITIONIST
Collection of the author
Abel Brown (1810-1844) was a passionate Baptist minister, abolitionist, and active conductor on the Underground Railroad in upstate New York. Born in Springfield, Mass., his family moved when he was 11 to Hamilton, N.Y. There, he grew to be a sturdy, friendly young fellow, and an enthusiastic sportsman and dancer, with a keen eye for business. According to the Colgate Student Register, Brown was admitted on Oct. 25, 1831, to the Preparatory Course of the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution, as Colgate was then called. He (among other students) applied for “indulgence in the payment of their expenses.” Brown’s reasons were “no funds his Father poor.” The school responded positively to this early request for financial aid; Brown is listed in the catalogues for 1832-1833 and 1833-1834.
Williams contends, the faculty considered radical abolitionists extreme and fanatical. Fearful of the disturbance that agitation might raise among the students, they “resolutely checked student enthusiasm in this direction.” Looking at Brown’s involvement gives a new perspective on this fascinating episode. A contemporary observer, Brown was accusing the faculty of quiescence in the face of evil. Brown’s appeal may have had some effect on the student body. In April/May of 1837, the faculty reprimanded some students for leaving the term early without permission. When they returned, they were asked to give reasons for their departure, which the faculty found to be unsatisfactory. Although the exact reasons were not recorded in the minutes, one could hypothesize that the students’ departures were a result of Brown’s work. In June, the faculty moved to disassociate the student Anti-Slavery Society from the institution, and any students who retained ties to the society were barred from attending classes until they ceased their association with it. After this encounter with his former school, Brown became a full-time anti-slavery itinerant speaker, traveling in Pennsylvania, then moving east to Northampton, Mass., where he became associated with the radical abolitionist Charles Torrey. The pair moved to Albany, N.Y., and entered Liberty Party politics. Brown founded a militant abolitionist newspaper, The Tocsin of Liberty, which openly proclaimed Underground Railroad activities. With a network of conductors, Brown created the Eastern New York Anti-Slavery Society, which, with David Ruggles’s New York Committee of Vigilance, coordinated the passage to freedom for fugitive slaves coming up from the South through New York City. Brown worked closely with Henry Highland Garnet, a major black abolitionist, and with Charles B. Ray, also a longtime friend and supporter of Ruggles and, after 1839, the new head of the vigilance committee. Brown kept up a frenetic pace, lecturing around the East and Midwest against slavery, helping fugitives gain freedom, and editing his newspaper. While on a speaking tour in central New York with James Baker, a fugitive slave and lecturer, Brown was caught in a harsh November storm, contracted meningitis, and died on November 8, 1844. He left a second wife, who organized his letters into a memoir, and two young sons. Brown is buried in Canandaigua, N.Y. The American Freeman, an abolitionist newspaper in Wisconsin, memorialized him as “exhibit[ing] a spirit that would not rest while so much was at stake and so much required to be done.” The newspaper credited Brown with assisting more than 1,000 fugitive slaves who sought freedom. Today, Colgate University can salute its most heroic abolitionist. — G. Hodges Sources: C.S. Brown, ed., Memoir of Rev. Abel Brown;
Tom Calarco, ed., People of the Underground Railroad: A Biographical Dictionary; Student Register 1818-1856 and Faculty Minutes 1832-1836, Colgate University Archives; Records of the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York 1830-1839 News and views for the Colgate community
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Beyond the 11th By Aleta Mayne Speaking on her cell phone in Boston’s Logan International Airport, Susan Retik Ger ’90 is about to board a plane to Pittsburgh. There, she will attend a public screening of Beyond Belief, the documentary about how she has reached out to help widows in Afghanistan after losing her own husband in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rewind to September 11, 2001. Susan’s husband, David Retik ’90, was in the same airport, on his cell phone, saying goodbye to Susan before boarding American Airlines Flight 11. After hanging up, David boarded the plane and took his seat in the first row of first class. As the 33-year-old prepared for his business meeting in Los Angeles, another 33-year-old, with much different intentions, was seated across the aisle. Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian-born terrorist who would become known as the ringleader of the World Trade Center attacks, was getting ready to hijack the Boeing 767 and fly it into the North Tower. As the subsequent events affected people the world over, Susan’s life was turned upside down and set on a new course. Susan Zalesne and David Retik had met as Colgate first-years at a party in their dorm, Andrews Hall. “I thought David was adorable the minute I met him,” she recalled. “I remember thinking, if I made a checklist of everything I wanted in a person, he had it all.” She even called her mom and told her, “I think I met the man I want to marry.” But, both were seeing other people at the time. It wasn’t until the end of their sophomore year that Susan started thinking of furthering their friendship. Knowing they were both
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going abroad the following year, she decided that as soon as they came back to campus, she was going to ask him out. That very first week of their senior year, Susan bumped into David at the annual town-gown barbecue on the Village Green. When he said he was going to the library, she asked for a ride. “Mind you, I had no reason to go to the library — I had no book, no pencil, nothing,” she said, laughing. “Over the course of that half-mile ride, I managed to stutter out, ‘Do you want to go out with me sometime?’” He said yes, and as soon as they got to the library, Susan ran to the pay phones to call her mom with the news. David called her soon afterward to ask her to dinner and a movie, and they were a couple from then on. Following graduation, Susan and David moved separately to New York, where she got a job at Scholastic in educational publishing and he went to work for Ernst & Young in a program that enabled him to simultaneously earn his master’s at New York University. In 1993, David was offered a job with the venture capital firm Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in Boston. He asked Susan to move with him, so they relocated to Brookline, Mass. Two years later, they got married, and their son, Benjamin, was born in 1997. After moving to Needham, Mass., and the birth of their daughter Molly in 1999, Susan quit her job at Houghton Mifflin to be a stay-at-home mom. David had become a founding partner at Alta Communications, a successor firm to his previous company. Having built their dream life together, the Retiks were expecting their third child when David boarded Flight 11 for that business trip. At 8:46 a.m., their lives would forever change. Seven months pregnant,
From left: Susan Retik Ger ’90 and Patti Quigley visiting with widows in Afghanistan.
Susan was in her car running errands when she turned off the children’s music and heard the NPR reports. “As I was driving, it just became more clear that there was a possibility this was Dave’s plane,” she remembered. Susan returned home to look at David’s itinerary, and knew in that moment when she confirmed his flight number. “I remember thinking, I can’t wait until my mom gets here,” Susan recalled in the beginning of Beyond Belief. “I just felt like then it would all be
The events of September 11, 2001, took Susan Retik Ger ’90 from Needham, Mass., to Kabul, Afghanistan, to the U.S. White House. This is the story of how she has turned a tragedy in her life into
Image courtesy of Principle Pictures
an opportunity to improve the lives of others.
OK. And I remember, she came and I got up to give her a hug, and I realized, it’s not OK, she can’t make it better.” Susan’s family and David’s parents came to help with the children so that she could have time to grieve. Numerous friends, neighbors, and total strangers from around the world showed their support — her mailbox overflowed with cards and letters, and quilts and toys for her children were left on her doorstep. “Life was such a haze back then,” she said. Typical of her type-A personality, Susan kept busy, partly as a means of coping. Baby Dina (named after David) was born on November 19. As if a newborn didn’t
present enough challenges, in January, Susan got the family a puppy. “I never stopped,” she admitted. In the ensuing months, as the United States prepared to invade Afghanistan in retaliation for the World Trade Center attacks, the news became inundated with stories about the Afghan people. Watching the coverage, as a recent widow herself, Susan was overcome by the hardships that Afghan women face. “I just could not imagine living in Afghanistan and having the same thing happen to me — losing my husband and not being able to support my children, not knowing where the next meal was going to come from,” she said. “Even though [losing David] was so devastating, from what I was reading and seeing on TV, I realized I was still one of the lucky ones. You look at those women begging on the streets, covered in burqas, not allowed to go to school, not allowed to work, and I just realized, we are so lucky to be born in the United States with all these freedoms.” That comparison of her life to the lives of widows in Afghanistan inspired her to create Beyond the 11th, a nonprofit organization with a twofold mission: to fundraise for partner nongovernmental organizations that give Afghan women the opportunity to learn a trade and become self-sufficient, and to raise awareness for the plight of those women. Today, there are approximately two million Afghan widows, who are “stripped of whatever resources and respect they had when they were married,” according to Beyondthe11th.org. Approximately 94 percent are illiterate; their average income is $16 per month, versus $46 for male-headed households in the country. According to a 2006 UNIFEM survey, 65 percent of the 50,000 widows in Kabul “see suicide as the only option to get rid of their miseries and desolation.” Beyond the 11th started with a friendship. In February, Susan met another woman widowed on 9/11, Patti Quigley, who lived in nearby Wellesley. Mutual acquaintances had suggested that Susan and Patti get together because they were both pregnant when their husbands were murdered. In addition to their shared experience, their personalities clicked, and they became instant friends. “Susan has this energy that, as soon as you meet her, you know exactly
where she stands, and I love that,” Patti said in Beyond Belief. Not long after their friendship began, Susan approached Patti with an idea: to reach out to Afghan widows. At first, she wanted to help just one or two women. “It was never my intention to start a nonprofit,” she explained. “My whole idea was to help one family the way so many people have helped me … to make one woman’s life easier so she doesn’t have to worry about feeding her kids and providing shelter and clothing, so that she can focus on raising her kids and grieving.” Susan also wanted to make a connection. “I wanted to reach out and say, ‘This is who I am — who are you? Let’s learn about each other.’ Because I didn’t hate them, and I didn’t think they hated me.” The pair quickly realized that the amount of money they each contributed would help many more than just one or two Afghan women. They threw themselves into researching Afghanistan and learning how to establish a nonprofit. It was a welcome distraction for both. “My motto is, the busier you are, the less you have to think,” Susan said, adding, “which has served me really well in certain ways, and not as well in others — because
“ I wanted to reach out and say, ‘This is who I am — who are you? Let’s learn about each other.’ Because I didn’t hate them, and I didn’t think they hated me.” — Susan Retik Ger ’90 eventually you have to take the time to think about everything that’s going on.” While developing Beyond the 11th, Susan also dedicated her time as a board member of the Retik Mello Foundation, which was established in memory of David and his colleague Christopher Mello, who also was on Flight 11. In June of 2002, she organized the David Retik Fathers’ Day Fun Run and Walk to raise money for the foundation, which funds nonprofit programs in education and athletics. The event, which that year attracted 1,000 people and raised $45,000, was something Susan continued for five years.
News and views for the Colgate community
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Image courtesy of Principle Pictures
Afghan widows wait in line to receive rations of basic necessities such as cooking oil, flour, beans, and salt.
In the fall of 2003, Beyond the 11th became official. Shortly afterward, Susan faced one of those times when she was forced to think about what she’d been avoiding. David’s remains had been found, and although the family had a memorial service after 9/11, they could now hold his funeral, in Wayland, Mass. “It was horrible,” was all she would say in a recent interview. Afterward, Susan and her family traveled to Colgate, where a new gateway to Van Doren Field was being dedicated in honor of David and two other soccer alumni who perished in the attacks, Todd Pelino ’89 and Scott Coleman ’94. For the next year, Susan and Patti focused on refining the mission of their organization and fundraising. “We realized we didn’t want to recreate the wheel; there are some fabulous NGOs that do great work in Afghanistan, so we had to learn about them,” Susan explained. They decided to partner with CARE International, a humanitarian organization that works to fight global poverty, and Women for Women International, which assists female survivors of war. Both organizations were already providing aid in Afghanistan, so Beyond the 11th worked with them to create programs tailored to the needs of widows. Susan and Patti also devoted their time to the second aspect of their mission: educating the American public about the plight of Afghan widows through various media outlets and speaking engagements. In one scene in Beyond Belief, they’re shown at the Lowell (Mass.) Police Academy. “I have tried to turn this into something other than hatred,” Patti told the cadets. Susan added, “Not only would we like to help these widows with their basic necessities, we hope to undo, if even a small bit, some of the hatred that has been learned both in
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Afghanistan and here in the United States. If these widows have the opportunity to learn about us and we about them, we can begin to learn the truth about one another. We feel if we can teach love and kindness as opposed to teaching hatred, that is the way terrorism will end.” Susan and Patti also started training for their largest fundraiser yet: a three-day, 275-mile bike ride from Ground Zero to the Massachusetts 9/11 Memorial in Boston Public Garden. They set out September 9, 2004, and raised $140,000. The bike ride, which Susan has continued over the years in different iterations, highlights another striking comparison. “Here, I can say, I’m going to ride a bike from New York to Boston — and I didn’t even own a bike,” Susan said. “In Afghanistan, boys and men ride bikes, but women aren’t allowed to.” Just a few weeks before the 2004 bike ride, a documentarian named Beth Murphy heard about it. As chair of the board of the International Institute of Boston, a group that helps immigrants and refugees, Murphy was beckoned by the women’s story. “Not only did I think it was a story that needed to be told, but I also wanted to be the one to tell it,” she said. Initially, Susan hesitated to participate because she didn’t think anyone would be interested. But, as Murphy said, “It was very clear to me from the outset what the film would be: that we would have an appreciation for what had happened to them, share the kinship they were feeling with Afghan widows, and ultimately travel with them to Afghanistan as they meet the women they were helping.” Although a trip to Afghanistan was not yet planned, “they had always expressed to me not just a desire to go, but also feeling a real need to go there,” Murphy explained.
Filming began on what would become the award-winning Principle Pictures film Beyond Belief. The emotional and, at times, chilling documentary follows Susan and Patti from their 2004 departure from Ground Zero on their bikes, to the planning of their Afghanistan trip, to their 2006 journey across the globe to meet the women they were helping. About a year and a half into filming, the project almost took a different direction when there was a question about whether or not the trip would happen. Their main point of contact in Afghanistan, CARE employee Clementina Cantoni, was kidnapped at gunpoint and held hostage by a gang in Kabul. “As soon as I heard this, my initial reaction was, I’m not going, forget it, this is crazy — they’re targeting aid workers,” Susan said. “My first thought was, I was nervous because of the kids, and my second thought was, we don’t need any more losses,” echoed David’s mother, Lynn. Protesting Cantoni’s capture, Afghan widows filled the streets of Kabul. For women who generally don’t have a voice and rarely even defend themselves, their signs and shouts of protest on behalf of Cantoni spoke volumes. After a month, Cantoni was freed. Eight months later, Susan and Patti realized they both still wanted to go. Plans for the trip resumed. Arriving in Kabul on May 10, 2006, they were aghast by what they saw. Despite their research and their preparation for the trip — like shopping for culturally appropriate clothing — the reality of Afghanistan troubled them. “We had seen so many images on TV of women in burqas and begging on the street, so you think you’re prepared for it, but … you looked around and everywhere there seemed to be someone in need,” Susan said. Traveling through the infrastructure of their partner NGOs, the women met the widows they were helping and got a glimpse of their daily lives. A particularly unsettling scene shows a sea of blue burqas as approximately 500 widows stand in the hot sun waiting in line for their rations. They also visited the widows’ one-room houses, which had no furniture, no running water, and no electricity. “This is poverty with a capital P,” Susan said. Gathering in a small room packed with widows all sitting on the floor, they listened to them tell of their tribulations. “I want to thank my sisters for helping us so much,” one woman told them. “I’ve had a terrible life. A lot of my children have died from starvation. I wish you could have come earlier so my children wouldn’t have died. They went in the ground hungry.” Another widow told them how an American bomb killed her husband and fractured her daughter’s skull and blinded her. “Before we met you, we wanted to help you — now that we’ve met you, we really want to help you,” Susan told the group. “We will tell your stories when we go home, and we will continue to help support you.” One of their income-generating initiatives is a poultry-rearing program in which they provide widows with chickens and feed to enable them to sell
“No one would have blamed Susan if she turned inward with grief or anger, but that’s not who she is.” — President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama. She was awarded the 2010 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s secondhighest civilian honor. “No one would have blamed Susan if she turned inward with grief or anger, but that’s not who she is,” Obama told the crowd at the ceremony for the 13 award winners. “To think that the president of the United States knows my name and my work, it was unbelievable,” Susan gushed. True to her character, she made sure to shift the focus back to the women she’s helping. In a White House interview after receiving the award, she said, “It’s an incredible honor, but I hope that some of the light shed on Beyond the 11th’s work will transfer over to the women in Afghanistan. They’re really the ones who need all of the attention right now. We can’t leave them behind; we need to remember that we need to work really hard for them.”
Getty Images/Win McNamee
Image courtesy of Principle Pictures
Courtesy of Susan Retik Ger ’90
Left: Susan with the daughters of a widow who participated in CARE’s poultry-rearing program. Middle: Sahera, a widow with whom Susan formed a close bond. Right: Last fall, Susan was awarded the 2010 Presidential Citizens Medal.
are scarce. “Women aren’t even supposed to go to a male doctor, but there are so few women doctors in Afghanistan because under the Taliban, educated people fled for fear of being persecuted,” Susan said. “Their choices are so difficult.” With an appreciable gumption, Susan has made the most of the freedom with which she has been blessed. Her work has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey, has been written about in numerous publications including the New York Times and Boston Globe, and last August was recognized by
stepped down in 2005, but she still devotes time to causes benefiting Afghanistan and the two are still close friends. Over the years, Susan has significantly expanded Beyond the 11th, which now has given out more than $600,000 in grants. The organization currently partners with four NGOs that empower Afghan women and has begun sponsoring a microfinance program. As part of her goal to educate people about the cause, she does speaking engagements (she recently spoke at a mosque for the first time and raised $11,000 there) and travels to some of the public screenings of Beyond Belief (one will be at the Hamilton Theater this February). “The core message I hope people walk away with is, we are all one,” Susan said. “It doesn’t matter what religion you are, or what country you’re born in. Pain is pain, no matter if your husband is killed here in the United States, or in Afghanistan.” The differences in cultures do, at times, present challenges for Susan’s work with Beyond the 11th, because she must operate within the confines of the limitations placed on Afghan women. “It’s difficult because there are so many fabulous business ideas out there, so many wonderful things that they could do to earn money, but there are constraints,” she said; noting, for example, that women mostly have to work from home. It’s also frustrating for Susan to know that Afghan women can’t enjoy many of the personal freedoms she has. For example, while Susan is happily remarried and has added to her family, if Afghan widows remarry, they must leave their children behind with their first husband’s family. Many choose poverty so their children can stay with them. And while Susan is grateful for her Colgate degree, educational opportunities for Afghan women
the eggs and have some for their families. While in Afghanistan, Susan and Patti assessed the program. “We learned what worked and what didn’t and what we could do to change it,” Susan said. “Originally, the women got fifteen chickens, but they needed more in case some got sick or didn’t produce as many eggs. With our next round of grants, we were able to change it to fifty.” Before departing for Afghanistan, Susan had said she believed their trip would be successful if she could find a true connection with at least one woman. She did form a bond — with a woman named Sahera, who voiced her story in Beyond Belief. Sahera explained that her in-laws forced her to wear a burqa in public, even though she couldn’t see out of it and it made her dizzy. On a return trip to Afghanistan in 2009, Murphy tracked down Sahera to deliver a video message from Susan. When Murphy found her, she was “so excited” to see that Sahera was not wearing a burqa. Sahera’s life had changed, and so had Susan’s. She had found love again. When Susan returned from Afghanistan, the man she had been dating, Donald Ger, proposed. The couple was married seven months later and welcomed baby Rebecca into their family in 2008. Via video, Susan shared her good news with Sahera. In return, Sahera recorded a video message for Murphy to take back to Susan. Sahera told her that because of the poultry program, she was able to sell the chickens to buy fabric and support her family by sewing for women in her village. “The bond that we have is not typical,” Sahera told her. “We are not just two people who have met. We are like sisters. I hope that we will meet again.” “It’s really difficult to stay in touch,” Susan explained recently. “But I know she’ll be a part of my life in some way for many years to come, regardless of how often we actually communicate.” Today, Susan continues her full-time job as a mom and running Beyond the 11th on her own. Patti
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Modernism a Herbert Mayer ’29 and the World House Galleries By Mary Ann Calo What happens when powerful art is set in a rural but intellectually ambitious surrounding? Herbert Mayer ’29, a longtime art collector and New York City gallery owner, believed that just such a juxtaposition might lead to a more sincere experience of art. During the ’50s and ’60s, Mayer partnered with Colgate to put that theory into action, and he left a significant legacy to the university and the community. From February to June of this year, an exhibition at the Picker Art Gallery as well as a substantive catalogue with several essays on Mayer and the arts at Colgate celebrate that story. Mayer had been an enthusiastic student of the humanities at Colgate. An English major, he edited the Willow Path literary magazine, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He had originally planned to become a playwright, but the travails of the Great Depression led him to something more financially promising: the law program at the University of Wisconsin. He practiced law in New York City until the early 1940s, when a new technology captured his imagination: television. Mayer first opened a demonstration theater and began selling television sets. In 1944, he quit practicing law and founded the Empire Coil Company, which manufactured RF coils for televisions and licensed television stations. Then, in 1949, Mayer opened a station in Cleveland, Ohio — WXEL — whose first broadcast was a Metropolitan Opera production. Drawing on his literary talents, he created a station mascot called Little Ajax the Elephant, and wrote a children’s book about him. Mayer went on to build the first UHF station in Portland, Ore., in 1952, as well as a station in Kansas City before leaving television to enter the world of art full time. He had developed a passion for art back when he graduated from Colgate and toured Europe with English professor Russell Speirs, including four months in Paris — “almost all of it in the Louvre,” as he told the Scene in 1987. In 1957, Mayer opened his own art gallery, which he called World House Galleries, in the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue in New York City. His goal was
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to present works of art that “express the thinking and feeling of contemporary artists everywhere — wherever unusual talent is discovered,” thus bringing a global focus to the New York City art scene. His collaborator in that endeavor was another Colgate professor with whom he had remained close, Alfred Krakusin, who served as gallery adviser. Together, the pair traveled the world looking for new and exciting art. During those trips, Mayer also began to build what would become a substantial personal art collection that came to include pieces by lesserknown and also renowned artists such as Chagall, Rodin, and Brancusi. Mayer and Krakusin also worked together in a business enterprise in Hamilton called Sculptura, which produced bronze casts of ancient statuary and plaques that were then sold at World House Galleries. Mayer and Krakusin’s partnership soon made a strong impact on the Colgate campus. Between 1956 and 1962, they arranged many exhibitions of works from both World House Galleries and Mayer’s personal collection. Held in the small space sometimes referred to as the “Little Gallery” in the basement of Lawrence Hall, many of these shows were used as teaching resources in Core 21 and fine arts courses. The exhibitions were often mounted immediately before or after their New York openings. Through those installations, the campus community was able to enjoy and study an extraordinary array of original works of art in a program that rivaled that of major metropolitan spaces. Mayer commented to the Colgate Maroon in 1959 that he was motivated by his curiosity about the effect these works might have when seen in the isolated, rural setting of a university. Recalling his own enthusiasm for the humanities while a student, Mayer said he wondered if the experience had equipped him with a receptivity to works of art that, while naive, was decidedly different from that of the average urbanite accustomed to seeing art in professional galleries. In 1958, Mayer donated a work of art to Colgate, beginning a string of gifts to his alma mater over three decades. The largest, nearly 2,000 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, came to campus in
Simon Hantaï (1922–2008), No. 5, 1957, Acrylic solution on canvas, 70 x 119 x 1/16 in
t the Fringes
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1967, shortly after Mayer announced he would be closing World House Galleries. That gift became the core of the collection for what would soon be known as the Picker Art Gallery. These activities coincided with a period of extraordinary growth in the arts on campus, not only with the building of the Dana Arts Center and greater emphasis on art in the curriculum, but also with a surge of student-initiated organizations and events, including two major arts festivals (see pg. 13 for more). Alumni interest in the arts was on the rise as well. In 1961, “The Fine Arts and Literature,” a program that placed Colgate professors and alumni in panel discussions and seminars about contemporary art, served as the very first Alumni College program during Reunion Weekend — the intellectual sessions we know today as Reunion College. Mayer continued to donate his artworks until the mid-1980s, and Colgate awarded him a Maroon Citation in 1984. He died in 1991, survived by his wife, Bet, five children, and several grandchildren. The 2011 Picker exhibition, which will feature 40 pieces and opens on February 15, has its own fascinating backstory that confirms the significance of Mayer’s art-collecting activities and his legacy to Colgate. Back in 2007, I proposed an exhibition of 20th-century Italian art from the Mayer collection. With the help of a Colgate Research Council Grant, I hired art history student Gillian Pistell ’08 as a research assistant on the project. We soon discovered that Mayer’s son Herbert Jr. had recently donated all the original documents related to World House Galleries to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. That summer, we traveled together to Washington and examined the gallery records. Such a treasure trove of materials made it possible to expand the scope of the exhibition — and enabled me to write the history of World House Galleries and of Mayer’s relationship to Colgate that became the principal essays of the exhibition catalogue. Also included are an essay by art and art history professor Bob McVaugh about the radical designs of both Mayer’s gallery in New York and the Dana Arts Center (home of Colgate’s Picker Art Gallery), and an essay about the objects in the Mayer collection by exhibition curator Joachim Homann. As the catalogue points out, several of the artists in the collection are little known in the United States but are celebrated figures in their own countries; as such, they present valuable opportunities for original student research. The pedagogical value and importance of this collection has already been demonstrated by teaching and research that focuses on the extraordinary collection of Australian aboriginal children’s drawings that were part of Mayer’s gift. Now, Mayer’s legacy will continue not only through this and future exhibitions, but also as a learning resource on campus.
4. Landscape and Sun, Bruno Saetti
1. Horizontal Rose, Luis Moyano
2. Pierrette, Paul Klee
3. Storia Di Uccelli (Story of Birds), Gustavo Foppiani
5. No. 2, Simon Hantaï
Modernism at the Fringes will be on view at the Picker Art Gallery February 15 – July 15. For more information, visit http://picker.colgate.edu. 6. Bovine Tapestry, Lee Gatch
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1. Luis Moyano (1929–1965) Horizontal Rose, ca. 1954 Oil on canvas 26 x 23 1/2 in 2. Paul Klee (1879–1940) Pierrette, 1937 Oil on paper mounted on masonite 11 5/8 x 8 in 3. Gustavo Foppiani (1925–1986) Storia Di Uccelli (Story of Birds), 1956 Mixed media on plywood 17 x 8 1/4 in 9. Untitled, Bernard Reder
4. Bruno Saetti (1902–1984) Landscape and Sun, 1955 Oil on canvas 32 x 25 5/8 in 5. Simon Hantaï (1922–2008) No. 2, 1958 Oil on canvas 39 1/2 x 32 in 6. Lee Gatch (1902–1968) Bovine Tapestry, 1958 Oil and canvas collage 19 5/8 x 35 5/8 in 7. Simon Hantaï (1922–2008) No. 4 (Un Visiteur Tardis), 1950 Oil with acrylic solution on canvas 36 3/4 x 35 x 2 in
7. No. 4 (Un Visiteur Tardis), Simon Hantaï
10. Down to Drink, Parnell Dempster
8. Arturo Carmassi (b. 1925) Monferrato in Autunno, 1957 Oil on canvas 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in 9. Bernard Reder (1897–1963) Untitled, 1953 Gouache 19 x 29 1/2 in 10. Parnell Dempster (1936–2000) Down to Drink, ca. 1949 Pastel 22 13/16 x 29 15/16 in 11. Yiannis Spyropoulos (1912– 1990) In Grey Tones‑Athens, 1960 Oil on paper 39 x 22 in
8. Monferrato in Autunno, Arturo Carmassi
11. In Grey Tones‑Athens, Yiannis Spyropoulos
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12. Les Blés (The Wheat), Fermín Aguayo
15. La Casa Rosa, Renato Borsato
18. Composition #20, Riccardo Licata
13. Two Figures with Bird, Nikos Nikolaou
16. Composition, Albert Chubac
19. Red and Orange, Alexandre Istrati
17. Theatrical Houses, Eugene Gabritschevsky
14. Sunday Afternoon, Yiannis Spyropoulos
20. Untitled, Albert Chubac
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12. Fermín Aguayo (1926–1977) Les Blés (The Wheat), 1956 Oil on canvas 39 1/2 x 20 in 13. Nikos Nikolaou (1909–1986) Two Figures with Bird, ca. 1956 Tempera on paper 21 3/16 x 36 5/8 in 14. Yiannis Spyropoulos (1912– 1990) Sunday Afternoon, 1955 Oil on canvas 27 1/2 x 35 1/2 in 15. Renato Borsato (b. 1927) La Casa Rosa, ca. 1953 Oil on canvas 28 3/4 x 39 1/2 in 16. Albert Chubac (1925–2008) Composition, 1959 Collage on paper 25 1/2 x 19 3/4 in 17. Eugene Gabritschevsky (1893– 1979) Theatrical Houses, ca. 1955 Gouache 18 x 21 1/4 in 18. Riccardo Licata (b. 1929) Composition #20, ca. 1942 Etching 20 x 14 in 19. Alexandre Istrati (1915–1991) Red and Orange, 1958 Oil on canvas 9 3/8 x 12 7/8 in 20. Albert Chubac (1925–2008) Untitled, 1957 Gouache on paper 17 1/4 x 13 1/4 in 21. Mohan Samant (1926–2004) Untitled, 1964 Mixed media on canvas 58 x 58 in
21. Untitled, Mohan Samant
22. Paul Gauguin (1843–1903) Figure Study (Sketch of a Woman’s Head), ca. 1884 Graphite on paper 10 x 7 5/8 in 23. Anonymous Coptic Tapestry with Three Figures, ca. 800 Textile 4 x 8 in 24. Spyros Vassiliou (1912–1984) Aegina Island, ca. 1953 Oil on canvas 21 x 28 3/4 in
22. Figure Study, Paul Gauguin
25. Benjamin Kopman (1887–1965) Bather, 1943 Gouache 18 x 13 in
24. Aegina Island, Spyros Vassiliou
25. Bather, Benjamin Kopman 23. Coptic Tapestry with Three Figures, Anonymous
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Andrew Daddio
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stay connected
to know: Know:Kevin NameRusch Here ’85 Get to
Alumni bulletin board
– Alumni Council member since 2010; Real World; class gift committee; Presidents’ Club Membership Committee, Member in Perpetuity – Maroon Citation 2010; Athletics Hall of Honor 2001 (still holds 100-yard butterfly record!) – Portfolio manager, Mariner Silvermine Fund, Mariner Investment Group What was your biggest Colgate moment as a student? Breaking the 50-second barrier in the 100-yard butterfly at the state championships. Why were you interested in serving on the Alumni Council? I was drawn to, and now really enjoy, the ongoing interaction with students and sharing their experiences with other alumni. You’re the nominations committee chair — describe the selection process for new members. We’re given a list of 300-plus candidates who have been nominated by members of the Colgate community. Through conference calls, we chisel the list down to 8 to 15 candidates for each era and regional slot. Then, at the fall meeting on campus, we discuss the individuals in depth, and select a finalist for each slot. The recommended slate is announced in the winter Scene [at right], and unless the ballot is contested, these nominees will be ratified for the open positions. What criteria or qualities are you are looking for? We’re looking for engaged alumni who love Colgate, who volunteer their time, who give back financially. We look at their consistency, years, and type of service — whether it’s through district clubs, engaging students through the workforce, or philanthropy. We try to incorporate a cross-section of alumni not only based on their eras, but also from different walks of life and backgrounds. What aspect of your job gets you up in the morning? The daily excitement of trading. Much like on the athletic field, it’s about winning and losing, and that’s what really attracted me to it. How does your family like to spend time together? My wife, Dina, and I have four daughters: Tory, 17; Ali, 16; Maddie, 15; and Olivia, 13. They are all very involved athletically, but our favorite way to spend time together is going to Broadway shows. Do you have any special talents? I have a certain whistle that, when I need to get the attention of my girls in a loud place, they know it’s me. I just curl the tongue and let it rip. What would people be surprised to learn about you? I am a junkie for Seinfeld reruns.
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2011 Colgate Alumni Council Election The Nominations Committee of the Alumni Council has selected the following slate of alumni for election at Reunion 2011. The candidates, chosen from approximately 300 nominees, have strong records of varied Colgate volunteer service, a consistent history of giving financial support to Colgate, and meaningful personal or professional accomplishments or contributions to the greater community. Complete information about the election and challenge petition process, as well as full biographies of the nominees listed here, are posted at www.colgateconnect. org. Paper copies are available by calling 315-228-7433, or by sending an e-mail to alumni@colgate.edu. Era I: Jerry Nordberg ’57 Jerry Nordberg is chairman of Nordberg Capital Partners. A 1997 Maroon Citation recipient and former campaign volunteer, he has provided extensive support for offcampus study programs and athletics. Era II: Robert Seaberg ’69 Robert Seaberg, a managing director at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, serves on the Presidents’ Club Membership Committee and as a class agent. A former class gift chair and Reunion College presenter, he earned a Maroon Citation in 2009. Era III: Bruce Crowley ’79 Hilbert Technology executive Bruce Crowley has been a leader in Annual Fund, Presidents’ Club, and class fundraising, and a longtime career adviser. He earned the 1996 Class Agent Excellence Award, a 2009 Maroon Citation, and the 2010 Silver Puck award. Era IV: Mark DiMaria ’84 Attorney Mark DiMaria has been a career adviser and New York City–area admission volunteer. A district alumni club past president, treasurer, and board member, he currently serves as a class gift agent. Era V: Tom Murphy ’90 Growth equity executive Tom Murphy has served as a dynamic class gift chair and Presidents’ Club class chair, raising funds for the David Retik ’90 Memorial Scholarship and other initiatives. Era VI: Sara Golding Mullen ’99 Interior designer Sara Golding Mullen served on the New York City alumni club
board. She serves on the Presidents’ Club Membership Committee. Era VII: Katie Finnegan ’05 An associate with A.T. Kearney, Katie Finnegan serves on her alumni club board and the Presidents’ Club Membership Committee. She’s an admission volunteer, a Real World participant, and the 2010 Ann Yao ’80 Young Alumni Award recipient. At-Large: Lisa Oppenheim-Schultz ’85 Education administrator Lisa OppenheimSchultz has been a career adviser, admission volunteer, Reunion College presenter, and reunion program committee and campaign steering committee member. An Alumnae Council founder, she serves as its current chair. At-Large: Joy Buchanan ’99 Joy Buchanan is a consumer health reporter for the Tennessean newspaper. She is the Alumni of Color Board’s student-alumni program co-chair and returns to campus as a volunteer with the Office of Undergraduate Studies program. ••••• Regional Vice Presidents In addition to the nine elected members, regional vice presidents are officially appointed at the council’s spring meeting. RVP, Metro I: Joanna Allegretti ’05 An associate with AllianceBerstein, Joanna Allegretti has been an admission volunteer, class gift committee member, and New York City alumni club co-president. She earned the 2010 Ann Yao ’80 Young Alumni Award. RVP, Metro II: Melissa Coley ’79 Melissa Coley, vice president at Brookfield Properties, is a career adviser, class agent, event host, and Women’s Advisory Committee participant. RVP, New England: Travis Leach ’94 Boston-based environmental specialist Travis Leach has been a class gift committee member and co-chair, a reunion gift committee co-chair, and a member of his district alumni committee as well as its co-president. RVP, Mid-Atlantic: Chris Gavigan ’84 Chris Gavigan is principal and managing director of Charon Planning Corporation. A Presidents’ Club class chair, he has appeared at Real World and served as regional admission committee chair.
salmagundi
Take Five puzzle
Can you divide this arrangement of Colgate products into five sections so that each section consists of five connected squares and contains one of each kind of picture? The sections will not all have the same shape. Answer key on pg. 73.
Puzzle by Puzzability
Slices A pictorial contest, in homage to the nickname of New York Pizzeria, the late-night Village of Hamilton hot spot serving the Colgate community for more than three decades — one plain slice at a time. What year did this three-day blizzard hit Colgate a week before spring break, dropping 45 inches of snow, creating 10-foot-plus snow banks, and giving students one of the only snow days in university history? Send in your answer about this “slice” of Colgate to scene@colgate.edu or attn: Colgate Scene, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346. Correct responses received by March 7 will be put into a drawing for a Slices T-shirt.
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Rewind An Imprint of Colgate 1970–1974 It has taken me decades to realize that my time at Colgate was and remains a series of life-altering events and near-photo-real memories. Consider America during the early 1970s — a massive media and cultural shift to the left, a burgeoning belief that age and experience were not to be trusted, and, of course, Watergate and Vietnam. For me, Colgate consisted of four years of cultural initiations. Arriving from rural Indiana, I had not interacted with Jewish or African-American kids, had never heard a New Jersey or Boston accent, never met a guy named Michael Michael, had not legally taken a drink, had never seen a woman in combat boots. During a single day, I could be enlightened, embarrassed, engrossed, exhausted, delirious, spirited, frightened, alone, energized, silly, creative, and self-confident, but, always, enveloped by an intense sensory cloud. Thankfully, the sanctity of the chapel (dark, quiet, always unlocked) was only 50 yards from my freshman room in East Hall. My professors quickly discovered my ignorance, but, fortunately for me, they generously rewarded both effort and results. An urgent boil of activism resulting from the Vietnam horror during my first two years seemed to reduce to a simmer by my third year. There were a few veterans returning to campus and, even when prodded, their disciplined reticence was both curious and admirable. President Nixon, however, introduced a unifying theme of discontent for any student with a pulse — Watergate. My second-shift summer job at a truck manufacturing plant afforded me the early afternoon to watch the Watergate hearings. Consider this: the Kent State tragedy occured three months before our class arrived in Hamilton, and Richard Nixon resigned two months after Senator Sam Ervin delivered our commencement address — the bookends of an apocalyptic domestic era. — David S. Moore ’74 Do you have a reminiscence for Rewind? Send your submission of short prose, poetry, or a photograph with a description to scene@colgate.edu.
Above: With a stick for a pipe and a carrot nose... Frosty, eat your heart out! Back cover: Walking by Hascall Hall on a snowy evening. Both photos by Andrew Daddio
News and views for the Colgate community
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