Winter Scene 2014 by Colgate University

scene Winter 2014

News and views for the Colgate community

Through the Looking Glass Full Circle Go Green, Maroon Page 13: 5,683 Gifts, $5.1 Million â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A Colgate Day Like No Other

scene

Winter 2014

Through the Looking Glass Small-town Colorado mayor Julie Van Domelen ’82 leads recovery after “500-year flood”

Full Circle One story of the enduring connections between Colgate teachers and students

Go Green, Maroon Colgate has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2019. How have we done so far?

DEPARTMENTS 3

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

Letters

Work & Play

Tableau: “The Soundmakers Behind the Spreadsheets”

5,683 gifts, $5.1 million: A Colgate Day Like No Other

Life of the Mind

Arts & Culture

Go ’gate

New, Noted & Quoted

The Big Picture

Stay Connected 2014 Alumni Council election

Class News 78 Marriages & Unions 78 Births & Adoptions 79 In Memoriam

Salmagundi: Assembly Halls puzzle, Then and Now, Rewind

On the cover: Ice climbing in the Adirondacks’ Keene Valley — just one of Colgate’s many outdoor education offerings in upstate New York’s amazing natural settings. Photo by Michael Schon ’12 Left: The tower of Colgate Memorial Chapel peeks through the white haze of a snowstorm. Photo by Andrew Daddio News and views for the Colgate community

Volume XLIII 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.

Photojournalist Kenneth Wajda (“Through the Looking Glass, pg. 26) has been capturing stories with a camera since 1987. He was a staff photographer at a New Jersey daily newspaper before moving to Colorado in 2001. He now works as a freelance photographer, going wherever the story takes him. In this case, it was his home — Lyons, Colo.

Information graphics specialist David Foster (“Go Green, Maroon,” pg. 34) spent 18 years at PC Magazine before going freelance. A former graphics editor for Fortune, his clients have also included BusinessWeek, Billboard, GreenSource, Mashable, Canon, HP, Money, Architect magazine, American Express, and many others.

Mike Agresta (“A Nobel pursuit,” pg. 70) has written about culture and technology, from Sinead O’Connor and television as a literary form for The Atlantic, to the future of the paper book in Slate, to vulnerability in electronic voting systems for the Wall Street Journal. He also contributes to several university magazines.

Chicago journalist Anne Stein (“A family business,” pg. 49) writes for a number of alumni magazines, including her own — Grinnell College — making her a big fan of small, liberal arts schools. She also specializes in sports features and is a staff writer for the Chicago Bulls magazine. Her work has appeared in ESPN, the LA Times, People, and other publications.

Interim Vice President for Communications Barbara Brooks Managing Editor Rebecca Costello Associate Editor Aleta Mayne Director of Creative Services Gerald Gall Coordinator of Photographic Services Andrew Daddio Production Assistant Kathy Bridge Contributors: Daniel DeVries, Admission Marketing Manager; Matt Faulkner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications; Matt Hames, Manager of Media Communications; David Herringshaw, Online Community Manager; Jason Kammerdiener ’10, Web Content Specialist; Karen Luciani, Art Director; Katherine Mutz, Graphic Designer; Timothy O’Keeffe, Director of Web Content; John Painter, Director of Athletic Communications; Mark Walden, Senior Advancement Writer Contact: scene@colgate.edu 315-228-7415 colgate.edu/scene

scene online

scene team

Contributors

Colgate University 315-228-1000

Listen http://tinyurl.com/sustainablecolgate Podcast series on current environmental issues and sustainability initiatives of interest to the Colgate community and upstate New York residents

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

Go paperless Watch youtube.com/cuatchannel13 International first-year students share photos and videos from their journeys to Colgate

Get connected Download the new mobile alumni directory at the iTunes store or Google Play to connect professionally and socially with other alumni (see more on pg. 42). You can update your profile at colgate.edu/ profile.

scene: Winter 2014

Online Scene subscription: scene@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 (colgate. edu/scene).

Printed and mailed from Lane Press in South Burlington, Vt. If you’re moving... Please clip the address label and send with your new address to: Alumni Records Clerk, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346-1398 or call 315-228-7453. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the university, the publishers, or the editors. Notice of Non-Discrimination: Colgate University does not discriminate in its programs and activities because of race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, national origin (including ancestry), citizenship status, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran or military status (including special disabled veteran, Vietnam-era veteran, or recently separated veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected category under applicable local, state, or federal law. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the university’s non-discrimination policies: Marilyn Rugg, Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346; 315-228-7288.

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

Today’s decentralized,

rapidly changing, and unpredictable new

economy presents challenges for people of all ages and stages of their careers. But those associated with our university know of its unique strength: the lifelong value of the Colgate network. At the launch of the Finance Network in New York this past September, NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer ’81 summed up the effort with a mathematical metaphor: “It’s about networks; it’s about engagement; it’s about mentorship. You add all of that up, and it’s about connectivity to each other and to Colgate.” And at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in November, at the launch of the Digital Media and Technology Network, I had the pleasure of hosting a panel discussion with alumni working in one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy. Our fascinating conversation covered the impact of the mobile sector, threats and opportunities for higher education and global technology, and the need to expose students to the West Coast culture of “try and fail.” (You can read more on pg. 42, and watch a video of the conversation at youtube.com/cuatchannel13.) That the more than 150 alumni who participated came from such varied aspects of the field, from venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, to marketing executives and product developers, is a strong indication of how well a Colgate education prepares graduates for success in any career. In the next few months, we plan to launch new networks focusing on entrepreneurship, health and wellness, and the common good. By mid-year, we will have a set of networks that span a great many of the fields in which our alumni work, and have developed a whole new path for graduates to interact with the university. Of course, as we use the latest technologies and social media to foster these networks, it is worth noting that each of those inaugural events took place in person at a specific time and place. For many, part of the fun — and meaningfulness — came in enjoying each other’s company, renewing friendships, or making new contacts. It was particularly poignant for me to note that even while we were at Google’s headquarters — arguably ground zero in the digital revolution — we were meeting in person rather than dialing in. In a world where our machines are ubiquitous, it is personal contact and interaction that will be especially prized. That is also the foundation of Colgate’s approach to education. Over the generations, we have succeeded by establishing close personal relationships between professors and students, and this is why we seek to build an even more vibrant residential community for our students. If you would like to learn more about our professional networks, contact our alumni relations office (alumni@colgate.edu) or visit colgate.edu/networks. Left to right: Michael Sippey ’90, Twitter’s VP of product and design; Bharat Mediratta ’92, distinguished software engineer at Google; Julian Farrior ’93, founder and CEO of Backflip Studios; President Jeffrey Herbst; and David Fialkow ’81, P’17, principal, partner, and co-founder of General Catalyst Partners, at the launch of the Digital Media and Technology Network last November.

Charles Barry

As I wrote last spring, we have moved the Center for Career Services into the Division of Institutional Advancement so that we could more readily tap our strong alumni network and secure internships for students much earlier in their college careers. This realignment also has many benefits for alumni — who are already enjoying the fruits of an even stronger and more connected network. The most dynamic and innovative development is certainly the launch of several professional networks, with more to come. Colgate’s professional networks are intended to be “communities” — where alumni can assemble under common or complementary professional industries or interests. Alumni can find mentors, learn industry trends, identify employment leads, develop practical skills, and advance in their careers. Each network will also provide students with new on-ramps to professional industries through advice and mentorship, internships and job shadowing, and hiring opportunities as well as participation in events and programs. In particular, internships are absolutely indispensable credentials for students seeking their first jobs. Several of these networks are already in full swing. The Colgate Real Estate Council, which launched almost two years ago, hosts a variety of events, such as a speaker series and student immersion trips. Appropriately, we launched the Colgate Entertainment Group on two coasts: in Los Angeles and in New York. The LA launch was hosted by Steven Brookman ’81, P’16 and Carrie Clifford ’93 at the Creative Artists Agency headquarters. The event featured a panel moderated by Ken Baker ’92, chief news correspondent for E!, that included television producer and executive Zoe Friedman ’89, screenwriter Ted Griffin ’93, award-winning TV director Barnet Kellman ’69, TV writer and producer James Manos ’81, and film and TV actress Gillian Vigman ’94.

News and views for the Colgate community

scene

Letters

Autumn 2013

News and views for the Colgate community

Ocean Reveries Feel-Good Food Saramaccan Serenade

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 Saramaccan Serenade I READ WITH a great deal of interest “Saramaccan Serenade” by John Williams ’10 (autumn 2013). The article underscores the value of a Colgate education. If John is an example of the product Colgate is turning out, we should all be proud. It will be interesting to see where he is 10 years from now. As we say in Baltimore, “The world is his oyster.” Congratulations and best wishes to John, his parents, and to Colgate. Robert W. Locke ’68 Lutherville, Md.

Seafarer serendipity I READ “OCEAN REVERIES” (autumn 2013) with great pleasure, and gained a sense of how Colgate has broadened its students’ horizons with programs

such as the core course The Caribbean that author Leah Feldman ’14 took. I have the same fascination with the sea that has been so influential in Leah’s upbringing and education. By great coincidence, my family kept our very first boat (albeit a powerboat) at the 79th Street Marina during the several years before I entered Colgate. My father won the boat gambling in Miami Beach, and with no prior experience, I was allowed to motor up the Intracoastal Waterway from Florida to the Marina at 79th Street single-handedly. Needless to say, both the boat and I were in pretty sad shape on arrival, but we both were undamaged and I had whetted my appetite for salt water. Sailing dinghies on Taylor Lake as soon as the ice cleared whetted my appetite for all things marine. But it was many years later, having moved to Texas in the military, graduated law school, then laboring for 25 years in litigation practice, before I went to sea again. This time, 150 miles from my chosen home in San Antonio, Corpus Christi on the Texas Gulf Coast, I found a sailboat. It was a 30' sloop and was just fine for bumming around on weekends. I now own a 14' Wenonah canoe (no laughs, please) and paddle the Intracoastal Waterway between Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter weekly. Mitch Rosenheim ’53 Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

On marriage and maturity I LOOK FORWARD TO reading the Scene to hear about Colgate’s alumni and their helpful advice. Unfortunately, Ms. Koch’s piece (Tableau, autumn 2013: “Marriage — The Ultimate Maturity Gauge?”) was not only unhelpful, but also offensive. Her advice? Women will not be taken seriously in their career unless they get married. When I began reading her piece, I thought she was going to go in a completely different direction. She could

scene: Winter 2014

have said, “I got married and everybody began taking me seriously in my career. Why is the workforce suspicious of unmarried women? Why do men not face this kind of scrutiny? I’ve had an impressive career, why should my marriage mean more than my résumé?” At Colgate, I was taught to think critically and question societal values, yet this article not only accepts these outdated norms, it promotes them. Kathryn David ’12 Washington, D.C. Editor’s note: The Tableau series shares personal essays on a wide variety of topics. Our goal is to inspire our readers with accounts of individual human experiences, and to inspire dialogue about subjects of societal interest. To submit an essay, write to scene@colgate.edu and put Tableau in the subject line.

Remembering George Hudson (1937–2013) THERE IS SOMETHING mythic about George Hudson (In tribute, pg. 78), something larger than life. We first met in 1993 after I’d been hired to write a screenplay set in Meiji Japan for what would eventually become The Last Samurai. By chance, that summer Colgate was offering a seminar to be taught by George that explored the cultural evolution of Japan following Admiral Perry’s gunboat diplomacy that brought an end to 250 years of isolation. I immediately signed on. Several weeks later, as I prepared to travel to Hamilton, word came that the seminar had been canceled. George apologized for the unexpected turn of events. And then he said a remarkable thing: I should come to Hamilton anyway, for a one-on-one tutorial on Meiji Japan. I did not hesitate. George began by turning on two slide projectors casting upon the wall

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what appeared to be the U.S. fleet under Perry sailing into Yokohama Harbor in 1853. He then recounted the isolationist history of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1853 followed by the effect of the Western intrusion on Japanese culture. Detailing the collapse of the Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration, he continued to explain the complex relations between East and West as he slowly adjusted the projectors until what had appeared to be a single image was now two: on the left were, indeed, Perry’s Black Ships at Yokohama; on the right, the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. He had visually bracketed the period with two similar yet distinctly different images as he laid out the complicated cultural and political relationship that developed between Japan and the United States. It was brilliant. Over the next week, he helped me focus my research, providing comprehensive reading lists as I prowled the stacks in Case Library. By the time I left for LA, I had a firm grasp of Meiji Japan, as well as a firm friendship. A few years later, when my oldest son, Ryan, entered Colgate’s Class of ’98, it came as no surprise that he decided to take George’s first-year seminar “Myth, the Bible and the Roots of 20th Century Literature” so that he, in turn, would become Ryan’s adviser. George Hudson embodies the spirit that has kept Colgate alive for me ever since we met. His friendship has been my great good fortune. A bond that can never be broken.

What they’re saying online Facebook December 17/Colgate University Early Decision letters are being opened this week. Please join us in welcoming the newest members of the Class of 2018. Lauren Harries ’11: I remember how wildly excited I was when I got mine. Michael Goff ’88: My cousin Ben got his acceptance letter last night — very excited for him! when finished), nearly every reference to a book circled. The crossword puzzle on pg. 72 was partially done. Looks like a cover-to-cover reader (or at least close)! A needle in a haystack, most likely, but if you see this and let us know who you are (315-228-7415 or e-mail scene@colgate.edu), we’d love to express our appreciation by sending you a Colgate Scene T-shirt! — The editors

Garner Simmons ’65 Woodland Hills, Calif.

Seeking Mystery Reader THIS COLGATE SCENE (pictured, above right) was found by the mom of one of our staffers, in the magazine rack at the YMCA in Johnson City, N.Y. We were intrigued by several of what we assume are its original reader’s habits: nearly every page crossed off (perhaps

Mia Griswold: Elated for my daughter to be part of the Colgate family, Class of 2018! Cara Eckert Jakubowski ’94: So exciting! I received mine 20 years ago at this time!

Gail Anne Hopp Day P’14: Greatest evening ever watching my son (graduating this spring) open that envelope!!!

Colgate News/colgate.edu 11/19/2013 In response to “George Hudson, longtime professor, study group leader, and university marshal, dies” Nicole St. Jean ’98: Professor Hudson, my favorite of all time. I will remember you always. I hope you’re enjoying a pint at The Plume of Feathers. Dick Samuels ’73: I became a teacher because George was my teacher — and I always think of him when I meet a classroom of students for the first time. And I always will.

Picture this: stunning Colgate University photography, just a click away Visit our galleries at colgate.photoshelter.com to order customized photographic prints in a variety of sizes. Bring home images you’ve seen in the Colgate Scene and other university publications as well as scenic views from around one of America’s most beautiful campuses.

News and views for the Colgate community

work & play

Campus scrapbook

The Colgate University Chorus and accompanying orchestra presented Mozart’s Requiem. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14 B

“Sleights of mind”: laboratory directors from the Barrow Neurological Institute spoke about how the brain can be visually tricked. Photo by Anna Heil ’16

During this year’s Cabaret night at the Palace Theater, the cast showed off their moves. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

Puppy power. Students dressed as the 101 dalmatians (and Cruella de Vil!) for Halloween. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

It was a coincidence of astronomical proportions when Professor Tom Balonek and his Solar System Astronomy and Astronomical Techniques classes saw the aurora borealis while conducting other observations. Balonek used a 15second exposure to capture this photo in the nick of time.

Two teams debate the Starbucks Corporation during Professor Robert Nemes’ class The History of Coffee and Cigarettes, a Sophomore Residential Seminar in Drake Hall. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

Students showcased their research in disciplines ranging from geology to sociology during a poster presentation at the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center. Photo by Andrew Daddio

The battle of the paddles began when students challenged their parents in Ping-Pong during Family Weekend. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

scene: Winter 2014

News and views for the Colgate community

(in no particular order) 1. Speakers included Hillary Rodham Clinton, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, CEO of NYSE Euronext Duncan Niederauer ’81, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Ron Paul, and former Mexican president Felipe Calderón 2. The Class of 2017: a record-breaking year for an admitted class; highest ever in GPAs and diversity 3. Colgate’s gift of 119 indigenous artworks to Curtin University in Western Australia Andrew Daddio

work & play 8

The Year of ’13: highlights

Hillary Rodham Clinton engages with students during a Q&A session moderated by Provost and Dean of the Faculty Douglas Hicks.

scene: Winter 2014

Defending America’s role as world leader Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered the latest lecture in the Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate to a packed Sanford Field House audience during Family Weekend in October. It was a warm welcome-back for Clinton, who first visited Colgate in 2004 to help launch the Upstate Institute. Noting 2013 as the year of Colgate’s lucky number, she said that the university’s 13 founders “must have done something right, because Colgate has become one of the most dynamic centers of higher learning in our nation.” Colgate’s role as a regional and international leader served as a springboard for Clinton’s defense of American leadership in general. “With all the challenges we face at home and abroad, our country is well positioned to rise to any of them,” she said. “Even after a long decade of war and financial crisis, America is still the indispensable nation.” Clinton argued that proof lies in the very changes that are causing a reevaluation of America’s status. Each one — including the rise of China as a global power, democracy movements in the Middle East, and recent shifts in energy production — favors America’s strength for creativity and relationship-building. “We will have to lead in new ways if we want to maintain our role in the world,” she said, “but the shifting global landscape makes

American leadership more necessary, not less.” She further noted that the United States must again become a nation of ideas. After her speech, she fielded questions from President Jeffrey Herbst. The conversation moved from the Congo to Syria, foreign surveillance to cyberwarfare and the government shutdown. Earlier, she met with several dozen students, answering their questions about drone strikes in Pakistan, the 2016 primary race, the Clinton Foundation, hydrofracking, and being a woman in a male-dominated professional environment. Dialogue continued the following week when the College Democrats and College Republicans co-hosted an open forum titled “Debating Hillary: Her Colgate Speech and Record.” The brown bag discussion featured a student-moderated panel with political science professors Tim Byrnes and Robert Kraynak as co-facilitators. Julia O’Connor ’14 “was really fired up” about the small-group Q&A session.“I saw a woman who was not afraid, even when she was given tough questions,” she said.

Endowment reaches $800 million Colgate’s endowment broke through the $800 million mark in November 2013 and recently drew positive attention in Institutional Investor magazine. The university was cited as one of 20 with midsize educational endow-

4. Seven professional networks for alumni and students launched, covering a range of fields 5. 40th anniversary of women’s athletics at Colgate 6. Mellon Sophomore Residential Seminars: a new living-learning model featuring intensive seminars and immersive academic travel experiences 7. Forty-seven new faculty members in a range of disciplines 8. Campuswide sustainability efforts: continuing reduction of Colgate’s carbon footprint and saving a bundle of cash. (Read more on pg. 34.) 9. Revolutions Per Minute, the first Chinese sound art exhibition staged in North America, featuring 30 artists 10. Campus building improvements: a major renovation of Lathrop Hall; final approval to begin design of the proposed new athletics facility; and the donor-funded renovation of the admission lobby began 11. Thought Into Action program became a formal institute, strengthening Colgate’s ability to foster entrepreneurism in students. 12. Colgate Reads: More than 2,000 participate in community literary discussion featuring an online forum 13. Colgate’s mobile app launched (available from the App Store and Google Play)

Colgateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Endowment Value History

Back on campus

ments that â&#x20AC;&#x153;schooledâ&#x20AC;? their larger peers such as Harvard and Yale from June 2007 through June 2012. Strong performance continued into the most recent fiscal year (July 2012â&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 2013) with a 13.7 percent investment return. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The markets giveth and they taketh away,â&#x20AC;? said President Jeffrey Herbst of the milestone, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but I am glad to mark this moment.â&#x20AC;? He credited all the trustees who have been involved in endowment management for Colgate over the years as well as colleagues in advancement and finance for their efforts in growing the fund. For generations, the Colgate endowment, supported by the generous contributions of alumni, parents, and friends, has provided invaluable support to the university and its students. This has translated to more than $285 million in support of university operations, which includes financial aid and other academic programs. The endowment is a critical source of funding and allows Colgate to provide superior academic and student services. The strategic budgeting process provides

a strong balanced budget approach, ensuring smart investment for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students.

A model for post-grad prep In an Atlantic article titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;A New Goal for Colleges: No One Moves Back Home After Graduation,â&#x20AC;? Michael Sciola, who leads Colgateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center for Career Services, said he agrees with that goal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By the time youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a senior in college, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the best at your profession [being a student],â&#x20AC;? Sciola said in the article. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then in May â&#x20AC;Ś we lay you off.â&#x20AC;? The way to prepare students for post-grad life and work is to teach them about the realities of the workplace, Sciola said. The article described Colgate as a leader among colleges revamping their career services to do just that. It also cited Real World â&#x20AC;&#x201D; now a year-long series for seniors that facilitates alumni networking, class unity, and discussions about life skills like negotiating a salary, finding an apartment, or buying a car â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as a model program.

Ashlee Eve â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14

The Nutcracker, an entirely student-run production presented by the Colgate Ballet Company and local children, has become a holiday tradition.

A charismatic and larger-than-life personality, Robert Fullilove â&#x20AC;&#x2122;66 visited campus in October to speak about his work in minority health, including STD and HIV prevention. At Columbia Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mailman School of Public Health, he is the associate dean for community and minority affairs, professor of clinical sociomedical sciences, and co-director of the Community Research Group. During a breakfast and brown bag discussion, Fullilove talked to students about the disparities surrounding the incidence of HIV/ AIDS in black and Latino communities. Much of his work has centered around examining how this disease suddenly â&#x20AC;&#x153;became a scourge in poor communities in the United States,â&#x20AC;? he said. In understanding how this epidemic

affects communities differently, Fullilove discredited the idea that the disease is linked to a biological condition like race, rather than to social conditions like poverty. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trying to understand how a behavioral epidemic was being driven by biology made no sense,â&#x20AC;? said the widely published author. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It made more sense to look at the ways in which HIV/AIDS is affecting communities.â&#x20AC;? Danielle Bynoe â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14 was inspired to invite Fullilove to campus after reading his work in Professor Jun Yoshinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Core AIDS course. Bynoe believes that his wide range of knowledge made Fulliloveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences relatable to all students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dr. Fullilove majored in philosophy and religion, yet ended up becoming exceptionally accomplished in public health. This truly speaks to the benefits of attending a liberal arts college,â&#x20AC;? she noted. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Colgate is doing a great job of adjusting the way it prepares its students for changes in the economy,â&#x20AC;? said Kelly Henderson â&#x20AC;&#x2122;09, a Real World participant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Colgate teaches students to be lifelong learners and masters of adaptation.â&#x20AC;? Another innovation taking flight is the launch of seven professional networks: the Real Estate Council, Colgate Entertainment Group, Finance Network, Digital Media and Technology Network, Entrepreneur Network, Health and Wellness Network, and the Common Good Network. Coordinated by career services and alumni relations, the groups support student professional development and career exploration, and promote alumni engagement with Colgate as well as networking. (Read more on pages 3 and 42.) Sciola is becoming a go-to source for media interested in the changing face of career services in higher education, having also been quoted in a U.S. News & World Report in September. He also is being appreciated by students. Alexandra Macey â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14 wrote on Twitter: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just had a wonderful meeting

with Colgate office of career services. Mike Sciola was so helpful & attentive and got me on Navigate!â&#x20AC;?

Celebrating Nelson Mandela In December, the Colgate community joined South Africans and people across the world in honoring the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. The event at the chapel featured excerpts of Mandelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speeches, reflections from faculty members, and music. It was hosted by Africana and Latin American Studies, the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, and the ALANA Cultural Center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Mandela] reminds us that the power of change is indeed ours, when and if we come together,â&#x20AC;? said Jonathan Hyslop, professor of sociology and Africana and Latin American studies, in his opening remarks. President Jeffrey Herbst gave his insight based on his time visiting and living in South Africa. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen how the country has and has not changed, and most of all, the impact of Mandela on an entire society, on the continent, and indeed, the world,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He held true to a fundamental principle: he believed that South Africa should

News and views for the Colgate community

work & play

Afrikaans, and English. Watch the ceremony at colgate.edu/mandela. — Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14

Erica Hasenjager

Capping off Coming Out Month

Mike Perkins

be unified. In the end, his true guiding stars were immutable.” Members of the Black Student Union and the African Students’ Union read excerpts of Mandela’s Rivonia Trial speech as well as sections of his inaugural address. Performed in the style of spoken word poetry, the selections evoked powerful messages of unity, triumph, and responsibility. “As a young woman about to graduate, I can only aspire to follow in Mandela’s footsteps and lead my life with integrity and love as my guides,” said Kate Maffei ’14. The ceremony closed with a singalong of the South African National Anthem, which incorporates lyrics in a variety of languages including Zulu,

scene: Winter 2014

Activists Alexis Gumbs and Julia Wallace delivered the keynote speech that capped off Colgate’s celebration of Coming Out Month in October. Gumbs and Wallace are co-founders of the Mobile Homecoming Project; they have been traveling around the United States interviewing people important to transforming the black queer movement. By collecting oral histories and piecing together an intergenerational connection, they hope to give voice to gay black women, trans men, and queer visionaries. Coordinated by Colgate’s LGBTQ Initiative and the women’s studies department, the speech took place at the Center for Women’s Studies. More than simply giving a lecture, the two speakers used performances and video narratives to showcase the project. Earlier in October, the LGBTQ Initiative used other activities to get campus members involved in Coming Out Month. As in previous years, doors were stationed in various locations so that people could write supportive messages to the LGBTQ community on them.

Members of the Lifelong Learning Program attended a series titled The Iroquois and Their Neighbors, facilitated by Christopher Vecsey, Harry Emerson Fosdick Professor of the humanities and Native American studies and religion. Before the final session, participants attended the annual Native American Arts and Culture Festival in order to further what Vecsey described as “a freshly informed conversation about the Iroquois today and their neighbors: us.” Reality TV stars Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge hosted a Dessert Tasting and Book Signing with the Fabulous Beekman Boys at the Colgate Bookstore on October 22. To celebrate the release of The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook, the couple

Three panelists shared their coming out stories during a brown bag lunch at the women’s studies center, and another event featured Valerie Queen, who discussed her work supporting trans-identified prison inmates. “It was great to have so many of the events happen in [the Center for Women’s Studies] because this is a welcoming place where anyone can learn more about people’s experiences and get important conversations going,” said Che Hatter ’13, the women’s studies program assistant. — Aminat Olayinka Agaba ’14

Intelligence as Alternative Energy Poet-musician-activist John Trudell’s November lecture in Golden Auditorium was anything but conventional. A man of many trades, from activist for the American Indian movement to author to musician, Trudell visited campus to speak on “Intelligence as Alternative Energy.” Interlacing his talk with samplings of his poetry, Trudell held to one central theme: we have lost understanding of humanity and what it means to be human. “We don’t recognize ourselves. We don’t know who we are,” Trudell said. He followed this critique with his own explanation of human

did a book signing for more than 100 fans who sampled confections from the book including oatmeal cream pies with ginger cream. Village Green Rollerskates and cupcakes sound like child’s play, but not when it comes to the Ladies’ Death and Derby Society. In October, Good Nature Brewery opened its tap room for a bakesale fundraiser to assist Madison County’s first roller derby league. Homemade goodies and T-shirts were on sale to sponsor the approximately 20 women on the TitleTown KnockOuts team. Phoenix Project Dance (pictured left) lit up the Palace Theater stage in November. The company’s animated choreography was accompanied by local composer (and orthopedic surgeon) Anthony Cicoria’s original “Lightning Sonata,” inspired by his experience of being struck by lightning and the principles of a spark. Both Cicoria and the Phoenix Project Dance are based in nearby Norwich, N.Y. — Hannah O’Malley ’17

motivation was to bring this to the students.” — Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14

Get to know: Kevin Lynch, chief information officer

composition, stating, “We are made up of the metals, minerals, liquids of the earth. We’re shapes of the earth. “If we respected our intelligence, we would generate power,” he said. “If we understand who we are as human beings, we can use that understanding to generate coherency and clarity.” Although his lecture touched on a range of difficult subjects, Trudell’s solution was relatively simple: if we use our power as humans intelligently, we can change the course of humanity for the better. Before his lecture, Trudell met with students in Professor Sarah Wider’s Native American Writers and Native American Literature courses. “My favorite part was his give-andgive-back philosophy: if we take from the earth, we give back to it,” said Ellie Kantor ’14. University photographer Andrew Daddio had proposed inviting Trudell to campus; his interest was sparked after watching the 2005 documentary Trudell. Asked to introduce Trudell, Daddio said: “I know he had a tremendous impact on me, and part of my

A burst of fireworks illuminated the campus sky to kick off Diwali, the five-day Hindu festival of lights, on November 3. The celebration continued in the Hall of Presidents, which was bedecked with strings of holiday lights. Centerpieces of candles and confetti added sparkle and color to the white linen–covered tables. “The lights symbolize the removal of darkness, evil, and fear, and the bringing of light, happiness, and positive energy,” explained Shambhavi Sawhney ’17. She and Nairuti Shah ’17 presented the story behind Diwali and the holiday’s present-day manifestation, illuminating the significance of the abundant lights. Prosperity and wealth, mutual respect, a sense of community, and, for some communities, the beginning of a new year are additional tenets of Diwali commonly symbolized through colorful rangoli decorations and the exchange of sweets and gifts. The festivities were organized by the Hindu Students Association (HSA). The celebration not only educates the community, but it also gives Hindu students a piece of their homeland. “I really miss home. I woke up at eight in the morning to Skype with my parents and grandparents so I could participate back home as much as possible,” said HSA treasurer Shivika “Shivi” Seksaria ’16, who is from Calcutta. “I am going to send a million pictures to my mom.” — Hannah O’Malley ’17

Andrew Daddio

Ashlee Eve ’14

Diwali lights up Colgate

Ashlee Eve ’14

Ghost hunter and demonologist John Zaffis led students on a tour of the campus graveyard as part of Halloween celebrations on campus .

A bright yellow seaplane glides to an elegant splash landing on Taylor Lake, and Colgate’s chief information officer smiles. Kevin Lynch, a former communications and information officer in the Air Force, said he’s always had an aviation fascination. The model plane is a kit-built radio-controlled design powered by electric motors attached to propellers. “Those motors were originally designed to spin CDs,” he explained. Lynch builds many of his planes with simple Dollar Store foam board and hot glue. “This way, it’s only a couple of bucks if (when) I crash it,” he said. Lynch took on the position of CIO in January of 2013, following 12 years at Clarkson University. He sees his role as facilitating communication on campus (he is responsible for visitors no longer having to register their devices to use campus WiFi) and helping to focus the creative tendencies of faculty, staff, and students. Back in his office, as Lynch described the evolving role of technology on campus, Ahmad Khazaee, instructional technologist, stopped by with the latest delivery — A MakerBot 3D printer. “That’s the first step in the creation of a maker’s space,” Lynch said of a room in the works that will provide students with the tools to make things ranging from small crafts to advanced models. “People can come together to make robots, interactive art, and prototypes for new ideas. Eventually, we’ll get a laser cutter and a soldering station.” Lynch said he also applies an open, creative mind-set to project management within the department. “IT is a service organization,” he said. “We’re here to help people use technology to become more productive and efficient, but our overriding goal is to increase the personal relationships between people. Technology should not be used as a barrier or a substitute [for personal interaction].” And while Lynch is exceptionally easy to reach, he is rarely found in his office. Lynch prefers to be out and about on campus, helping people to brainstorm and solve problems. A recent project involved overseeing the setup of 27 wireless boosters to accommodate the crowd of more than 5,000 who came to see Hillary Clinton speak. A father of four children ranging in age from 1 to 9, Lynch said his love of technology doesn’t mean his home is extra-wired for gadgetry. In fact, he is a “cord cutter,” eschewing cable television in favor of Netflix, and he’s building a timber-frame woodshed using traditional mortise-and-tenon building methods. “The whole thing will go together with wood pegs,” he explained. Lynch’s home, a brick federal built by Erastus Cleveland in 1802, has a creative and military connection of its own. According to historical documents, Cleveland built the Town of Madison’s first saw mill, grist mill, distillery, brewery, and cloth factory, all before fighting in the War of 1812 as a lieutenant colonel. The house makes for a good springboard for historical lessons, said Lynch, whose children are all homeschooled by his wife, Alycia. The couple attended high school together in the nearby Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School District. Lynch’s mother, an artist who lives in Canastota, gives art lessons to the children on Thursdays. Lynch also coaches his son’s Lego robotics team of 9- to 14-year-olds who are also homeschooled, and members of the New-Life Christian School. Much like deciding the kind of education his children receive, Lynch said, technology on a liberal arts campus can’t be thought of as simply doing what is trending on a national scale. Adding that any technological component should be closely considered and examined in relation to how it can help augment existing personalized learning experiences, he said, “We need to apply technologies that let Colgate be Colgate, and to be true to our model.” —Daniel DeVries

News and views for the Colgate community

Tableau

The Soundmakers Behind the Spreadsheets By Christopher Esposito ’14 I grew up in a funky town. The local independent bookstore’s best-selling product was a “Keep Santa Cruz Weird” T-shirt, surfboards outnumbered soccer balls, and lip piercings were commonplace. I loved Santa Cruz. I grew up surfing, and one of my closest childhood friends is currently renovating a van. I’m trying to convince him to make the cross-country trek to visit me once it’s up and running. But I left Santa Cruz for Colgate in part because I wanted to keep my lips free of piercings, and I chose to major in economics and quantitative geography because I wanted to study the world from a broad, if detached perspective. I thought that academic work should be distant from the subjects it studies, and so I was perfectly content to study people using numbers and spreadsheets. That was, at least, until I completed my internship as part of Colgate’s London Economics Study Group. Students perform three-week internships near the end of the program. Having expressed an interest in journalism to Chad Sparber, my professor who led the group, I landed with Sheila Norman-Culp ’80, assistant Europe editor at the Associated Press. She assigned me the task of investigating the economics of the live-music industry in Camden Town, an alternative neighborhood in London where the AP’s offices are located. In Camden Town, tips of purple mohawks poke above throngs of visitors, and tattoo-faced men advertise their parlors’ half-off discounts. “The whole neighborhood is bustling with creativity,” Sheila told me. It was my job to investigate the market processes behind it. Each day, my classmates were buttoning up, fastening ties, and making their way to banks and shiny office buildings. But I would catch the bus to Camden Town, a pocket-sized notebook and pen in hand. Music is nocturnal, so I slept during the days and worked at night. For two weeks, I roamed the streets of Camdentown until well past midnight, meeting bartenders and venue managers, bands and concert-goers, street musicians and local police officers, looking to uncover the secrets of the neighborhood’s music

Christopher Esposito ’14, visiting London’s British Museum with Adriana Sperlea ’14

scene: Winter 2014

industry. I spoke with the owner of a psychedelic trance record label and heard firsthand the myths surrounding Amy Winehouse, who lived in Camdentown and whose spirit “still presides over the neighborhood.” In the back of my notebook, I tallied the number of times that street peddlers offered me drugs (which I refused). After two weeks, I sat down to reconcile my notes and draft the seven-page investigation that Sheila assigned as the product of my internship. My findings? For one, in Camden, the live-music industry operates at multiple levels, or what is referred to as a multi-equilibrium market in economic jargon. With 30-plus venues, from hole-in-the-wall pubs (Barfly, The Dublin Castle) to internationally renowned venues such as the Roundhouse and Koko, I learned that the economics vary based on the scale of venue and act. The core of Camden’s live-music industry is centered around up-and-coming artists. Most bands are from out of town and already have some traction. They come to Camden in pursuit of their first record deal. Venues keep cover prices cheap (rarely exceeding 15 GBP — about $25) and earn most of their income through sales at the bar. These places are partial to upbeat bands with active drummers because their energy helps boost alcohol sales. I was saddened to learn that, as with live music elsewhere, Camden’s livemusic industry is in economic decline. Eleanor, the booking manager at Proud Camden (one of the neighborhood’s most iconic establishments), put it to me bluntly: “People don’t watch bands like they used to.” Venues like Proud Camden must respond to the waning demand, so DJs and electronic music have taken the center stage. Now, the venue holds live music only on the quietest weeknights. Fewer bands get gigs, and concert-goers have fewer shows to attend. Even heavy-metal venues like The Underworld hold bandless “club nights” on weekends. I went to one of The Underworld’s club nights looking for studded leather jackets and anarchists, to see if the venue’s rebellious vibe lives on. I checked the coat rack, and I looked for a mosh pit (a sure sign of anarchists) but came up empty-handed. The music economy does beat on in Camden, but you have to be willing to stop and listen to hear it. Each day, capitalizing on the neighborhood’s tourist traffic, alternative vibe, and lenient ordinances, more and more buskers are setting up on Camden’s sidewalks. As both supply and demand have shifted outward, a whole new informal music industry has formed. In less than five minutes, I counted 250 people walking by Harry, a talented blues guitarist playing for bypassers’ loose change. The big surprise is that busking can pay. Harry made 5 GBP in 30 minutes, and he told me that he usually earns at least 10 GBP an hour — nearly double the UK adult minimum wage. Cocosan, a young Italian guitarist, said she can earn more than 40 GBP in a good hour. To improve their chances, both Harry and Cocosan practice what we economists call “product differentiation.” Harry differentiates his product — the music he plays — by using a portable amplifier. It allows him to play intricately, which requires softer strumming. Cocosan’s product differentiator, besides being cute, is her Italian accent. Both Harry’s and Cocosan’s entrepreneurial resourcefulness impressed me. As a musician who’s always looking for spare change, I decided to test the busking market myself. One day, I packed my guitar and made my way to Camden. I set up on the sidewalk, tuned up, took a deep breath, and strummed a chord. A double-decker bus drove by and drowned me out. Grimacing, I played another chord. A police siren began to wail. I kept playing, but the crowd continued to just walk by. Thirty minutes later, my case was still empty. My head hung a little lower as I walked back to my apartment that evening. I’m still kicking myself for forgetting those lessons on product differentiation before trying busking for myself. I hope to try busking again soon, but I will do it the right way — like Harry and Cocosan. The amplifier is something that I can easily fix. Cuteness and an Italian accent will take a little more work. I do not know how successful my future endeavors in busking will be. But in Camden, between the concert-goers and bands, street musicians and psychedelic trance producers, dealers peddling drugs and fake tales about Amy Winehouse, I learned one unforgettable lesson: when it comes to economic markets, there is an awful lot going on behind the spreadsheets.

A Colgate Day like no other

Friday, December 13, 2013, was the last Colgate Day in the epic Year of ’13.

It kicked off with a one-day challenge: If Colgate received 1,300 gifts, an anonymous graduate would give $1 million toward financial aid. That goal was shattered early and the bar was raised higher — resulting in the biggest one-day e-day fundraising blitz in liberal arts history. These 13 moments show how the celebration exploded oded far beyond campus. The day may be over, but the clock never runs out on Colgate spirit.

12 a.m.

Called “the great chipwich rush of 2013” by Kate Zucker ’15, 224 chipwiches are snatched up by students at the library in less than six minutes. The challenge for 1,300 gifts is officially underway.

3 a.m.

As phone-bank volunteers burn the midnight oil, others rest up for their shifts. Raider tweets: “I might just … close my eyes … only for a minute.” He then realizes it’s impossible to close his eyes.

6 a.m.

The WRCU-FM airwaves are flooded with special programming by alumni, students, and faculty. Director of Athletics Vicky Chun ’91, MA’94 talks sports with Joe Castiglione ’68, longtime Red Sox radio announcer (pictured). To see the full schedule, visit colgate.edu/takepart.

9 a.m.

Raider drops in on classes as part of his #Raiderwalkabout. Watch the video at: colgate.edu/raiderwalk. Check out photos at: colgate.edu/raiderpics.

11 a.m. 1:45 p.m. 2 p.m.

We did it! First challenge surpassed! Two donors enthusiastically up the ante, offering another $2 million for 1,300 additional gifts. President Jeffrey Herbst joins the 43 faculty, staff, and students who manned the phones during the day. From the construction zone in J.B. Colgate Hall, admission postmarks Early Decision letters for December 13.

4 p.m.

We did it again! As we meet the second challenge, a former athlete will give $1 million if a total of 3,513 gifts are received before midnight.

5 p.m.

It’s 5:00 somewhere. Alumni all over the world celebrate Colgate Day with happy hour and other events. Pictured: Members of the Alumni of Color organization say “cheers” in New York City.

6:56 p.m.

The Colgate Dance Initiative posts one of many “Happy Colgate Day” photos on Facebook, joining pics of Captain Ramsey Brame ’04 climbing into a #13 jet and Vera Chapman, career development staffer, posing with alumni in South Africa.

9:30 p.m.

Score! Women’s basketball takes the challenge to another level by putting out the word via Twitter.

11:08 p.m.

After a selfie showdown versus the Club of Los Angeles, the Club of Cleveland tweets: “Closing down the @colgateuniv #selfieshowdown — proud that CLE held our own.”

11:59 p.m. — The final tally of

5,683 gifts totaling $5.1 million promises far-reaching benefits for students — from this minute forward.

Page 13 is the showplace

for Colgate tradition, history, and school spirit.

scene: Winter 2014

Five popular new courses taught this spring

iStockphoto

life of the mind 14

Syllabus

Moving Mountains What is the true cost of coal? In order to expose the social and environmental crisis known as mountaintop removal mining, Jeff Bary, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, organized a multidisciplinary series in the fall. Moving Mountains in Appalachia kicked off with a performance by Grammy-nominated fiddler Bruce Molsky in September and continued into November with film screenings, an art exhibition, and lectures that reflected various responses to this crisis. “The coal industry comes in and strips all the trees off the top of the mountain and blasts off the top with a lot of dynamite,” Bary said. In addition to devastating the landscape, he explained, mountaintop removal releases heavy metals that pollute the air and water supplies of the region. A West Virginia native, Bary noticed last year that his hometown was mentioned in Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt by Pulitzer Prize– winning journalist and author Chris Hedges ’77. The book describes Bary’s town of Welch, W. Va., as a “sacrificezone,” a place where the local environment and population are exploited in the name of corporate profit. Bary invited Hedges to campus to give a public lecture. A dinner with a dozen other professors planted the seed for the Moving Mountains series. He found support from the Colgate Arts Council and from colleagues. “It is the scope of his [Bary’s] vision that makes this project so special,” said Lynn Schwarzer, art and art history professor and council member. Musicians, environmental activists,

authors, graphic artists, filmmakers, and scientific experts participated. “The series exposed the complexity of the central Appalachian region: its relationship with the coal industry, the threats posed to the health of the local populations and the environment, the strength and resilience of Appalachian people, and the multitude of ways in which we are all complicit in the colonization of central Appalachia and many similar resourcerich regions all over the globe,” said Bary.“Those who attended learned a great deal about a region that is too often ignored or forgotten. There are important lessons to be learned from what’s happened in Appalachia.” — Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14

Tech on Tap Transporting students to different lands by incorporating technology into teaching — that was just one of the topics discussed over wine and cheese in Donovan’s Pub at the first “Tech on Tap” event. The September gathering featured posters from a broad range of professors who have successfully integrated technology into their curriculum. Geology professor Karen Harpp has been using Google mapping tools in both a geology course and in collaboration with Nancy Ries, an anthropology and peace and conflict studies professor, in the course Weapons and War. Using mapping and geographic visualization tools such as Google Earth and Fusion Tables, their students have presented research on plate tectonics and landscape analysis and created choropleth (thematic)

CORE 175S: The Science of Drinking Julia Martinez, assistant professor of psychology ECON 436: Seminar in Sports Economics Benjamin Anderson, assistant professor of economics HIST/ALST 284: Decolonization in Africa Tsega Etefa, associate professor of history ALST/PHIL 332: Philosophy of Race and Racism David Gray, assistant professor of philosophy ENST 324: Hunting, Slaughter, Eating, and Vegetarianism Ian Helfant, associate professor of Russian

Anna Heil ’16

Professors discussed how they use technology in their teaching during the first Tech on Tap event in Donovan’s Pub.

maps depicting troop locations during Operation Desert Storm and the Korean War. Meanwhile, although many professors discourage the use of Wikipedia for their classes, the web-based encyclopedia became the focal point of Aisha Musa’s Islamic Jurisprudence course. Musa, assistant professor of religion and Middle Eastern studies and Islamic civilization, designed a set of Wikipedia editing projects to develop her students’ writing, research, media literacy, and collaboration skills. After reading published articles by various scholars, her students edited relevant Wikipedia articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. “The project is reflective of the way people know things today as opposed to twenty years ago; now we often look to electronic literature instead

of published literature,” explained Nancy Pruitt, who, as associate dean of the faculty, is spearheading many of Colgate’s technology initiatives and helped organize the event. Beyond sparking conversation among professors, Tech on Tap is part of a larger working group in Colgate’s strategic planning process that focuses on the role of technology in teaching and learning. Colgate is also collaborating with other members of the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium (Hamilton, Skidmore, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence, and Union). Pruitt hopes that in the near future, students will be able to benefit from the unique faculty expertise at each college. “This generation has been engaged with technology from day one,” she said. “We need to take advantage of their way of knowing the world and use it to help expand the educational experience.” — Laura D’Angelo ’14

gained in Professor Nicole Simpson’s class titled Fed Challenge. They researched U.S. macroeconomic data as well as analyzed historical and international macroeconomic episodes and policy responses. The class traveled to New York City in October for an orientation and meeting with Chris Burke ’89, vice president and director of Domestic Money Markets and Reserve Management at the New York Fed. Over lunch, Burke gave the students advice and told them the inside scoop on what it’s like to be in Federal Open Market Committee meetings with Chairman Ben Bernanke. Then, in November, five students — all junior and senior economics majors — gave their presentation summarizing the current state of the U.S. macro economy, including its weaknesses and threats, and made a monetary policy recommendation for the Fed. “It was great to focus on a topic and be questioned about it in front of true experts,” said Zachary Pitkowsky ’15. The team received support from the economics department faculty and seven economics classes, who viewed their presentations in advance and provided feedback. In addition, J.S. Hope ’97, Colgate’s director of investments, and Ellie Schmidt ’12, an investment analyst who also works in Colgate’s finance and administration office, previewed the presentation and asked the team questions. “This ‘road show’ made [the team] far better presenters and responders to probing questions,” said Pitkowsky. Ultimately, the team did not advance to the semifinals, but “win or lose, their enthusiasm has created a fun buzz around the department among our students, faculty, and alumni,” said Simpson. “I am very proud of them, and deeply appreciate the hard work they did and how much we all learned in the process.” — Hannah O’Malley ’17

College Fed Challenge In November, student economists had the chance to take their understanding of the U.S. economy and make a recommendation for the Federal Reserve at the College Fed Challenge. Taking on 36 other universities, for the first time, Colgate’s economics department participated in the national competition hosted and judged by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The students applied knowledge

Psychology major Casey Sherman ’14, who is looking into how we process memories, is featured on Colgate’s new research blog series. Read his entry and others from students teaming up with professors to explore everything from climate change to causes of cancer at http://news.colgate.edu/category/studentresearch.

Natalie Sportelli ’15

High-tech space focuses on foreign-language teaching The W.M. Keck Humanities Resource Center, located in Lawrence Hall, has been transformed from a quiet computer lab into a high-tech space for foreign language learning. A recent renovation allows for more student interaction with professors and language interns. Complete with new software, computers, and

Live and learn WRCU on the road In late October, several members of WRCU’s Board of Directors attended the National Student Electronic Media Convention, facilitated by College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI). Music director Zac Coe ’14 reflects: Wanting to learn more about how to make WRCU the best station possible, I flew to San Antonio, Texas, with Assistant Music Director Frances Yin ’14, Program Director Zac Lomas ’15, Publicity Director Natalie Sportelli ’15, and General Manager Brandon Fiegoli ’14 for the CBI conference. We attended panels on program syndication, remote broadcasting, FCC compliance, digital streaming, supporting local music, automation, and pursuing careers in broadcasting — just to name a few! For a music director and an aspiring music journalist like myself, every panel was a new opportunity to understand potential careers. Many of the workshops, like those that focused on building a brand and maximizing the effectiveness of a social media presence, were just as applicable to my impending job hunt as they were to WRCU as a whole. We interacted with students from all over the country, as well as some notable radio personalities and professional college radio station managers. We also familiarized ourselves with San Antonio cuisine; “the other” Zac and Brandon even tackled an all-you-can-eat barbecue dinner and lived to tell the tale. We came back with innumerable longterm and short-term goals for the station. The first change we are implementing is an exciting new technology that allows listeners to interact with an on-air WRCU DJ instantly via text message. It was thrilling, and a little bit humbling, to begin to understand WRCU within the context of the national college radio scene. I also came away with a newfound appreciation of what makes WRCU a unique resource for Colgate students: college radio is a form of self-expression like no other. WRCU has been a defining part of my time at Colgate, and I am very proud of the work we’ve done for the station this year.

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Winter 2014

Duy Trinh ’14

life of the mind 16

Transformed into a high-tech space for foreign language learning, the W.M. Keck Humanities Resource Center in Lawrence Hall features new computers and software.

furniture, the center has a new look and employs the latest technologies to broaden students’ global perspectives. “The goal is to expand and improve the ways in which students learn languages,” said Yukari Hirata, a Japanese professor who was heavily involved in the renovation project. “We wanted to create a friendly lounge so that students find language practice enjoyable, instead of intimidating.” One highlight is a new office for language interns from eight countries, who are serving as tutors for homework and who facilitate conversations that help students practice their speaking skills. The Keck has new high-end Mac computers, laptops, iPads, and highquality microphones and headphones, as well as two flat-screen TVs in the lounge that display content from international channels throughout the day. Also available are Transparent Language, an online language learning program; Nanogong, an audio recording application; and Praat, a tool that allows for visual analyses of spoken utterances; as well as Skype and Final Cut Pro. The center has been piloting a new program: Saturday morning Korean-language classes, taught by a professor based in Syracuse, through innovative technology and video conferencing. Although the program is not offered for credit, the hope is that more foreign languages not offered in Colgate’s curriculum will be offered to students in the future. “Nothing can replace the valuable student-teacher interactions that we offer here,” said Zlatko Grozl, instructional technologist for the Keck Center. “But I can imagine us offering

languages that we normally don’t teach through these new technologies. We’re always looking for ways to enhance language learning.” — Aminat Olayinka Agaba ’14

Chapel House changeover

influenced my relationship with my students, how I work as a scholar, my relationship with my family, and how I face adversity.” Kevin Trainor ’90, a professor and chair of the religion department at the University of Vermont, said that through his interaction with Carter and other professors, “I was given opportunities to engage with serious intellectual and moral issues in a setting where my struggles to make sense of things were respected and encouraged to develop, and where the framework for understanding those issues was continually expanded beyond the narrow perspectives of the dominant culture.” Both Uddin and Trainor also spoke about how Chapel House was a meaningful part of their Colgate experience. Stepping in to continue Chapel House’s mission, Steven Kepnes, a professor of religion and Jewish studies, has been named the new director, as well as director of the Fund for the Study of the Great Religions. Having taught at Colgate since 1988, he brings his deep appreciation for religious and spiritual practices and his prominence in inter-religious dialogue through the “Scriptural Reasoning” movement. One of the founders of Colgate’s Jewish Studies Program, Kepnes is a scholar of Jewish philosophy, theology, and ethics; biblical and rabbinic hermeneutics; Holocaust and

How does the Colgate experience help one to live life well? Nearly a dozen alumni spanning the classes of 1974 to 2005 shared their thoughts in September, at an event honoring the retirement of John Ross Carter. The contemplative event was a fitting tribute to the man who directed Chapel House, Colgate’s spiritual sanctuary and retreat center, for 41 years. A philosophy and religion professor, he also directed Colgate’s Fund for the Study of the Great Religions of the World. Sufia Mendez Uddin ’88, a religious studies professor at Connecticut College, reflected on how a January term class on Japanese tea ceremony cotaught by Carter has shaped her approach to everything from her cancer diagnosis to parenting. “I came to see the importance of focusing the mind, being present in a task, being devoted to one’s John Ross Carter (seated) with former staffers at Chapel House task,” she said. “It

expected to contribute to conceptual, applied, and educational aspects of sustainability science in the Arctic region and beyond. • Robert Turner (economics and environmental studies) has joined the editorial board of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. As an associate editor, Turner will assume an important and creative role in managing the journal, including consulting on its development, soliciting manuscripts and symposia presentations, reviewing manuscripts, and serving as a contributor.

Get to know: Jeff Bary

Andrew Daddio

genocide studies; and interreligious scriptural and liturgical reasoning. He also has another new title: professor of the study of world religions, having previously held the Finard Chair in Jewish studies since 2001. He has chaired the religion department and Core 151, and directed the Jewish studies program and several extended study groups to Israel. He is the author of many articles, most recently “Holiness as the Unique Form of Jewish Spirituality,” and books, including The Future of Jewish Theology.

Faculty buzz • Ray Douglas (history) has received the 2013 George Louis Beer Prize for his book Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War (Yale University Press, 2012). The Beer Prize, awarded annually by the American Historical Association, recognizes outstanding historical writing in European international history since 1895. The author of four other books, Douglas studies and teaches modern Britain and Ireland and 20th-century European history. The leader of Colgate’s fall 2013 off-campus study group to Geneva, Switzerland, he was listed as one of Princeton Review’s Best 300 Professors of 2012. • Research on a certain kind of pigment and the role it might play in plant life history by Frank Frey (biology and environmental studies), Andrea Berardi ’08, Jessica Wells ’08, and Elsie Denton ’09 between 2006 and 2008 was recently published in the International Journal of Plant Sciences. • Jessica Graybill (geography) was awarded $750,000 from the National Science Foundation as co-principal investigator for the five-year ArcticFROST project, part of the Division of Polar Programs. Arctic-FROST teams up environmental and social scientists, local educators, indigenous scholars, members of underrepresented groups, and community members from all circumpolar countries to research sustainable Arctic development. The project is specifically aimed at improving health, human development, and well-being while being mindful of the Arctic ecosystem and is

Why Civil Resistance Works From North Africa to South Asia, Erica Chenoweth reflected on the nature of nonviolent resistance when she delivered the fifth-annual Schaehrer Memorial Lecture in October. Chenoweth took to the podium in Love Auditorium to discuss Why Civil Resistance Works: Unarmed Struggle in the Past and Future. The topic stemmed from her award-winning book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, co-authored with the U.S. State Department’s Maria Stephan. Chenoweth teaches at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and is associate senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo. The event was hosted by the university’s Peace and Conflict Studies program. Before addressing her full audience, Chenoweth sat down with President Jeffrey Herbst for a wideranging conversation on her research. She discussed the data that show how peaceful struggle for freedom proves more successful in the long term than violent revolution. When asked her thoughts on the situation in Tibet and what she would say to Tibetans, Chenoweth replied, “They’re fighting the hardest kind of fight — territorial secession … is a very difficult fight to win no matter what type of method is used. [This is] in part because the population size of the Tibetan autonomy movement, compared with the Chinese population, is so small that it’s really hard to get that people-power dynamic without soliciting third-party support.”

For the full conversation, visit www.colgate.edu/chenoweth.

Assistant professor of physics and astronomy An astronomer is born. When I was nine, a friend gave me a book about astronomy titled What’s Up There? by Dinah Moche, which I read countless times. My dad, a middle-school science teacher, encouraged me to pursue the subject. He organized a series of events celebrating Halley’s Comet’s last visit in 1986. I was hooked. On young stars. My dissertation was on the time scale for planet formation, which I’ve been researching ever since. I study young stars that are only a million years old and the geometrically flat disks of gas and dust that swirl around them. Within these disks, the dust coagulates to form planets. If you were to rewind the clock in our solar system and break up all the material currently bound in the planets, you would expect it to have a disk-like structure similar to the ones I observe orbiting these young stars. Favorite course to teach. Saving the Appearances: Galileo, the Church, and the Scientific Endeavor [a Scientific Perspectives course] is my current favorite. It takes me out of my comfort zone. The course follows the evolution of the theological underpinnings of the Catholic Church and the evolution of the epistemology of modern science. I was trained as an astronomer, not a philosopher, but I believe I am a good thinker. This course forces me to engage with several disciplines, while exploring the science versus religion debate. Moving Mountains. I grew up in the coal fields of Appalachia, in the poorest county in West Virginia — even though it has produced the most coal. In creating the Moving Mountains series [see story on pg. 14], I wanted to raise awareness about the social injustices occurring in Appalachian mining communities and the environmental devastation being wreaked on some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Raising the roof. When I was in graduate school at Vanderbilt, I experienced Nashville’s eclectic live music scene and fell in love with folk, Americana, and bluegrass. After hosting a house concert for a couple of close friends, my wife [Mary Simonson, a musicologist and an assistant professor of film and media studies and women’s studies] and I began hosting concerts regularly, featuring Americana artists passing through the area. It’s a great way to support the many talented artists. We’ve hosted nationally known musicians including Jonathan Byrd, Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin, and Doug and Telisha Williams. Favorite musicians. My favorite singer-songwriter is Darrell Scott. In addition, I love Tim O’Brien, Gillian Welch, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Guy Clark… It’s a long list! Most loved constellation. Growing up, I used to get mailers from Science News with an image of the Orion Nebula. I used to spend hours staring at the nebula from my grandparents’ backyard with my grandfather’s hunting binoculars. Today, my students and I use giant telescopes to study the young planetary systems forming in the Orion Nebula. His burning question. Why have we not been contacted by other intelligent civilizations? In the last four years, we have learned that Earth-like planets are abundant. Therefore, the likelihood is great that other intelligent civilizations exist. Assuming they are willing to communicate with us, our lack of contact may be explained by the fact that intelligent civilizations do not exist for long on astronomical time scales. Given our propensity for destroying one another and our ecosystem, I’m afraid this might be the answer. — Laura D’Angelo ’14

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Winter 2014

Art world: get ‘grounded’ The Roman statue known as Trebonianus Gallus has been described as “the ugliest work of art in the Met” — but that’s not poor Trebonianus’s only problem. He also suffers from an identity crisis. Elizabeth Marlowe, assistant professor of art and art history, used the bronze statue as an example of an “ungrounded” work of art during her Art and Art History Colloquium Series talk in October. Marlowe explained that the 8-foottall bronze statue was sold to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as a portrayal of Trebonianus Gallus, a Roman emperor who ruled from 251 to 253 CE. But, the identification was determined by an art dealer and not based on any secure evidence. Trebonianus Gallus was remembered by Roman historians as cruel and uncouth, and modern curators and scholars have understood the statue’s unattractiveness as confirmation of that identification. And so, the name has stuck. Marlowe believes, however, that the portrayal differs so radically from typical images of Roman emperors that we may be wrong not only about which emperor it depicts but also about the fact that it depicts a Roman ruler at all. Citing this and other case studies, Marlowe demonstrated how ungrounded works reaffirm preexisting historical interpretations that may not necessarily be correct. She highlighted the lack of attention paid to the origins of artworks that have inhabited museums for more than a century, and how that

Virtual theater Theater professor April Sweeney performed in a production in Argentina this fall — from 8,000 kilometers away. The set: her very own house. The cinematographer: herself. Playing on screens for an audience in a Buenos Aires theater, the aptly named Distancia involved four actresses who streamed their performances live from their own corners of the world: Paris, Hamburg, Buenos Aires, and, in Sweeney’s case, New York. The protagonists, each in different phases of a relationship (Sweeney played a woman who was breaking up with her boyfriend), delivered interspersed monologues to their significant others. Each actress spoke in her native language (subtitles provided) and sang a song supported by musicians on stage. Distancia’s writer and director, Matías Umpierrez, was inspired by a 1930 French play called The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau. “It’s a meditation on how technology mediates our relationships and human interactions,” said Sweeney, adding that the production served as both a play and a film. Adding to the complicated nature of the production was the fact that Sweeney performed from more than one room. “Not only do I have to perform,” she said, “but I also have to set up the camera for the scenes.” She framed the shots with a laptop that she carried around.

Preview

JJ Tiziou

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

arts & culture 18

The bronze statue Trebonianus Gallus

can completely change how we view the piece. “Objects with no historical grounding end up reinforcing our preconceived ideas,” she said. “We need to own up to the idea that so much of what we think we know is based purely on connoisseurship.” Marlowe argued that historians of ancient art are rarely trained to pay attention to archaeological records, and, by extension, to the context from which the artworks came. This is a dangerous practice, she said, because a work of art’s background has a huge impact on how it is perceived. The complex issues that Marlowe posed also impact the way in which students approach their study of art. As Eliza Graham ’14 pointed out, “Professor Marlowe introduced an issue of high importance to ancient art — and one that should be applied to a variety of other areas of art historical study.” — Hannah O’Malley ’17

The Headlong Dance Theater Presents: Shosha Co-directed by David Brick, Andrew Simonet, and Amy Smith Brehmer Theater, Dana Arts Center Showtimes: Feb. 7–8, 2014, 8:00 p.m. Inspired by Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel of the same title, Shosha is both literary and theatrical in nature — a retrospective examination of 1930s Warsaw, and the love and emotions expressed by Singer’s characters. The internationally renowned Headlong Dance Theater company’s choreography incorporates the audience, touching on deep themes of existentialism and faith in wartime situations. And, you can go in support of Colgate’s own Danielle Solomon ’13, who is doing a post-baccalaureate program at the Headlong Performance Institute.

Arts events: www.colgate.edu/arts Headlong Performance Institute: http://headlong.org

Although Sweeney has experience with live theater performances that incorporate the use of a camera, this was the first time she wasn’t able to see the audience’s reactions. “I was behind a screen, speaking into a green light, completely aware of my part and frame,” she explained. “However, the excitement and faith that people would lean forward in their seat remained.” With the Internet, the stage is limitless, but the expectations are bigger. Distancia revealed how theater can enter the virtual world and overcome borders. As Sweeney put it, the performance was “an exploration of the possibilities of the dramaturgy of technology.”

Erica Hasenjager

Under the gaze of Alex by Chuck Close, author Katherine Boo (facing camera) leads a discussion in the English department’s Fager Student Lounge as part of her Living Writers Series visit in October. A panoply of artworks now grace the walls of the lounge.

German luthier Jens Ritter. The PJS-1 itself (see photo, bottom left) is on display in another learning location: Case-Geyer Library, where works by Katz and Serra appear with Close’s Keith, Emma, and a 2005 self-portrait in fifth-floor group study rooms. This artistic disruption in spaces meant for other intellectual activity creates an enhanced atmosphere for students to study — and even meet with high-profile visitors (see photo above). “It’s nice to see walls that used to be blank covered in art,” said English major Kellyann Hayes ’16. “It will be great to look up from studying and see the different paintings and photographs — a great break, and a great atmosphere to focus and enjoy.”

smaller takes on the same subject. The trio of images in ukiyo-e woodcut and linocut/silkscreen demonstrates Close’s use of various processes for artistic and analytical purposes. Innovative, disruptive artists like Close, Schupf said, “change the way we look at art.” Close is also represented with three images of Lucas, Leslie, and two self-portraits. Other works on display include Triplets in Their Bedroom and Patriotic Young Man with a Flag by Arbus; Paul and Cartoon for ‘Anne’ by Katz; and Clara, a Serra silkscreen in which the artist, using black paint stick, carves space from the white background, much as he would treat the three-dimensional world in one of his acclaimed sculptures. Above it all hangs a maquette for the PJS-1 guitar, commissioned by Schupf and created by renowned

Godfrey to lead arts education board

Jens Ritter Instruments

English majors know a great setting when they see one. Their study space — the Fager Student Lounge on the third floor of Lathrop Hall — offers a scene like no other. While attending a meeting in the lounge last summer, Paul Schupf ’58, a contemporary art collector, trustee emeritus, and planning committee member for Colgate’s center for art and culture, looked at the room’s cathedral ceiling and massive arched window and realized its potential to display great works of art. In the months that followed, Schupf worked closely with English professors Jane Pinchin and Linck Johnson as well as trustee Mark Falcone ’85, John ’85 and Susan Pelosi ’85, Gregory ’88 and Jean Koerner ’88, and others to loan and install pieces by Alex Katz, Chuck Close, Richard Serra, and Diane Arbus. Upon entering, visitors are confronted with Close’s large-scale portrait of Katz, adjacent to two

Zadie Smith on life and death

The PJS-1 guitar, commissioned from renowned luthier Jens Ritter by Paul J. Schupf ’58

Kudos to DeWitt Godfrey, associate professor of art and art history at Colgate, who’s been elected to lead an organization that helps shape the direction of visual arts practice, education, and scholarship, and influences national arts policy. In May 2014, Godfrey will begin serving a two-year term as president of the College Art Association’s Board of Directors. Founded in 1911, the CAA aims to promote the visual arts and their understanding. Its membership includes more than 12,000 artists, art historians, scholars, curators, critics, collectors, educators, publishers, and

Although she touched on seemingly morose topics like the certainty of death, Zadie Smith’s October reading in Love Auditorium was infused with lighthearted humor. Included on Granta’s list of 20 best young authors, Smith (most known for her bestsellers White Teeth and On Beauty) appeared as part of Colgate’s Living Writers Series. Reading from a recently finished unpublished essay titled “Man Versus Corpse,” Smith admitted jokingly that her essay contrasted with the “Living Writers” headline. She accompanied her reading with what she deemed a “crude” PowerPoint presentation, highlighting some of the main themes of her essay: a picture of Luca Signorelli’s drawing Naked Man, Carrying a Corpse; several works by Andy Warhol; and a photo of an iPhone crashing onto the ground.

Andrew Daddio

Up Close and personal

other visual arts professionals, as well as 2,000 college and university art and art history departments, art schools, museums, libraries, and professional and commercial organizations.

Author Zadie Smith

As she’s known for in her writing, the British novelist also touched on important racial and social issues. Part of “Man Versus Corpse” discusses the closeness of death and how people of different socioeconomic backgrounds find themselves at different distances from death: “but people, often brown, often poor, come from a death-dealing place,” she emphasized. Smith said that her responsibility as an author is to allow her readers to connect with her creations “even if you are far from them in terms of their class, race, [and] culture.” Smith also extolled the power of writing in catalyzing change: “You can read something from 500 years ago, and it could galvanize you to do something.” — Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14

News and views for the Colgate community

Sportgraphics

go ’gate

In October, 14 rowing alumni from various classes and locations teamed up to race at the Head of the Charles Regatta, the largest regatta in the United States. Their men’s eight placed 26th out of 42 and men’s four placed 44th out of 50. James Clinton ’11, who coordinated the effort after being approached with the idea by head men’s rowing coach Khaled Sanad, crowed, “The important part is that we beat the Yale alumni crew!”

Senior citizens get rowdy

Uplifting athletes

them, and soon, they had formed a group that has now grown to approximately 50 alumni, spouses, and community members. The Senior Rowdy Raiders attend all home games and travel to some away games to root on the team. (The Rowlands even flew to Texas for the 2012 NCAA tournament.) The group dons special maroon T-shirts and has its own cheers. “When we go on road trips, we give the home team [supporters] a challenge in terms of being louder than they are,” Rowland said. “We just went to Bucknell, and these guys were the loudest,” Coach Baker confirmed. “Our Senior Rowdy Raiders were taking on their fraternities in cheering!” In addition, the group has hosted

Ashlee Eve ’14

When the women’s volleyball players arrive on campus, they may be leaving their families behind, but a new family awaits them: the Senior Rowdy Raiders. These folks are way more than just a built-in fan base and cheering squad. It all started when Ellis Rowland ’57 met volleyball head coach Ryan Baker at the Colgate fitness center five years ago. Working out on neighboring elliptical machines, the two struck up a conversation, and by the end, Rowland had agreed to attend a game the following weekend. “We were hooked,” Rowland recalled of the time he and his wife, Suzee, went to their first game. The couple encouraged friends to join

scene: Winter 2014

a welcome-back barbecue for the team and coaches, pizza and sledding parties, and a reception for the parents. “This is particularly good for the parents of new players because they get to know us and the parents of returning players,” said Rowland. “The parents thank us a lot for our support, and we thank them because we’re having so much fun and their kids are keeping us young,” he added. “I’ve had parents tell us that we are part of the reason their daughter is coming to Colgate, because they know we’re going to take good care of her.” Baker called them “grandparents to these kids and to Kristin (Baker’s assistant coach and wife) and I.” Because no one bakes cookies and brownies like a grandma does, the group also makes goodies to sell for fundraising at the cancer awareness games. Baker added, “They inspire me.”

Colin Hayward might be small and shy, but he wields a mighty emotional punch. The 6-year-old survivor of ependymoma, a rare type of brain cancer, was a special guest of the football team in October. His visit took place in advance of the team’s first Uplifting Athletes Awareness Game on November 2, which highlighted the group’s support to help cure ependymoma. Team members have raised more than $20,000 for the Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network over the last two years. “To be able to see Colin in person was something special,” said tailback Jimmy DeCicco ’ 15. “This hits home for us because we’ve been raising money for this disease and a lot of the guys didn’t really know what it was all about.” Colin and his father, Ian, made the trip from Ithaca. Ian spoke to the team before practice and relayed Colin’s medical history and special moments of inspiration. The firstgrader was diagnosed with ependymoma at age 2. “Any time you take up a cause, you want to do something to be reminded of the goodness that results from coming together,” Ian said. “That raising money can be turned into something as incredible as giving a little kid his life back, that’s special.” “[Colin] was told he would never walk again and never be able to talk — and he was out here playing

Olympic medalist visits In November, the swimming and diving teams welcomed Olympic medalist Kim Vandenberg to Lineberry Natatorium for an interactive discussion and to be part of training. In addition to discussing her Olympic quest, Vandenberg talked about how she prepares for a race. “Having the opportunity to hear her discuss her approach to achieving goals

Bob Cornell

Student-athletes shine in graduation rates For the second year in a row, Colgate’s NCAA graduate success rate held steady at 98 percent, tying for best in the Patriot League and fourth nationally. Only Brown, Dartmouth, and Notre Dame finished ahead of Colgate, which was joined atop the Patriot League by Bucknell, Holy Cross, and Lafayette. Schools rounding out the top 10 nationally and also scoring 98 percent for the most recent year were Davidson, Duke, Harvard, and Yale. “Our ninety-eight percent graduation success rate is a testament to the high caliber of student-athletes our coaches are recruiting to succeed both academically and athletically at Colgate,” said Vicky Chun, director of athletics. “This is an accomplishment our entire department and institution is very proud of, as it is the direct result of the hard work and commitment given to our student-athletes by our coaches, academic-achievement staff, and faculty.”

Biddle retires Colgate’s winningest head football coach, Dick Biddle, has announced his retirement after 18 stellar seasons and seven Patriot League titles. He leaves a legacy of championship play, outstanding mentorship, and the class and dignity recognized nationwide as Colgate football. Biddle stepped down as the Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap Head Football Coach. Associate Head Coach Dan Hunt will become the 29th head coach in school history on July 1. “I’ve had a great run here and accomplished many coaching goals,” Biddle said. “This is the perfect opportunity for my wife and me to begin a new chapter.” Biddle, who just turned 66, retires as the winningest coach in Patriot League history. He compiled a 137-73 (.652) overall record and won three out of every four conference games he coached, finishing 81-27 (.750) against league competition. The Raiders legend also finishes 39-10 against the Ivy League, and matches the great Andy Kerr for Colgate football coaching longevity. “Dick’s list of accomplishments is great, but what’s truly amazing is that he always acted with the utmost sportsmanship, humbleness, and class,” said athletics director Vicky Chun ’91, MA’94. “He’s a man of few words, but when he does speak — whether it is a subtle joke or a life lesson — we all listen. His inspiration reached from the football field to the classroom to life after Colgate.” Former quarterback Ryan Vena ’00 attested to Biddle’s role as a mentor. “He always preached about overcoming obstacles, and this is still ingrained in my head today,” Vena said. “I have so much to thank him for, not only with helping my football career, but also off the field. He deserves to be in the College Football Hall of Fame.” In 2012, Biddle was named Patriot League Coach of the Year for the fifth time while guiding the Raiders to their seventh Patriot League title and seventh appearance in the NCAA playoffs. Biddle achieved the best winning percentage of any Colgate coach with seven or more years at the helm. He also is the first Colgate coach to ever record nine straight seasons (1997–2005) with seven or more victories. In addition, 2012 marked his 14th campaign with at least seven victories. A season that will be long remembered is Colgate’s 2003 run to the national championship game. The Raiders won their first 15 games — three in the NCAA playoffs — and Biddle was named the American Football Coaches Association Division I-AA National Coach of the Year. “For a non-scholarship program with the highest academic standards to compete for a national championship speaks volumes about what that team was made of,” Biddle said. “That’s something I will never forget.” Luke Graham ’05, Colgate’s all-time leading pass catcher, said: “The championships, accolades, and accomplishments of the program over the years are a direct reflection on his ability to bring together a group of people and help them find the chemistry of football success.” Biddle’s duties officially run through the end of the academic year, but Hunt assumes all responsibilities for recruiting, spring practice, and preparations for next season. Hunt just completed his fourth season as associate head coach and seventh as offensive coordinator. He has been the offensive mastermind behind Colgate’s recent winning ways. In 2012, the Raiders were one of the nation’s most prolific offensive units, leading the Patriot League and ranking in the top 10 nationally in nearly every major offensive category. “He has an excellent reputation on campus, the players admire him, and he knows what it takes to be successful at Colgate,” Biddle said. “You have to be yourself and put your trademark on a team, and I’m sure he will do that.” — John Painter

News and views for the Colgate community

Bob Cornell

football with us,” DeCicco said. “Colin’s message to us was to never quit. After all he’s been through, if that doesn’t tell you not to quit, then I don’t know what will.” Colin and his family were honored at the Uplifting Athletes game against Bucknell (Colgate lost 28–7). “We’re really excited Colgate has adopted this cause and adopted Colin onto the team,” Hayward said.

through visualization was quite motivating,” said Morgan Cohara ’16. “Our afternoon with Kim Vandenberg was nothing short of inspirational. She has achieved so much and in so many different ways.” In 2008, Vandenberg was a member of the bronze medal–winning U.S. team in the women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the Beijing Summer Olympics. She also won a silver medal at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in the women’s 200-meter butterfly. Vandenberg, who started swimming when she was 8 years old, has been competing for 20 years. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials when she was 16 and swam against some of the best competitors in the country. She has earned numerous National Championships and World Cup victories. Her visit to Colgate was one stop along the way as she travels all over the world to train. “Anytime you can listen to someone who has already accomplished many of the goals that you have personally set for yourself, it is very inspiring,” said Andrew Hacker ’16. “Hearing her talk and having her swim with us also gave many of us a little extra motivation to keep working hard.”

Madeline Horner ’15

go ’gate Quarterback Gavin McCarney ’14 (#7) completed 25 of 32 passes for 303 yards and rushed for 95 yards in the game against Albany (L 37–34). It was McCarney’s second career 300yard passing game after the 377 he totaled in last year’s win over Georgetown.

Nineteen of Colgate’s 21 varsity sports in the study registered perfect graduation scores (Colgate has 25 varsity sports, but the GSR combines cross country and track and field teams into one sport). This was one more perfect team score than a year ago. Colgate’s federal graduation rate of 88 percent tied for seventh nationally. The federal graduation rate, while less inclusive than the NCAA’s, provides the only measure of historic academic comparison between student-athletes

New athletics app Colgate athletics recently launched a new app, which allows fans to access stories, rosters, and schedules of all Raider sports from an iPhone, tablet, or Android. Live game information, including free live video, live stats, and up-to-date scores, can be at your fingertips. In addition, fans can follow Raider athletics on Twitter, view upcoming promotions, and make a gift to athletics. The new app follows the rollout of the free Live Stream option through the Patriot League Network, allowing fans to support Colgate athletics all over the country. To download, iPhone users simply search the app store for “Go Gate” and Android users can visit Google Play.

scene: Winter 2014

and general student body. By this standard, student-athletes consistently outperform nearly all their peers in the student body. — John Painter

Lacrosse supports soldiers A former lacrosse player led the way for Raider athletes past and present to participate in the Sixth Annual “A Run Down Hero Highway.” Michael Crown ’10 recruited several Colgate lacrosse players to run the 5K event for the Lead the Way Fund on Thanksgiving weekend in New York City. The fund supports disabled U.S. Army rangers and the families of rangers who have died, been injured, or are currently serving. Crown said that the event “is not only a great time for an important cause, but the venue also holds particular significance. On 9/11, first responders used the West Side Highway to access Ground Zero as victims were escaping north and eventually cheering them on.” The annual event also is a tribute to Sgt. James J. Regan, a Duke University lacrosse player who was killed by an IED in Iraq in 2007. Regan was a teammate of Crown’s brother. “Sgt. Regan paid the ultimate price in Iraq as an American hero, and this event and the fund serve to remember him and all his comrades for all they have

done and do for all of us every day,” Crown said. Goalie Jake Danehy ’16 said that when he arrived at the race start, it was a cold and blustery day, but the excitement of the hundreds gathered was energizing. “It was amazing to see how supportive and inspired everyone was of what Jimmy stood for and the armed forces,” said Danehy, who finished in the top eight. This was the second time that the Raiders assisted the nation’s heroes in the fall. In October, Colgate played in Face Off for a Cause, a tournamentstyle lacrosse event at Siena College that raised more than $8,000 and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. — John Painter

Volleyball PL player of the year Diane Seely ’15, who had a breakout season for the volleyball team, was named Patriot League Player of the Year. A mathematics major from Menlo Park, Calif., she was also chosen for the Patriot League All-Academic Team, and earned first team AllPatriot League honors. She’s the third Colgate player named Player of the Year, joining athletics director Vicky Chun ’91, MA’94 and Becca Galves ’92. Seely finished the season third in the league in hitting (.332) and total kills (336), while standing fourth in kills per set (3.26), and sixth in blocks (0.89 per set). Having played in 109 of her team’s 112 sets, the middle blocker tallied a team-high 97 blocks (37 solo), while accounting for 25 digs. Seely was also responsible for some of the most impressive single-match performances of the season. Joining Seely with postseason honors was Lindsay Young ’13 and Kaylee Fifer ’13, who were both named to the All-Patriot League second team. This is the third-straight postseason All-Patriot League honor for Young, who earned first team honors as a sophomore and junior. She was a huge part of the offense and hit just over 20 percent, missing her career high by less than 1 percent. She had 234 kills on 678 attacks and her lowest number of errors since her rookie season. She added 44 total blocks, including a career-best 14 solo blocks.

Raider Nation Fan spotlights with Kat Castner, athletics communications assistant Fifer, selected to the second team for the third year in a row, finished the regular season with the most assists in the league — 1,051 — which was a career high. She was one of only two players in the league to average more than 10 assists per match. Fifer’s 1,051 assists are sixth all-time in Colgate history for a single season. At the end of the regular season, she was second all-time in career assists with 3,536.

You Can Play Colgate athletics joined hundreds of schools across the country for the You Can Play Project, a campaign to end homophobia in sports, specifically challenging an unhealthy locker room culture. A new video celebrates the diversity of Colgate students, athletes, and staff — regardless of their ethnicity, religion, race, or sexual orientation.

The You Can Play Project was co-founded by Patrick Burke, whose brother Brendan became one of the most prominent gay figures in North American sports when he came out while serving as the manager of the Ohio University hockey team. The goal is to “make locker rooms safe for all athletes, rather than places of fear, slurs, and bullying,” Patrick told the New York Times. “Everyone at You Can Play Project is thrilled to see Colgate step forward and support diversity and inclusion for all who attend the storied university,” said Wade David, You Can Play executive director. “Go, Raiders!” Watch Colgate’s video at: http:// bit.ly/1fk1Rqo. To learn more about the You Can Play Project, visit http:// youcanplayproject.org.

Stan Krohn The Star of Starr: Krohn, who just celebrated his 97th birthday, has been cheering on the men’s and women’s hockey programs for 22 years. As a longtime usher for the Raiders, he never missed a game, and he is still a fixture at Starr Rink. Game: Men’s hockey; Colgate lost to #9 Yale, 5–2, 11/22/13 What makes hockey your favorite sport? I’m originally from Canada, so I grew up with it. When we moved to the States, I brought my love of the sport with me. What got you involved with Colgate hockey? I’m an old New York Rangers fan from way back, and one day, my son-in-law invited me over to watch a Colgate hockey game. At first I said, “I don’t want to watch college hockey, I only like watching the professionals.” But, I ended up watching it with him, and the rest is just history.

Mariel Schlaefer ’16 Student-athletes supporting student-athletes: The catcher for the softball team, Schlaefer believes it’s important to support other teams because it creates a sense of community throughout the athletics department. Hometown: Brookfield, Conn. Game: Men’s basketball; Colgate defeated St. Francis University, 81–64, 11/23/13

Kaitlin Friedli ’17 from Eagle River, Alaska, executes a reverse dive in the pike position.

Why did you come out to support men’s basketball today? I played basketball, so I enjoy watching the sport. Plus, it’s always a positive when I get to cheer on good friends of mine. Who is your favorite player? Murphy Burnatowski ’14. That beard… I was so sad to see it go. [Before recently shaving it off, Burnatowski became so known for his beard that fans would sport fake facial hair at games.] What’s the best part of Colgate athletics events? Knowing everyone on the court or field. Colgate is such a close-knit community, so it’s only normal to go and attend sporting events because the athletes are usually your good friends.

Des Cairns ’16 Stats: Men’s swimming and diving team; math and physics major Hometown: Macleod, Australia Game: Women’s hockey; tied Vermont 2–2, 11/30/13 Why do you enjoy women’s hockey? This is my first game. It’s fast and physical. Plus, I know the managers and some of the players, so I get to cheer them on.

Ashlee Eve ’14

Will you attend more women’s hockey games in the future? Absolutely! I wish hockey was big in Australia — I might have considered playing it. It looks challenging, plus they get to hit a few people. If you could give the team one statement of encouragement, what would it be? The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. Keep fighting!

News and views for the Colgate community

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Books, music & film Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists.

Skip & Go Naked The Colgate Resolutions (independent) Featuring seven covers of songs ranging from electronic music to ’70s soul to modern folk rock, Skip & Go Naked is the ninth studio album release from Colgate’s first co-ed a cappella group. Thirteen current students and five Class of ’13 alumni worked with producers Garrett Wilkes ’13 and Malcolm Piper ’11 to create a memorable collection of dynamic vocal harmonies. Arrangements from Wilkes and Kevin Blank ’12 promise to “take you on a sonic adventure that keeps the energy rockin’ throughout.” Stream all the tracks for free at www.colgateresolutions.com.

Sing for Life: Tin Pan Alley Douglas Cowie ’99 (Black Hill Press) In Sing for Life: Tin Pan Alley, Douglas Cowie drops us in the middle of New York City with a guitar slung over our shoulder. Cowie’s protagonist, Brian, explores the city’s musical milieus and quickly finds himself standing out from the crowd. As Brian’s popularity grows, so, too, does his confusion about who he is and why he is there. The quest to discover himself grows more and more complicated until Brian breaks. Picking up the pieces, it turns out, is part of the journey and all of the fun.

The Rockets’ Red Glare John Darrin ’68 and Michael Gresalfi (John Darrin, Inc.) The Rockets’ Red Glare is a new thriller that depicts an alliance between al Qaeda terrorists and the domestic hate group White Aryan Resistance

scene: Winter 2014

(WAR) — and their plot to detonate dirty bombs disguised as July Fourth fireworks over 12 American cities. Terrorism expert Cal Bellotta and computer wizard Ray Nassiri must peel away the layers of deception to reveal the conspiracy before Independence Day becomes Doomsday. John Darrin, author and radiological emergency preparedness expert, collaborated with weapons of mass destruction and terrorism expert Michael Gresalfi on this realistic vision of a terrorist attack on America.

qualitative analyses, Elder and Greene systematically reveal how the very personal act of raising a family shapes the political attitudes of Americans on a range of important policy issues. The authors document how political parties, presidential candidates, and the news media have politicized parenthood and the family over the last several decades. This evolution, they say, reflects fundamental shifts in American society and the structure of the American family. Elder and Greene are both associate professors of political science, at Hartwick College and North Carolina State University, respectively.

If All I Had to Do Was Coach Brad Hackett ’83 (Coaches Choice Publishing)

The Last Dead Girl Harry Dolan ’88 (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam) On a rainy night in April 1998, a chance encounter draws David Loogan, a crime magazine editor, into a romance with Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. Jana is an enigma, living in a run-down apartment and sporting a bruise on her cheek that she refuses to explain. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie — until it’s too late. When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect. But as he sets out to uncover the truth, he begins to realize that he’s treading a very dangerous path — and that her killer is watching every move he makes.

The Politics of Parenthood Laurel Elder ’94 and Steven Greene (SUNY Press) In The Politics of Parenthood: Causes and THE POLITICS OF Consequences of PARENTHOOD the Politicization and Polarization of the American LAUREL ELDER Family, Laurel STEVEN GREENE Elder and Steven Greene look at the political impact of having and raising children. Using a comprehensive array of both quantitative and Causes and Consequences of the Politicization and Polarization of the American Family

In If All I Had to Do Was Coach, Muhlenberg College’s track and field coach Brad Hackett looks at his 30 years of coaching Division I, Division III, and Olympic-level athletes. He also shares anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of his work: equipment failures, facility issues, drug tests, NCAA rules, and recruiting. One humorous incident involves a 54-inch snowstorm, Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome roof being let down, former Governor Mario Cuomo, the National Guard, and 5,000 people trapped in a field house. Hackett was an assistant coach at Colgate for two years before coaching at Bucknell University and Syracuse University. Mexico’s Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Challenge of Rule Since the Late Nineteenth Century Gilbert M. Joseph ’69 and Jürgen Buchenau (Duke University Press) In this historical analysis of the Mexican Revolution, Gilbert M. Joseph and Jürgen Buchenau discuss the revolution’s causes, dynamics, consequences, and legacies. The

In the media authors consider various perspectives, including those of campesinos and workers; politicians, artists, intellectuals, and students; women and men; the well-heeled, the dispossessed, and the multitude in the middle. In the process, they ask questions about the revolution that address the modernization of the economy and political system. Rather than conceiving of the revolution as either the culminating popular struggle of Mexico’s history or the triumph of a new (not so revolutionary) state over the people, the authors examine the textured process through which state and society shaped each other.

princess to a foreign king should put an end to the war, but two things stand in the way: an ambitious regent and rumors of a half-human child who will save the oceans. Sparks fly when Kae meets Shea — but could the cute drylander really be the son of a mermaid?

Also of note: In the children’s book Watts and the Flashlight (Larch Press) by Gaston Blom ’41 — the sequel to Watts and the Nightlight — Henry sets out to uncover the mystery of his mother’s missing earring with the help of an imaginary character named Watts who lives in a flashlight bulb.

12 String Horizons Jason Kessler ’75 (independent) In 12 String Horizons, classical guitarist Jason Kessler experiments with alternate tunings and unusual compositions on the 12-string guitar. “Kessler’s command of an instrument that takes both extreme skill and physical discipline is astounding,” wrote a Syracuse New Times review. Some of what he accomplished on the album — which was recorded live with no overdubbing — has never been done before. For example, Kessler believes he is the first one to ever play “Aerial Boundaries” by Michael Hedges, on the 12-string.

Footnotes: In August, the journal Critical Studies on Security (Routledge) published an issue based on papers from a workshop that Professor Jacob Mundy organized at Colgate in March 2012. The two-day peace and conflict studies workshop, titled Wars Beyond War: Mass Violence in an Age of Terror, Catastrophe, and the Responsibility to Protect, brought international scholars to campus. Spearheaded by Thomas Vincent The ’53, The 21st Cen21st Century COLGATE tury Colgate Song Song Book Book features 21 arrangements of 15 established Colgate songs for piano and voice. With a foreword by Oscar Hammerstein III (husband of the daughter of F. Wilson Staub ’53), the book also features a review of Colgate musical heritage, information about wellknown Colgaters like Lloyd Huntley ’24, and profiles of the song authors, composers, and contributors. In addition, there are photos of campus scenes and events, with lyric passages. The book is now available at the Colgate Bookstore. Music that has celebrated the Colgate spirit for more than 100 Years

Son of a Mermaid Katie Flohr O’Sullivan ’87 (Crescent Moon Press) In this new young adult novel, 15-year-old Shea MacNamara’s life has become complicated after a freak tornado devastated his Oklahoma farm. Now orphaned, he moves to Cape Cod to live with a grandmother he’s never met. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he meets a girl along the shore who changes his life forever. Kae belongs to a hidden undersea world where there is a war between clans. The planned marriage of a

Foreword by Oscar Hammerstein III

“As a woman, she is someone I look up to.” — When Hillary Clinton visited Colgate in October, Charity Whyte ’16 told the Daily Beast about meeting Clinton when she came to her first-grade class in Greenville, Ill., in 2001. That visit, she said, inspired her to go to college.

“Get in sync nonverbally with the other person — it’s much easier to agree with someone if you’re on the same wavelength.” — Psychology professor Caroline Keating talks to Prevention.com about using body language to influence co-workers

“Young people, like those here today, often tell me that their peers have given up on government. They roll their eyes when you talk about the political system.” — Sociology professor emeritus Joan Mandle, during a meeting of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland Commission, as reported by WNYT.com (Albany)

“The Syrian crisis offers a hugely important test of the moral doctrine embodied in just war theory, which has for centuries been an invaluable factor limiting the destructive potential of war.” — Philosophy professor David McCabe, in the Huffington Post

“Democracy brings its own set of threats and vulnerabilities to the good governance cause.” — Political science professor and anti-corruption expert Michael Johnston telling the Thomson Reuters Foundation that he does not think democracy is necessarily required for good governance.

“Within one hour, my bed was made, Springsteen posters covered the walls, my parents were headed home, and the stereo system was cranking.” — Dean of first-year students Beverly Low blogged about her first day of college on the Huffington Post

News and views for the Colgate community

Photos by Kenneth Wajda

JULIE VAN DOMELEN'S WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN AFTER THE "500-YEAR FLOOD" DEVASTATED LYONS, COLO.

BY ALETA MAYNE

scene: Winter 2014

had been a long, hot, dusty day of fieldwork in the rural African bush when Julie Van Domelen ’82 finally sat down in front of her computer at the World Bank office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She’d arrived there later than expected, after being delayed on the roadside for several hours — villagers had set up a roadblock protesting a military shooting of one of their people. Opening her inbox, Van Domelen found an e-mail from her husband, Joseph, that simply bore the subject line: “We’re all OK here.” It was late afternoon in Tanzania, so the clocks at home in Colorado would be showing a very early morning hour. Julie thought to herself, “Well, of course you’re fine. You’re in Lyons. I’d better not tell you about the day I’ve had, because you wouldn’t want me to travel anymore.” Fifteen minutes later, a second message came through: “I should explain. Lyons is flooded. Call me.” Returning to her hotel, “the strangest thing happened,” Julie recalled. “I went back to my room, flicked on the TV, and the flooding pictures of my town were on Al Jazeera — ahead of the Syrian War news.” Anyone 9,000 miles away from home would be shocked to see news about devastation in their town. But Julie Van Domelen felt an immediate responsibility to get home. She’s the mayor.

A SLICE OF HEAVEN NEVAEH FO ECILS A Julie and Joseph moved to Lyons with their 3-year-old daughter, Maya, in 2005. They had been living in Senegal, where Julie was managing projects as a senior economist for the World Bank. Considering Maya’s future, the couple asked themselves, “What kind of life do we want? Do we want to move to different countries every three years?” Julie recalled thinking, “It’s exotic, it’s the work I love, but there are no roots for our only child.” So, they decided to explore Colorado, where Julie’s family lives. They poked around various cities before finding what she calls “the charming town of Lyons” — ranked one of the best U.S. small towns by Sunset magazine. With a population of about 2,000, it’s 30 minutes north of Boulder. The municipal website — which is now dominated by rebuilding updates — locates Lyons in “the shadow of Longs Peak, all nestled in ‘as snug as a bug in a rug.’” The 1.2-square-mile Rocky Mountain burg sits at the confluence of two small rivers. The North and South St. Vrain Creeks meander through the canyons and merge in the heart of town. A music hub, Lyons hosts two big annual festivals on the riverbanks: the RockyGrass bluegrass festival and the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. In the summer, hundreds of people float down the rivers on colorful inner tubes. With a paddle board shop, a quilt shop, two funky coffee shops, and a gourmet market with an artisan bakery, it’s an idyllic town with sandstone buildings that give it a historic feel. “I don’t have any links to this town — we were basically throwing a dart on a dartboard,” Julie said. “But it felt like a good place.” She remembers their first night there: “We were falling asleep to the sounds of this river that were so serene after coming from a chaotic African city with the noise and the smells. This was a little slice of heaven.”

HELPING COMMUNITIES OVERSEAS SAESREVO SEITINUMMOC G When they moved to Lyons, Van Domelen retired from her position after 17 years at the World Bank. But, she stayed on as a consultant, in a position similar to her first job there. Her international work had begun right after graduating from Colgate in 1982. She’d received a Watson Fellowship to study renewable energy programs in France, Australia, and Kenya. “I really fell in love with Africa,” she recalled. When the fellowship ended, she returned home to Colorado to work for the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy efficiency and alternative energy policy think tank. There, she spent three years helping develop its economic renewal plan for small U.S. towns through the use of sustainable development. She then attended Princeton University for a master’s in public administration with a focus on international development, which led Van Domelen to the World Bank. Her first assignment, in La Paz, Bolivia, involved developing a new model: “a social investment fund to get money to the poorest communities in the country for small-scale infrastructure,” she explained. The community-driven development model has since grown to be a significant part of the bank’s lending practices. From South America to Washington, D.C., to telecommuting from a tiny office in Moab, Utah, Van Domelen has followed a career path that has focused on “learning how to reach the most vulnerable populations in developing countries,” she explained. Her role has been overseeing the financial grants that aid those communities — managed directly by the people receiving them. Upon moving to Senegal in 2002, Van Domelen began overseeing the World Bank’s social protection projects in 14 West African countries. She also managed the HIV/AIDS funding to Senegal. As a project manager on five-year, $50 million operations, she carried a load of responsibility — from supervision and evaluation to ensuring that funds were used effectively. In addition, she monitored studies

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that looked at the big picture of what the government was doing with its own money. “I’ve done a number of assessments that identify the vulnerable groups and sources of vulnerability in a country,” she said. The studies explore how those populations’ needs can be addressed, such as funding safety nets to prevent ongoing issues like malnutrition — as well as problems caused by economic and natural disasters. So, “there is a certain irony to my situation right now,” Van Domelen quipped.

Although she doesn't usually have her photo taken in the field, Van Domelen wanted this picture in Tanzania on September 12 because this man parlayed one bike into six and used them as transportation in the village. "I was going to show it to our economic development guy," she said.

scene: Winter 2014

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TABLE

BAT

The town of Lyons is a place where everyone knows each other, and “everyone gets roped in” to local boards and commissions. That’s something that appealed to Van Domelen, who craved a sense of community after globetrotting for years. “One thing I’ve never been able to do with the World Bank is feel part of the community where I lived,” she said. “I was always a visitor. “I spent so many years advising and evaluating governments that I wanted to sit on the other side of the table and see what it feels like,” she added. She began serving on the town planning commission and volunteered for several economic development projects. Then, in 2009, the mayor resigned for personal reasons. At the time, Lyons was suffering from the nationwide economic crisis and needed strong leadership. As a tourist town, it relies heavily on sales taxes, and revenue was down 20 percent. “It was a real fiscal problem,” Van Domelen said. Recognizing the value of her economics experience, she decided to run for mayor. Despite being a newcomer, “she pretty much won in a landslide,” said Kirk Udovich, who is mayor pro tem. He has worked with Van Domelen since serving as board trustee of the Planning and Community Development Commission that she chaired. “People were aware of who she was, what she stood for, and the positives that she could offer the town.” Meanwhile, Van Domelen’s husband, Joseph, had begun writing for the local newspaper, the Lyons Recorder.

When the economic crisis was affecting the Recorder and it was in danger of shutting down, Joseph partnered up with one of the graphic designers to save the paper. To give full disclosure, Joseph prefaces all of his articles on the Board of Trustees with a disclaimer that he’s married to the mayor. “He pokes fun at us, but I don’t care,” Julie joked. “We get a laugh out of it, and we keep it very separate.” mayoral Lyons, Lyons EHTThe FO EDISposition REHin TO EHasTwith most smalltown elected positions, is essentially volunteer, paying only a nominal stipend. “It’s a labor of love,” Van Domelen said. Somewhat unexpectedly, she discovered a lot of overlap between her international experience and running a small town. For example, “we may not be dealing with getting the first water system in town, but we still have issues with infrastructure and maintenance,” she said. “I get to put into practice a lot of things that I have learned, which is really satisfying. So now I’m squarely on the other side of the table.” And, Van Domelen’s experience as a World Bank economist has surely paid off. “She’s very well connected, and she knows how to become connected,” Udovich said. “As soon as she took office, she found different avenues to benefit the town.” Van Domelen joined various commissions in Denver and Boulder County, including the coalition of mayors from nearby mountain towns. "Her involvement in these groups has brought a lot of attention to Lyons,” he said. “We’re not forgotten because of her presence, and that’s been huge.” One of Van Domelen’s biggest successes shortly after her election was obtaining additional grants to revamp Main Street. The resulting beautiful new streetscape design inspired businesses to invest in their own growth. Then, the arts and humanities council jumped on board, and secured grants for art on Main Street. The revitalization became a critical mass, helping the town pull out of the recession faster than the state

and the nation. “We were the town that people were starting to ask ‘How did you pull this off?’” said Van Domelen. Up until September 12, 2013, Lyons was considered a success story. “That’s what makes it so heartbreaking right now,” she reflected.

UP UNTIL SEPTEMBER 12, LYONS WAS THE 500-YEAR FLOOD DOOLF RAEY-005 EHT CONSIDERED A When Van Domelen received that fateful e-mail from her husband on that Thursday in September, she was in SUCCESS STORY. the midst of evaluating the Tanzania Social Action Fund, a community development agency funded by the World Bank. That particular day, she was stopping in the villages — visiting a clinic, classrooms, a road reconstruction project — to learn how they’ve managed the money. Although she’d had a long day in the bush, Van Domelen insists that the field trips are her favorite part of the job. “The people I meet are phenomenal, as is what they’re able to do with so few resources.” Van Domelen added that it’s inspiring to “see people who are so grace-filled in these circumstances that are much more difficult than we have in our country.” Originally, that assignment was to have taken her on to Madagascar, to evaluate a security and cyclone reconstruction project. It still seemed like a possibility after first talking with Joseph, before he lost cellphone and email contact. But the more she learned, the more it sunk in that she had to return to Lyons as soon as possible. “Biblical rainfall amounts” (as described by the National Weather Service) had besieged not only Lyons, but also the greater Colorado area. Called “the 500-year flood,” the Los Angeles Times reported that it damaged or destroyed 17,983 homes and 968 commercial properties statewide. The several days of "freakish

The several days of “freakish continual rain” in Lyons had added up to “what we usually get in a year.” continual rain" in Lyons had added up to "what we usually get in a year," Van Domelen said. The swelling floodwaters had changed the course of the raging St. Vrain creeks — those same waters that had calmed Van Domelen on her first night there. Water split the town into six isolated islands. Joseph and Maya were on one island, while Julie’s parents (who had also moved to Lyons) were on another. Bridges and roads were either submerged or washed away — including Route 36, the town’s main arterial to surrounding areas. Mudslides and rockslides tumbled down the mountains. Twenty percent of the housing was destroyed, including two trailer parks. Sewer pipes along the river were smashed, and all other utilities were wiped out. The entire town would need to be evacuated, but until National Guard troops could arrive, the community banded together. People dragged neighbors out of their homes, and “looking at some of these houses, you wonder how they got out,” Van Domelen said. She learned that her parents, who are in their 80s, were being checked on regularly. Impromptu

barbecues broke out. Grills were fired up to cook meat as it thawed, and kids polished off buckets of melting ice cream. Taking the edge off the unsettling sounds of helicopters overhead, mandolins came out of their cases and played a happier soundtrack. When Julie told Joseph that she needed to get home, he responded: “Well, you can’t, really — you can’t get into town.” Even their daughter said, “Mom, it’s not so nice here right now. Just stay in Tanzania.” But Friday, she booked the next available flight, on Sunday.

on Tuesday, and she joined 11 of her family members who were staying at her sister’s house in Boulder. Immediately, she got to work — and continued working for 24 hours. “There were a million things LLACto CALLING ALL ANGELS SLEGNA LLA GNI Ineeded t do,” she recalled. “We needed to rebuild While Van Domelen was preparing to leave Tanzania, our water and wastewater systems, streets, bridges, she asked herself, “What can I do from here?” Putting electric, and gas.” E. coli bacteria had contaminated the Colgate network to use, she messaged her core the drinking water, and the wastewater system had group of about a dozen women with whom she’s suffered at least $1 million in damage. Evacuees stayed in contact over the years. learned these updates through a town hall meeting “I was calling all angels,” she said. “And those that was broadcasted online. contacts have been important.” Some — like a friend The town staff of 15 set up a temporary office in whose Mantoloking, N.J., house was one of those the elementary school in nearby Longmont. With one pictured on the cover of the New York Times after Hurintermittent phone line, the team was “making heroic ricane Sandy — provided much-needed moral supefforts trying to move resources into place,” she said. “It port. Others, like Penny Fearon ’82, put her in touch would be daunting enough if we were a city and could with people who could offer advice or even come to put a whole department on it, but we had a floodedLyons to help. Fearon gave her the name of a disaster out town hall, our finance department is a one-person technology group that later set up the town’s wireoperation named Tony, and all of us were evacuated less Internet as well as a person at the Yellow Boots from our homes as well, so in our free time we were disaster relief organization who was already on his trying to figure out where we were going to live.” way out to Colorado. Although the mud line stopped at Main Street Colgate friends also gave her the names of smalland most businesses stood intact, the loss of utilities town mayors who had been through natural disasters. would shut them down for months. "So it’s this silent “It’s helpful to talk to people who have been in this position, because it’s not anything you can train “So it’s this silent natural disaster for,” Van Domelen said. “You train for emergency going on, because there’s not a management, but you don’t learn how to deal with single chain store in this town.” FEMA, the rules of the game, or the process for recovery. It’s figuring out that next step." And, the process is a learning curve, so it’s good to natural disaster going on, because there’s not a single hear how other communities organized themselves, chain store in this town,” Van Domelen said. “There how they prioritized, and what they would’ve done are about 150 independent small businesses whose differently, Van Domelen added. “Those are the kinds of owners have invested their life savings to make a go questions that can save time on your part,” she said. in this cool place. They don’t make a ton of money, but they have great creativity.” R E T S A SIEstimating D LARU$50 TAN TNEinLpublic IS EH T THE SILENT NATURAL DISASTER million infrastructure inf infr Once Van Domelen was able to depart Tanzania, it took damage, Van Domelen said it’s been a challenge for a her three days to reach her family. A mechanical error town with a budget of $1.7 million — even for a World kept her grounded in Nairobi. In Paris, she missed the Bank economist. “Sitting on the receiving end, I feel connecting flight. Her plane finally landed in Colorado like I’m the village trying to get money from the

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national program,” she said, noting the twist of fate. “It’s a bit through the looking glass.” In October, the federal government shutdown compounded the challenges. For example, FEMA agents continued to work, but its website providing information on community grants was inaccessible. Other essential agencies, like the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Army Corps of Engineers, were all closed. In addition, Lyons had been approved for $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Revolving Loan Fund. “We had money sitting there that we could disperse, but we couldn’t get to it,” she said. The USDA was closed, too. In times like this, Van Domelen used Facebook as a virtual megaphone to provide updates — the bad and the good. It became a powerful tool following the disaster when people were dispersed to various communities and couldn’t locate each other. The social networking site also served as a temporary Town Hall, with video of official meetings. had moved back into their homes, including V heir homes Van AsG inN previous MA NWaand OTherLfamily. LAMS IVAS years, SAVING SMALL-TOWN AMERICA ACIREDomelen Despite the frustrations, Van Domelen’s World Bank experience has given her a leg up on leading the town through the recovery effort. For one, budgetary lines that spike into the $50 million range don’t give her the sticker shock that they would for others. And on a more basic level, when there was just a Porta Potty in front of Town Hall, she joked, “I just came from rural Tanzania with squat toilets [in the ground]. “I know how the rest of the world lives and that things can happen to places,” she said. “You don’t think it can happen to your beautiful little perfect world, but human existence is precarious, particularly in the countries I work in. So it doesn’t shock me to the core that something like this could happen.” By Halloween weekend, some Main Street businesses had reopened, and most of the townsfolk

scene: Winter 2014

Halloween was a big celebration, with a parade and trick or treating at the businesses. But the festive spirit carried an underlying current — the sad realization that not everyone had homes to which they could return. Another glimmer of normalcy came after Thanksgiving weekend, when the kids went back to school in Lyons (they had been using an old high school in Longmont for a temporary location). Lyons has now shifted from emergency recovery mode to planning for the future. Dirt roads and temporary infrastructure stand in place, while watershed issues and permanent utility lines are being mapped out. The goal of building to be better than before has already played out in several ways, such as deeper gas lines that won’t be affected if another flood happens and higher speed Internet lines. Van Domelen explained that her mayoral functions have expanded into meeting with state and national officials to plan for the long-term recovery — not just for Lyons, but also for Colorado. “But, I love big, complex problems,” she said. Of course, a disaster like “the 500year flood” creates problems that may not have solutions. People lost jobs or moved on, businesses are in danger of closing, and those who lost their homes have to decide whether or not to rebuild in the flood plain. To assist the broad spectrum of need, the Lyons Community Foundation has an active fundraising program for households and the Lyons Business Recovery Fund for the businesses affected. “We use the power of the small town,” Van Domelen said. “People step up — so we’ve got working groups of interested citizens who are trying to figure out what to do about all the affordable housing we

lost, how to get people legal aid, and help them deal with their insurance companies.” Now, in the dead of winter, the businesses in Lyons — which bustles with tourists in warm weather — need more help than ever. The nationally known Oskar Blues Brewery has been leading the efforts in raising money through its Cand’aid Foundation for business

“If this were a place that had internal discord, it would be impossible.” grants. “We’re going to try to save small-town America, starting here,” Van Domelen said. "If this were a place that had internal discord, it would be impossible," she continued. “But we have a super city council, a fabulous town manager, and great citizens. We have a really good team in place.” Although the task is greater than the resources they have, Van Domelen said, “You’ve got to shrug your shoulders and say, ‘OK, what’s the most important thing we can get done today?’ And focus on that.” She joked that now that everyone’s so busy, the slow small-town pace has evaporated. Whereas people used to come into Town Hall to gab with the women behind the desk while paying their utility bills, there simply isn’t the time now. In fact, volunteer coordinators have brought people in to not only answer the phones, but also to pitch in on errands and even muck out homes. The changes in Lyons are perhaps most striking at the source of the transformation. “It’s eerie, because eighty percent of the town looks fine,” said Van Domelen. “And then you go down to the river, and it looks like a completely different place.” The St. Vrain riverbanks have disappeared, and the water has an altered course. “It is pretty jaw-dropping,” she said. When Van Domelen needs a moment to take it all in by herself, she visits the Apple Valley neighborhood, “which is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen,” she said. “And it’s just destroyed. There’s a lot of work here to be done.”

By Rebecca Costello

The trail is icy. It’s a bright 20-degree November afternoon, and Ron Hoham and Pete Rand ’87 are clambering up the bouldered crest of Bald Mountain just north of Old Forge, N.Y. Once they reach the Rondaxe Fire Tower, they hunker down on a rock and tuck into a true hiker’s lunch. Apples. Sandwiches made with almond butter and home-canned Mt. Hood strawberry jam that Pete had brought as a gift from Portland. Then it’s up the metal-runged stairs of the tower. Up in the cab, they take in the crystalclear view and some snapshots. Ever the teacher, Ron, a retired biology professor, points out the landmarks in the Fulton Chain of Lakes below, the craggy peaks. There’s Woodhull. Blue Mountain. Algonquin. Mt. Marcy. He knows them all. Known by his friends as a “fitness fanatic,” Ron has set himself a goal: to climb all 24 fire towers in the Adirondack Park. He completed another self-challenge in September: a nineyear effort to ride his bike around every one of New York’s 11 Finger Lakes. Perhaps the most extraordinary part? He’s biked 10 of the 11 Finger Lakes and climbed 9 of the 20 fire towers with Colgate alumni: 13 in all, Pete among them for several. Some were students in his classroom and research lab. Others, he met elsewhere. All share his interest in the outdoors and have spent many hours with him biking or hiking (or both) and more. “That’s what makes Colgate unique — this ability to connect with teachers outside of class, and Ron exemplifies that,” said Pete. “When I was looking for my first job in 1971,

my graduate adviser encouraged me to go to a big research university,” said Ron. “But my dream was to be in a liberal arts setting, where I could build relationships with my students that make something like this possible.” He’s a methodical guy, with an encyclopedic memory, steely attention to detail, and a penchant for classifying things — well suited to his career as a preeminent authority on the

“Always with Ron, the journey is the reward.” mysterious microbes known as snow algae (including in upstate New York). So, Ron can also tell you off the top of his head which lake and which fire tower he did when, and who came with him. He also remembers where they all went to grad school, and their career paths. And of course, he documented every trip with a camera (you'll see a couple of classic habits — a triumphant raising of his bike overhead, a thumbs-up pose). Ron first met Pete at Colgate Camp on Upper Saranac Lake, on an Outing Club trip in 1985. They took a hike together, and Ron encouraged the budding scientist to sign up for his 1986 summer study group at the Flathead Biological Station in Montana. “It was a perfect fit for me. I wanted to learn more about ecology and what it was like to be a scientist,” said Pete. “I’d had this idea of a white coat and a microscope, and that never really

appealed to me, but doing work in the field and understanding ecology, and fish and wildlife were the things I was interested in.” Fast forward, and Ron the study group leader became a longtime mentor, fellow hiker and bicyclist, and friend. Pete went to graduate school at Syracuse University, where he met his wife, Jen. In 1992, Ron invited the couple, Phil Bolton ’87, and Margit Brazda ’88 (who’d been on the same Montana Study Group as Pete) to join him in his first fire tower climb with alumni, at Goodnow Mountain. A couple years later, Pete, Todd Whitman ’90, and some other friends cyled with Ron around his first Finger Lake (Skaneateles). Now Pete has come full circle to help the next generation of Colgate teachers and students. A conservation biologist for the Wild Salmon Center in Portland, Ore., he came to campus to discuss his work, internships, and careers in conservation in November (read more on page 33). The trip to Hamilton became a perfect time for that climb up Bald Mountain. “Always with Ron, the journey is the reward,” said Pete. “We’ve summited many peaks, and biked islands and around lakes, but it’s the great conversation, and his sometimes zany, quirky habits that make it special!” Of course, the 12 other alumni, who’ve gone on to a striking variety of careers, have their own stories to tell, of connections made and moments shared with the teacher and mentor who became a lifelong friend. Turn the page to see a glimpse of this cycle in full color. It’s just one example of the enduring connections between Colgate teachers and learners.

News and views for the Colgate community

RON HOHAM

CHRIS YATSKO ’83

Biology major; co-author on a paper; Montana Study Group, 1982 2 MS, MEd, Syracuse University Earth science and biology teacher, Lansing (N.Y.) Central Schools Gore Mountain (with track teammate Paul Colletti ’81, October 2010 and 2011), Woodhull Mountain (August 2013) “I got my first job out of college through Ron. He was close with a former rsity. Colgate professor, Bob Singer, who had moved to Syracuse University. ster’s I worked there doing acid rain research for four years, got my master’s there, and that’s what led me to my teaching career. I don’t think I could have done it without Ron.”

Professor of biology emeritus (retired 2006) Co-authored papers with 37 students Sidney J. and Florence Felten French Prize for inspirational teaching, 2005; Phi Eta Sigma Professor of the Year, 2006 Led three study groups at Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station Faculty liaison, varsity swimming and diving, 2004–2009 Four broadcasts about snow algae on NPR’s Pulse of the Planet Finger Lakes cycled: All 11 Adirondack fire towers summited: 20 — 4 to go! PAUL COLLETTI ’81

TEAMMATES

“Chris and I attended Paul’s wedding together, and I was an usher in Chris’ wedding.” — Ron

Biology major; advisee; phycology TA, Montana Study Group, 1982 82 MS in phycology, Northern Arizona University Worked at environmental/conservation center in New York ABMP certified massage therapist “‘Ronbo' used up one of his nine lives on a high-speed descent. He took an ambitious line on a hairpin turn, going off the road and fishtailing in the gravel. Amazingly, ‘Hohammer’ kept the bike upright and was back on the road moments later.” — Todd Whitman ’90

010 and 2011) Gore Mountain (with track teammate Chris Yatsko ’83, October 2010 “Ron’s Phycology class opened my world to the field of ecology and research. He suggested graduate school at Northern Arizona University with his friend, Dean Blinn. This led to a 10-year stint of teaching high school science. But more important, Ron’s interest in me as a person made me feel like I mattered.”

TODD WHITMAN ’90 Psychology major Met Ron at Bally’s health club in Syracuse, 1993 993 3 MS, counseling services, SUNY Oswego PhD, University of Virginia ity Counseling professor, Shippensburg University

Skaneateles Lake (with Pete Rand ’87, September 1994)

Biology major; Montana Study Group, 1986 MD, Albany Medical School Psychiatrist, Portland, Ore. Goodnow Mountain (with Margit Brazda ’88, Jen and Pete Rand ’87, July 1992) “Ron helped connect me to Dr. Werner, a physician in Hamilton, N.Y. I spent one of my summers during medical school shadowing him and learning about family medicine.”

viserr, “He helped me reconnect with my Colgate adviser, ng, Dr. Myra Smith, and Professor Carrie Keating, both of whom gave me sage advice as I started my career in the professoriate.”

PHIL BOLTON ’87

FRIENDS, MONTANA STUDY GROUP PETE RAND ’87

Biology major; Montana Study Group, 1986 86 MS, PhD, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Postdoc, University of British Columbia on Senior conservation biologist, Wild Salmon Center, Portland, Ore. sco Lake Skaneateles Lake (September 1994), Otisco (August 2009) “When Pete was a postdoc at UBC, I linked him with Bill Mohn ’83, a professor there, to cycle the four San Juan Islands in Washington State’s Puget Sound with me.” — Ron Goodnow Mountain (with his wife Jen, Margit Brazda ’88, and Phil Bolton ’87, July 1992), Bald Mountain (November 2013)

Biology major; biology advisee, Montana Study Group, 1986; lab researcher, co-author on a paper MS, water resource management, SUNY ESF Owner, grant development consultant, Grants4Good; development officer, RIT’s institute for the deaf Skaneateles Lake (August 2004) “My quest for cycling around the eleven New York Finger Lakes began in earnest with this ride with Margit and her husband, Dave Poirier. They encouraged me.” — Ron

scene: Winter 2014

— Margit Brazda Poirier ’88

Keuka Lake (August 2006), Canandaigua Lake (September 2009), Honeoye Lake and Canadice Lake (with Burton Rankie ’05, August 2011) MARGIT BRAZDA POIRIER ’88 nd Goodnow Mountain (July 1992, with Jen and Pete Rand ’87 and Phil Bolton ’87)

“ When I tell my friends and colleagues that I am still in touch with my biology professor and adviser, they are in awe.”

FRIENDS AND TRAINING BUDDIES

ROB ATWATER ’93 NEW CAMPUS CONNECTIONS

Peace studies major Volunteered at Hamilton Fire Department with Ron’s son Ross Firefighter/paramedic, Derry, N.H. Wakely Mountain (with Ross, June 2003) “This friendship shows that Colgate relationships go so much deeper than with just classmates.” LINDSEY BRANDOLINI HOHAM ’05

HAMILTON FIRE DEPARTMENT

Political P science major ma Intro I to B Biology l and Plant Evolution; Hamilton Fire Department volunteer Daughter-in-law Advancement operations director at Colgate Bald Mountain (with Ross and their son, Nathan, July 2011) CLASSMATES

"Rob Atwater '93 and Dave Guinotte ’02 were ushers in Ross and Lindsey’s (Brandolini ’05) wedding in June 2007 07 in the Colgate chapel.” — Ron

DAVE GUINOTTE ’02

Geography major, geology minor Intro to Biology; Hamilton Fire Department volunteer with Ron’s son Ross Graduate study in GIS/Remote Sensing, sing, University of Kansas rica & Caribbean Regional sales manager, Latin America Caribbean, Trimble Navigation, Ltd. Blue Mountain (with Ross, October 2001) “We got off to a late start, hiked up the mountain and watched the sunset, then came down using flashlights the entire way.” — Ron RURIK JOHNSON ’98

Biology major; 3.5 years in his research lab; co-authored 3 papers MD, U of Pittsburgh General surgeon, Buffalo, N.Y. Owasco Lake (July 2009), Conesus Lake (August 2010), Hemlock Lake (August 2010), Seneca Lake (September 2012 — a “virtual” ride) “After two rainout attempts to cycle around Seneca Lake with Rurik, I decided to do it solo on a beautiful day. Rurik and I texted one another as I cycled around the lake, and his texts were great support even though he was not there in person.” — Ron

“R always “Ron l h had d plenty l of good stories to tell to make a five-hour ride fly by. He was also good for a Blue Moon at the lunch break.” — Rurik Johnson ’98

JEFF RYBA ’05 RON’S LAB

Biology major; advisee; 3.5 years in Ron’s research lab; co-authored 3 papers Finishing dental school, Columbia University; upcoming residency, U.S. Navy

JESSE BERMAN ’04

Owasco (August 2011) Cayuga Lake (The final ride, September 2013) “Jeff joined me to cycle the 87 miles around; he really wanted to do it with me so I could complete my goal. We lucked out with awesome weather and celebrated afterward in an Ithaca Mexican restaurant.” — Ron Pillsbury Mountain (with Jesse Berman ’04, August 2009) CLASSMATES

Pete Rand ’87 (bottom left, facing page) was reading the Colgate Scene when he came across an article about the research of Jessica Graybill, associate professor of geography and chair of Colgate’s Sustainability Council. “She had spent time in Sakhalin and Kamchatka, and I thought, wow, a Colgate professor doing work in an area that we’re working in,” said Rand, a conservation biologist. “The Russian Far East is a wild place. There’s not many people working there. I got quite excited, so I wrote her an e-mail. She said, why don’t you come? Our students are interested in what the Wild Salmon Center is doing.” Sponsored by Graybill and biology’s Randall Fuller (who was his adviser), Rand spent two days on campus in November 2013, giving a guest lecture in Graybill’s Arctic Transformations class, a public presentation on his conservation work with Pacific salmon, and meeting with professors and students in biology, environmental studies, and Russian and Eurasian studies. Colgate’s interested students are potential finds for Rand’s organization. “You usually find individuals with an interest in Russian language and an understanding of the culture, or a science background, not both. But at a place like Colgate, interdisciplinary skills are encouraged. One of the things that’s going to come from this is that we’re going to get some bright young interns or employees working with us in this conservation work.”

“It is professors like Ron who not only take an interest in their students during their years at Colgate, but also long after, that help to make it a truly special place.” – Jeff Ryba ’05

Environmental biology and English double major; lab researcher (with Jeff Ryba ’05); co-authored 2 papers MHS, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Postdoc, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Snowy Mountain (August 2007), Vanderwhacker Mountain (August 2008), Pillsbury Mountain (with Jeff Ryba ’05, August 2009) “I got my first job through Ron. He introduced me to Carolyn Scrafford ’99 at the consulting firm Exponent in Washington, D.C. I joined the firm doing food and chemical risk assessment and worked with Carolyn for three years before graduate school.”

BURTON RANKIE ’05

Molecular biology major Met Ron at the Colgate gym, summer 2002, during his chemistry internship DDS, SUNY Buffalo (valedictorian) Orthodontist in Maine and New Hampshire

“I attended Jesse’s wedding in Alexandria, Va. I also stayed at his parents’ camp near Schroon Lake when Jesse and I hiked up Rooster Comb Mountain. He was an environmental studies ‘brown bag’ speaker at Colgate in 2012.” — Ron

Owasco Lake (June 2010) Honeoye Lake and Canadice Lake (with Dave and Margit Brazda Poirier ’88, August 2011) “I chose Colgate over several other schools because it felt like a community of friends, and Ron embodies that. I met Margit through Ron. She and her husband have become good friends. Margit also coached me swimming, which tremendously improved my speed in triathlons.” News and views for the Colgate community

Go Green, Maroon Colgate has pledged that its operating impact on climate change will be zero by 2019. The university will be, in a word, sustainable. John Pumilio arrived on campus five years ago to coordinate the drive to sustainability. For all the university has achieved in that time — which includes more than a half-million dollars in savings, and carbon emissions reduced by more than 20 percent — Pumilio said, “we are like a molecule in the ocean of global carbon emissions.” (See pages 37–39.) Where Colgate’s efforts are having their biggest influence, he said, is on students, who take a new environmental consciousness with them into the world. “We’re graduating tomorrow’s leaders, and who knows what roles they’ll play, what businesses they’ll start, how they will lead?” he said. “If we can influence our laboratory, which is Colgate’s campus, that’s a source of inspiration, not only for our students but also for other institutions across the country. Every day, when students live with our solar panels, our willow plot, our community garden, our wood-fired heating plant — all sustainable approaches — it starts to get into their mind-set.” From common-sense applications such as twosided printing and low-flow showerheads to the innovative purchase of carbon offsets in Chilean Patagonia to fostering students’ own efforts in and out of the classroom, here’s a glimpse at a model program that’s reducing Colgate’s environmental impact, saving money, and helping students to think and live green.

resiliency,” he said, imagining a day when Colgate could treat and recycle its own water, or produce as much energy as it consumes. “Colgate’s culture is innovative and entrepreneurial,” he said. “The university hasn’t reached that level in sustainability yet, but when it does, I say, ‘Look out.’”

Pumilio can talk the talk, for sure. Citing “parts per million” and “climate sensitivity” and “emission factors,” he can detail global climate change and rattle off daunting statistics that leave no doubt “we have until about 2050 to figure this all out.” But his compassion and sincerity are what set him apart. He is the antithesis of the wild-eyed ideologue. When an environmental discussion grows heated, it’s often Pumilio who thoughtfully and tolerantly brings things back to reality. He is a catalyst. “If people count on me to make Colgate sustainable, it’s not going to happen,” he told the Scene shortly after he was hired in 2009. “But if everyone considers sustainability as they teach, learn, and perform their day-to-day work, then we’ll get to where we need to go, and I’m just here as a help desk.” He defers all credit, especially to the student activists and interns who staff programs across campus and beyond. They are Green Raiders and Eco-Reps in the residence halls, Green Thumbs in the Community Garden, bloggers, recyclers, composters, green bicyclists, Students for Environmental Action, and students taking environmental studies courses. And Pumilio is their guy: their source, their cheerleader, their confidant. Their efforts are reported on these pages and in further detail on the university’s sustainability webpages. Type colgate.edu/green, and allow yourself some time; the links keep coming. You have to dig for Pumilio’s name, but his influence is everywhere. He describes the changes he has helped bring about to date as “practical, low-hanging fruit.” But, “the real beauty of sustainability comes in building

Carly Trainor ’14

By James Leach and Rebecca Costello

Recyclemaniacs: Behavior change is most likely to happen when there are models to follow. Green Raiders are interns who organize activities that educate and promote green living in all student residences.

Competing for green

John Pumilio is at once intense and soft-spoken, driven and collegial, emotional and analytical, practical and philosophical. And everywhere. As Colgate’s director of sustainability, Pumilio employs scientific knowledge, social intelligence, hard work, and an infectious love of nature (birding in particular) in a relentless effort to raise the environmental awareness of students, professors, and staff members. He’d worked as a field biologist before he switched to sustainability. But, when he saw a rare Florida panther die from man-made changes in the environment, he had an epiphany. He dedicated himself to helping us answer the question, “How can we prosper as individuals, organizations, and societies in a way that enhances our quality of life while protecting and restoring our environment?”

scene: Winter 2014

Andrew Daddio

Pied piper of preservation

John Pumilio, Colgate’s director of sustainability

Colgate students are always ready for a challenge, so residence-based competitions have become a way to inspire greener habits — and reduce energy costs. Last fall, eight fraternities and sororities competed in the Broad Street Energy Challenge. The first of its kind on a college campus, it was adapted from a similar challenge sponsored by the central New York region’s development and planning board. The six-week quest to lower energy and water consumption in Greek-letter houses was spearheaded by Green Raiders Kathryn Bacher ’14 and Breanna Giovanniello ’16. In addition to raising awareness, they hoped “to introduce the sustainability chairs to different projects that they might want to continue,” Bacher told the Maroon-News. Each house has a sustainability chair who rallied members in implementing composting and recycling, installing energy-efficient light bulbs and power strips, and becoming aware of water consumption. A post-competition quiz revealed what students had learned, from the concept of phantom power to why eating less meat conserves fossil fuels.

Among the challenge’s “measures of success,” Kappa Kappa Gamma came out at the bottom (a good thing!), reducing their electricity usage by 7 percent and water usage by 13 percent per person from September to October. And, after submitting their experience running the challenge, Bacher and Giovanniello were accepted to next year’s Clinton Global Initiative University conference. Then, for two weeks in November, the “Do it in the Dark” competition helped students in six residence halls learn how to save some watts. An online dashboard let them check out how much energy their halls were consuming in real time — good prep for a similar national competition against other universities this spring.

sensitive area of Chile’s Aysén Region of Patagonia. The project will reintroduce native species to the area and hopefully restore the ecosystem, while at the same time sequestering carbon. The Colgate University Forest is expected to offset approximately 5,000 tons, or about one-third of Colgate’s current carbon footprint, per year. The arrangement also provides a research site for students and professors, and a place to collaborate with other member universities on research as well as sustainability initiatives. The work also creates local jobs and benefits local communities. — John Pumilio

Offices go green

How do you get to zero? In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2019, Colgate must purchase offsets. Even with the best sustainability efforts (see chart on pg. 37; we’ve done better than expected!), individuals and organizations are left with carbon emissions that they can’t do anything about. So the mantra is, reduce what you can, and offest what you can’t. But what exactly are carbon offsets? They’re anything that you do to either remove carbon from the atmosphere or avoid releasing it in the first place. The most common types are renewable energy projects. For example, you can purchase offsets that support the construction of wind turbines. Colgate has begun an innovative practice among colleges and universities: purchasing forestry-based offsets, which have been underappreciated in the market. In 2011, we signed a 15-year commitment with Patagonia Sur, whose founder and CEO is entrepreneur Warren Adams ’88. A total of 225,000 trees will be planted on 430 acres in an ecologically

Did you know?

73 billion Half-liter plastic bottles of water consumed in the U.S. per year

370 Number of times that waste would circle the globe

1.7 billion liters of oil Used to transport/distribute those bottles

450 years Decomposition rate for plastic bottles — Drawn from “Message from a Bottle,” written by Breanna Giovanniello ’16 for blogs.colgate/sustainability. This fall, students signed a pledge to change their water usage habits, including switching from bottled water to reusable containers.

iStock Photo/xactive

Information Technology Services is leading the pack in Colgate’s Green Office certification program. Departments earn points for implementing practices such as office supply swapping, eliminating disposable cups, and turning off office lights while out at meetings. Administrative assistant Denise Bolognone spearheaded IT’s sustainability practices, reducing their environmental impact and, she reported, saving money for her department. One change Bolognone made also benefits student entrepreneurs. She contracted with EcoCampus LLC for printer paper that is made from sugar cane parts that were previously treated as waste. Ryan Smith ’13 and Brendan Karson ’13 developed EcoCampus with guidance from alumni mentors in Colgate’s Thought Into Action program. The company is still student owned: Smith and Karson sold it to their Theta Chi fraternity brothers Robert Nicholas ’14, John Gabler ’14, Cameron Borriello ’14, and Michael Hendricks ’14. “I have worked very hard and closely with my department members on recycling and putting in an effort,” said Bolognone. “That is all I ask!”

Beyond Colgate Energy from human waste? I spent this past summer in Kenya working with Sanergy, a social enterprise that provides sanitation facilities in a slum and collects human waste from them daily. Sanergy uses the “humanure” to create fertilizer through composting and biogas through anaerobic digestion. I know — it sounds gross. But the truth is, not only does this process keep waste out of the sewer system and off the streets of the slum, but it also generates a profitable product and a renewable source of energy. What’s not to love? Back at school, a group of us from the sustainability office visited Madison County’s recycling center and saw the renewable energy initiatives underway there. While plans to put solar panels on top of the landfill are exciting, the methane extraction program, which turns gas from decomposing landfill waste into energy, was amazing! Large pipes divert methane from the landfill to a combustion machine, where the gas is converted into electricity. It’s used to run parts of the recycling plant, with the excess being sold back to the grid. Besides sequestering methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, this process provides a constant and renewable energy source that doesn’t involve the combustion of fossil fuels, and generates revenue for the recycling center. There’s also a pilot program to turn hard plastics into fuel. Madison County is setting the bar high for the future of trash disposal and recycling. — Sale Rhodes ’16, Green Raider Prepping for an environmental career As a communications intern for Environment America in Washington, D.C., last summer, Sara Reese ’16 worked to gain media attention about issues like global warming, protecting national parks, and clean energy and to build relationships with reporters, advocacy groups, and decision makers. She wrote about it on the summer internship blog at colgate.edu. “One of the most rewarding moments was being able to attend President Obama’s climate change speech in late June. Most of my work in May and June was targeted at the president, asking him to act on climate change,” she wrote. “Not only has this internship exposed me to the interaction between advocacy, the environment, and politics, but it has also taught me the toughness, hard work, and passion needed in the environmental field.” Student interest in green jobs is growing, so Colgate regularly taps alumni working in environmental sustainability fields for its career exploration programs. For example, participants in this year’s SophoMORE Connections event in January ranged from Richard Tisch ’70, an attorney specializing in environmental compliance, to Steve Bosak ’90, executive director of the Society for Ecological Restoration, to Stephen Dickinson ’13, Colgate’s own sustainability program assistant, among others. (Bosak, by the way, administers the Colgate Sustainability Group on LinkedIn, which welcomes alumni and students.)

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

Going green: the academic factor In 2011, Colgate received a Second Nature Climate Leadership Award from the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. And the Sierra Club named Colgate the 37th-greenest college in the nation in its 2013 “Coolest Schools” list. The ranking was based on a tracking assessment and report to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Dozens of people on campus participated in the survey, which was led by geography professor Jessica Graybill and the Sustainability Council. “This assessment will receive attention from the media, the public — and, most importantly, the younger generation,” she said. As student groups, the council, and campus departments push for and implement environmentally friendly measures, and the faculty works to infuse sustainability into the curriculum in new ways, students in environmental studies classes regularly take on research projects that help bring about real change on campus. Their work helps Colgate develop programs, initiatives, and practices that are at once environmentally, socially, and economically viable. A few examples:

“How Green are Colgate’s Dining Halls?”

Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies with Professor Robert Turner

For her senior seminar (ECON 428 Environmental and Resource Economics with Professor Michael O’Hara), economics major Olivia Kuby ’12 undertook a study of dining services practices on campus that created a baseline for measuring progress. One finding: 20 percent of campus food and beverage purchases are grown and processed within 250 miles of campus. The new goal: increasing local food to 30 percent by 2015.

Janna Minehart ’13

Community Garden

Celebrating the harvest at the Colgate Community Garden

Cherry tomatoes and daikon radishes were just some of the vegetables made accessible to students when the Colgate Community Garden opened a farm stand in the Coop this fall (Gate Card accepted). Created in 2010, the garden originated from a feasibility study by Megan Cronin ’10, Teddi Hofmann ’10, Maria Kryachko ’10, and Kate Pavelich ’10 (students in Professor Robert Turner’s ENST 480: Interdisciplinary Investigations into the Environment) and members of the Class of 2012. With sweat equity provided by sustainability interns, the student group Green Thumbs, and others, the garden also supplies Frank Dining Hall, Hieber Café, and other campus locations — part of efforts to buy local. Proceeds go back into the garden, and excess produce is donated to the Hamilton Food Cupboard. Although the garden suffered a setback with the major flooding that hit upstate New York in June, the interns quickly refocused their efforts, and managed to eke out a harvest for fall 2013.

Tommy Brown ’79

Trayless dining

Frank Dining Hall, home of trayless dining and a growing percentage of locally sourced food

scene: Winter 2014

Used to be, students eating in Frank Dining Hall could be seen wending their way to tables, balancing trays laden with multiple plates, bowls, and glasses — way more food than they could possibly eat in a single meal. Not only was food being wasted. Consider the hot water, electricity, and detergent used to wash the trays and dishes, as well as the staff time. Students in Professor Frank Frey’s ENST 390: Community-Based Study of Environmental Issues investigated the costs and benefits of a new strategy: removing trays from the equation. The study by Claire Burgett ’12, Adam Costello ’11, Nicole Dennis ’11, Alex Felicetti ’11, Jamie Horgan ’12, and Katherine Johnescu ’12 showed that a large percentage of students would support the move. They presented their findings to campus officials, and Sodexho, Colgate’s food service provider, soon implemented the change. “Colgate plays a role in shaping the opinions and choices of its students, who in turn shape the institution,” the students wrote. “Implementing trayless dining influences more than just the raw numbers . . . It will also influence student, parent, faculty, and staff attitudes towards sustainable dining.” And the trays? Aside from saving a batch for a traditional sledding party this winter, the trays were sent to Colgate’s salvage sale. Craig Blanchard, salvage operations coordinator, reported that they were snatched up in small batches by folks looking to repurpose them, for craft projects and the like.

Thinking, living, and teaching sustainably Ian Helfant embodies the idea of how interest in sustainability is growing, crossing disciplines, and melding with the curriculum. A Russian professor at Colgate since 1998, Helfant teaches courses in Russian language, literature, and culture as well as environmental studies and has twice led Colgate students on study groups to Moscow. He is also a climber, hiker, runner, and photographer — and an evolving hunter/ gatherer — with a well-developed concern for conservation and the use of natural resources. Soon after he arrived on campus, he met others who shared that interest. Eventually, with five colleagues from the faculty and administration, he helped to found Colgate’s Environmental Council (since renamed the Sustainability Council) in fall 2005. He served as chair of the council, which was charged with thinking and planning strategically about sustainability, for its first five years. In a journal article about the council’s early years, Helfant wrote that, for all they achieved, “experience showed us the limits of what an institution can accomplish without a full-time sustainability coordinator.” He described as the council’s “crowning achievement” the approval and hiring of a coordinator. He called the fruit of their search, John Pumilio, “superbly qualified.” “Now that we have John in place and successful programs, the interesting thing to me is thinking about curriculum,” Helfant said. “One of our goals as an institution is to encourage and inculcate a sustainability ethic in our students, who will go on and be so influential. I’ve shifted in that direction myself.” With colleagues Robert Turner (economics) and Beth Parks (physics), Helfant taught the ENST seminar in 2008 that led to planting 60,000 willow

shoots on land near campus — an experiment in growing biomass (renewable fuel) for the university’s wood-fired boiler. Four students in the seminar researched the project, which was supported by a grant from the Colgate Sustainability Fund, the 2008 Class Gift. This semester, Helfant is debuting a course titled Hunting, Eating, and Vegetarianism, which is slated to become one of the university’s new Sophomore Residential Seminars next year. In films, extensive readings, and discussion — and a field trip to Texas hill country — the class will “explore ways in which humanistic perspectives can be brought to bear on these fundamentally important issues,” he said. Helfant explained that the course “reflects my progression over 15 years at Colgate from someone with no experience hunting, to a hunter who provides most of his own meat.” A self-taught bow hunter, he also processes the deer that are the primary source of meat for his family, whose diet is long on fruits, vegetables, and grains. He has also begun to keep bees and tap his own maple trees, resulting this year in 150 pounds of honey and six gallons of maple syrup. In yet another example of his evolution, Helfant’s scholarship is trending toward the emerging interdisciplinary field of ecocriticism — the study of the relationship between literature and the environment. His current book project focuses on the way that 19th-century Russians regarded wolves. Like his new hunting and eating course, Helfant said, the book “will employ an ecocritic’s use of humanistic perspectives to look at man’s relationship to nature.” As he considers new ways Colgate will incorporate sustainability across the curriculum, which is explicitly addressed in the university’s strategic planning, Helfant said: “The more our students are aware of these issues, the better off we all will be.”

CONSERVATION AND SAVINGS RESULTS 2009-2012

FUEL OIL

ELECTRICITY

1.2 million kWh

3.4 million gallons

LANDFILL WASTE

PAPER USAGE

FINANCIAL SAVINGS

200,000 gallons

60 tons

WATER

2.6 million sheets

$500,000

CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION 17,353 tons

ORIGINAL GOAL

15,333 tons

12%

2009 BASELINE

ACTUAL

13,817 tons

20%

2012

David Foster

The Environmental Studies (ENST) Program offers five interdisciplinary majors; students take a common core of courses and then develop analytical depth in a particular emphasis, in biology, economics, geography, geology, or environmental studies. A sampling of ENST courses and their professors, 2013–2014: Environmental Ethics, Jason Kawall (philosophy, ENST) Environmental Security, Marcus Edino (geography) Community-Based Study of Environmental Issues, Catherine Cardelus (biology) Global Environmental Justice, April Baptiste (ENST) Nature, Technology, and the Human Prospect, Paul Pinet (geology, ENST) Renewable Energy, Beth Parks (physics) Weather and Climate, Adam Burnett (geography)

There’s a new gown in town: Sarah Cochran ’14, Carly Keller ’13, and Sarah Vondracek ’13 took on sustainable practices at campus events by focusing on one of Colgate’s biggest. Their feasibility study toward a zero-waste commencement (for ENST 390: Community-Based Study of Environmental Issues) resulted in changes coming for Commencement 2014 — including a switch to graduation gowns made from recycled plastic bottles. Andrew Daddio

Environmental Studies at Colgate

News and views for the Colgate community

Reducing Colgate’s Carbon Footprint In January 2009, Colgate joined the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment initiative. The pledge included completing a baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventory, short-term action steps, incorporating “sustainability” into the curriculum, and creating a “Climate Action Plan” with measurable goals, including a target date for reaching climate neutrality. In true Colgate spirit, students, staff, and faculty have applied their ingenuity, knowledge, and dedication, surpassing the initial goals thus far. This map shows just a sampling of the myriad efforts making Colgate a greener campus — and impacting the bottom line.

Sanford Field House

RESOURCE CONSERVATION & ENERGY LOW-FLOW SHOWERHEADS 107 installed in first-year residences in 2011 Saves: 1 gallon per minute each 3.4 million gallons per year — plus the energy to heat

Tyler’s Field

455 more installed since then Expected total savings: 9 million gallons/year — enough to fill Lineberry Natatorium 18 times!

PAPER CONSUMPTION 2009

12,340,000 sheets

2012

9,994,000 sheets

Trudy Fitness Center

Reduction: 2.4 million sheets (19%) — that’s 7 times the height of Colgate Memorial Chapel! LIGHTING Replacing high-pressure sodium with T-5 linear fluorescents = removing a thousand 100-watt incandescent bulbs

Heating Plant

Annual energy savings: $30,300 Side benefits: Better light quality might compensate for your tennis swing! AIR SAFETY FUME HOODS Replacement of 112 units in science buildings 20-30% reduction in energy usage (electricity and heat) per building

WASTE TRAYLESS DINING Eliminated 2,000 trays used daily

GREEN BUILDING/LEED CERTIFICATION Trudy Fitness Center (opened January 2011) LEED Gold certified 2012 Uses 20% less energy, 30% less water than traditional buildings Lathrop Hall (renovated 2012–13)

20-30% less food waste Estimated annual energy, water, and food savings: more than $100,000 Side benefits: right-sized portions help avoid the “freshman 15” — and a recycled tray sledding party is in the works!

LEED Silver Certification application pending COMPOSTING ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION

• Colgate Cruiser (EPA-approved low-emission diesel engines)

Information graphics by David Foster

scene: Winter 2014

• 2 Zipcars for rental • 30 Green Bikes for rental • Additional bike racks encourage cycling • Hybrid and electric vehicles in campus fleet • Purpool online carpooling program • 2 electric vehicle charging stations

3,000 lbs. per week from Frank Dining Hall and Greek-letter houses along Broad Street Managed and processed on campus by the student Composting Club RECYCLING RATE 2009 15%

2012 24%

FOREST MANAGEMENT LOCAL FOREST SEQUESTRATION

Greek-letter houses

1,059 acres of tree farm certified forest in and around campus contain 165,491 tons of CO2 and absorb 1,535 tons of CO2 annually. Leading the way in incorporating forest management into sustainability practices, Colgate presented its findings at the 2013 national Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education conference.

Lally Lane Reid Athletic Center

Creative Arts House Little Hall J.C. Colgate Student Union

Case-Geyer Library

Cutten Complex

Lawrence Hall Dana Arts Center

Olin Hall

Persson Hall Lathrop Hall

Bryan Complex Huntington Gymnasium

Ho Science Center Drake Hall Wynn Hall

Curtis Stillman Frank Dining Hall

Andrews

Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor Campus Center (Coop) COLGATE UNIVERSITY FOREST

West

Patagonia Sur Nature Reserve, Palena province, Chile

East

225,000 native trees on 428 acres Yields: 5,000 tons of forestry-based annual carbon offsets for 15 years Co-benefit: a place for students and professors to conduct research

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS E-WASTE RECYCLING STATIONS

SOLAR PANELS

16 locations help keep batteries and hazardous electronics out of landfills

Provide domestic hot water

20,000 lbs per year collected (computers, monitors, TVs, phones, iPods, cables, batteries, calculators, etc.)

Projected to eliminate: 900 gallons of fuel oil/year 18,000 lbs carbon emissions

LANDFILL WASTE

WILLOW BIOMASS PILOT PROJECT

2008

56 lbs (per person)

8-acre field 1 mile from campus

2012

44 lbs (per person)

Reduced: 174 tons total

Test plot for self-supply to Colgateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wood-fired boiler (installed more than three decades ago), which meets 75 percent of campus heat and hot water needs.

Saved: $11,484 in landfill fees

Expected yield: 900 dry tons during a 20-year period

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Winter 2014

Andrew Daddio

News and views for the Colgate community

2014 Alumni Council Election The Nominations Committee of the Alumni Council has selected the following slate of alumni for election at Reunion 2014. 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, are posted at colgate.edu/ 2014candidates. Paper copies are available by calling 315-228-7433, or by sending an e-mail to alumni@colgate.edu. Era I: James Aston ’57 Era II: Andrew Roffe ’68 Era III: Claudia Stephan Braden ’80 Era IV: Carmine DiSibio ’85 Era V: Craig Dana Jr. ’91 Era VI: Brian Suiter ’00 Era VII: Taylor Buonocore ’08 At Large: Sean Devlin ’05 At Large: Denniston Reid ’94 RVP Far West: Christian Teeter ’95 RVP Southeast: Lesley McNamara ’01 RVP Southwest/International: Ashley Kepping ’07

The Office of Alumni Relations is pleased to offer many ways for alumni to stay in touch with each other, and with Colgate! E-mail me with questions or concerns at tmansfield@colgate.edu. — Tim Mansfield, associate vice president, institutional advancement; director of alumni relations Questions? Contact alumni relations: 315-228-7433

is “rewarding and a great way to teach young people,” he said. David Fialkow ’81, P’17, principal, partner, and co-founder of General Catalyst Partners, noted that “success in the tech economy requires creative thinking and the ability to overcome obstacles.” Conversation covered the ubiquity of mobile, threats and opportunities Jason Rand ’07, a mid-market sales account manager at for higher education, the Twitter, joined other social networking “tweeple” at the socioeconomic implicalaunch of Colgate’s Digital Media and Technology profestions of global technology, sional network in November. and the need for Colgate, plications from prospective Colgate through internships and students, and the California continother professional means, to expose gent of alumni and parents is growing. its students to the West Coast culture Today, approximately 2,500 alumni of “try and fail.” live there, with more than 1,200 in the Last year, California became the San Francisco club alone. “We want to third-most popular state for ap-

scene: Winter 2014

Colgate launches Digital Media and Technology network Colgate booted up its Digital Media and Technology professional network on November 14 during a launch event at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif. More than 150 alumni and parents converged on the Silicon Valley landmark to hear from a panel of tech entrepreneurs, moderated by President Jeffrey Herbst. Bharat Mediratta ’92, distinguished software engineer at Google, ribbed Michael Sippey ’90, vice president of product and design at Twitter, about the length of his commentary on the massive transformation to mobile in developing markets (“That was more than 140 characters!”). Later, in response to a question about what technology areas might be unimportant a decade from now, Sippey retaliated with “The whole search thing!” Julian Farrior ’93, founder and CEO of Backflip Studios, which he recently sold to Hasbro, offered to “take the conversation up a level” — to gaming. Working in the gaming industry today

Colgate University mobile alumni directory Finding fellow alumni is a snapp when you download the new Colgate University mobile alumni directory from the iTunes store or Google Play. Securely network and connect with alumni through a robust directory that integrates with LinkedIn and features maps, photos, and more.

Details

Ratings and Reviews

Here’s what your classmates are saying: So Handy! Bart Hale '04 - December 12, 2013

Even beyond networking, when it came time to send holiday cards to Colgate friends this year, it became so much easier to track down their addresses.

New Connections! Gaurav Ragtah '13 - November 8, 2013

The alumni app is amazing!! I found a Colgate alumna who lives in the same building in my apartment complex. We connected on LinkedIn, and we plan to get lunch.

Charles Barry

stay connected

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

build a bridge from Colgate to here,” Herbst told the audience. To watch a video from the event, visit youtube.com/cuatchannel13. If you work in the digital media and technology industry and your employment information is current with Colgate, you’re already a member of the network. To confirm membership — or to request it — visit your profile in the online alumni directory at colgate.edu/

profile, click Edit My Account, then select the Professional Networks tab. Or, call 315-228-7433. A winter break well spent When they’re not in class, a record number of Colgate students are working with career services to plan a path to employment after graduation. During this year’s winter break, nearly 300 second-year students met

with alumni and parents on campus during SophoMORE Connections. Hundreds of alumni volunteered to host a student in the workplace for the Day in the Life job-shadowing program. Two of the university’s professional networks — the Colgate Entertainment Group and the Real Estate Network — offered immersion programs in New York City, and career services continued its traditional Seniors in the

City event, which facilitated networking opportunities between graduates and students heading into their final semester in Hamilton. Many thanks to all of our volunteers for their time and mentorship. For more information on ways you can network with students, provide internships, and engage in other volunteer activities, visit colgate.edu/ careerservices.

Alumni Clubs and Groups

Duy Trinh ’14

Shaping Your Vision Beyond the football, fireworks, and bonfire of homecoming weekend, many alumni returning to campus also helped with networking events, including an improved and expanded Shaping Your Vision career workshop. The workshop is an opportunity for students to establish career connections with alumni visiting campus from all walks of life. It was the result of collaboration between alumni relations, career services, the Alumni of Color organization, and the ALANA Cultural Center.

Tahshann Richards ’99, an attending physician at Union Community Health Center (NYC), was among the alumni who gave career advice to students.

Alumni with career experience in communications, health care, nonprofits, real estate, education, and business services held a special “speed information” session for students. Students could also talk with Colgate’s alumni employees and with graduates who are now earning advanced degrees. Vonzelle Johnson ’07, DeLand city commissioner and chair of the Volusia County Democratic Executive Committee in Florida, delivered the keynote speech. He spoke of the formative experience he had at Colgate, and how the relationships he developed here helped him make decisions about his future. The event provided students helpful tips and information about networking and staying connected. “Alumni have been crucial, from events like these to just running into someone wearing a Colgate hoodie,” said Andrea Finley ’13, who works for Colgate’s Office of Residential Life. “Our relationships with alumni are essential to our relationship with the institution as a whole.” — Marilyn Hernandez-Stopp ’14

Manhattan film screening redefines “board room” More than 30 alumni, parents, and friends from the Club of New York City surged into Manhattan’s Cramer-Krasselt ad agency last September when Rob Sobelman ’08 hosted a screening of When the Waves Call. The documentary by Alex Agnant ’06 — which won the 2013 Best Short Film award in the Lake Michigan Film Competition — follows three Wisconsin surfers who are searching for a perfect ride on Midwestern waters. After the show, the audience engaged Agnant and fellow filmmaker Joe Ward in a Q&A session on the movie and their professional plans.

Get on your bikes and ride As a veteran lacrosse player, John Donnally ’12 knows the value of warming up. Before he set out on a 4,000mile cross-country bike ride to raise awareness for Lyme disease, he joined members of the Club of Central New York for a trek through Chittenango on September 14. Former Raider lacrosse players and other alumni cycled with Donnally, who contracted Lyme disease as a child and has battled its symptoms ever since. Visit colgate.edu/donnallyride to find out more about his cross-country ride, which came to an end in Baltimore, Md., on December 7.

A shout-out to Texas from Professor Carrie Keating I recently returned from a Texas swing, where I gave talks, met new people, and reconnected with alumni in the Club of Dallas. My hosts were wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. A shout-out is well deserved for the amazing Dr. James Campbell Quick ’68, the University of Texas at Arlington’s 2013 Goolsby Leadership Academy Visiting Scholar and my host. Jim, also a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, marched me through my paces: The UT audience for my talk on leadership was more than 500, and I spoke with a steady stream of interesting and talented people during the three-day tour. Just when I thought that the colonel had eased the pace, we set off for a night with the Dallas alumni group, hosted by Robert Johnson ’94. I remember Robert, the student, quite well; he was the independent type who talked me into supervising a psychology thesis combining Jung, a color wheel, and multiple personal-

ity questionnaires (long story). He also had a quirky habit of delivering required papers at the last minute directly to my house — typically during snowstorms. Perhaps this is why he now lives in Texas. At a classy clubhouse in Dallas, Robert and his wife, club co-president Kelly Lehmann Johnson ’94, had gathered 40 or so alumni to hear my talk on “The Invention of Lying.” I described research done at Colgate on liars, good and bad, that had aired on NBC’s Dateline. Audience member Vinny DelCid ’00 knew all about it: The night the show aired, his brother rang at 2 a.m. from Afghanistan to tell Vinny he was on TV! I thank Vinny again for participating as an experimental subject! Over the course of three days, I learned about the varied pathways Dallas alumni have taken post-Colgate. For me, mirrored in the eyes of the alumni were my current students, and I felt privileged to bring back to Colgate a glimpse of their future spirit and success. Thank you, Texas!

News and views for the Colgate community

salmagundi

Assembly Halls To build the answers here, first try to identify as many words and phrases as you can from the clues given. Each string of letters in the boxes below can become one of those answers when you insert the letters in the name of one of the Colgate halls shown here. The letters will be inserted in order, but not all in one place. For example, the string of letters ASADMEAS can become â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ways and Meansâ&#x20AC;? by inserting the letters in WYNN. Each hall will be used once. See solution on pg. 73.

7HAT A 2AIDER CROSSES TO GET A TOUCHDOWN

3MALL MILITARY WEAPONS FOR Â˝ELD USE

4HE MOST COMMON KIND OF 2EYNOLDS 7RAP

/RCHESTRA SECTION THAT INCLUDES DRUMS AND CYMBALS

7EALTHY PERSON WHO DONATES LOTS OF MONEY AND PROPERTY

3OMEONE WHO IS A DANGER TO THE SAFETY OF A COUNTRY OR ORGANIZATION

WWW COLGATE EDU FOR ONE

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Then & now Dining at Colgate â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from pre-made meals (1960s, pictured left) to made-to-order cuisine at various serving stations.

scene: Winter 2014

Rewind Ever wonder how the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alma Materâ&#x20AC;? came about? The 21st Century Colgate Song Book, published in November, sheds some light on â&#x20AC;&#x153;that old song of yore.â&#x20AC;? In the early 1900s, Colgate University needed a new song to accompany its new name (having switched from Madison University in 1890). The school and town organized a competition, open to all comers, to create an official alma mater. The prizewinner was Lindol E. French, Class of 1902, who, among other roles, served as class poet. He set his lyrics to a popular ballad he liked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Juanita,â&#x20AC;? in 1904. But, according to Howard Williamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A History of Colgate University, French â&#x20AC;&#x153;knew nothing of their enthusiastic acceptance until he discovered at a football game some time later [that] the students were singing them as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Alma Mater.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? The lyrics have subsequently been changed slightly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; twice. The author ultimately decided that â&#x20AC;&#x153;gushesâ&#x20AC;? in the second verse should change to â&#x20AC;&#x153;lingers,â&#x20AC;? so the phrase would read: â&#x20AC;&#x153;that the memâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ry lingers oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;er.â&#x20AC;? The university agreed and the change was made official. Then, in the 1970s, when Colgate became coeducational, the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;onesâ&#x20AC;? replaced â&#x20AC;&#x153;sonsâ&#x20AC;? in the line â&#x20AC;&#x153;yearly roam thy loving ones.â&#x20AC;? Colgate, Alma Mater, fairest theme of all our lays! Colgate, Alma Mater, ever blest thy days. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your fondest memory of singing the Alma Mater? Share it at facebook.com/ colgateuniversity.

Above: Heads up! A snowboarder finds a new way to make it to class on time. What were your favorite winter activities at Colgate? Visit facebook.com/colgateuniversity and share! Back cover: In the peace of melting snow, Adam and Eve glide on Taylor Lake. Both photos by Andrew Daddio

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Colgate University 13 Oak Drive Hamilton, NY 13346-1398

colgate

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