spring 2017 VOLUME 9 4
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DICKINSON MAGAZINE SPRING 2017 VOLUME 94 NUMBER 4
Published by the Division of Enrollment, Marketing & Communications Publisher and Vice President Stefanie D. Niles Executive Director of Marketing & Communications Connie McNamara Editor Lauren Davidson College Photographer Carl Socolow ’77 Design Amanda DeLorenzo Printer Intelligencer Contributing Writers MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson Matt Getty Katya Hrichak ’17 Tony Moore Magazine Advisory Board Jim Gerencser ’93 Donna Hughes Patricia van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy Gregory Lockard ’03 David Richeson Adrienne Su Kirk Swenson Alisa Valudes Whyte ’93 Website www.dickinson.edu/magazine Email Address dsonmag@dickinson.edu Telephone 717-245-1289 Facebook www.facebook.com/DickinsonMagazine © Dickinson College 2017. Dickinson Magazine (USPS Permit No. 19568, ISSN 2719134) is published four times a year, in January, April, July and October, by Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA 17013-1773. Periodicals postage paid at Carlisle, PA, and additional mailing office.
[ contents ] 18 Boots on the Ground After moving up the ranks and around the world in an impressive marketing career, Steve Smith ’92 returns to Maine as the fourth president and CEO of L.L.Bean. 22 The Pride Pages Meet a handful of the Dickinsonians—military leaders, educators, industry voices, foodies—who are shining examples of what makes us #dsonproud and who are quick to express their own sense of pride in what it means to be Dickinsonians. 34 Extending the Connection An extensive legacy links one family through more than just a shared alma mater.
Printed with soy-based inks. Please recycle after reading.
PRINTED USING
Address changes may be sent to Dickinson Magazine, Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896.
ON THE COVER
CEO of L.L.Bean Steve Smith ’92 at the company's flagship store in Maine. Photo by Alan Boutot.
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18 34
UP FRONT
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Dickinson matters
3
your view
4
college & west high
6
kudos
8
fine print
14
in the game
IN BACK
36
beyond the limestone walls
38
our Dickinson
54 obituaries 56
closing thoughts
[ Dickinson matters ] On challenges and opportunities NEIL B. WEISSMAN, INTERIM PRESIDENT
W
e are constantly looking at the challenges and opportunities facing the college. That is especially true this semester. As part of the normal higher education accreditation cycle, Dickinson is due to provide the Middle States Association with a Periodic Review Report (PRR) on progress over the past five years. The PRR will include much data and will describe how we meet Middle States standards, particularly around assessment. It also must have a section specifically designated as the “challenges and opportunities” facing the college. We are still drafting the report, but some key points for that section are clear. Most obviously, we share with the rest of higher education the interrelated challenges of controlling cost and maintaining access. The parallel phenomena of rising tuition and increasing demand for financial aid embody both. For us, shifting demographics in the Northeast—fewer high-school graduates and more students from populations underrepresented at liberal-arts colleges—intensify the challenges. Dickinson is responding in multiple ways, most notably through zero-based budgeting to monitor costs, building reserves against rainy days, and expanding financial aid. There is opportunity here, though, as well as challenge. We are widening Dickinson’s enrollment outreach to new geographic areas beyond the traditional Maineto-Virginia corridor, and we are intensifying our advancement efforts. We deeply appreciate current support through volunteer work and giving. Yet we also know many alumni and parents with low affinity for the college who could become active supporters.
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The recent change of Dickinson’s S&P rating from A+ “stable outlook” to a rare in higher education A+ “positive” should reassure all that the college is a strong investment. Bringing coherence to students’ educational experience represents a further challenge/opportunity. Dickinson offers an extraordinary range of different avenues for learning and engagement. Indeed, we continue to build more opportunities, as exemplified by our current Mellon Foundation-funded initiative on civic engagement. At the same time, we are working to provide students with an overarching framework for their educational experience. I refer to the Dickinson Four. Each year students are presented with a broad task—from “making Dickinson yours” in the first year to “expanding your story” as a senior—to guide their activities. The dual goal is better planning of and deeper reflection on pathways through college and beyond graduation to career and community. One key goal both for recruitment and for the student experience at Dickinson is inclusivity. At the time of our 2000 strategic plan, the college’s catchphrase for our aspirations was “Reflecting America, Engaging the World.” Although that formulation has evolved, the double commitment implicit in the original continues. We remain determined to bring to Dickinson students both from underrepresented domestic groups and from across the globe. And we aim to ensure that our community benefits from and enriches all its members. This is a complex challenge. It demands providing access to diverse applicants in admissions, opening avenues for all students to engage fully while here, and preparing graduates with skills and perspectives to thrive as alumni. Here, too, we embrace the challenge as an opportunity to improve Dickinson. Our PRR will, I am certain, address our nation’s roiled politics. Emotions run strong. Many of Dickinson’s fundamental concepts, including community and the search for truth, are in question. Not just challenge or opportunity but Dickinson’s very mission of educating citizens compels us to address these issues. Where better to engender dialogue than at a liberal-arts college? Especially one with Dickinson’s culture of civility. There are many other challenges/opportunities to address in the PRR. I will close with a final task that we have well in hand—presidential transition. The appointment of Margee Ensign as Dickinson’s 29th president (see Page 4) brings to us a courageous, visionary leader who will summon forth the best that is in our community. She will challenge us boldly, and therein lies our opportunity.
[ your view ] “40 for 40” I greatly enjoyed your article on the “greatest football game ever played” and was particularly interested in learning of Jack Maley’s role in the game. Jack [’79] worked for me for a while at Sports Illustrated back in the early ’80s. I knew he was a Dickinson graduate and that my daughter Wendy ’82 had known him. I served as a trustee of the college for 10 years and have been very impressed with the way the school has progressed over the past few years. HARRY RUBICAM P’82
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.
Hats off to the 1976 football team on their 40-year reunion celebration of their great 17-6 upset victory over Widener University, which was highlighted in the article as the "greatest football game ever played" because that victory was so surprising (Winter 2017, Page 30). In the '50s we couldn't beat them as well, when Widener was called PMC (Penn Military College). However, looking back to the 1930s, Dickinson's "greatest football game ever" had to be its 10-6 upset victory in 1931 at Penn State. Adding to the sweetness of that upset victory for all Dickinsonians was that a team member in that game was everyone's beloved "Mr. Dickinson," Ben James ’34. DON ALLEGRETTO '56
AVONDALE, PA
Calling All Thrill-Seekers! Extreme sports and races are growing in popularity and availability, and if you’ve been involved, we want to hear from you! If you’ve completed an Iron Man or Tough Mudder, dominated a decathlon, triathlon or ultramarathon, hiked the Appalachian Trail or Mount Everest, email dsonmag@dickinson.edu.
A Noticeable Change
A Life Remembered
I have, several times over the past several years, sent an email message with high compliments to the design firm responsible for the exquisite, tasteful, engaging and inviting appearance of the magazine. When I thumbed through the pages of this recent issue, I felt that something had changed. I recognized several of the conventions that have made past issues so enjoyable, but I got the feeling that someone else had taken over. To be specific, this issue is too full, too “loud,” too busy (not enough white space). The back cover, which, over the years has taken on an iconic look, has lost some of the upbeat, fun appearance it has had in the past, which had been primarily due to the great contrasts among sensitively selected typefaces. In this one, although again, there’s a little bit of the previous spirit, there’s too little of the contrasts that have made the back cover so enjoyable.
I was so sad to read of the passing of Velva Lebo (Winter 2017, Page 55). She hired me in my sophomore year, and then I served as a student evening supervisor of the library. Mrs. Lebo always greeted the students with a smile and was always happy to help with any questions. She was certainly one of the nicest persons on campus during my four years and she will be missed. My condolences go out to her family and friends.
JOHN LANGDON ’68
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF.
SCOTT SAMANSKY ’83
SPRINGFIELD, N.J.
We want to hear from you! Send letters via email to dsonmag@dickinson.edu or mail to: Dickinson Magazine, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-1773. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
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Dickinson Selects New President Joe O’Neill
Internationally recognized scholar and leader Margee Ensign named college’s 29th president
“[She] embodies Dickinson’s mission to educate citizen leaders, and she is the right person at the right time to move Dickinson forward.”
Carl Socolow ’77
—Jennifer Ward Reynolds ’77, chair of the Board of Trustees
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Dickinson has named Margee Ensign, a pioneering leader in global higher education and an internationally recognized scholar, to be its 29th president. The decision, coming after a 10-month international search led by a committee of alumni, faculty, administrators and students, was announced Monday, Feb. 27, generating much excitement in the Dickinson community. “Dr. Ensign is a visionary leader with extensive experience as a higher education pioneer and a scholar,” said Board of Trustees Chair Jennifer Ward Reynolds ’77, who made the announcement. “[She] embodies Dickinson’s mission to educate citizen leaders, and she is the right person at the right time to move Dickinson forward.” Ensign most recently served as president of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), where she collaborated with numerous constituencies to develop a strategic plan for Africa’s first development university. In an area often under martial law, she raised $160 million to build sustainable infrastructure and increase scholarship funding; launched new programs, including a graduate and a law school; established study-abroad opportunities in 22 countries; built the finest digital library on the continent; and, while threated by the Boko Haram uprising, forged university-wide links with the local community and state to foster economic development, education and peace. Prior to AUN, Ensign served as a dean of the School of International Studies and as associate provost at the University of the Pacific in California. She also has held teaching and
administrative positions at Columbia and Tulane universities. The author of several books, including Rwanda: History and Hope and Doing Good or Doing Well: Japan’s Foreign Aid Program, Ensign earned her B.A. from New College of Florida and her Ph.D. in international political economy from the University of Maryland. A day after the announcement, following a whirlwind campus tour, Ensign met with members of the Dickinson community during a brief oncampus reception. “It’s really a privilege to be your new president,” Ensign told the enthusiastic crowd of roughly 200 Dickinsonians who gathered to welcome her. “Dickinson stands for the things that are so important in the world today … global education, sustainability, searching for truth, teaching our students not what to think, but how to think. You’ve got a tremendous faculty here who’ve been doing, and will continue to do, amazing work—I’m going to push you to do more. We’re going to be known as the place that is solving the problems not just in the U.S. but those big ones that we all face around the world.” Ensign will formally begin her presidency at Dickinson on July 1. Additional information about Ensign’s inauguration and opportunities to meet the new president will be announced during the coming months. Read more about Ensign and see photos and videos at Dickinson.edu/ensign.
Alumni Weekend 2017
is June 9-11. We know you’re already planning to be there. But in case you’re on the fence, we thought we’d share some big news. Our list of distinguished alumni and volunteer award winners is a doozy. They’re kind of a big deal. So come celebrate with them, and your classmates, and your favorite professors and your old coach—you get the idea. Come celebrate with us!
Distinguished Alumni Awards •
The Walter E. Beach Distinguished Alumni Award for Service: Jennifer Ward Reynolds ’77
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Professional Achievement Award: Tony Mestres ’92, president and CEO of the Seattle Foundation, and Young Park ’87, president and CEO of GeneOne Life Science Inc.
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Outstanding Young Alumni Award: Noorjahan Akbar ’14, Free Women Writers
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The 1783 Award: Delta Nu Alumnae Board
Volunteer Awards •
Admissions Alumni Volunteer of the Year: George Grassel ’74
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Admissions Parent Volunteer of the Year: Allison Matlack P’16, P’19
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Career Champion of the Year: Mike Northridge ’81
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Class Correspondent of the Year: Kirsten Nixa Sabia ’92
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Outstanding Devil’s Advocate: Joe Carver ’59
Registration and additional details at Dickinson.edu/alumniweekend.
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Kudos
[ college & west high ] Publications
“A Qualitative Study of the Context of Child and Adolescent Substance Use Initiation and Patterns of Use in the First Year for Early and Later Initiators” co-authored by Sharon Kingston, associate professor of psychology, was published in PLoS ONE 12.1 (2017), a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Professor of Mathematics Lorelei Koss and Katie Roy ’15 published “Dynamics of vertical real rhombic Weierstrass elliptic functions” in Involve 10:3 (2017). Koss also published “Differential equations in music and dance” in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. This is the second paper in a series that connects ideas from differential equations to relevant and interesting material from the arts and humanities. Neil Leary, director of the Center for Sustainability Education, published “Why the U.S. Should Stay in the Paris Climate Agreement,” “What a Trump Presidency Means for Fighting Climate Change,” “5 Things to Do about Climate Change, Just in Time for the New Year” and “What Should We Be Doing to Actually Increase Our Security?” in The Huffington Post.
Associate Professor of Biology Scott Boback’s research regarding a Burmese python found in Florida with three deer in its belly was published in several national outlets: IFL Science, Vox.com, Live Science and National Geographic.
Associate Professor of Philosophy Crispin Sartwell published “The Wax Presidency Wanes as a Human Comes to the White House” in The Wall Street Journal.
Director of Admissions Programs & Services Molly Boegel was quoted in a Reader’s Digest story, “How to Guarantee Your Teen Gets the Best College Tour,” in February. Read it at dson.co/boegelrd.
Vincent L. Stephens, director of the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, co-edited (with Anthony Stewart) Postracial America? An Interdisciplinary Study, published by Bucknell University Press in November.
Professor of Psychology Marie Helweg-Larsen was featured in WalletHub’s recent piece examining the financial cost of smoking at the state level. Read it at dson.co/ helweglarsenhub.
Awards and Grants Tara Vasold Fischer ’02, associate dean of
academic advising, was named the 2017 Outstanding Advisor of the Year by the National Council of Alpha Lambda Delta. Jerry Philogene, associate professor of
American studies, received a Duke University Humanities Writ Large Visiting Faculty Fellowship for 2017-18, which supports a fullyear sabbatical. She will be recalibrating her general approach to Haiti and Haitian studies through a visual studies perspective and engaging with the scholars at Duke. Assistant Professor of English and Film Studies Gregory Steirer received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for his work “Intellectual Property Law and the History of the Narrative-Based Franchise,” which examines the management and development of narrativebased intellectual property through chapterlength studies of media properties dating from the 1920s to 2012.
Assistant Professor of Political Science David O’Connell was an in-demand political commentator throughout the election season. d ic k in s on ma g a z i n e Spring 2017
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In the News
Professor of Mathematics David Richeson published “Circular Reasoning: Who First Proved That C Divided by d Is a Constant?” in The College Mathematics Journal (Vol. 46, No. 3), May 2015, pp. 162-171. The article is set to appear in The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016 (edited by Mircea Pitici, Princeton University Press).
The book Religious Activism in the Global Economy: Promoting, Reforming, or Resisting Neoliberal Globalization (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) received Honorable Mention by the book award committee of the Religion and International Relations Section of the International Studies Association. Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies Edward Webb contributed two chapters to the book, one solo-authored and one co-authored (with the editors).
Associate Professor of Judaic Studies Ted Merwin was featured in and interviewed for numerous outlets related to Jewish delis, based on his book, Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli, including New Jersey Jewish Times, USA Today and NPR. Assistant Professor of Political Science David O’Connell was part of the Inauguration Day coverage on WITF’s Smart Talk on Jan. 20. Dana Scaduto, general counsel, was quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s article, “Trump Administration May Back Away From Title IX, but Campuses Won’t.”
A session of Associate Professor of American Studies Cotten Seiler’s course, Colonial America, Race and the Origins of Country Music, was featured on C-SPAN. Watch it at dson.co/seilercspan. Promotions
Professor of English Wendy Moffat has been installed as the next John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair in Global Education. Read more about Moffat, the installation ceremony and the Curleys’ generous endowment on Page 11.
See more faculty and staff publications at scholar.dickinson.edu.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
Dickinson is a member of the 2015
President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
We are one of 200 institutions on Kiplinger’s list of Best College Values. Dickinson was named
a top producer of U.S. Fulbright students
No. 4
Dickinson was named the baccalaureate institution in the country for sustainability performance,
according to the 2016 Sustainable Campus Index, published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
in 2016-17 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Francesca Dea ’93 is the new executive director of The
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the leading voice for interventional cardiology, and Mariam Memarsadeghi ’94, co-founder and co-director of the E-Collaborative for Civic Education, was named a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar.
Edward Webb, associate professor of political science and international studies, received a curriculum development grant from the Global Religion Research Initiative of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.
Two students, Tyree Grant ’18 and Ana Gamino ’18, earned competitive study-abroad scholarships through the Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program. They are among 850 recipients nationally, out of more than 2,700 applicants, and both are Posse Foundation scholars.
What other Dickinson distinctions do you brag about? Email dsonmag@dickinson.edu.
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Rock Paper Scissors
Breathe, Mama, Breathe
By Matty Dalrymple ’85
By Shonda Bear Moralis ’92
Balanced Life Happy Life: 13 Weeks to Creating a Happier You
William Kingsfield Publishers
The Experiment
By Elizabeth Gavino ’94
Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper. Paper covers rock. The rules are simple—except when it’s people’s lives at stake. By the time Charlotte and Patrick Ballard discover the damage their daughter, Lizzy, can do with her mind, it’s already too late for Charlotte. They hide Lizzy away, trying to save others from the same fate, and trying to save Lizzy from life as a human lab rat. But they can’t hide her forever. Little do they know that respected Philadelphia businessman Gerard Bonnay is responsible for Lizzy’s ability. And Bonnay is willing to eliminate anyone who gets in the way of his goal of turning that power to his own ends. As her protectors are picked off one by one, will Lizzy be able to escape from Bonnay’s deadly zero-sum game?
Moms can feel as if they are sprinting through life, crashing onto the pillow at day’s end only to start again the next morning. Between feeding infants, sending kids off to school, homework, bedtime and countless other activities, it may seem impossible to find a few moments to restore one’s sanity. In Breathe, Mama, Breathe, psychotherapist Shonda Bear Moralis ’92 shares easy-to-use mindfulness tools for moms in search of peace, calm and centering. In addition, she shares over 65 strategies to turn everyday moments into mindful breaks that will help moms tune into their own well-being. Every mom—whether caring for a new baby, an overscheduled grade-schooler or an angsty teen—can become a mindful mama.
Balboa Press
All About Roberto Clemente By Andrew Conte ’93; Illustrations by Bryan Janky Blue River Press In his first children’s book, Andrew Conte ’93 writes about Roberto Clemente, who became a baseball icon because of his talent and compassion, and how he overcame prejudice. Drafted from Puerto Rico when he was just 18, he was laughed at by fans for his Spanish accent and, in some cases, the color of his skin. Nonetheless, he became one of the game’s greatest hitters and the first Latin American player to have 3,000 hits. His legacy of kindness and record breaking continues to inspire players to this day.
fine
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There are many types of relationships—relationships with yourself, others, your career, your creativity, your money. When one or more of these kinds of relationships, called Soul Nourishing Foods, are out of balance, your health and happiness can be compromised. Balanced Life Happy Life will help you understand the 13 relationship types, how they affect your health and how you can begin to nurture them on your path to a life of abundant joy. The book is a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.
[ college & west high ]
Commencement 2017 Speakers Announced Admiral James Stavridis will deliver Dickinson’s Commencement address on Sunday, May 21. He is the 12th dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University since its founding in 1933. A retired four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as supreme allied commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, piracy and cybersecurity. He holds more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations. Stavridis earned a Ph.D. in international relations and has published eight books and over 200 articles in leading journals around the world. He is a monthly columnist for Time magazine and chief international security analyst for NBC News. Stavridis will receive a Doctor of Public Service honorary degree. Stavridis will be joined on the platform by former U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach ’77 (R-Pa.), who now serves as president and chief executive officer of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, and Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of AARP Foundation. From 2003 to 2015, Gerlach represented Pennsylvania’s Sixth District in the U.S. House of Representatives and served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and its Subcommittees on Health and Select Revenue. His accomplishments in Congress include enactment of legislation to establish national veterans cemeteries in southeastern Pennsylvania and three other states and authorize U.S. economic aid and defense assistance to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of that country. Gerlach will receive a Doctor of Political Science honorary degree. Ryerson has served as president of AARP Foundation, AARP’s affiliated charity, since 2013. She sets the foundation’s strategic direction and leads its efforts to create opportunities for older Americans struggling with poverty and the related issues of hunger, unemployment, inadequate housing and social isolation. Ryerson has received numerous awards and honors for her leadership and service, both at AARP Foundation and in previous positions. Before joining AARP Foundation, Ryerson served as the president and CEO of Wells College. Ryerson will receive a Doctor of Social Services honorary degree. In addition, the 2017 recipient of the Sam Rose ’58 and Julie Walters Prize at Dickinson College for Global Environmental Activism will be introduced. Brett Jenks is president and CEO of Rare, a global conservation organization whose mission is to inspire change so people and nature thrive. Prior to Rare, Jenks was a journalist and filmmaker, and he served as the Costa Rica field coordinator for WorldTeach, a nonprofit based at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Jenks is a Catto Fellow, Braddock Scholar and McNulty Prize laureate with the Aspen Institute. Jenks will come to Dickinson for a brief residency in the upcoming academic year. More information on the 2017 Commencement speakers and the ceremony is available at Dickinson.edu/commencement.
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CLUB SPOTLIGHT:
Alpha Phi Omega Making
Every
Count Interaction
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Since Dickinson welcomed a chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) in 1989, many students have found that it fit their desire to get involved not only on campus but also in the Carlisle community. APO, a coed national service fraternity, promotes leadership, brotherhood and service throughout the college and surrounding area. Although the group is considered a fraternity, APO is not recognized as an official social organization and accepts both male and female members, separating it from traditional Greek organizations on campus. There are about 60 current members, but by rushing every semester and inviting alumni to continue their participation after graduation, APO’s membership is always expanding. APO members volunteer with organizations both on and off campus, including the Salvation Army soup kitchen, Claremont Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Furry Friends Network, YWCA and Bosler Memorial Library. “We do a lot with everything we can possibly find,” says APO President Emily Gamber ’17, which enables APO students to bridge the gap between college and community. “Fundamentally, community service helps people, but it’s more than just an exercise of labor,” says Nicholas Rejebian ’17, APO member. “When I participate in trail cleanups at Kings Gap or gleaning at Project SHARE, it is inevitable that I will come into conversation with someone from the community. Those conversations can be powerful.” In addition to completing service and honing leadership skills in the process, APO members participate in social events that bring the whole group together. But according to students who have been involved in the organization since their first semester on campus, the socializing is less of a requirement and more of a reunion. “APO is home and it is family for a lot of us,” says Gamber. “I joined APO because I was having trouble finding my place in college. My first semester, I felt like I hadn’t made any stereotypical ‘lifelong friends.’ I was looking for more of a community and for more of a commitment. Within the first few weeks of joining APO, I had found both.” Rejebian echoes Gamber’s sentiments. “I joined APO because like many first-year students, I wanted to find a group of people that I felt comfortable with,” he says. “Staying in APO taught me a lesson about building community: You can either give up and walk away, or do your best to make every interaction you have count.” Some members of the group might not have realized how important these interactions were until last semester, when APO Sergeant-at-Arms Lauren Lau ’19 passed away. “I don’t think any of us realized it as tangibly until this semester, that we are a family, that we do support each other,” says Gamber. “[Lau] really meant a lot to us.” “Lauren will be missed,” says Rejebian. “As an organization, APO will remember Lauren with the highest praise and honor, and seeing the impact her passing had on APO, I speak confidently that we will not forget her.” —Katya Hrichak ’17
The Things That Matter “The first time I walked into Professor Moffat’s office in East College, I wondered if she was continuously absorbing knowledge by sitting among all the books in there,” says Nicola Shackman-Ryden ’17. And anyone who knows Moffat, a professor of English at Dickinson since 1984, would probably say yes, she has (psychically or otherwise) absorbed every scholarly item she’s been in touch with over the years. And she’s an academic wonder in transmitting all of it to her students. “She has a way of sprinkling seeds of knowledge and understanding so they grow within you for years,” says Shackman-Ryden, who calls Moffat’s course on James Joyce “one of the more daunting and rewarding classes I’ve taken.” Now, for the cumulative effect Moffat has had on the college and her students, she has become the second incumbent of the John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair in Global Education. The endowed chair was established in 2003 by the Curleys to honor a distinguished member of the faculty whose teaching and scholarship contribute to the college’s
Sean Simmers
With an endowed chair, Professor of English Wendy Moffat is the latest to benefit from the steadfast devotion of John ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63. strategic efforts in global education. “John and Ann really love the college and they have done so ever since they were undergraduates here,” Moffat says, noting that the chair has already allowed her to embark on a trip to the University of London archives, where she is researching the history of medicine for her new book. “[The endowed chair] is a way to give back in a concrete way that’s extremely meaningful for faculty—it’s kind of a psychic devotion to the college, to the heart of what the college is about. What’s important to [the Curleys] about Dickinson is important to me about Dickinson, so this honor feels like an affirmation.” An endowed chair is the highest academic honor awarded to a faculty member, and it’s one that Moffat has earned in unique ways over the course of her career. “Wendy is an exceptional teacher-scholar, with outstanding contributions in several areas,” says Associate Professor of Computer Science John MacCormick, who chairs the Faculty Personnel Committee, the group charged with endowed chair appointments. “Her prize-winning work on E.M. Forster has had a major impact, praised by critics in several of the most influential literary publications. And she has been instrumental in establishing and growing Dickinson’s studyabroad program in England, which has met with great success.”
Besides founding Dickinson’s program at Oxford University’s Mansfield College, Moffat has run other Dickinson abroad programs and made a worldwide name for herself through her biography A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E.M. Forster. That work won the Biographer’s Club Prize for Best First Biography (U.K.), was named runner-up for the PEN Biography Prize (U.S.) and was named a Top Ten Book of 2010 by Janet Maslin in The New York Times. The Curley Chair in Global Education is the third of such chairs established by the Curleys: the John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair was established in 2002, and the John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair in International Studies, Business and Management was established in 2003. Moffat says the couple’s devotion to the college is always on display. “The last time I saw them, they were in the library, looking at the newly acquired first editions of John Milton’s poems,” Moffat recalls. “When you see a trustee at those kinds of demonstrations and ubiquitously across campus, you have this sense of their presence in things all the time. [Ann and John embody] that quality of staying connected to the things that matter here.” —Tony Moore Read more and watch a video at dson.co/moffatcurley.
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[ college & west high ]
Career Snapshots
Learn more about Career Center opportunities, including how you can get involved in everything from sharing job/ internship opportunities at your organization, taking on externs next winter, returning to campus for career-centered programming or connecting with students to offer career advice: Dickinson.edu/careercenter, career@dickinson.edu.
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Externships are the newest way for students to explore career options
From the U.S. Geological Survey, ESPN, IBM and NBCUniversal to the Department of State, the National Gallery of Art, UBS Financial and Twitter, the locations for the pilot year of Dickinson’s externship program are as impressive as they are diverse. Unlike an internship, a Dickinson externship is a program through which students shadow alumni, parents or friends of the college in their workplace for between two and 10 days over winter break. The idea is that students can gain a good understanding of various careers and workplace settings during a short period of time. Students can explore a number of industries— from government and tech to business and media—and more locations will be added to the current 36 as the initiative grows. “Brian went above and beyond to provide me with a total immersion into the company and to connect me with helpful resources to build my network,” says Isabel Lang ’17, who was hosted by Brian Dorfler ’97 at NBCUniversal in New York City this winter. “I truly believe I’m more equipped as an applicant, an employee and a future Dickinson alum because of this externship.” Besides enjoying total immersion in an area of interest, students also get a good look at jobs and professional arenas they’ve only begun to explore. “A short-term winter externship allows Dickinson students to try new experiences and learn about an industry that may not have been on their radar,” says Laura Legg ’95, a member of Dickinson’s Alumni Council and director of alumnae relations at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. “I’m pleased to offer the opportunity to Dickinson students as a way to connect alumni to the current student experience.” While students’ daily schedules vary, they generally include attending staff meetings, shadowing the host as well as others in the organization and taking part in informational interviews. Externs also find themselves: • exploring career paths within an organization • observing interactions with customers and clients • meeting with decision-makers • and touring facilities.
Externships are another part of the Dickinson Four, a new program through which students examine their Dickinson experience and trajectory to better understand and appreciate their time at Dickinson. Particularly, externships fit in with the sophomore year’s theme, Discover What Matters, as students begin to form deeper ideas of what the future may hold. “This is meant to be a snapshot of careers,” says Annie Kondas, associate director of alumni career services and externships. “Students can get in these environments and ask themselves, ‘Is this what I want to do? Is this what I thought it would be like?’ ” Sara Iacovino ’15 was introduced to APCO Worldwide and Courtney Taylor Piron ’89, the company’s executive director and global health care practice lead, during a Dickinson-sponsored networking event her senior year. Now Iacovino is a project assistant with APCO and a host in Dickinson’s externship program. “Here I am, less than two years into my career, during an absolutely unprecedented point in American politics, working blocks from the White House on some of the country’s most pertinent issues,” says Iacovino. “I owe much of that to my Dickinson education and to the eagerness of the Dickinson community to support fellow alumni. It only seemed fitting to pay it forward through the externship program.” Another Dickinsonian paying it forward is Richard Zamarin P’20, who hosted Emily Rieder ’19 at Premier Orthopedics this winter. “The externship was great—I was able to watch surgeries in the operating room, which is an experience I never would have had without this program, and I learned what the life of a surgeon is really like,” says Rieder. “Opportunities like this are extremely valuable, and for me, an externship in the medical field will help me when applying to summer research programs and to medical school.” The externship program is looking to expand, so alumni, parents and friends of the college interested in exposing Dickinson students to their industries and giving back with their time and experience are encouraged to get involved. —Tony Moore
[ connections ] Carlisle
Neighboring Opportunities Just over two miles from campus sits a unique cultural and educational resource for Dickinson students, faculty and staff—the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC). Our ROTC students are often invited to the monthly and quarterly lecture series, which includes the opportunity to dine with lecturers as well as take classes and explore other educational experiences. Exhibits at The Trout Gallery have been enhanced thanks to artwork borrowed from the USAHEC. In October, a class studying Italian design and fine arts visited the USAHEC for a talk with a curator in the Conservation Facility focused on Italian posters from World War I. Our students have served as interns at the center, and the USAHEC has been a part of Dickinson’s Homecoming & Family Weekend festivities through guided tours. Next time you’re in town, check out what the USAHEC has to offer, and see some of the collaborations firsthand. Opportunities available include: •
viewing the collections at the library and archives, including original elements of the War Department Library, one of the largest known Civil War photograph collections, and 75,000 artifacts from privates in the Army to America’s last five-star general
•
participating in programs featuring demonstrations and historical presentations and listening to lectures led by historians and military history celebrities
•
exploring interactive galleries and exhibits that showcase the full history of the U.S. Army and offer re-creations of historical areas and artifacts
•
and learning about many different fields of study through educational programs, including military staff rides and leadership seminars.
GROUND
Breaking
The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, located at 950 Soldiers Drive, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit the USAHEC website at www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec.
On March 2, members of the college and Carlisle community gathered to break ground on a new residence hall, which is slated to open in fall 2018. More details and photos are available at dson.co/groundbreaking17.
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Growth
Opportunities T
he choice to come to Dickinson wasn’t a difficult one for Mary Martin ’17. Between the draw of playing for the women’s basketball team, the liberal-arts approach to education and the campus atmosphere, “Dickinson really stuck out to me on my visit,” she says. When Martin hit the court her first year, the basketball team was what she described as “young,” but they’ve come a long way since that first season when they won only a handful of games. The team made the Centennial Conference (CC) playoffs in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and they finished this season 18-8. “I’ve watched this team grow and that has been the most rewarding part of [my experience],” she says. She cites the team’s win over Muhlenberg at home this year as an example of that growth. “They were preseason ranked No. 1 and it’s always a tough game. I had never beaten them since I got here,” she says. “We were winning but then they kept hitting buzzer beaters and three-pointers.” After a grueling triple overtime, setting a CC record for the longest game ever, the Red Devils held them off and won the game. And while team victories are most rewarding, Martin’s athleticism places her ninth in the CC for scoring. She was also Rookie of the Year in 2013-14, received Honorable Mention All-CC in 2015-16 and has been a member of the CC Academic Honor Roll for the last three straight seasons. Initially recruited as a guard, Martin excels all over the court and holds college records as a power forward. In addition to her conference achievements, Martin is ranked fourth at Dickinson for career rebounds and places in the top 10 for career foul shots attempted and career assists. And during the team’s Feb. 15 game against Franklin & Marshall College, Martin scored her 1,000th career point, becoming the fifth player in program history to record 1,000 points and over 650 rebounds. When she’s not on the court, Martin is focused on her political science major while exploring the other disciplines Dickinson has to offer. “I didn’t take a minor because by the end of my sophomore year, I realized I just loved all different types of classes,” she says. “I enjoy just a little bit of everything.” The ability to take classes in a variety of disciplines helped Martin realize that she wanted to become a lawyer. She’s already been accepted to numerous law schools in the Northeast. A member of Delta Nu sorority, Martin also is a founding member of the Hera Society, a new student organization that brings female studentathletes together to plan events and promote connections among the different sports teams. “We want the female athletics teams on campus to connect and support one another,” she says. And the support Martin received at Dickinson has prepared her for life beyond the limestone. “Looking back, I will miss it a lot and I’ll have fond memories, but I also think Dickinson did a great job of preparing me and getting me ready to leave,” she says. “I’m so excited to go to law school and start the rest of my life.” —Katya Hrichak ’17 Watch a video of Martin scoring her 1,000th point at dickinson.edu/magazine.
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[ in the game ] The winter season saw the Red Devils challenge for several Centennial Conference (CC) championships and raise the bar with a number of record-setting performances.
Track & Field The women’s track & field team had a remarkable showing at the Indoor Championships, crowning seven individual event champions and winning the 4x200 relay. The Red Devils finished second in the team standings while setting three school records. Amanda Jimcosky ’17 tied her own record while claiming her fourth consecutive title in the high jump. Naji Thompson ’19 and Aphnie Germain ’17 both broke records while winning the 60 and 200 meters and joined the record-setting 4x400 relay. Mason Hepner ’17 led men’s track & field to a
fifth-place finish at the conference meet. He won the 800 meters and anchored the 4x800 relay to another win, breaking school records in both events. He added a silver in the mile as well. Duncan Hopkins ’19 ran to silver in the 3,000 meters while Adam Gamber ’20 capped his rookie season with a second-place finish in the pole vault.
1,000 points and ranks fourth with 698 rebounds. She is the only player to record over 1,000 points, 650 rebounds and 200 assists in program history. The Red Devils finished 18-8 overall, earning the No. 3 seed in the playoffs with a 15-5 mark. Men’s basketball made its seventh-straight trip to the CC playoffs, making its ninth appearance in the semifinals. They won six of their last seven games to earn the No. 3 seed and knocked off No. 2 Franklin & Marshall College to advance to the championship game for the sixth time in program history. Justus Melton ’18 and Elijah Wright ’19 were named AllConference, and the team finished 16-11 overall and 12-6 in the CC.
Swimming Sophomore Olivia Lyman ’19 was named the Outstanding Performer of the Meet at the CC Championships. Lyman won three conference titles, claiming the 1,650, 500 and 200-yard freestyle events. Katie Schmidt ’19 broke school records in the 100 and 200 backstroke while claiming the conference title in the 200 as well. The women’s swim team placed sixth in the team standings with both Lyman and Schmidt earning All-CC recognition. Sam Eaton ’17 earned All-CC honors as the men’s swim team placed sixth at the conference
championships. He broke school records in the prelims of the 100 and 200 breaststroke, placing second in the 200 to earn honorable mention on the All-CC team. Mitch Reynolds ’18 broke his own school record in the prelims of the 500 freestyle.
Women’s basketball returned to the CC semifi-
Both the men’s and women’s programs were honored for the 45th consecutive semester by the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) as Scholar All-America Teams.
nals for the second-straight season, led by All-Conference seniors Helen Roberts and Mary Martin. Roberts set school records with a conference-best 78 three-pointers this season and set the career mark at 169. Martin became the 12th player in program history to score
Squash For the third-straight season, the women’s squash team moved up a division at the College Squash Association (CSA) team championships. The Red Devils played in the Walker Cup (C
Basketball
Division) and overcame a tough start to close out the tournament with the program’s first win over Bowdoin to finish 23rd nationally. They posted a 9-12 record on the season. The men’s squash team moved up in the division as well, playing in the Summers Cup (C Division) at the CSA team championships. The Red Devils advanced to the consolation final before suffering a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to MIT. They finished 10-13 overall and ranked 22nd in the final poll. Abdelrahman Elsergany ’20 competed at the CSA individual championships after posting a record of 13-4, playing in the number one position.
Need more Red Devil sports?
Sean Simmers
Check out all the stats, scores, schedules and highlights at www.dickinsonathletics.com. Information about live streaming and radio broadcasts is available on a game-by-game basis, so check the website regularly or follow @DsonRedDevils on Twitter for the latest updates.
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[ college & west high ]
"Next to Normal" The Mermaid Players’ spring 2017 production, Next to Normal, was a labor of love for theatre arts and history major Sarah Zimmer ’17. The Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical tells the story of a suburban American mom’s struggle with mental illness and its effects on her husband and children. As part of her senior theatre project, Zimmer played the lead role and helped spark conversations across campus around the play’s themes.
A. Pierce Bounds ’71
“There’s a stigma around mental illness, and we don’t talk about it enough,” she says. “I want to let people know they’re not alone, and it’s OK to ask for help.”
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Zimmer researched bipolar disorder to inform her performance and co-developed a video series in collaboration with the student group Don’t Conceal to Heal, highlighting students who’ve been directly or indirectly affected by mental illness. She also co-organized a panel discussion, which followed the Feb. 26 matinee and included a psychology professor, Wellness Center staff member and the musical’s director and cast. —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson Read more and see additional photos at dson.co/normalplay.
Events lectures art forums Calendar of Arts: dickinson.edu/coa The Clarke Forum: clarke.dickinson.edu (includes event podcasts) Carlisle Happenings: lovecarlisle.com
The Clarke Forum Hollywood Made in China
Aynne Kokas, University of Virginia APRIL 22
Weiss Prize Performance Epigonus’s Harp: Plucked Strings in the Greco-Roman Period
Marc Primelo ’17
[ scene ] CAMPUS
APRIL 18
April 11 The Clarke Forum Thoughts on Cybersecurity in an Age of Trump Robert Deitz, George Mason University
APRIL 23
The Dickinson College Choir and Collegium
First United Church of Christ, Carlisle APRIL 25
Day of Giving APRIL 27
The Clarke Forum
April 22 Pomfret Street Art, Music & Wine Walk Carlisle
Suffragist 3.0: Women and Democracy Online
Marie Tessier, The New York Times APRIL 28-30
Freshworks 2017
Dance Theatre Group MAY 5 AND JUNE 2
Downtown Carlisle First Friday MAY 21
Commencement
John Dickinson Campus
April 28-May 20 The Trout Gallery Senior Studio Art Majors’ Thesis Exhibition
JUNE 9-11
Alumni Weekend
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BOOTS
on the ground The liberal arts … engaged my curiosity, and I do think from a leadership perspective, people who are successful in business have a natural curiosity—they question things, they want to understand how things work, why things have been decided or why things have happened the way they’ve happened. Dickinson prepared me for that really well. d ic k in s on ma g a z i n e Spring 2017
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Steve Smith ’92 returns to Maine as the new president and CEO of L.L.Bean By Tony Moore
[ feature ]
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f you’ve been to southern Maine in the winter, you’re familiar with the leafless gunmetal trees, the scattered islands out there to the east across water that looks like it’s just a degree or two away from freezing. You know heavy snow, and the biting wind charging through the narrow lanes of Portland’s hilly streets.
And you know L.L.Bean. L.L.Bean is the Maine institution, and the company’s famous “Bean boots” define winter not just in Maine but across the country. The state and Bean are so linked that people have gone so far as to wonder “Is Maine, Maine because of L.L.Bean, or is L.L.Bean, L.L.Bean because of Maine?” And although an answer to that question might be out of reach, Steve Smith ’92 does put forth that the two “are inextricably linked.” And as only the fourth president and CEO in L.L.Bean’s 105-year history, he’d know.
Dual brain
Alan Boutot
Tony Moore
Smith was a fine arts major at Dickinson, and he graduated with a physics minor. And although the Red Devil basketball star saw himself getting into architecture and structural engineering after Dickinson, he began his career in advertising. A computer algorithm might have a hard time coming up with a combination that says “liberal arts” more effectively than that one. “I definitely am a good product of the liberal arts, and it’s served me incredibly well,” Smith says, noting that his major/minor combination was a great kickstarter to right-brain, left-brain mental activity. “The liberal arts … engaged my curiosity, and I do think from a leadership perspective, people who are successful in business have a natural curiosity—they question things, they want to understand how things work, why things have been decided or why things have happened the way they’ve happened. Dickinson prepared me for that really well.” Something else that prepared him well was the launch-pad career he had before he moved into the most coveted corporate office in Maine. It all began in New York City, at J. Walter Thompson, an international advertising agency. “I found myself really comfortable entering the marketing world with this sort of dual brain,” he recalls. “[I was] very comfortable in art and color and font and all those sorts of subjective components of marketing, and then also the very empirical data, research, insights-driven side of marketing.”
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From there, Smith moved to Maine, where he rose to vice president of sales and marketing for Resort Sports Network. In 2002, it was on to Hannaford Supermarket, a division of Brussels-based international supermarket giant Delhaize Group. Thirteen years down the road—by way of Florida, Belgium, China and England, while climbing the ranks of Walmart, Walmart International and Walmart China—Smith was back in China as chief merchandising and marketing officer for Yihaodian, a division of Walmart Global eCommerce located in Shanghai. “My career has afforded us phenomenal opportunities to move around the world, and we’ve done it as a partnership,” says Smith of wife Lynn. “Being a marketer, I love studying markets, I like studying people, I like understanding why people buy what they buy—so each one of those moves was really just an intellectual challenge of trying to understand a different culture, a different market, … and it was a fascinating intellectual adventure that had business attached to it.”
Next stop, Freeport When Smith heard that a CEO search was about to get underway at L.L.Bean, he saw it as the first step in getting himself and his family back to Maine, something they had always thought about but had never quite imagined would be possible. “Moving back to Maine is sort of a dream come true, because when I left Delhaize to join Walmart, I thought the door to coming back to Maine was closed,” he says, noting that both his daughters were born in Maine. “The move from China to Maine was incredibly stark—we went from a city of 26 million people to a state of a million people. At the same time, you can be in a huge setting, but it comes down to your family, your friends, your experience with school and your work environment.” Smith is still settling in to what he calls “the best job in the state and maybe the best job in the country and maybe even the best job in the world,” but the job search ensured that while settling in might take a little while, fitting in was something that would be there from day one. Besides checking all the experience boxes, L.L.Bean management was crystal clear in its need to have the new CEO match up just right with the Bean culture and brand. So once they got through Smith’s resumé—chockful of sequential upward movement through corporate structures—it came down to Smith the man.
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“I fit what they were looking for on a lot of different levels,” he says. “The company needs to become a bit more contemporary, become more innovative, try things, become a little more open to risk, and those are all things that I’ve demonstrated throughout my career.” And as a lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Smith says the fit goes both ways: “To be a part of the L.L.Bean family in this great state, where you can hike and trail run and mountain bike and stand up paddleboard and kayak and fish and hunt, and you can do it all within an hour of your house, it couldn’t get any better."
Innovating, always Smith is only the fourth CEO in Bean’s long history, and he’s the first who hasn’t either come from the Bean family or worked his way up through the company ranks. So clearly the company was looking to switch gears, and shift into innovation mode, by adding him to the Freeport C-suite. But how do you shake up a 105-year-old company, and is Bean crazy to try something new when its products have been loved by so many for so long? Well, like the success of Bean’s products, it’s not rocket science, although if it were, they hired the right scientist to pull it off. “Bean has been innovative for a long, long time,” says Smith. “But the products haven’t been marketed in a contemporary way, so just getting all of the amazing things that we’ve already created out to new markets and new customers is incredibly exciting for me.” Smith says he was inspired by a book written by former Bean President and CEO Leon Gorman, called L.L.Bean: The Making of an American Icon. “I found myself passionately inspired to bring the company focus back to our products. He was the ultimate outdoorsman, businessman and product merchant, and it was clear that channeling his vision back to a product focus could be rich territory for our future growth.” All of those amazing things were born in 1912, when Leon Leonwood Bean (yes, there really was an L.L.Bean) came home from a hunting trip with cold, damp feet and decided to do something about it besides warm them by the fire. And soon after, his Maine Hunting Shoe was born. From that one product, the company Bean founded continued to grow and innovate quietly to address customer needs, and now Smith brings to L.L.Bean the double-barrel growth engines of online and international expansion, areas where he’s thrived over his career. But advancement efforts, regardless of the
Nature never disappoints … On the L.L.Bean website, speaking of “not high-tech,” you’ll find the phrase “Nature never disappoints, and neither do we.” To Smith, the phrase represents the company ethos to perfection. "The mission of the company is to inspire and enable people to get outdoors,” he says. “There is a transformative component to being out in nature, whether you’re on a mountain, in a forest, on the water—to be out in the world, out in nature, and especially now, getting away from screens and technology, it is deeply restorative to people. And when we say ’nature never disappoints,’ it’s the second you get outside, you take a deep breath, everything just becomes right.” An extension of that mindset can be found in L.L.Bean’s sustainability efforts, which have the company positioning itself at the forefront of environmental, water and land conservation, working with such groups as the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Nature Conservancy, Audubon and the National Park Service. “It’s something that we have built into the organization,” says Smith, “and it’s something that we need to continue to commit to as the world continues to change.”
Bold, ambitious, curious Smith didn’t get to where he is in his career by waiting for good things to happen, and he didn’t get there in one swift move, so his advice to students graduating this spring makes a lot of sense. “Be bold, be ambitious, be curious,” he says. “I would think about a career as a lot of different building blocks, and as long as you’re learning something, either about yourself or about a trade, I would encourage you to take it and to dive in fully. And then know
“
that you’re going to keep gaining experiences and it’s going to add up to something.” For Smith, it added up to the perfect culmination of a career going in the right direction. And it finds him often in the nearby Brunswick manufacturing facility, where the company makes its famous boots, by hand, 3,000 pairs a day. (A lot of boots for sure, but never quite enough to keep up with the boots’ staggering popularity, which has ensured a 30,000-pair backlog.) It finds him in Bean’s fulfillment center, in Bean’s retail stores and in Bean’s huge flagship store in Freeport, a short drive from corporate headquarters. The flagship store has a 16-foot Bean boot out front, welcoming customers into its downright cozy confines through doors without locks. The store never closes, ever, and you’ll find people wandering through the racks at all hours. During the day, the store is like a giant, lively ski lodge, but one where people can buy everything they would need to hunt, fish, float down a river or simply keep their hands warm on a cold Maine night. It’s full of people who look like they may have been raised in the building, and the staff treats them like family. Today, an unseasonably warm February day, Smith walks through the store, easily the tallest person in a wide radius at 6’6”. Although it’s unlikely any of the shoppers know who he is, he smiles at everyone, engaging in little conversations with customers here and there. Smith chats up an older customer, a man who has probably been shopping at Bean since before its new president and CEO was born. Smith asks him if he can help out, if the man needs any recommendations. The man gives Smith a once-over: he’s wearing untied Bean boots, a blue puffer jacket and jeans—more outdoor enthusiast than corporate bigwig. “Oh, do you work here?” the man asks. It’s been a long journey getting here, one taking Smith around the world and back again. But yeah, he works here. For more on Smith, check out the accompanying video at Dickinson.edu/magazine.
There is a transformative component to being out in nature, whether you’re on a mountain, in a forest, on the water— to be out in the world, out in nature, and especially now … you take a deep breath, everything just becomes right.
Anna Chernichko
Joe O'Neill
forms they take, still always come back to the person buying and wearing those Bean boots. “Our innovation is incredibly pragmatic—it’s still problem solving,” Smith says. “It’s not innovation for innovation’s sake, it’s not high-tech and sexy; it’s usually really simple things that are making the customer experience a little bit better.”
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[ feature ] PAGES
PRIDE THE
WHO MAKES YOU PROUD TO BE A DICKINSONIAN? WHAT FILLS YOU WITH PRIDE FOR YOUR ALMA MATER?
We’ve been posing this question to the Dickinson community, and we’re going to continue posing it, because the responses continue to move us. Here are just a few of the #dsonproud responses we’ve collected:
@daniel_abroad Jennifer Moll '02 @nelsonovna Outstanding mother, daughter, friend, and business professional. VERY intelligent, and can dance! #dsonproud Josh Eisenberg Helen Roberts and the rest of her Red Devils teammates are tearing up the court this season. #dsonproud #dsonlife
Patricia Collins ’70 Two words: Hunter Tuccio [’18]. I am so proud to share my alma mater with him. This is a young man of solid intelligence, impressive drive, and focused determination. He is still an undergraduate and contributes directly to the college through extra-curricular activities, his amazing golf prowess, and his insights that come from his life experiences (including his entrepreneurial ventures before and during his years at Dickinson). He has traveled to many places, enriching his appreciation of people and places far different from his home town or Carlisle. But more than anything, Hunter instills #dsonpride with his eagerness to learn and to put that learning to positive use. @DickinsonLax Extremely proud of the Red Devils posting the best team GPA in program history with a 3.32. #dsonproud #WinTheDay
Ben Mummert ’12 Becca Raley at Partnership for Better Health #DSONPROUD @kelsey_sloter Couldn't be more proud to work for such a wonderful organization that does so much good. @rare_org #dsonproud @laurakayeauthor When your undergraduate history major advisor reads and enjoys your book!!! Prof Jarvis was one of my faves at @DickinsonCol! #dsonproud
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We are proud to share stories of our incredible community within these pages four times a year, and we always have more stories to tell than we have space to tell them. Following is a glimpse into some Dickinsonians who not only are serving the wider world in ways that should make anyone proud, but are quick to point to other Dickinsonians who make them proud.
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MILITARY
Robert McDonough ’06
C
apt. Robert McDonough ’06 had visited more than 40 countries and spent most of the last 11 years of military service outside the United States. Most recently the U.S. Army pilot had been stationed in Germany and South Korea before spending 16 months as a company commander at Fort Riley, Kan., and is still on active duty awaiting the next assignment while he completes his master’s degree at Shippensburg University. “Americans need to engage the world,” he says. “We do that by immersing ourselves in cultures unlike our own. Gaining a global perspective of how foreign nations and cultures deal with problems will assist us in decision making and positive change here in the U.S.” And McDonough certainly has made positive change, in particular serving as a leader and role model for 174 soldiers and their families within the 1st Infantry Division. “Leadership is a tremendously humbling experience,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate to meet and learn from several prominent leaders at Dickinson. Former President Bill Durden [’71] and trustee Woody Goldberg [’63] practiced effective self-sacrificing leadership. Their style of leadership set an example for both the cadets and students of the Dickinson community to emulate and served as a model for growth in my own leadership style.” In 2010, McDonough led a group of Medevac soldiers on a mission in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, to rescue German soldiers who had been captured. For their successful efforts, McDonough and his crewmen were honored with the Gold Cross for valor, Germany’s second highest award for valor. McDonough’s team was the first group of Americans to receive the award. “The award was a tremendous honor,” he recalls, “and I was fortunate to have a truly exceptional group of talented and experienced soldiers who were dedicated to the mission. We built a bond of trust with the German army that went far beyond any NATO diplomatic agreement.” McDonough continues to fulfill his lifelong dream of military service—one that began as a child and was reinforced after 9/11— motivated by the men and women who serve by his side. “I am inspired by the commitment of so many Americans to serve for a cause they believe in greater than themselves,” he says.
A career in the military requires strength of mind and body, a commitment to serving the greater good and an adventurous spirit. Dickinson’s 65 years of hosting a U.S. Army ROTC program has produced a multitude of alumni with these (and other) critical skills who are serving the country and the world in battalions, divisions and departments at all levels of the government and military. One of the most well-known is Col. (Ret.) Sherwood “Woody” Goldberg ’63, who served two tours in Vietnam and earned multiple Bronze Stars and is currently senior advisor for Asian affairs at the Center for Naval Analysis. Goldberg also serves as a Dickinson trustee and as a mentor to many who followed in his footsteps. Another familiar ROTC graduate is 1st Lt. Cameron Kerr ’09, a Purple Heart recipient who lost his leg while on active duty in Afghanistan in 2011 and has since worked extensively with the Wounded Warrior Project, run the Boston Marathon several times and works for the U.S. Department of Defense. (We shared his story in the summer 2012 issue of Dickinson Magazine.) The list goes on, and we are immensely proud of our ROTC graduates and active military members and veterans with a Dickinson degree. —Lauren Davidson
Heather Shelley
I AM INSPIRED BY THE COMMITMENT OF SO MANY AMERICANS TO SERVE FOR A CAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN GREATER THAN THEMSELVES.
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Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette
Laura Anibal Potter ’89
ONE OF THE GREATEST BENEFITS I GAINED FROM MY DICKINSON EXPERIENCE WAS CRITICAL THINKING.
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n Uruguay, she taught Spanish to U.S. Army Intelligence officers posted in Latin America. In the Republic of Georgia, she communicated in Russian with locals and peacekeepers during a United Nations mission. And in July 2016, Brigadier General Laura Anibal Potter ’89 (one of only a few women generals in the U.S. Army and the first female Dickinson ROTC grad to attain that rank) assumed her current position as director of intelligence for the United States European Command, headquartered in Germany. “One of the greatest benefits I gained from my Dickinson experience was critical thinking,” she says. “I don't think we called it that when I went there, but it was the idea that students could analyze an issue—whether in literature, history, religion, art or science—and think about it beyond what was written in the text or conveyed in the lecture; learn how to debate it amongst ourselves; and learn how to draw our own conclusions and stand by them with conviction.” That correlates directly to the work Potter has been doing, like collaborating with the militaries of 28 NATO nations and multiple partner nations across Europe. And clearly her language fluency has helped as well. “Thanks to my Dickinson classroom experience, immersion programs and teaching assistant opportunities, I left Dickinson College fluent in Spanish and Russian, which helped me in countless ways throughout my career.” That career has spanned 28 years, during which Potter created her own path, often chalking up “firsts” for women in her field. “Those firsts are not a reflection of my effort to seek out positions in order to break a barrier,” she says. “Instead, they are a reflection of the path our Army has been on that has seen an increasing number of opportunities open to women. I have been fortunate at every stage in my career to take advantage of those great opportunities. With the [2016] Department of Defense decision to open all positions to women, the female ROTC cadets of the class of 2017 will have unlimited opportunities open to them.”
Brian Fickel ’98 “Hands down, the most memorable speech I wrote was a naturalization ceremony speech for soldiers who were serving in Iraq and about to become citizens,” he recalls. “I don’t think many people realize how many soldiers we actually have serving in the military who are not citizens. It is hard to describe the feeling of seeing several hundred soldiers receive their citizenship in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in Baghdad.” Through the time he’s spent in Iraq and other war-torn places, Fickel has seen the positive impact the military presence can have. “The Army works very hard to engage with communities throughout the country to bridge the gap,” he says. “We should continue to search for opportunities to interact, share and learn from each other.” And he believes Dickinson is equipped to continue to build those bridges. “Dickinson is doing a tremendous job connecting with the military—both on campus and off. Much like our soldiers who serve something larger than themselves, Dickinson creates alumni who are serving all over the world to improve the condition of others and to make a difference.”
WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT, SHARE AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.
Capt. Jarrod Morris
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he public perception of the military can be fickle, but as the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) for the 3rd Infantry Division, Lt. Col. Brian Fickel ’98 works to combat misperceptions and share news stories, photos, video and social media posts that let the community in. “I think the biggest challenge public affairs officers face in our current operating environment is the need to inform the public while maintaining operational security,” explains Fickel, who also served as a spokesman for U.S. Central Command. “Much of our work today in places like Iraq and Syria and other countries does not allow for embedding media with our military personnel, which creates tension between the military and the media. It’s a PAO’s job to ease that tension as much as possible.” It’s not a job he initially signed on for—he was drawn to the excitement and superhero essence of the military from a young age, and had gotten to live out many of those expectations, like jumping out of airplanes, shooting an automatic grenade launcher and traveling the world, even in a V-22 Osprey. But his first job was as the speechwriter for a three-star general, and his abilities and interests in the area grew.
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CULTURE
THE FRONT DOOR WASN'T ALWAYS OPEN TO ME … BUT MY PROFESSORS WERE PIVOTAL IN HELPING ME UNDERSTAND MY VALUE, AND HOW TO BE A STANDOUT.
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Whether sparking cultural change in the workplace, guiding an iconic American brand into a new era or providing a fresh face of the news to millions of viewers each day, Dickinson alumni working in the media, social media and entertainment industries are leaders and game-changers who overcome whatever challenges may come their way. —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Sukanya Krishnan ’93
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here’s a reason they call it the “city that never sleeps,” and no one knows this better than Sukanya Krishnan ’93. A six-time Emmy Award winner and the first Indian-American woman to anchor in the nation’s top news market, she’s up at 2:30 a.m. and on air by 6, bringing the news, in her relatable style, to more than three million viewers across three states. Seven hours later, she drives home, has an hour or so to herself, then starts dinner for husband Eric Schroeder, a New York City Fire Department captain, and two young children, Kiran and Shyla. Then it’s family time, four or five hours’ sleep, and at it again. “You get used to it,” she says with a laugh, noting that while much has changed in the decade-plus she’s anchored the morning broadcast at WPIX11, the bustle is a constant. “But you definitely have to be passionate about what you do.” Born in India and fluent in Tamil, Krishnan immigrated to the U.S. with her parents, both doctors, when she was a child and attended public schools on Staten Island, N.Y. She discovered Dickinson during a college fair in Madison Square Garden and welcomed the change of pace the small liberal-arts college would bring. The adjustment wasn’t easy, but Krishnan formed close relationships with faculty and classmates; declared a Spanish major; studied abroad in Málaga, Spain; and served as president of her senior class. “My professors were really there for me,” she remembers. “They taught me life lessons I still use today: Never give up, and if one door closes, pry open a window. Find another way in.” Krishnan cut her journalism teeth as an intern on Long Island and made her on-air debut at an ABC affiliate in upstate New York. Back in Pennsylvania, she reported for WHP-TV on the TWA flight 800 explosion and Million Man March, then returned to New York as generalassignment reporter for CBS2.
“It was an opportunity of a lifetime, and it was pretty incredible to walk in the door and see Ed Bradley in the cafeteria, and Mike Wallace and Dan Rather at CBS headquarters,” says Krishnan, who covered the Clinton impeachment proceedings and Sammy Sosa’s home-run record during her four years with the network. “That’s when I decided that if I wanted to become part of this, I had to step up my game and create a space for myself.” Krishnan found that home at the CW’s PIX11, and her career-defining moment arrived on Sept. 11, 2001, when she delivered updates of unfolding events at the World Trade Center to an anxious city and world. That 9/11 Morning News broadcast is featured in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, and it earned Krishnan her first Emmy. Five more followed, along with awards from the New York City Comptroller’s Office and the Friar’s Club. Krishnan also has appeared in several documentaries, hosted the syndicated NBC/Universal show Home Delivery and played herself in a 2004 episode of The Sopranos. She’s seen sweeping changes in her industry, brought on by expanding cable news coverage and the advent of social media, and at a time of intense national conversations about the media, she remains a trusted, longstanding source for millions of viewers. She notes that her professors helped her develop a strong sense of self that propelled her at the start of her career, and continues to do so, in the face of an evolving media environment. “The front door wasn't always open to me, as a person of my origin and background—an immigrant to this country—and the welcome mat wasn’t always out,” she says, “but my professors were pivotal in helping me understand my value and how to be a standout. They helped me realize that if you work hard, and if you know what you bring to the table, you’ll always be an asset, wherever you go.”
Jason Gong ’06
I WANTED TO ENGAGE PEOPLE IN HARD CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE EXPERIENCING AT DICKINSON, ABOUT WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT AND WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER. IT WAS A VERY POWERFUL EXPERIENCE, SEEING THE CAMPUS CULTURE BEGIN TO SHIFT.
Lionel T. Djaowe
David McDonald
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ason Gong ’06 was in his final year of high school on Sept. 11, 2001, when two hijacked planes altered his city’s skyline and his nation’s worldview. As a New Yorker and son of a first responder, he was deeply affected and, one year later, he arrived at Dickinson with big questions about how differences and commonalities between groups influence the ways we think and act. Gong was part of only the second cohort of Posse Foundation scholars to enroll at Dickinson, and campus life presented formidable challenges. “At that time, Dickinson was not a very ethnically diverse place,” he remembers. “I’d never met anyone who’d gone to private schools or prep schools, and many of [my classmates] had never met anyone like me, in terms of cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic differences. I found myself having interesting and frustrating interactions with students who didn’t know what they didn’t know.” Inspired by a First-Year Seminar with Ted Pulcini, the Thomas Bowman Professor of Religion and Philosophy, Gong dived into the history and social science behind those differences, and he eventually declared a religion major, with a focus on world faiths. He also tackled the issues head-on. “I wanted to engage people in hard conversations about what they were experiencing at Dickinson, about what makes us different and what we can learn from one another,” says Gong, a Sustained Dialogue moderator who also was a member of the football team, the Asian Pacific Association, African American Society, Umoja, Emerging Leaders Retreat and the D-Tones. “It was a very powerful experience, seeing the campus culture begin to shift.” The summer after his first undergrad year, during an internship at Lehman Brothers, Gong learned that he could carry diversity work into the corporate world. A year later, Lehman Brothers offered him a summer internship in London, where he helped launch the global firm’s European diversity team. Gong worked at Lehman Brothers right after graduation and went on to work in diversity and inclusion at several other organizations, including American Express and Prudential Financial. He next branched out to Silicon Valley, where corporate change moves more quickly, leading engagement and inclusion programs at Facebook. He moved to Pinterest last summer, continuing his work in the tech sector, and remains an active Dickinson career mentor and volunteer. Gong admits he’s in a challenging line of work, given the current social and political climate. “Everything that’s been happening in the last couple years is nothing new, but the tensions we’re seeing in this country are high, and that’s helped bring into focus how important this work is, and continues to be,” he says. “As much progress as we’ve made in this country, we still have so much work to do.”
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J. Bruce McKinney ’59
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SALLY AND I FIRMLY BELIEVE IN GIVING YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO MOVE AHEAD, TAKE CHANCES AND SUCCEED.
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. Bruce McKinney ’59 was a young insurance supervisor, seven years out of school, when he received a letter that would change his professional life. A man he’d never met was looking for an assistant at Hershey Chocolate Corporation, and he’d heard that McKinney could take on whatever challenge came his way. “I didn’t have much of an interest in working there at that time, but I was curious,” says McKinney. “So I went to the interview to learn more.” That openness would take McKinney far, ultimately positioning him to transform an iconic attraction, revitalize a major corporation and help preserve the legacy of its philanthropic founder. Born in Butler, Pa., McKinney moved to Hershey at age 11, after the sudden death of his father, to attend Milton Hershey School, founded by the chocolate magnate to aid children in need. He entered Dickinson at the encouragement of Ben James ’34, declared a political science major and joined the glee club, choir and Alpha Chi Rho. McKinney graduated with dreams of a legal career, but a chance meeting on High Street, during his first semester at the nearby Dickinson School of Law, altered those plans. McKinney had seen Sarah “Sally” Hollister ’60 around campus, but didn’t know her well on that sunny October day, as he left the Alpha Chi Rho house and headed toward his parked ’59 Chevy Impala. Sally caught his attention by calling out, “Nice car!” That summer, they married, and he left school to work. After teaching English for a year—he’s still in touch with some former students, now grandparents—McKinney went into insurance, moving from claims analyst to supervisor. He’d just started a job in King of Prussia, Pa., when he received that life-changing letter from George Zimmerman, the assistant to the president of Hershey Chocolate Corp. Zimmerman was hiring an assistant and had heard about McKinney from Hershey School faculty. McKinney accepted the job, and five years later he was assistant general manager at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company (HERCO). He was made general manager of Hersheypark one year later, and went on to serve as CEO of the corporation in 1987. Under McKinney’s leadership, Hersheypark added buzzed-about features like the
SuperDooperLooper and ZooAmerica, and HERCO hosted concerts by top entertainers (he remembers James Taylor, Liza Minelli, Liberace and the Carpenters fondly). Memorable moments include his decision to end Alice Cooper’s live act with a mock-guillotine, as opposed to a mock-hanging (“I said, ‘Whatever gets him off the stage quickest!’ ”), and the moment he calls his “big 15 minutes of fame,” when MTV reported that he’d banned Guns ’n Roses from returning to play in Hershey. (The band had arrived very late, then played its outdoor concert well past the town’s noise curfew, broadcasting amplified obscenities out into the night air for all to hear.) McKinney also divested far-flung properties that were acquired before his tenure as CEO, bringing focus back to hometown attractions and saving the corporation from near-financial ruin. By his retirement in 2000, HERCO had enjoyed seven years of record-breaking prosperity. Two years into retirement, when plans emerged to sell Hershey Foods, McKinney led successful national efforts to stop the sale. McKinney has served Dickinson as a board member and reunion volunteer and as the college’s first executive-in-residence. His many awards include Dickinson’s Benjamin Rush Award, Penn State’s Honorary Alumnus Award, a Milton Hershey School Alumnus of the Year award and the 2013 Hershey Bears Hockey Hall of Fame Award. He and Sally have two daughters and five grandchildren, and they’ll celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary this summer. They support their shared alma mater through the J. Bruce and Sarah H. McKinney Scholarship Fund, which helps students needing assistance to complete their final undergrad year. “I didn’t go to Dickinson thinking I’d be a theme-park manager, but the independence I learned at Milton Hershey School, coupled with the education I received at Dickinson, gave me the ability to explore things I might not have thought of and move appropriately within new ventures,” he says. “Sally and I firmly believe in giving young men and women the same opportunities to move ahead, take chances and succeed.”
EDUCATION
Where would any of us be without great teachers? People who cared about their students in ways that make them go above and beyond, in the classroom and in the community. The next generation is fortunate to have Dickinsonians who are passionate about teaching, dedicated to their students and inspired to find ways to prepare young people for the vast world waiting for them after high school. Our alumni educators are working with Teach for America, molding young minds from elementary school through college, serving as guidance counselors and advisors. And two of these exceptional educators had big news in 2016 ... —Tony Moore
EVERY STUDENT DESERVES THE BEST EDUCATION, NO MATTER THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES. Michelle Sánchez ’11
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eaching is one of those jobs that people might refer to as thankless. But in 2016 Michelle Sánchez ’11, a teacher at Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High School in Los Angeles, got a big thank you for her work from no less than the Obama administration, under the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. The initiative showcases educators who strengthen the Latino educational landscape and explores systematic ways to enhance education for Hispanic Americans. And Sánchez fits the bill to perfection. “Teaching is a beautiful profession,” she says. “What excites me most is seeing the progress of a student from the beginning of the year to the end—those ‘ah ha’ revelations that occur throughout the year for kids. Or when you know that a student is proud of their work or has overcome a personal obstacle—those are the exciting parts. Working with kids always keeps you on your toes; they keep me in check and inspire me to be my best self.” The daughter of Mexican and Costa Rican immigrant parents, Sanchez teaches English, history, special education, technology and English as a second language and coaches track and cross country. “You’d think teachers would get tired, but I don’t feel exhausted,” she says. “The minute kids walk into my classroom, I get a burst of energy and am ready to go.” The American studies major has found that her Spanish minor comes in handy working every day on behalf of her Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking students and their families, who often have greater obstacles to overcome than the next history quiz. “What has been challenging is knowing that students have had to experience hunger or are sleep deprived because they had to commute across the city from a new shelter,” Sanchez says. “Sometimes I don’t have words to share with them—all I can do is honor their space and give them that extra time that they need. The best that I can do is give it my all—to help break these cycles so kids can reach their potential. Every student deserves the best education, no matter their circumstances.”
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HAVING NO EXPERIENCE, BUT TRUSTING IN MY LIBERAL-ARTS EDUCATION TO GET ME THROUGH, I WAS ABLE TO LEARN FROM THE PREVIOUS AND RETIRED PLANETARIUM DIRECTOR HOW TO DIRECT ITS FUNCTIONS. FROM THERE, I FELL IN LOVE WITH ASTRONOMY AND PLANETARIUMS AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STEM LEARNERS.
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Rob Webb ’05
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obb Webb ’05 has been teaching conceptual physics, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and astrophysics at Pequea Valley High School in Lancaster County, Pa., for 12 years. And he knew he wanted to do it since 10th grade, when he first started to really explore what physics could mean beyond textbooks. Now, beyond the textbooks and beyond the classroom, Webb runs the Pequea Valley Planetarium, a facility that has enhanced his teaching to an extent he never thought possible—and one he uses to inspire his students with astrophysics in new ways. If all this sounds familiar, you probably remember Webb from when he was featured on Dickinson’s Facebook page last summer. Webb entered his school into the Farmers Insurance Thank America’s Teachers $100,000 Challenge, where the public voted on which schools should win grants. Dickinson posted about it, hoping to shine some light on the good work Webb does while also hoping to gather some votes from other alums. As it turns out, your votes helped his school secure that $100,000, and with it the renovation of the Pequea Valley Planetarium can finally get underway. “When I accepted the position at Pequea Valley, the planetarium was really just an afterthought and a bonus for teaching astrophysics,” says Webb, also a student council advisor at the school. “Having no experience, but trusting in my liberal-arts education to get me through, I was able to learn from the previous and retired planetarium director how to direct its functions. From there, I fell in love with astronomy and planetariums and their potential for inspiring the next generation of STEM learners.” And while it’s STEM that drives him, Webb—who met wife Danielle VigilanteWebb ’03 at an Alpha Phi Omega campus event—looks back on his liberal-arts background as the foundation that lets him reach for the stars. “By learning my physics curriculum through a lens of sustainability and public service, I was able to tailor my lessons to include more relevant questions … to give the students a more global perspective.”
FOOD & DRINK
There might not be anything more “liberal arts” than food and drink. There are threads of art, economics, chemistry, philosophy, social justice, communication, health studies, biology, geology, religion and more woven through what, where, how and why we eat and drink. And in kitchens, laboratories, breweries, farms, stores and factories around the world, Dickinsonians are making an impact on those decisions and bringing liberal-arts mindsets to this deliciously innovative industry. —Lauren Davidson
Susan Miller ’81 and Michelle Stafford ’07
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Lisa Helfert
ncredible things can happen when Dickinsonians collaborate. Susan Miller ’81 and Michelle Stafford ’07 are founder and manager, respectively, of Red, a wine, beer and spirits store that specializes in organic, biodynamic and sustainably produced products. They are pioneering this customer-centric, woman-owned/woman-operated business—straight up with a sustainable, local twist. And while their meeting was a bit of serendipity, the mission and focus they share are not. Miller launched Red in late 2014 as a personal passion project, as if she weren’t busy enough as president and CEO of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solution (ATIS), advancing the technology agendas of global companies like AT&T, Verizon, Intel, Facebook and Google, serving on the board of directors of the American National Standards Institute and playing a role in a number of federal advisory committees for the Federal Communications Commission and the National Science Foundation. At Dickinson, Miller majored in English and art history and minored in economics, and then went on to earn a J.D. at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. Throughout her career, Miller has been interested in sustainability issues—thanks to her role at ATIS, she has had the opportunity to advance the technology and services of the future for “smart (and more environmentally friendly) cities” or applications in the “internet of things” which will measure energy and water utilization via a smart grid. She supports many of Dickinson’s sustainability initiatives, especially the College Farm, so it wasn’t completely out of her milieu to launch a business that would marry all of her interests. Miller also points to her Dickinson education as providing the necessary grounding. “There’s a certain inquisitiveness and curiosity that was engendered by my time there,” she says. “It’s not something that’s easily quantified, but it’s something that turned out to be hugely practical, hugely useful in a world that is moving so quickly.” Stafford, who also happened to be an English major at Dickinson and served a year in AmeriCorps, joined Red part time in 2014 and is now the store’s general manager. “What I truly grew to love about wine is that to fully appreciate it, one must master, or least gain understanding of, so many areas of knowledge: history, chemistry, the environment, farming, language, business and culture,” she says. “If you think about it, embracing the wine industry is much like obtaining a liberal-arts education, in which you combine so many unique interests into one cohesive thing.” As Stafford notes, Red is situated in a shopping community known as Conscious Corner, a one-stop shop for environmentally conscious consumers. Its neighbors are an Earth-friendly home goods boutique, a vegan restaurant and a natural pet-food store. “The industry has changed remarkably since I first became enamored with it in 2008,” Stafford says. “Consumers in general are more educated about what they are putting into their bodies, and that extends into the world of wine.”
IT’S SOMETHING THAT TURNED OUT TO BE HUGELY PRACTICAL, HUGELY USEFUL IN A WORLD THAT IS MOVING SO QUICKLY.
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WE SHOULD BE TELLING AND SHOWING CONSUMERS THAT WINE IS LIKE FOOD—IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT AND ENJOY IT. THERE’S NO REASON TO TALK IT TO DEATH. Fritz Lance ’83
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veryone loves an underdog, and Richard “Fritz” Lance ’83 is focused on capitalizing on that. As president of Underdog Wine Merchants, a branch of The Wine Group LLC (the world’s third-largest wine producer), Lance is working to craft, market and sell premium wines to the large and growing millennial consumer group. “Wine continues to be a strong growth industry with positive trends for the past 20 years and a bright future,” Lance says. “This is based on America’s demographics and the enthusiasm for wine by millennials who, in the next 10 years, will be the largest consumer group.” And while this boom is beneficial, it brings a new set of challenges. According to Lance, the wine industry has had to change to accommodate the different purchasing style, and undeniable purchasing power, of this consumer group. “The millennial consumers think differently than their parents, the boomers,” he explains. “Boomers are more traditionalists who prefer a chardonnay from Sonoma. Millennials are more interested in exploring new wines like prosecco from Italy. We have spent way too much time talking about things like terroir, barrel regiments, grape clones, fermentation techniques, bottle aging, etc., versus talking about how wine should simply be enjoyed. We should be telling and showing consumers that wine is like food—if you like it, buy it and enjoy it. There’s no reason to talk it to death.”
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Lance’s industry expertise can be traced back to his early years working in restaurants and in Dickinson’s Dining Services as a student. He joined E&J Gallo Winery after graduation, where he focused on wine sales and marketing in the restaurant and hotel arena. After 20 years there, he joined The Wine Group as a partner and acquired a winery in Sonoma, Calif., with wife Kelly Kaufman Lance ’83 (whom he met at Dickinson, of course). “Perhaps because of the thrill of the product and the geography we get to play in, it’s also very competitive,” he says. “In California alone there are more than 6,000 wineries—and then when you add all the other producing areas like France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, it becomes mindboggling how many different brands and types of wines are being offered.” Which connects nicely to Lance’s liberal-arts background. “Simply put, my education at Dickinson gave me the tools to learn, think critically and communicate successfully—all skills necessary regardless of the career path one choses—or does it choose you?”
Mojdeh Bahar ’94
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THE PRIVILEGE OF A LIBERAL-ARTS EDUCATION HAS ENABLED ME TO SEE CONNECTIONS THAT OTHERS MAY NOT READILY OBSERVE, TO THINK HOLISTICALLY AND TO COMMUNICATE TO DIFFERENT AUDIENCES EFFECTIVELY.
magine walking through the produce section of your local grocery store and knowing the scientist who developed that new variety of seedless grapes on display. Or admiring a new ornamental plant that was developed in a nursery down the hall from your office. These are distinct possibilities for Mojdeh Bahar ’94, assistant administrator for technology transfer at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). “I am a patent attorney by trade,” says Bahar, “and my current job exposes me to many different areas of science including production of food, nutrition and food safety and quality. I have broad responsibility for managing the intellectual property that evolves from the research programs and serve as a resource for management of intellectual property and technology transfer across the USDA.” This means that Bahar is on the front lines of agricultural innovation, surrounded by the scientists, researchers and policymakers making things happen—things like lactose-free milk, shrink-proof wool, precision irrigation and McDonald’s Apple Dippers, which uses a coating developed at ARS that delays the browning of the apples. “It is incredibly exciting to learn about new scientific inventions, to be able to help scientists realize the full impact of their research through technology transfer,” Bahar continues, noting also that her career enables her to combine her interests in business, science and law—fitting for a chemistry and French double major. Prior to the USDA, where she’s been for three years, Bahar was chief of the cancer branch at the National Institutions of Health and chair of the Federal Laboratory Consortium. She has a master’s from New York University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, but she still cites her Dickinson education as foundational to her success as a senior leader. “Dickinson provided me with many opportunities to develop and hone my leadership skills: as a resident advisor, president of a service fraternity, teaching assistant and student representative to both the French and chemistry departments,” she says. “The privilege of a liberal-arts education has enabled me to see connections that others may not readily observe, to think holistically and to communicate to different audiences effectively. There are a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions about intellectual property protection. Educating scientists on the importance of intellectual property and its potential effects on the adoption of their research outcomes is challenging yet rewarding and empowering!”
Lisa Helfert
Keep sharing your points of pride. Send us your Bragging Rights ideas (see Page 7). Post on social media with #dsonproud. Email dsonmag@dickinson.edu with story suggestions. Let’s keep telling these stories so word of Dickinson’s reach can continue to grow and spread and influence and inspire.
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JEANNE
KATIE
COLLEEN
ANDY BENJAMIN
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MEGHAN
[ feature ]
Extending the Connection By Katya Hrichak ’17
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rofessor of English Wendy Moffat has seen a lot of students throughout her time at Dickinson, but it’s not often that she gets to teach several students from the same family. When Emma Moore ’20 declared her English major, it wasn’t long before Moffat recognized her resemblance to a former student and began to piece together the puzzle. Through a conversation with the archives staff that resulted in the acquisition of old family photographs, Moffat identified Emma as the daughter of one of her former advisees, Jeanne Ruane Moore ’92. “There is a family resemblance and it was an unusual enough last name,” says Moffat. “This [ family legacy] was sneaky because Emma kept that to herself for quite a while.” But after presenting Emma with the photographs, there was no denying the familial connection. Although they are not the largest Dickinson legacy family on record, the Moore family legacy is substantial. The legacy extends in both Moore’s maternal and paternal directions, including Emma’s father, Andy Moore ’91; her mother, Jeanne Ruane Moore ’92; her mother’s sisters, Katie Ruane Riley ’97 and Colleen Ruane Sherman ’00; her aunt Katie’s husband, Benjamin Riley ’97; her mother’s cousin, Meghan Kwasniak Thomas ’99; and now Emma herself.
Being familiar with this information made Emma’s college search process slightly different from that of typical high school seniors, but she says her parents never pushed her to choose Dickinson simply because they did. When Emma made the choice to apply, it was because Dickinson allowed her to play soccer while offering her a great academic program and the opportunity to study abroad. Carrying on the family legacy was just another perk. “When I did my overnight visit with one of the girls on the team, I knew instantly that Dickinson was the right choice,” says Emma. “From that experience and also from hearing all the positive stories and experiences my parents had at Dickinson, I decided to apply Early Decision. Of course [they] were thrilled!” Jeanne agrees, saying she was confident Emma was making the right choice. “My husband and I loved every minute of our time at Dickinson and we knew that Emma was beginning what we know will be some of the best years of her life,” she says. “Dickinson feels like home to us, even 25 years later, and it is comforting to think of her spending time in the same buildings, eating in the HUB and even taking classes with some professors who taught us.” Sharing professors with her mom and dad is one of the aspects Emma enjoys most about being a legacy. “It’s extra special,”
she says. “After I chose Professor Moffat as my English advisor, I learned that she was also my mom’s advisor. Now she calls me her grand-student.” In addition to being a second-generation advisee, Emma has followed other patterns established by her family before her. After accepting her bid, Emma became a triple legacy at Pi Beta Phi sorority, following in her mom’s and aunt’s footsteps, as well as accepting a position as a Writing Center tutor, a position that both Jeanne and Andy held while students. “This has been particularly special,” Jeanne says. Although the family was away at one of Emma’s soccer games this past Homecoming Weekend, several members of the family are looking forward to celebrating reunions this spring. “In June, it will be my 25th reunion and my sister Katie and her husband Ben’s 20th reunion,” says Jeanne. She and Andy, Katie and Ben will all be in attendance to celebrate the impact Dickinson has made on their family. “We have a very close family to begin with, and all my family members have been supportive of me throughout my whole life. Now we have another thing in common,” says Emma. “Ever since I chose Dickinson, at almost every family event, there are stories told about the good ol’ days, and now I have stories to add to the conversation!”
“… we knew that Emma was beginning what we know will be some of the best years of her life.”
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[ beyond the limestone walls ]
From theory to action
Carl Socolow ’77
M I C H A E L D O N N E L LY ’ 0 2 , A L U M N I C O U N C I L P R E S I D E N T
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his edition of Dickinson Magazine is highlighting the theme of #dsonproud. While not every reader of this magazine uses Twitter, the contemporary focus on the use of the hashtag is as much cultural as it is functional. In a time in our nation when social media is abuzz with allegations of fake news and vastly disparate opinions, Dickinson is celebrating the good that exists in our world thanks, in part, to the Dickinson experience. What better time to rally all Dickinsonians than now? I hope that you enjoy reading about the remarkable fellow alumni who are featured in this issue. I must say that I am consistently humbled by the work of our alumni and the impact that Dickinsonians have on the world. I couldn’t be more proud to be a Dickinsonian! As you know from my previous columns, the work of the Alumni Council this year has been to transition from theory to action. Our members have been making a concerted effort to be present at regional events and to engage in outreach to fellow alumni. We also want to make an impact on the Alumni Council as a whole. In February, we met on campus for a busy, but productive, weekend. And in what has become a biannual tradition, the council and the Board of Trustees met for a focused work session. This year we emphasized internships and externships. We also spent time on fellowship during a joint dinner and reviewed the good work that each of these volunteer bodies do on behalf of the college. What made this year’s dinner special was the celebration of Professor of English Wendy Moffat, who was installed as the John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair in Global Education. Please join me in congratulating Professor Moffat, and read more on Page 11.
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The Alumni Council also got a glimpse of current studentfaculty research. Council members rotated to various lab and work spaces on campus to get a better sense of the collegial academic work that is taking place throughout campus. Wow! To say that our faculty and students are second to none is an understatement. Through this experience the council members were able to better see the connections that our work has to the academic initiatives that are taking place at Dickinson. I encourage you to reach out to any member to learn more. Alumni Council members also are willing to respond to inquiries, meet with fellow alumni and share other news of our alma mater. You can access contact information for council members at dson.co/alumnicouncil17. In the spirit of being #dsonproud, I continue to encourage all members of our alumni community to make Dickinson your No. 1 choice for your philanthropy. Our alma mater has provided each of us with a multitude of opportunities that embody the true essence of a liberal-arts education—choice in vocation not limited to one single focus. As the college, in conjunction with leadership by the Board of Trustees and with support of members of the Alumni Council, continues to rise to the challenge of increasing Dickinson’s impact within the global community, the value of our degree can’t help but appreciate. Your contributions to the college will help provide opportunities for future Dickinsonians who, without financial aid, would not otherwise be able to attend. As a first-generation college student myself, I was able to become a Dickinsonian because of scholarships, grants and the financial support of dedicated alumni like you. Now, as an alumnus, I give back to Dickinson because I believe that I am able to have an impact on the future of those who will one day join us as alumni. I would like to close by congratulating everyone who is celebrating a milestone reunion this year. My class, the great class of 2002, will be on campus to celebrate our 15th reunion (hard to believe!). In addition to celebrating milestone reunions, Dickinson’s Alumni Weekend celebrates all alumni. Everyone is encouraged to come back to campus this June. (Read more on Page 5.) A special part of this weekend will be the visibility of the Alumni Council. We have shifted our spring meeting to take place during Alumni Weekend so that council members are present and available to build relationships with each of you. As always, I welcome your questions, comments or feedback at profe207@gmail.com. I look forward to our continued work together to promote and support our alma mater.
On and Off THE COURT Donors Celebrate the Impact of the McAndrews Fund More than 80 donors, students and coaches celebrated the impact of the McAndrews Fund for Athletics on Saturday, Feb. 18, during a reception following the men’s and women’s basketball teams’ victories over Washington College. The reception gave donors the chance to meet the student-athletes benefiting from their philanthropy and highlighted the fund’s recent impact, which includes a new floor for the basketball and volleyball teams, softball field renovations, new windscreens for the tennis courts, and strength and conditioning certification for all coaches. “Through their generous support, McAndrews Fund donors help all of our student-athletes excel in competition, in the classroom and in our community,” said Dickinson Director of Athletics Joe Giunta. “Whether it’s providing funding for resources … or supporting training trips, you truly help shape the tremendous experience we are trying to provide our Dickinson student-athletes.” A special arm of the Dickinson Fund dedicated to supporting athletics, the McAndrews Fund also helps provide teams with equipment and uniforms as well as out-of-region competition and Spring Break trips. For donors like Bram Zeigler ’93, a former Red Devil basketball player who attended the reception, supporting the fund is a way to honor his past while supporting the future. “Playing basketball here was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Zeigler. “The memories and the friendships I made from that time are still strong. I know that athletes today still need good facilities and gear, so I want to do what I can to make that possible.” —Matt Getty; photos by Sean Simmers and Joe O'Neill
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[ closing thoughts ]
Paying It Forward BY ANGELA FERNANDEZ BARONE ’90
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remember clearly the call I received from J. Larry Mench the day after my graduation from Dickinson to offer me a job in the admissions office. My interests were in public policy— around education in particular—so I had my sights set on positions in the nonprofit sector, likely with a foundation or community-based organization. But the position in Dickinson’s admissions office seemed like a valuable one. I could learn about higher education administration and gain another perspective on the issues and pressures facing the field. And, of course, representing this college would be an honor. I knew I’d love that. What I didn’t know was that I’d find so many ways to help students and advance the college—I didn’t know this would become my life’s work. I’ve worn many hats over the years I’ve worked in admissions— coordinating on- and off-campus events, working with transfer students and recruiting first-year students from across the country and around the world—and am currently leading admissions’ communications efforts and working as the co-coordinator with the Dickinson Admissions Volunteer Society (DAVS). In the latter role, I partner with Patty Zink to manage a network of thousands of alumni and some Dickinson parents, too, who represent the college around the globe. These volunteers represent Dickinson at local college fairs and do outreach by phone and over email to answer parents’ and students’ questions. They also interview students, which I think is my favorite part of the program. When I read our volunteers’ reflections on the students they meet, I’m so impressed by their dedication and thoughtfulness. Just a few weeks ago, it was the passionate advocacy of the DAVS interviewer that helped the admissions committee to appreciate the struggles of a very special student
and put into valuable context that individual’s accomplishments. DAVS members have a unique opportunity to shine a light on a student’s talents. They clearly see great promise in the young people whom they interview and take pride in advocating for them. Moreover, it’s a valuable connection for prospective students as well—they meet graduates of Dickinson and connect the place they are learning about with the people who have found success there and after graduation. Our alumni share memories of Dickinson with these students, our parents boast of their children’s accomplishments and these future students are better able to see themselves as members of this community. And, even as DAVS alumni volunteers support the students they meet, they also have opportunities to support their alma mater. By helping students to see the great “fit” they have with Dickinson, they contribute significantly to the college’s momentum. They bolster their own affinity when they share stories of how they found Dickinson, how they thrived at Dickinson, and how they continue to stay connected to our alma mater. They advance the college’s values. They help bring to Dickinson’s extraordinary faculty the students who will thrive and be mentored and achieve great things, just as they did as students. It’s an incredible opportunity to pay it forward! When my children were young and asked what I do at work, I’d tell them that I got to interact with students at a moment in their lives when they’re beginning to discover the incredible things that they can do. My kids’ eyes would shine at the thought of this fantastic, almost magical thing that I get to do every day. My eyes still shine with the same love of this opportunity to work with students. They remind me of what is good and hopeful in this world. They keep me looking forward to the future. And I get the chance to enable our alumni and parent volunteers to experience that hopefulness as well. What an extraordinary opportunity!
As director of admissions communications, Angela Fernandez Barone ’90 helps to tell the Dickinson story to prospective students, parents and the counseling community. In her newer role as co-coordinator of the Dickinson Admissions Volunteer Society (DAVS), together with Patty Zink, she connects those prospective students and parents with Dickinson alumni and parents of current students around the world—an opportunity that pays dividends to all involved. If you’re interested in getting involved in this invaluable service to the college, fill out a brief form at admissions.dickinson.edu/register/davsmembership.
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24 hours Dickinsonians DICKINSON DAY OF GIVING 04.25.17 For Dickinson’s third annual Day of Giving, Tuesday, April 25, we’re asking Dickinsonians around the world to step up, tap into our shared Dickinson pride and come together to outdo all of our past efforts by making 3,000 gifts to the college in 24 hours. During the last two Days of Giving, alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff around the globe showed that great things happen when Dickinsonians come together. On April 25, step up and make your gift
to be part of this ambitious effort.
#dsongives | dickinson.edu/dayofgiving
P. O . B O X 1 7 7 3 C A R L I S L E , P A 1 7 0 1 3 - 2 8 9 6 PERIODICAL
W W W. D I C K I N S O N . E D U / M A G A Z I N E
P O S TA G E P A I D AT C A R L I S L E , P A AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICE
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Unless you are intentional about the world you want to see, it simply will not change. Actor/director/producer D AV I D OY E L OW O during the 2017 Poitras-Gleim Lecture. Read more at dson.co/oyelowo17.
IT WAS MY MOST DIFFICULT SEMESTER OF COLLEGE SO FAR, BUT IT UNEQUIVOCALLY MADE ME A BETTER STUDENT, RESEARCHER, WRITER AND GLOBAL CITIZEN. B R A DY H U M M E L ’ 1 7 .
Read more at dson.co/hummel17.
It’s kind of a psychic devotion to the college—the heart of what the college is about. W E N DY MOF FAT ,
professor of English and newly installed John J. Curley ’60 and Ann Conser Curley ’63 Faculty Chair in Global Education. Read more on Page 11, and watch a video at dson.co/moffatcurley.
Start by picking one thing, something that is both impactful and readily achieved. Do that. Congratulate yourself, pause to reflect, then move on to tackle one more thing. N E I L L E A R Y , director of the Center for Sustainability Education, in The Huffington Post. Read it at dson.co/learyfive.
One of the greatest roles of leadership is getting people to achieve beyond what they believe their potential is. STEVE SMITH ’92,
CEO of L.L.Bean. Read more on Page 18, and watch a video at dickinson.edu/magazine.
You really can do it all. It’s just a matter of your dedication and whether or not you like to sleep at night. RU T H I E S T R AU S S ’ 1 8 .
Read more at dson.co/strauss18.