HWS Pulteney Street Survey - Spring 2020 by Hobart and William Smith Colleges

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Spring 2020

Casey Lintern Rogers ‘98 Director of The Ellen Fund. Led by Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, the fund supports global conservation efforts for endangered species. Major: Dance Hometown: Santa Barbara, Calif.

1. What motivates you? A desire to do good in the world

1. What motivates you? Learning new things or skills

2. What’s your dream destination abroad? Patagonia

2. What’s your dream destination abroad? Lake Baikal, Siberia

3. Who inspires you? Young people around the world who are recognizing their voice and agency and mobilizing to create a more sustainable world

3. Who inspires you? People who immigrate to places where they don’t speak the language and where others don’t speak their language

4. What languages do you speak? English, some Spanish and Swahili

4. What languages do you speak? English, Russian and Spanish

5. What’s your best travel tip? Only pack what you can carry

5. What’s your best travel tip? Travel only with a carry-on

6. Window or aisle? Aisle

6. Window or aisle? For a short flight, aisle

7. What are you working on right now? At The Ellen Fund, we are focused on supporting global conservation efforts for endangered species, partnering with the Fossey Fund to build a campus for mountain gorilla conservation in Rwanda and promoting awareness about global conservation efforts 8. What’s the first thing you do when you return home from abroad? Enjoy a cup of tea and a piece of Vegemite toast 9. Which faculty member inspired you the most? Professor of Dance Donna Davenport 10. What was your last volunteer experience? Cooking and serving dinner at our local church 11. What one change would make the world a better place? Treating one another with love and kindness

7. What are you working on right now? Choreographing a dance for the Junior/Senior Dance Concert that combines my dance and Russian majors 8. What’s the first thing you do when you return home from abroad? Greet my dogs, take a shower and go to sleep

Sarah Cavanaugh ‘20 Fulbright-Hays Scholarship recipient. Cavanaugh spent a semester teaching folk dancing in Barnaul, Russia. Majors: Dance, Russian Area Studies Hometown: Hopkinton, Mass.

THE PULTENEY STREET SURVEY | HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES | Spring 2020

Parallels

9. Which faculty member inspires you the most? Assistant Professor of Dance Kelly Johnson

From the

10. What was your last volunteer experience? Volunteering at an animal shelter

Ground

11. What one change would make the world a better place? Remembering that everyone deserves to have their humanity and dignity recognized

INSIDE FPO

The Seneca Nation, the Pulteney Estate and the Pre-history of HWS

Exploring literal and figurative foundations

In this issue focused on foundations, we start with a look at the oldest building on campus, Geneva Hall, built in 1822. Beginning in 1891, students carved their names into the cornerstones of the northeast and southeast walls along with their class year and motto. (The northeast corner is shown above.) Eventually, classes raised funds to have names professionally carved. The tradition continued until 1925.

ON THE COVER: EARLY MORNING SUN ON THE QUAD. PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON.

Contents

Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020

HILL & QUAD

FEATURE STORIES

HWS COMMUNITY

CLASSNOTES

2 | Upfront: A letter from

28 | From the Ground Up

44 | KA Celebrates 175 years

50 | Catch up with your

38 | The Lay of the Land

45 | Alum Event Photos

President Jacobsen

14 | Photography Gifts 18 | Seneca Review at 50

48 | Indelible Effects

classmates

80 | The Last Word

22 | New Leadership for Athletics

VOLUME XLV, NUMBER TWO/ THE PULTENEY STREET SURVEY is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, New York 14456-3397, (315) 781-3700. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Pulteney Street Survey, c/o Alumni House Records, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney St., Geneva, New York 14456-3397. Hobart and William Smith Colleges are committed to providing a non-discriminatory and harassment-free educational, living, and working environment for all members of the HWS community, including students, faculty, staff, volunteers, and visitors. HWS prohibits discrimination and harassment in their programs and activities on the basis of age, color, disability, domestic violence victim status, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected under the law. Discrimination on the basis of sex includes sexual harassment, sexual violence, sexual assault, other forms of sexual misconduct including stalking and intimate partner violence, and gender-based harassment that does not involve conduct of a sexual nature. EDITOR, VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Catherine Williams / ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Peggy Kowalik / SENIOR EDITOR Bethany Snyder / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS/EDITORS Ken DeBolt, Mackenzie Larsen ’12, Mary LeClair, Bethany Snyder, Natalia St. Lawrence ’16, Andrew Wickenden ’09, Catherine Williams and Amanda Zumpano / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS ABC Creative, Drew Altizer, Kevin Colton, Adam Farid ’20, Ronnie Farley, Ken Johnson, Danny Schweers, Neil Sjoblom ’75, Jared Weeden ’91, Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty Images and Doug Zacker/Zacker Images / PRESIDENT Joyce P. Jacobsen / THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18 / VICE CHAIRS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Cynthia Gelsthrope Fish ’82, Craig R. Stine ’81, P’17 / VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Robert B. O’Connor / William Smith Alumnae Association Officers: Julie Bazan ’93, President; Kirra Henick-Kling Guard ’08, MAT ’09, Vice President; Jane M. Erickson ’07, Immediate Past President; Carla DeLucia ’05, Historian / Hobart Alumni Association Officers: Dr. Richard S. Solomon ’75, P’10, President; The Hon. Ludwig P. Gaines ’88, Vice President; Frank V. Aloise ’87, Immediate Past President; Rafael A. Rodriguez ’07, Historian / For questions and comments about the magazine or to submit a story idea, please e-mail Catherine Williams at cwilliams@hws.edu or Bethany Snyder at bsnyder@hws.edu.

The pages of this publication were printed using 100% recycled paper which enables the environmental savings equivalent to the following: • 244 trees preserved for the future • 18,227 gal. US of water saved • 35,342 lbs. CO2 saved from being emitted • 403 MMBTU of energy not consumed * * These calculations were derived from the RollandEco-calculator.

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Upfront Dear Friends,

have had the privilege these past several months of traveling across the country to meet with a great number of alumni, alumnae, parents and friends of Hobart and William Smith, all of whom have expressed their support for the Colleges and their excitement for our future. I’m looking forward to meeting many more of you as my schedule takes me to Saratoga, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and Boston in the next couple of months. Please join me at these celebrations of HWS and, as always, return to campus for Reunion 2020 from June 5 – 7. There’s no easier way to stay engaged and learn how you can be part of the Colleges’ future than by attending one of our events regionally or in Geneva. While visiting alumni and alumnae in Florida, President Joyce P. Jacobsen and Vice President for Advancement Bob O’Connor P‘22 met with Rebecca Fox L.H.D. ’95 Here on campus, there’s been noteworthy (center), former dean of William Smith College and the current Dean of the Division of activity as I’ve finalized the leadership team at Continuing and International Education at the University of Miami. the Colleges, making important appointments in academics, athletics, inclusion, alumni and alumnae relations and the Hobart Dean’s Office, all described in detail on the following pages. With these appointments, we have resolved all interim and unfilled leadership positions, and clarified our administrative structures moving forward. I’m pleased to report that with the significant efforts of many, including the guidance of the Board of Trustees, we are establishing a firm platform for the future with a renewed strategic planning process, an increased applicant pool and record-breaking philanthropy. I am grateful to so many of you who recommend the Colleges to prospective students and who have already made a gift to HWS, whether through planned giving, the annual fund or a targeted campaign like February’s Athletic Day of Donors. All of this progress emerges from the foundation of the institution and the nearly 200 years of perseverance, tenacity and innovation that characterize the Colleges. In this issue of The Pulteney Street Survey, we investigate some of those foundations, taking a deeper look into the Seneca land on which the Colleges are built; profiling alumni and alumnae whose careers and lives intersect with concepts of foundations – literally and figuratively; and recounting the history of the Seneca Review on its 50th birthday. As I continue on my #ExploreHWS journey for the academic year, I have finished visiting all of our buildings and outdoor areas and have shifted to learning more about the people and activities that populate them. Every day I learn something new and interesting about the Colleges, whether by attending thoughtprovoking academic events on campus, student performances, gallery exhibits and athletic contests or by interviewing interesting people through my podcast (see facing page for details). My best wishes for a wonderful spring, and don’t hesitate to contact me with your thoughts about any matter regarding the Colleges. Sincerely,

Joyce P. Jacobsen President

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@joycepjacobsen on

183 likes 237 likes

202 likes

joycepjacobsen Excited to have everyone back on campus finally— time to snowshoe on the quad! #ExploreHWS #HWSColleges

joycepjacobsen Inspiration sprinkled around campus #ExploreHWS #HWSColleges

joycepjacobsen Hanging with my HWS econ dept homies, chewing over the usual econ stuff (supply, demand, dessert) #ExploreHWS #HWSColleges

102 likes joycepjacobsen Homesick for Arizona? Visit the HWS conservatory #ExploreHWS #HWSColleges

THE Coordinate Tradition

172 likes joycepjacobsen #HappyMLKDay from Geneva NY! #HWSColleges

212 likes joycepjacobsen Best. #mittens. Ever. #HWSColleges

SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to The Pulteney Street Podcast and join President Joyce P. Jacobsen as she interviews members of the HWS community. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sticher or your podcast app of choice. Have an idea for someone to interview? Contact president@hws.edu.

Before my arrival at Hobart and William Smith, I was very interested in the coordinate tradition as one of the defining characteristics of the Colleges. I have spent time reading on the subject and listening to many of those with a lived history. As a newcomer, I noticed that here, in a way that is more deliberate than I’ve seen elsewhere, we seek to ensure that everyone is included. When William Smith College was founded in 1908, women were the focus of this inclusion. That has not changed, but today’s students also express difference with a complexity that requires expanded modes of recognition and support. Having given it a great deal of thought, I’ve developed a statement about the coordinate model that I’ve shared on our website. Through last year’s vote by the Board of Trustees enacting a wide range of actions including the creation of a joint diploma option, we are seeing in real time the contemporization of coordinate. Learn more, see my statement and share your reflections with me at hws.edu/coordinate.

PAST EPISODES HAVE FEATURED John Grotzinger ’79, Sc.D. ’13, Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology and Project Scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory Kay Payne ’73, Professor Emerita of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Howard University

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Hill & Quad HWS and Cornell Law Take a LEAP

HWS Welcomed into Leading Liberal Arts Consortium

Hobart and William Smith students interested in pursuing legal careers now have the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Colleges and a law degree from Cornell University. A memorandum of understanding signed by both institutions has established the Law Early Admissions Program (LEAP), a “3+3” joint degree framework that allows participating HWS students to complete their undergraduate and legal education in six years rather than the typical seven. The memorandum was approved by unanimous vote of the faculty of Cornell Law School and by Hobart and William Smith’s Committee on Academic Affairs. “Thanks to the months of planning and collaboration between HWS and Cornell, our students now have the opportunity to build on a unique liberal arts education at HWS with a degree from one of the best law schools in the world,” says Professor of Philosophy and newly named Hobart Dean Scott Brophy ’78, P’12, the Colleges’ pre-law adviser.

Hobart and William Smith have been selected as the newest member of a consortium of 24 renowned institutions devoted to advancing liberal arts education. As part of the Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges (AALAC), HWS will work with other member colleges to enhance student experiences, develop faculty leadership and better address the challenges facing liberal arts colleges in the U.S. “For the past decade, AALAC’s “For the past decade, workshop program has enabled AALAC’s workshop faculty at many of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges to come together program has enabled around shared research and teaching faculty at many of the interests and to create valuable and nation’s leading liberal enduring professional networks,” says arts colleges to come Andrew Shennan, Provost and Dean together around shared of the College at Wellesley College. research and teaching “The AALAC deans are delighted interests and to create to welcome HWS into our group valuable and enduring and confident that HWS faculty professional networks.” will contribute significantly to these networks.”

OTHER JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS

AALAC members include: Amherst College, Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Colorado College, Davidson College, Denison University, Furman University, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Reed College, Rhodes College, Scripps College, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College, Wesleyan University, Wellesley College and Williams College.

• Engineering (through the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College) • Business (through Clarkson University and the Saunders School of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology) • Nursing (through the University of Rochester School of Nursing)

Continued Success for Debate Team The HWS Debate Team continues to make its mark around the world. Bart Lahiff ’20, Jacob Wallman ’20, Reed Herter ’21 and Sarim Karim ’21 recently competed in the 2020 Worlds University Debating Championship held in Bangkok, Thailand. Considered the most prestigious debate tournament in the world, the competition included the best debaters from more than 50 countries. Lahiff and Karim had a strong showing and narrowly missed advancing to final rounds, while Wallman made it to the final round of the World Public Speaking Competition. Reed Herter ’21, Bart Lahiff ’20, Assistant Coach Marlene Price, Sarim Karim ’22 and Jacob Wallman ’20 at the 2020 Worlds University Debating Championship in Thailand. 4 / HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES

Curry ’75 to Deliver Commencement Address At Commencement on Sunday, May 17, Hobart and William Smith will award the institution’s highest honor to three individuals whose personal and professional achievements intersect with critical aspects of the Colleges’ history. Honorary doctorates will be presented to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Bishop Michael B. Curry ’75, who will deliver the 2020 Commencement address; philanthropist and advocate for increased female leadership Margaret “Peggy” Bokan Greenawalt ’66; and artist, activist and Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site G. Peter Jemison. “As we approach the Hobart bicentennial in 2022 and the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment in 2020, we are taking stock of our history and the foundations from which the Colleges emerged,” says President Joyce P. Jacobsen. “In honoring this year’s esteemed recipients, we also wish to honor Hobart’s Episcopal heritage, William Smith’s continued commitment to leadership and the Colleges’ overall dedication to inclusion, and the provenance of the land the Colleges call home.” The Most Rev. Bishop Michael B. Curry ’75 is the first African American to serve as Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church. An advocate for an inclusive, authentic ministry committed to racial reconciliation, equal justice and equal opportunity, in 2015 Curry was elected the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Curry earned a degree in religious studies from Hobart and a master’s of divinity from Yale Divinity School. In 2016, he received the Hobart Medal of Excellence, the Hobart College Alumni Association’s highest honor. Margaret “Peggy” Bokan Greenawalt ’66 is a noted philanthropist devoted to supporting education, the arts and the advancement of women in leadership roles. She rose through the hierarchy The Most Rev. Bishop Michael B. Curry ’75 of the finance industry, holding leadership positions Margaret “Peggy” Bokan Greenawalt ’66 at Citibank, Citicorp and Monchik-Weber and has served on the boards of directors for numerous not-for-profit organizations. In 2015, she established the Margaret Greenawalt ’66 Annual Scholarship, which pays off the student loan debt of a William Smith graduate who intends to pursue a career in finance and who has completed an internship on Wall Street. In 2018, she began supporting two students each year. Greenawalt earned a degree in economics from William Smith and a master’s in business administration from Columbia Graduate School of Business. G. Peter Jemison is a member of the Heron Clan of the Seneca Nation and a leading authority on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history. As a fine artist, he works in a range of media to explore political and social subjects and his relationship with the natural world. Jemison is the historic site manager of the Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, N.Y., where he oversees resources and programs that tell the story of Haudenosaunee contributions to agriculture, art, culture and government. Jemison earned a bachelor’s in art education from Buffalo State College and was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the State G. Peter Jemison University of New York in 2003.

PHOTO BY RONNIE FARLEY

Bokan Greenawalt ’66 and Jemison to Receive Honorary Degrees

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HILL & QUAD |

HWS Ranks High in Impact and Value In the 2020 edition of Best Value Colleges, Princeton Review ranks Hobart and William Smith among the nation’s top 25 schools for campus engagement. The annual list also recognizes HWS for academics, financial aid and strong career prospects for graduates. The Colleges were ranked 15th on the list of 25 schools for “Making an Impact,” based on student survey responses to questions about community service opportunities, active student governments, leading sustainability efforts and on campus student engagement. High job meaning, as reported by graduates, is also a factor. This is the third consecutive year Hobart and William Smith have been recognized in the “Making an Impact” category.

HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH

among the nation’s top 25 schools for campus engagement

HWS Earns Carnegie Designation Hobart and William Smith have been named among only 23 designated institutions in New York to receive the 2020 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification endorsement. The classification was launched in 2005 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to recognize higher education institutions that express their commitment to public purpose in and through community engagement. “The City is proud of the many collaborations with HWS. The reciprocal nature of our partnership puts Geneva on the map for being a service learning community,” says Geneva City Manager Sage Gerling. “HWS faculty and staff serve on local City boards; students participate in days of service, special projects and internships; and City officials often interact with students through interviews for course assignments and class discussions. I am always grateful to visit classes to share information about Geneva’s comprehensive plan and other initiatives, all created and implemented with the collaboration and participation from HWS faculty, staff, and students.”

Hobart and William Smith are again among U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most Fulbright U.S. Student Award winners. Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top producing institutions for the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. In the past five years through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, 25 HWS students have been awarded full research grants and English Teaching Assistantships that take them around the world.

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President Joyce P. Jacobsen Inaugurated On Oct. 18, 2019, Joyce P. Jacobsen was officially installed as the 29th president of Hobart College

and the 18th of William Smith College during an inauguration ceremony on the Hobart Quadrangle. Jacobsen used her speech to contest the idea that institutions of higher education are in crisis and to remind the gathered students, faculty, staff, alums and guests that colleges — and specifically Hobart and William Smith — have a long history of successfully weathering challenges. She described Hobart and William Smith as “spunky, scrappy colleges that have survived numerous existential threats over their years and nonetheless just keep on keeping on, hustling and marketing and serving President Joyce P. Jacobsen accepts the seals of the Colleges while HWS Interim Provost DeWayne Lucas, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Craig R. Stine ’81, P’17 and Chair of the Board of Trustees the community in which they are Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18 look on. embedded,” and declared “a college still provides the single best bet for having a positive transformational experience that lays the groundwork for a successful adulthood.” You can read her entire inauguration speech online at www2.hws.edu/president/inauguration.

PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON

President Jacobsen shows off the Hobart and William Students enjoy Steak Night at Saga as part of the Smith mittens made for her by Hut Beall P’23. inauguration festivities.

President Jacobsen sits in with the string quartet before the inauguration dinner. Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 7

HILL & QUAD |

nationwide search for a new provost and dean of faculty took Hobart and William Smith on a journey of nearly 2,000 miles — to the campus of Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. That’s where the search committee found Dr. Mary L. Coffey, who assumed her duties at HWS in January.

At Pomona, Coffey served as the Senior Associate Dean in the Office of the Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs. A tenured member of the faculty in Pomona’s Department of Romance Languages and Literature, Coffey is recognized for her expertise in 19th and early-20th century Spanish literature and culture, and is the author of two books on the subject. “I am thrilled that Professor Coffey has joined Hobart and William Smith,” says President Joyce P. Jacobsen. “She is an exceptionally talented scholar and teacher who has spent the better part of the last decade excelling in complex administrative roles at one of our nation’s top liberal arts institutions, serving the faculty at Pomona with distinction and success. She is already making a positive impact at Hobart and William Smith.”

Pomona’s Coffey Named Provost and Dean of Faculty 8 / HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES

PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON

Leadership Changes for Diversity and Hobart Dean’s Offices “I could see that there was a vibrant community here, and I wanted to be a part of it.” “When I came to campus I had the chance to meet faculty, staff and students, and they were truly impressive,” says Coffey, who oversees the entire faculty and curriculum at HWS. “There are intelligent and committed people here at HWS, but I would add that there was also real kindness, a quality that is sometimes overlooked but also an essential part of the learning environment. I could see that there was a vibrant community here, and I wanted to be a part of it.” Coffey received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, her master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Northwestern University. She is the recipient of a number of national and international fellowships and grants including from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as a Fulbright-Hayes Research Fellowship. Coffey succeeds Associate Professor of Political Science DeWayne Lucas, who assumed the role of Interim Provost and Dean of Faculty in 2017. Lucas has since returned to the Political Science Department.

Khuram Hussain, the current Dean of Hobart College and Associate Professor of Education, has been named the Colleges’ Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Reporting to the President and sitting on Senior Staff, Hussain will serve as the Colleges’ chief diversity strategist. The Offices of Intercultural Affairs, Academic Opportunity Programs and International Students will all report to him. Hussain completed his Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations of Education at Syracuse University, where he was awarded the All University Dissertation Prize. His work as a HUSSAIN dialogue facilitator, trainer and consultant to schools, universities, government offices, non-profits and community organizations on issues of diversity and equity has been recognized by the NAACP, the U.S. Armed Forces, and community and campus organizations nationwide, as well as by HWS faculty. Scott Brophy ’78, P’12, Professor of Philosophy and Pre-Law Adviser for the Colleges, has been named the new Dean of Hobart College. A 1978 graduate of Hobart and the parent of a William Smith alumna, he will be the 16th Dean of Hobart College and only the third alumnus to hold the position. In his new role, Brophy will provide academic and personal advising to students while also developing and executing strategies and initiatives to increase student success. Brophy received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of BROPHY ’78, P’12 Rochester. As Dean, he will continue to teach his two popular courses on crime and punishment and on 17th and 18th century philosophy. He is a founder and former director of the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute, a nationally acclaimed program for high school students now in its 27th year. Hussain and Brophy begin their new roles on June 1, 2020.

Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 9

HILL & QUAD |

Leading Alumni House into the Future In the fall of 2019, Chevanne J. Graham DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23 was named Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations, replacing long-time directors Jared Weeden ’91 and Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13. She brings a wealth of experience and extensive knowledge of the Colleges to the role. DeVaney earned a bachelor’s in English from William Smith College and a master’s in higher education administration from the University at Buffalo. She began working at HWS in 1998, serving in Chevanne J. a variety of roles Graham DeVaney in the Office of ’95, P’21, P’23, Director of Advancement Alumni and and the Higher Alumnae Relations Education Opportunity Program before joining the Office of Intercultural Affairs as assistant director and advisor to international students. As director of Multicultural Affairs at Keuka College, she served as interim director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program, Title IX investigator, coordinated the Women’s Center, chaired the Gender Education and Advocacy Committee and oversaw the LGBTQA+ Resource Center. She returned to HWS in 2016 to serve as the associate director of annual giving. “It’s as if everything I did in the past 24 years led me right here,” DeVaney says. “When I work with and talk with our alums, it feeds my soul. I am incredibly privileged to have this opportunity to serve my alma mater and I intend to honor the trust the Colleges have put in me by listening closely to all alumni and alumnae — to respect the legacy they’ve built while looking toward the future.” DeVaney has served the Colleges in a variety of roles and is a co-founder of the Afro Latino Alumni and Alumnae Association. She’s looking forward to helping alums stay connected to one another and the Colleges. “I want to uphold the traditions of Hobart and William Smith and make sure everyone finds their place here,” she says. “And I want to help our alums understand how they can make a transformative difference in the future of the institution. After all, no one knows the Colleges better than they do.”

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Regan and Weeden Look Back — and Move Forward For many years, Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13 and Jared Weeden ’91 were the faces of Alumni House. Regan was named director of alumnae relations in 1998, while Weeden became director of alumni relations in 2002. In the summer of 2019, they both took new positions — and though they’ve moved on, they haven’t moved far. Regan, who earned a degree in art history from William Smith and a master’s in the same field from Syracuse University, now serves as chief of staff to President Joyce P. Jacobsen. “I loved being able to share the impressive work and accomplishments of our students and faculty with alumnae from all generations,” Regan says of her time in Alumni House. “Helping our alums to stay connected and give back as volunteers and donors in support of our alma mater was one of the best parts of the job.” In her new role as chief of staff, Regan is enjoying working closely with President Jacobsen, as well as interacting with students and faculty on a daily basis. The position provides “the opportunity to use my experience in a way that has a broader reach across the Colleges,” she says. Weeden, who earned a degree in political science from Hobart and played hockey and baseball as a Statesman, is now the director of leadership gifts in the Office of Advancement. Reflecting on his time in alumni relations, he says: “I very much enjoyed creating ways to enhance the relationship between alumni and the Colleges. A reunion of graduates and their alma mater, whether on campus or somewhere else in the world, was always a win-win moment that was fun to be a part of.” He’s looking forward to taking his experience in broad-based relations and focusing on one-on-one relationship-building in his new role. “I’m excited to work with constituents who have an interest and the means to make a transformational difference at the Colleges through their philanthropy,” he says. “Matching their interests with opportunities will help make an already great place even better.”

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, second row in the black hat and dress, gathers with her family at Martha's Vineyard in 1906.

A Glimpse into Blackwell’s Private Life Recent acquisitions to the Colleges’ archives of personal letters and family photos of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) provide a rare glimpse into the personal life of HWS’ most celebrated alumna. Among several copies of well-known published works of the first woman in America to receive a medical degree, these new pieces share the story of Dr. Blackwell’s private life through letters discussing her hopes for her adopted daughter Katherine “Kitty” Barry (1848-1936), a note to her mother Hannah Lane Blackwell (1792-1870) in reference to gynecological issues she learned her mother was experiencing from her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell (1826-1910), and her opposition to suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s stance on marriage. In total, Hobart and William Smith received a collection of 18 letters, two postcards and 14 books and pamphlets written by Blackwell and her family members, as well as 15 family photos with at least two featuring the rarely photographed Dr. Blackwell. The pieces, acquired primarily from the estate of her niece Alice Stone Blackwell (18571950), are being catalogued and processed by HWS Archives in the Warren Hunting Smith Library with plans for future displays. A special thanks to fine arts gallery owner Edward T. Pollack ’55 of Portland, Maine, for his assistance in making these acquisitions possible. Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 11

HILL & QUAD |

Comrade Dean Professor of Political Science Jodi Dean’s new book examines political belonging in the 21st century and how solidarity is a vehicle for action. by Andrew Wickenden ’09

“Comradeship is about our responsibility to each other — and it makes us better and stronger than we could ever be alone,” writes Professor of Political Science Jodi Dean in a new article in Jacobin magazine. Dean’s most recent book offers a theory of the comrade as a mode of address, figure of belonging and carrier of expectations for action, as she explains in a number of articles and interviews published in concert with the October release of Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging. As Dean told President Joyce P. Jacobsen in an interview on the Pulteney Street Podcast, Comrade argues that the political left should “act and think of itself as on the same side” and draws a contrast between comrades and allies. “The language of allies is [that of ] separate entities protecting their self-interest and pulling together out of mutual protection of singular self-interest rather than all having the same horizon, the same commitments, the same set of understandings,” she explains. “The discipline of collective work on behalf of a shared goal has been replaced by an individualist rhetoric of comfort and self-care,” she writes in the Jacobin article, “We Need Comrades.” Comradeship goes deeper than “a sense of politics as a matter of individual conviction,” to a unity and mutual understanding “needed in order to build a shared political capacity.” Amidst global climate crisis and hyper-partisan politics, writes Dean, comradeship is the antidote to the misleading notion that “our problems can be solved by imagination, big ideas, and creativity.” Or, as she puts it later: “Big ideas are nothing without cadre to fight for them.”

An expert in contemporary political theory, Dean is the author or editor of 13 books, including Blog Theory, Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies, The Communist Horizon and Crowds and Party. She earned her bachelor's degree at Princeton University and her Ph.D. at Columbia University. She joined the faculty in 1993.

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Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Darrin Magee, geographer of China with expertise in water and energy in the country, was featured in articles from Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg about the South-North Water Diversion Project taking place in China. The project transfers water from floodprone regions in the south of the country to the north, which often suffers from drought. Magee has authored a number of articles on China’s water and energy issues. ........................

Julianne H. Miller, director of the Abbe Center for Jewish Life and Hillel adviser, has been awarded the highest individual honor bestowed by Hillel International — the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award. One of just eight people to be given the award, Miller was recognized for her efforts on behalf of HWS’ Jewish and interfaith communities. Since coming to HWS in 2015, Miller has created or expanded programs including service projects, public remembrances at Yom HaShoah, celebrations of Passover and Purim, and support for students growing into their Jewish identities.

Associate Professor of English Alla Ivanchikova's first book, Imagining Afghanistan: Global Fiction and Film of the 9/11 Wars, examines how Afghanistan has been imagined in literary and visual texts that were published after the 9/11 attacks. Ivanchikova’s research and teaching focus on the post-9/11 global novel, post-socialist studies, ecocriticism and new media theory. Her book is published by Purdue University Press. ........................

Professor of Biology James Ryan has designed and built a 3D printed florescence microscope that, thanks to its economical price point, has the potential to impact high school and undergraduate classrooms across the county and clinical practices in developing countries around the world. While commercial models range in cost from $15,000 to $50,000, Ryan’s version costs less than $1,000. In a clinical setting, florescent microscopy could allow doctors to readily identify cancerous tissues or blood parasites such as malaria.

Penn Elected Chair of LIGO Scientific Collaboration In 2015, 100 years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves as part of his general theory of relativity, scientists made the first detection of ripples in the fabric of spacetime, confirming Einstein’s theory. Professor of Physics Steven Penn made significant contributions to the optical and suspension systems of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors that observed those waves. Now, Penn has been elected Chair of the entire LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), a group of more than 1,300 researchers focused on the direct detection of gravitational waves as a means to explore the fundamental physics of gravity and to advance astronomical discovery. A longtime LSC member and principal investigator, Penn has been a significant contributor to the mirror substrate and coating design for LIGO detectors. He discovered how to significantly reduce the thermal noise in the material fused silica, which led to the selection of fused silica for the Advanced LIGO mirror substrates and suspensions. He also jointly developed the mirror coating that was instrumental in enabling Advanced LIGO to detect gravitational waves. An MIT-trained physicist, Penn joined the LSC in 1998 while a postdoctoral fellow at Syracuse University. Hobart and William Smith became one of the first small colleges to join the LSC when Penn took a position in the Physics Department in 2002. He has conducted much of his groundbreaking LIGO work from his laboratory in Eaton Hall. Penn’s research recently gained the support of the National Science Foundation, which awarded him a grant to continue his work on low noise, precision coatings for gravitational wave detectors as well as a Major Research Instrumentation grant. The latter funds the development of an apparatus for the rapid, multimodel measurement of the cryogenic elastic loss of coating materials; the award is in collaboration with Syracuse University’s Associate Professor of Physics Stefan Ballmer.

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Photography Gifts Double Value of Art Collections Two substantial collections of photography recently donated to Hobart and William Smith showcase both the private lives of ordinary people and major cultural turning points of the 20th century, as captured by some of the most celebrated and influential photographers of the past 100 years. The Agah Collection, a gift from Jim and Wendy Agah of Westport, Conn., focuses primarily on works by Jacques Lowe, Flip Schulke, Edward Quigley, Bill Witt, Leonard Freed, Dmitri Baltermants and Ken Heyman. The Stephanopoulos Collection, a gift from journalist George Stephanopoulos, features work from a range of photographers depicting politics and institutions, television and media, Civil Rights movements and the Great Depression, including the work of photojournalists who produced wire photographs for news outlets. In total, the donations add nearly 1,000 new items to the Collections of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and approximately double the Collections’ market value. 1

Flip Schulke, Martin Luther King Jr (1964, printed 1998)*

Ken Heyman, Roy Lichtenstein (1964)*

Brian Brake, Queen Elizabeth II and Archbishop James Horstead, Lagos (1956)**

Dmitri Baltermants, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Voroshilov, outside Council of Ministers Building (printed 2003)**

*The Agah Collection **The Stephanopoulos Collection

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Jacques Lowe, Cowboy Leaning in Doorway (1960)*

Martino Zummo, Sleeping Dog, Palermo (1990)**

Dmitri Baltermants, A Bittersweet Farewell (printed 2003)*

Ken Heyman, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller (1956)*

(All works are gelatin silver prints)

Reynolds ’78 Endows Sandra McGuire Scholarship Professor Emeritus and Former Interim President Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D. ’12 served as an adviser to economics major Bob Reynolds ’78, but it was the friendship and counsel of McGuire’s wife Sandra A. McGuire that prompted Reynolds to establish — and now endow — a scholarship in her name. Sandra A. McGuire “The scholarship is a small token of recognition of Sandy’s love of education, her genuine caring for people and her tremendous contributions to the Colleges,” says Reynolds. The Sandra McGuire Endowed Scholarship Fund provides assistance to students who are academically qualified and financially deserving.

Emerson Society Committee Welcomes New Chairs

With a $100,000 gift to HWS in late 2019, Peter Standish Jr. ’83 and Anne O’Connor ’86 Standish P’14, P’16 established a permanent endowment fund to provide assistance to academically qualified students with demonstrated financial need. This year, to encourage others to take on leadership roles in meeting the Colleges’ fundraising goals, the Standishes have volunteered to serve as committee chairs of the Emerson Society. In their new roles, Anne says their goal is to “lead by example with our time and our financial support,” while ensuring that other donors “are appreciated and understand how their donations are being used to further strengthen the education and opportunities at HWS.” Membership in the Emerson Society starts with cumulative gifts of $2,000 made in any given fund year. Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 15

SpoTlight

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1. Mary Warner ’21 visits

Stonehenge while studying abroad with Advanced Studies in England. Warner also had an internship with The Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England. Photo submitted.

2. Members of the Hobart football

team gather for a photo with students at Happiness House. The Statesmen volunteered to play with and read to the preschool students as part of the “Touchdowns and Tackles” program. Photo by Kevin Colton.

3. Kevin Lin '20, Hugh “Nick”

McKenny '20, MAT '21, Israel Oyedapo '20 and Quinn McFeeters '20 study in the Warren Hunting Smith Library during finals week. Photo by Adam Farid ’20.

4. A winter snow blankets the Quad in front of Coxe Hall. Photo by Kevin Colton.

5. Professor of Art and Architecture

Nicholas Ruth offers feedback during “Color and Composition.” Photo by Adam Farid ’20.

6. Associate Professor of History

Lisa Yoshikawa discusses the book Manchurian Legacy by Kazuko Kuramoto in her class “Trekking Through Asia.” Photo by Adam Farid ’20.

7. Students pose for a photo on

Wall Street during the Colleges’ annual NYC Finance Experience program. Photo by Jared Weeden ’91.

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Leaping from One Path of Thought to Another: Seneca Review at 50

CRENNER

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by Andrew Wickenden ’09

ounded in Emeritus of English James 1970, Hobart and Crenner who, with former HWS William Smith Colleges’ English Professor Ira Sadoff, professional literary was a founding editor of Seneca magazine has a long Review. But in publishing history of innovation “exciting new poetry that was and experimentation, being strongly influenced by publishing important the likes of Gary Snyder, Robert voices, pushing formal Bly and John O’Hara, who were boundaries and helping make American poetry reimagining the way more than a dusty pursuit of readers experience academics,” Crenner says the literary art for nearly 100 magazine was a vehicle to help issues. Seneca Review get “American poetry out of the is one of many journals classroom and into the fray.” that sprouted up in Seneca Review might Seneca Review first issue, 1970 the late ’60s and early never have been if not for two ’70s — and one of just a handful from that era students at the time: Joel Rose ’70, a novelist, that are still in circulation. From its first issue, screenwriter and former editor at DC Comics, the magazine has been publishing some of the and the late Josephine “Josie” Woll ’70, who most influential and idiosyncratic writers of was an author, editor and professor of Russian the past 50 years. Numbering among its many at Howard University. They had approached contributors are poet laureates and recipients Crenner and Sadoff not only with the proposal of just about every prestigious national and for the magazine but with a means to fund it international literary prize, including the through HWS student governments. Pulitzer and Nobel. The 50th anniversary issue, As the first issue came together, Rose guest-edited by poet Joe Wenderoth, will be and Woll independently edited a selection of published in the spring of 2020. writing by HWS students that, to their dismay, was relegated to a separate section of the magazine, rather than integrated with the work Early Days of established poets and writers; however, the While the magazine’s early issues included time spent in the Seneca Review office “was the fiction and criticism, the editors’ poetic best of my education,” Rose says. sensibilities made Seneca Review a vital venue “I remember spending hours and hours for the surge of writers producing poems reading manuscripts and putting the magazine in reaction to the scholastic formalism that together,” he says. “Josie had a very sharp point gripped American poetry after World War II and of view and we had a good back and forth about throughout the 1950s. In the early years, “we our own tastes in literature and what we were had no special editorial slant,” says Professor trying to do with Seneca Review. I’m not sure we

The early issues of Seneca Review included notable writers like Robert Bly, Erica Jong, Donald Justice, Heather McHugh, W.S. Merwin and Charles Simic.

expected we’d be able to achieve exactly what we imagined, so much as lay the groundwork for what came later. That the magazine is still going strong 50 years later speaks well of what we were able to achieve.” The early issues of Seneca Review included notable writers like Bly, Erica Jong, Donald Justice, Heather McHugh, W.S. Merwin and Charles Simic. Former President Allan A. Kuusisto P’78, P’81, L.H.D. ’82 was such a fan of the magazine that he included funding for Seneca Review in the annual budget. The thenpresident “loved poetry and poets and took great satisfaction as the review became a firstrate literary journal,” recalls his son, Stephen A. Kuusisto ’78, author, poet, contributing editor at Seneca Review and University Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Programs at the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. By 1976, however, Sadoff had taken a job at another institution; the logistics of selecting manuscripts — over several hundred miles, scores of stamps and reams of paper — were taking a toll; and the variety and quality of the submissions had become static. In a letter in that year’s issue, the editors announced the magazine would fold. But “no sooner had we done that than the administration said, ‘Don’t — we want to continue the magazine, it’s good for the school,’” Crenner recalls. It was then that he reached out to a former student, Robert Herz ’70, who had recently earned his M.F.A. in creative writing at the University of Iowa’s famed Writers Workshop, to step into an editorial role. While Crenner remained the nominal editor, Herz reinvigorated the magazine over the course of the next five years, recruiting new voices and imagining new possibilities for a small literary press.

A Window on Today’s Poetry

Herz, who today operates the Syracuse-based Nine Mile Magazine and Book Press, says the first issue of the revamped Seneca Review was “a nice mix of older and younger writers (who would become famous or prime in their areas) … We created a new logo for the mag and changed the cover stock and look and feel of the thing. We said in a page-one editorial that running a magazine was like ‘providing a window and a perspective on today’s poetry, a way of treating it as a current event.’” Over the following years, Seneca Review published special issues, one focusing on the long poem, another on French poetry in translation, another on young poets, which Herz recalls was “the issue that the then-poetry editor of The New Yorker, Howard Moss, told me was one of four books he took with him to California to understand poetry in those days. It was a great compliment — I didn’t know what to say.” It was also during that time that Hobart and William Smith Colleges Press was formed and began reprinting The Fifties and The Sixties, the dramatic and influential magazine edited by Robert Bly and William Duffy, as well as publishing an anthology of essays by Donald Hall and an innovative hybrid of fiction and poetry by Albert Goldbarth (all of which remain available from HWS Colleges Press). “In my mind we repositioned the magazine and made it vital again in those five years, made it something that people wanted to read again, because we kept serving up new and quality things,” says Herz, though he adds that even in the midst of the magazine’s new ventures, “Jim Crenner was the heart and soul of Seneca Review. No Crenner, no Seneca. Whatever the rest of us did would have been impossible without him.” “I think Jim Crenner was an extraordinary editor and was responsible for getting the magazine off to a great start,” agrees Steve Kuusisto. “If you look at the magazine’s early issues you’ll see KUUSISTO ’78 remarkable poetry in translation as well as daring and playful work by all kinds of poets. That sense of ‘play’ coupled with literary and aesthetic judgment has continued to define the journal throughout its history.”

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The Lyric Essay

TALL

Dubbed “the renovator-in-chief of the American essay” by critic James Wood, John D’Agata ’95 helped reinvigorate the lyric essay and bring the genre into the literary mainstream. A professor of English and director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, D’Agata is the editor of A New History of the Essay and author of Halls of Fame, The Lifespan of a Fact (with Jim Fingal) and About a Mountain, which The New York Times named one of the 100 best nonfiction books ever written.

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my desk to this day in which Deborah first used the term with me as a way of describing a The magazine continued publishing poems and kind of essay whose approach isn’t necessarily essays in translation in the early 1980s under argumentative but rather experiential and guest editors like Kuusisto and John Currie, immersive, inviting the reader to though its editorial emphasis feel the contours of the writer’s took on a new texture during the mind as it rolls over the folds of editorship of the late Professor new ideas. These sorts of essays of English Deborah Tall. A had always existed, of course, but poet and essayist, Tall became the brilliance of Deborah’s term editor in 1982 and published is how it marries the form to the a number of special issues, associative nature of poetry.” featuring new voices in Irish Professor of English and women’s poetry, Israeli women’s Seneca Review coeditor David poetry, contemporary Albanian Weiss, who was married to Tall poetry, contemporary Polish until her death in 2006, says poetry and an issue dedicated Seneca Review was “among a to excerpts from the notebooks number of magazines thinking of 32 contemporary American about the essay in this way, but poets, which was later published by John and Deborah giving it as a book, The Poet’s Notebook: a name, it glued the idea of the Excerpts from the Notebooks of lyric essay to us. And that’s partly 26 American Poets. Seneca Review Lyric Essay, 1997 connected with the explosion But it is perhaps the 1997 of and legitimacy of creative issue on the lyric essay that is nonfiction in the creative writing world. It pulled Tall’s most significant legacy at the magazine. the essay out of journalism and memoir and gave In that issue’s introduction, Tall and her former it a kind of legitimacy in a way that put it on par student, the essayist and Seneca Review associate with fiction and poetry.” editor John D’Agata ’95, wrote what has become D’Agata recalls that 1997 issue of the the touchstone definition of the genre of the magazine as particularly momentous — “and not lyric essay, which only because we launched that special issue “forsake[s] narrative with an actual event at the National Arts Club in line, discursive New York, but also because its publication was logic, and the art of followed by a swarm of excitement, bafflement, persuasion in favor conversation and intrigue. It sparked a of idiosyncratic D’AGATA ’95 conversation about just what a lyric essay might meditation.” Tall be, and by extension what an essay is. But within and D’Agata write a year or two of that first issue’s publication, we that the lyric essay “might move by association, noticed major publications using the term to leaping from one path of thought to another describe some new books that perhaps hadn’t by way of imagery or connotation, advancing been properly categorized before, or perhaps by juxtaposition or sidewinding poetic logic wouldn’t have even been reviewed due to a lack … [It] sets off on an uncharted course through of understanding about what their authors might interlocking webs of idea, circumstance, have been attempting.” and language — a pursuit with no foreknown Once the “lyric essay” entered the literary conclusion, an arrival that might still leave the lexicon, “more and more writers started trying writer questioning.” to bend their minds around the concept … and “The term lyric essay really comes from taking a stab at writing it themselves,” says Deborah,” D’Agata says. “I have a fax from her D’Agata. “The term by no means created the dated 1996 that’s framed and hanging over

By staying “true to our history by continuing to break new ground,” the magazine’s future is full of possibility and excitement. — Assistant Professor of English Geoffrey Babbitt, coeditor Seneca Review

form, but instead gave shape to something in the genre that I think both writers and readers felt the presence of but hadn’t entirely understood. So the term sparked new interest in essays in general.”

Seneca Review Books and Beyond

This spring, Seneca Review will commemorate 50 years of literary distinction with a celebration on campus, as well as the beginning of a new phase in its history. David Weiss, who has served as editor since 2006, will retire at the end of this academic year and Assistant Professor of English Geoffrey Babbitt, who coedits Seneca Review with Weiss, will take over the role solo. In more than a dozen issues under Weiss’s editorship, Seneca Review WEISS has maintained “an openness to new forms and the far reaches of experimentation,” he says. With Kathryn Cowles, associate professor of English and Seneca Review poetry editor, and Joshua Unikel ’07, a contributing COWLES editor and designer for the magazine, Weiss developed the 2014 “Beyond Category” issue, which featured a multi-artifact, multi-media, in-print and online extravaganza of writing, music and visual and performance art. Other special issues during his tenure focused on differentlyabled writers and artists, and on essays about the lyric essay. But perhaps most of all, Weiss has positioned the magazine as a home for writers — writers of the unusual and uncategorizable, yes, but also writers in search of an engaged and invested reader. “There’s an art to being an editor,” Weiss says. “You have to manage to be tactful but forthright, insightful but encouraging. What writers really want and appreciate is useful

Erica Trabold’s Five Plots, winner of the inaugural Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize.

critique and when you give it, they feel you’re invested in their writing. It’s a rewarding thing, and one of the real pleasures in doing this work.” Babbitt says Weiss’ approach is unusual. “David always writes some type of critical encapsulation of the piece we’re accepting that shows what we like about it,” he explains, “so the writer feels as if we like it for reasons that have been contemplated and really thought about — so the authors feel seen and understood.” Babbitt anticipates building on this editorial style and the omnivorous literary appetite that has become the magazine’s hallmark. Indeed, in 2018, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Press established Seneca Review Books, an imprint founded in 2018 to publish the winners of the Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize Series. Held in conjunction with the Colleges’ Trias Writer-inResidence program, the book prize is a biennial contest to encourage and support innovative work in the essay. Babbitt teaches a course on small press publishing designed around the book prize. In the fall of 2017, students in the course’s first iteration winnowed down submissions to a group of finalists, from which Erica Trabold’s Five Plots was selected and published as the inaugural book in the series. At the end of the fall 2019 semester, a new group of students presented finalists to author Jenny Boully, this year’s judge, who selected Jessica Lind Peterson’s book, tentatively titled Sound Like Trapped Thunder.

“The synergy between Seneca Review, the Trias Residency and reading series, and our curriculum is creating a rich new literary culture at HWS — one that provides students with a number of exciting and relatively rare opportunities, BABBITT including getting hands-on publishing experience, working with famous writers and immersing themselves in the greater literary world. It’s a brilliant place to study writing and literature,” Babbitt says. By staying “true to our history by continuing to break new ground,” he adds, the magazine’s future is full of possibility and excitement. With student enthusiasm, faculty leadership and — Babbitt hopes — support from HWS alums, he plans to gradually expand the press and develop a robust digital presence for Seneca Review. He and Cowles envision an online archive of multi-disciplinary and hybrid work, for instance, offering a resource for writers, readers, teachers and students interested in hybrid forms. “I think as we step into our next 50 years of publishing, we’ll be expanding the edges of writing to encompass more new, unforeseeable things, which is very exciting,” Cowles says, because after all, “veering out into new territory is part of the history of Seneca Review.”

The Senecan Review In 1957, The Senecan Review — note the extra “n” — was a student-run magazine that has the distinction of being the first joint literary publication of Hobart College and William Smith College. The magazine, which was recently brought to our attention by a letter from its business manager, William Corbett ’59, published two issues of student poetry, prose and art. Today, Thel offers students an outlet for students to publish their original literary work.

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PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON

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New Leadership for Athletics by Ken DeBolt

Deb Steward has been named the Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation at Hobart and William Smith. Previously the Director of William Smith Athletics, in her expanded role Steward now oversees all 23 intercollegiate Hobart and William Smith sports as well as the Colleges’ recreation, intramural, fitness, outdoor recreation and physical education programs. An award-winning administrator, Steward came to the Colleges in 2005 to serve as the Director of William Smith Athletics. Over the past 15 years, she has managed all aspects of the Herons’ intercollegiate athletics program and supervised the HWS Sport and Recreation Center, the Outdoor Recreation Adventure Program, the waterfront, physical education classes and wellness programs. Steward’s leadership earned her the 2014 ECAC Division III Female Administrator of the Year Award and the 2017 Women Leaders in College Sports Division III Administrator of the Year Award. “Deb is an exceptional leader and one of the top athletic administrators in the country,” says President Joyce P. Jacobsen. “As we considered how best to provide all students with an outstanding and cohesive athletics and wellness experience, we knew we needed someone with a record of accomplishment in managing and leading people and teams, and someone with success in resource development including fundraising, marketing and community building. Deb is that person.” During her tenure in Geneva, Steward has hired 13 new head coaches, broken Heron Society records for total membership and total dollars raised, and coordinated four highly successful Heron Hall of Honor ceremonies, all while taking a lead role in The Fund for Athletics, a part of Campaign for the Colleges which improved athletic and wellness facilities. She added women’s ice hockey as the department’s 12th varsity sport in 2014. Under her supervision, Heron teams have captured 44 conference championships, received dozens of postseason tournament bids, and secured the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s

Soccer National Championship. Steward has served as the tournament director for three NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championships and a NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship. She has also served on several NCAA Championship committees including women’s ice hockey, golf and softball. Previously an assistant athletic director at Ithaca College, Steward earned a master’s in education from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and her bachelor’s in mathematics education from Winona State (Minn.) University. Rounding out the new leadership model, Brian Miller, who has served as Interim Director of Hobart Athletics for the past two years, has been named the Associate Director for Athletics and Recreation and Director of Athletic Compliance. Sally Scatton P’02, P’06, who has served as the Assistant Director of William Smith Athletics for 13 years and the Head Field Hockey Coach for 32 years, has been named the Associate Director for Athletics and Recreation and Senior Woman Administrator, an NCAA designated leadership position, in addition to continuing as Head Field Hockey Coach. “This new management construct with one director of athletics will lead to streamlined processes for athletics and recreation while still maintaining the unique identities of the Statesmen and Herons,” says Vice President for Campus Life Robb Flowers. “Deb, Brian and Sally share a commitment to ensuring that student-athletes have the resources and opportunities to excel, both athletically and academically.” “I’m honored at the trust that the Colleges have placed in me to lead the Hobart Statesmen and the William Smith Herons,” says Steward. “I look forward to working with Brian and Sally in this leadership role as we advocate for our students and staff. We are committed to creating efficiencies, with policies and procedures and garnering additional support so that all Herons and Statesmen can pursue their academic, athletic and wellness goals.”

Brian Miller

For more than a decade, Miller has overseen the NCAA compliance program for all 23 intercollegiate programs at Hobart and William Smith, spending the past two years as the Interim Director of Hobart Athletics. A member of the National Association for Athletic Compliance, he educates coaches, staff, student-athletes, alums and boosters on NCAA, conference and institutional rules and regulations. Miller came to the Colleges with 10 years of experience as an administrator and coach at D’Youville College and as a coach at Canisius College, where he earned a master’s in sports administration. Miller received his bachelor’s in mass communication from St. Bonaventure University.

Sally Scatton P’02, P’06

Scatton has led the William Smith field hockey program since 1988, earning three national championships, 11 conference championships and 468 career victories. She has been named the national coach of the year three times, regional coach of the year six times and conference coach of the year nine times, while earning induction into three halls of fame. Since 2007, she has served as the assistant director of William Smith athletics. An accomplished coach of not only field hockey, but lacrosse, basketball and swimming as well, Scatton has guided teams at Cornell University and Wells College. She earned a master’s in education from SUNY-Cortland, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Ithaca College. Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 23

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Tracking Champions Whether tracking the exit velocity of a home run, the speed of a slapshot or the apex and velocity of a golf shot, analytics are everywhere in sports. Thanks to a donation from HWS Trustee Calvin “Chip” Carver Jr. ’81, the 17-time Liberty League Champion William Smith soccer team has jumped on board the analytics train. In 2018, Carver and the Heron coaching staff began using Titan Realtime GPS, a device worn during practices and games that collects intricate data on an athlete’s performance and physical wellbeing. The unit is inserted into the pocket of a vest players wear under their jerseys. “At the basic level, the tracking gives the coaching staff a sense of each player’s fitness levels,” Carver says. “We can get a sense of who will still have gas in the tank at the end of a tough game and who will not. The data along with observation can give you an idea on how each athlete is different.” During a game or practice, the Titan device tracks the level of physical effort, including how many sprints each athlete completes and how fast and how far they run. While the team regularly has players Trustee Calvin “Chip” Carver Jr. ’81 and William Smith Soccer Assistant Coach Chas Allen P’20 review data from the Titan run 15 mph, the fastest speed Carver has Realtime GPS. seen a Heron hit was 19 mph. He has heard professional athletes who use the device brag about hitting 21 mph. Athletes use Titan to track and assess is then compared with data of actual In addition, Titan creates a heat map their progress. Before games and practices, effort from the GPS tracker. of where players are on the field, giving For the 2019 season, Heron soccer coaches additional information that can’t be each player fills out a quick survey about coaches used Titan to focus on how how they’re feeling; questions seen on film. Heat maps allow individual athletes got ready for games. cover the quantity and quality of coaches to track how many The data “Practices are more important to our staff sleep, soreness and overall fatigue. runs players make and in what allows than games,” Carver says. “From the data, Coaches take this information into direction, which can be used we saw that the effects of a large effort account when planning training to instruct the team on where coaches to sessions and share it with the show up 48 hours later, so we learned the coaches expected players to track the that if the team went hard Monday and athletic training staff in case of an be as opposed to where they’ve injury. After workouts and games, a Tuesday we have to think about what actually been. Carver notes that workload they second survey asks about the level Wednesday’s practice will look like with coaches also use heat maps to see if a player makes runs from put on the of effort expended by each athlete. weekend games.” The data allows coaches to track This information provides coaches goal line to goal line instead of team. the team's workload. “I can say in this insight into perceived effort, which sideline to sideline.

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PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON

by Mackenzie Larsen ’12

particular practice the team put in this effort, so we need to watch what we do tomorrow,” says Carver. “You can get to this information by just watching the athletes, but the data gives you that additional amount of insurance to confirm what your eyes are seeing.” Titan then allows coaches to tweak that workload. “We had a good dozen players in their best physical shape at the end of the season.” Head Coach Aliceann Wilber P’13 sees many benefits of the system. “The trackers provide us with specific data to shape the work load intensity and volume,” she says. “They especially help us to temper our training “The trackers for identified provide individuals. Where we information at used to rely on input from a higher level.” student-athletes — Head Coach Aliceann and our own Wilber P’13 observations, the trackers provide information at a higher level.” Carver has also implemented a drone during training. While it can’t be used during games, at practice the drone takes between 15 and 30 video clips, which is especially helpful when working on spacing drills and corner kicks. Going forward, Carver sees analytics playing an even more expanded role in training and games with the ultimate goal of using data to create peak performance at the most important time of the year, when the Herons head into yet another championship postseason.

Herons Finish No. 2 in Nation The William Smith College soccer team ranked No. 2 in the nation in the final United Soccer coaches and D3soccer.com polls of the season. The Herons finished the year with a 21-2-1 overall record and advanced to the national championship game. It was William Smith’s 30th NCAA tournament appearance and fifth trip to the title game. The Herons were 9-0-0 in conference play and captured the league's regular season and tournament titles for the 13th straight year. The Herons finished the year ranked third in the nation in goals against average (0.297), fifth in shutout percentage (.750) and winning percentage (.896), 11th in save percentage (.883), and 23rd in total assists (46). Sophomore goalie Amanda Kesler led the nation with 15 shutouts, was third in GAA (0.30) and 14th in save percentage. William Smith posted 18 shutouts — fourth most in the nation — while conceding just seven goals against the fourth most challenging schedule in Division III. Individual awards piled up for the Herons this season as well. Maialen Martinez ’21 was named the D3soccer.com Defender of the Year, a first team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches and D3soccer. com and the United Soccer Coaches Scholar Player of the Year. Amanda Adams ’21 and Emilie Sauvayre ’20 also received All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches and D3soccer.com, respectively. Sauvayre was also named a 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-American.

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Athletics Round-Up

Hobart Soccer (14-5-2, 6-2-1) The Hobart soccer team captured its third Liberty League title with a 2-1 win over Clarkson and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, making their eighth appearance. The Statesmen defense finished tied for first in the Liberty League in goals against average (0.772) and second in the league and 25th in the country in shutout percentage (.524). Brian Salazar ’20 led the league with a .864 save percentage, was second

by Amanda Zumpano

PHOTO BY KEN JOHNSON

The Hobart rowing team’s varsity eight finished third in a 38-crew field in the men’s collegiate eight event at the 55th Head of the Charles Regatta.

in goals against average (0.728) and posted seven shutouts for the Statesmen. Defender Charlie Widing ’22 was named to the 2019 Academic All-America® third team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Football (9-2, 4-2) The Hobart football team began its season with a 33-7 win over nationally ranked Brockport. The Statesmen posted a 4-2 record in league play, tying for second in the standings. They wrapped up their season with a 30-10 win over Cortland to capture the New York State Bowl title. The Statesmen ranked sixth in the nation in turnovers gained with 17 interceptions (15th) and 13 fumbles recovered (11th). The Hobart defense was among the best in the nation in the red zone, as opponents scored

on just 57.5 percent of their trips inside the 20 (17th). Emmett Forde ’21 was named a first team All-American by the AFCA and D3football.com and was a second team pick by the Associated Press. He was also voted the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year. HWS Sailing Chase Carraway ’22 finished fourth in a field of 18 sailors at the 2019 LaserPerformance Men’s Singlehanded Championships. It was Hobart’s best finish since Robert Crane ‘09 was third in 2008. The Colleges finished the season strong with a third place showing in the MAISA Fall Women’s Championship and a fourth place finish at the War Memorial, the MAISA Coed Dinghy Championship. The Statesmen and Herons were perfect on Seneca Lake this fall, winning the David Lee Arnoff Trophy and the Luce Trophy.

Emmett Forde ’21 2019 AFCA Division III All-America first team 26 / HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES

Hobart Hockey (18-4-3, 12-4-2) Hobart hockey heads into the NEHC Tournament fresh off a six-game winning streak and ranked fifth in the nation in the USCHO poll. The Statesmen capped the regular season with a 4-1 win at No. 6 Babson. Hobart, which went 9-1-2 at home in the regular season, will host Skidmore in the NEHC quarterfinals. William Smith Hockey (16-7-0, 12-2-0) The William Smith hockey team is riding a nine-game winning streak into the final weekend of the regular season. The signature win of the streak was a 4-3 overtime triumph over No. 4 Elmira. Gina Scibetta ’20 leads the Herons in goals (15), assists (22) and points (37). The 2019 AllAmerican has broken the program’s career records for goals (51), assists (60) and points (111) this season, shattering the marks established by Krista Federow ’18. Hobart Basketball (18-3, 12-2) Stefan Thompson ’13 has the Statesmen playing fierce defense in his memorable first season as head coach. With two games remaining in the regular season, they lead the

nation in field goal percentage defense (36.1%) while ranking in the top 10 in rebounding margin (2nd, 13.0), 3-point percentage defense (2nd, 26.7%), scoring defense (5th, 61.1 ppg), and defensive rebounds (9th, 31.57/g). Tucker Lescoe ’20 broke the program’s career record for 3-pointers made, sinking his 245th in a win at RIT to surpass the standard set by Michael Gambino ’02. William Smith Basketball (1310, 9-7) Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Herons have clinched a spot in the Liberty League Tournament and could earn a home game in the opening round with a pair of wins to close out the year and some help from the teams in the North Country. The team features four players averaging 11 or more points per game, led by Olivia Parisi ‘22’s 15.2 points. The sophomore also paces the Herons’ efforts on the glass, averaging 8.6 rebounds. Stella Davis ’22 adds 11.8 points per game and sits seventh on the team’s season list for 3-pointers made with 56.

Staff Accolades Hobart College Assistant Football Coach Cait Finn was one of only 40 women selected to attend the 2020 NFL Women’s Careers in Football Forum in Indianapolis in February. The forum, which takes place alongside the NFL Combine, serves to support the development of a talent pipeline by connecting qualified women to career opportunities in football. Hobart College Football Defensive Coordinator Aaron Backhaus ’00 was recently named the Ability Partners Foundation Volunteer of the Year at the 17th annual Winter Gala and Auction in the Finger Lakes. Backhaus coordinates team visits to Happiness House in Geneva and organizes the annual Tackles and Touchdowns fundraiser.

CAIT FINN

AARON BACKHAUS ’00

PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON

Gina Scibetta ’20 leads the Herons in scoring.

And More The Hobart rowing team’s varsity eight finished third in a 38-crew field in the men’s collegiate eight event at the 55th Head of the Charles Regatta. … The William Smith rowing team captured two bronze medals at the Head of the Genesee … Field hockey had three players named all-league: Midfielder Kelsey Pierce ’20 and forward Mackenzie Wodka ’23 were named to the second team and Lauren Jackson ’23 earned honorable mention …

Hobart tennis’ Alan Dubrovsky ’20 and Walker Anderson ’21 advanced to the doubles finals at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships, qualifying for the ITA Cup … Leland Barclay ’20 of the William Smith tennis team advanced to the B Flight finals match at the Mary Hosking Invitational … Josh Wasserman ’20 led Hobart cross country this season, finishing fifth at the ECAC Championship … The William Smith cross country team recorded one first-place finish and three second-place finishes this season … Will Harrison ’21 leads the Hobart golf team with a 79.8 scoring average and shot his lowest round of 75 at the Utica Invitational … Emma Nedeau ’22 carded William Smith golf’s lowest round (83) at the St. Lawrence Invitational … The William Smith swimming and diving team is 5-0 this season and placed third at the Don Richards Invitational … The Heron squash team is 6-2 and ranked No. 25 in the nation … Hobart squash has posted a 1-6 record and is ranked No. 38.

PHOTO BY NEIL SJOBLOM ’75

William Smith Squash (15-3) The Herons won four straight matches entering the Liberty League Championship and then swept St. Lawrence 6-3, Vassar 9-0 and Bard 9-0 to collect the program’s third conference title. Gabby Fraser ’20 was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. She leads the team with 14 wins this season. Marcela Marquez Martinez ’23 joined the team for the start of the second semester and is unbeaten in 10 matches in the top two spots in the order.

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FROM THE GROUND UP |

up Ground From the W

e build our lives on foundations. Some are literal â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the base of the structures where we are born and raised, where we learn and grow, where we build our families and careers. Others are intangible â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the groundwork upon which we establish our belief systems, our values, our institutions. Foundations support us intellectually, creatively, morally and financially, and help to create protected, just and prosperous communities. Whether made of stone and brick or of people and principles, foundations provide us with safety, security and shelter and help us to build lives of mental, physical and social well-being. In this issue, we explore the foundations on which eight alums have built their lives.

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Buildings of the Future

Highland Hemp House

by Andrew Wickenden ’09

From a field of nearly 20,000 applications, Matthew Mead ’13 and his business partner, Tommy Gibbons, were selected for Forbes’ 2020 “30 Under 30” list for “creating the products, methods and materials of tomorrow.”

s he studied architecture and environmental studies at HWS, Matthew Mead ’13 had a growing sense that the relationship between the human-made environment and the natural world was unsustainable. “The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of our domestic energy consumption and carbon footprint,” says Mead. “If we don’t change the way we design and operate our built environment, we don’t really have a chance of mitigating the environmental impacts of the built world.” With Hempitecture, Mead is now at the forefront of a green building revolution. Offering materials like hempcrete and HempWool, the company is reimagining design and construction with sustainable alternatives to common products and practices. The idea began with Mead’s senior thesis, which analyzed natural building techniques and strategies and revealed that hemp-based products are not only qualitatively comparable but “non-toxic, environmentally friendly and fireproof,” he says. Seeing the potential for hempcrete in the U.S., Mead developed a business plan and entered the Colleges’ 2013 Pitch Contest for student entrepreneurs. Under the guidance of Pitch mentor Ira Goldschmidt ’77, Mead and Tyler Mauri ’13 took Hempitecture to the finals of that year’s competition. In the months that followed, however, social stigma and legal strictures around hemp — part of the cannabis genus, which includes marijuana — proved challenging, from sourcing materials to securing financing and banking access to selling the viability of hemp-based

building materials. Despite top-three finishes at other entrepreneurial competitions, Mead recalls skepticism of his vision. Although hemp does not contain appreciable levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, Mead remembers hearing jokes “about the whole neighborhood wanting the hemp house to burn down so they could catch a buzz. Of course our building material is fireproof, and they clearly missed that part of my presentation.” After graduation, Mead worked in St. John in the Caribbean at an eco-resort, where he had interned as a student and “for the first time … connected with a passion of creating and making in the real world.” He developed carpentry skills and refined his approach to green design and construction, building sustainable, off-grid, solar-powered eco-cottages — until a social media post about his Pitch presentation reached an Idaho project manager who invited Mead to put Hempitecture’s principles into practice. That year, Mead and Mauri moved to Idaho to begin a unique design-build project that ultimately became the country’s first publicuse building made of hempcrete. Today, the building houses Idaho Basecamp, a nonprofit organization connecting adults and young people to nature and one another through adventure education experiences. Mead, who serves on the organization’s board of directors, says that project “may still be one of my proudest moments, as there was so much we had to work through to make it possible.”

In 2018, Mead was joined by his former high school classmate Tommy Gibbons to scale Hempitecture into a company capable of impacting every hempcrete project in the U.S. “I liken the journey of Hempitecture to a valuable lesson I learned as an architecture student at HWS: process is everything,” Mead says. “Process gets you from an idea to an end result, and our process is continually evolving.” Now based in Ketchum, Idaho, where Mead serves as a planning and zoning commissioner, Hempitecture offers installation, consulting and design services, as well as building and insulation materials, equipment and training for industry professionals. Collaborating with architects, engineers and developers, the company works to create habitats beneficial both to those who use them and to the environment itself. Reflecting on Hempitecture’s journey, Mead says that HWS faculty and staff — including Associate Professor Kirin Makker, Professor Phillia Yi and Centennial Center Director Amy Forbes — went “above and beyond … because they believed in me and the Hempitecture concept. It has been very rewarding, albeit a little overwhelming, to receive an honor such as Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30,’ but there are so many people who actually made it possible, and this can be traced right back to my time at HWS.”

Pictured above: Hempitecture was brought on board in 2017 at the Highland Hemp House project, the undertaking of a homeowner determined to take advantage of the sustainable and climate-friendly properties of hempcrete in the renovation of her 1969 house in Bellingham, Wash.

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FROM THE GROUND UP |

The River Keeper by Bethany Snyder

While it may seem like rivers and streams sweep along of their own accord, they often need help to stay healthy. In a time of rapid environmental change, it is more critical than ever that we protect this foundational element of life. Emily Alcott ’07 has dedicated her career to doing just that.

mily Alcott ’07 spent her childhood wandering in the woods and splashing through streams in rural upstate New York. “We had a little creek behind our house and I’d spend a lot of time down there building and knocking down dams,” she says. Water has always called to Alcott, from the days in that backyard creek to her time studying water quality for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, from her graduate studies at Yale University to lazy afternoons rafting with her wife and their two children. “I’ve always found being on the water restorative and calming,” she says. These days, Alcott is still pulling on her waders and walking out into the water, but now she’s doing so as the principal ecologist and fluvial geomorphologist at Inter-Fluve, an organization dedicated to the design, restoration and conservation of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Essentially, she is an expert in the way water interacts with and changes the landscape it flows across. “Every river is a puzzle,” she says. “My job is to piece together why it looks the way it does and how I can put it on a more positive trajectory, whether that’s to help people in an urban environment get down to the water to experience it with their kids or to help endangered salmon in the northwest.” More than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams in the United States supply drinking water, irrigate crops, offer opportunities for recreation and provide habitats for fish and wildlife. “Rivers connect us all,” Alcott says. “They run through our urban places and feed

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our wild areas. They provide us clean drinking water and opportunities for recreation.” An essential component of Alcott’s work is ensuring that people understand the importance of river restoration, which often means conveying complicated information to a wide range of audiences from large groups at public meetings in Portland or Toronto to ranchers in rural eastern Oregon. She credits her time at William Smith for fostering those critical communication skills. “There are plenty of great researchers out there who can’t get their ideas across because they don’t know how to talk about them in a way that people can understand,” Alcott says. “At HWS, I learned how to do science well, but more importantly, I learned how to communicate it effectively.” After receiving her bachelor’s in biology, she went on to earn a master’s in water science, policy and management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She joined Inter-Fluve in 2010. Whether she’s working on a small stream or a raging river, the message Alcott shares with her clients and the community is the same: “We all live on this planet and share it together, and we need clean air and clean drinking water to survive. We’re trying to leave this world and the environment better for future generations.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF INTER-FLUVE

More than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams in the United States supply drinking water, irrigate crops, offer opportunities for recreation and provide habitats for fish and wildlife.

Ensuring the Future of Children’s Literature by Bethany Snyder

No matter your course of study or career path, perhaps nothing is as foundational to success as literacy. Through The Highlights Foundation, Kent Brown Jr. ’65 carries on his family’s tradition of promoting children’s literacy.

he grandparents of Kent Brown Jr. ’65, Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers, published the first issue of Highlights for Children in 1946. They sold 20,000 copies in their first year in operation, mostly door to door. You’re likely familiar with its colorful pages and its slogan, “Fun with a Purpose,” whether you flipped through the magazine in a doctor’s office or waited excitedly for a copy to land in your mailbox. By 1995, the magazine — with its familiar features like Goofus and Gallant, Hidden Pictures and The Timbertoes — had nearly three million subscribers. Today, Highlights is an international media brand. Editorial direction of Highlights magazine, which has sold more than a billion copies, was eventually handed over to Brown. An English major at Hobart, he functioned at Highlights for more than 30 years, including as editor-in-chief. In 1990, he cofounded Boyds Mills Press, the trade book publishing division of Highlights. A past president of the United States Board on Books for Young People, he is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Society of Magazine Editors and the National Press Club. Perhaps Brown’s greatest contribution to children’s literacy, however, is The Highlights Foundation. Established by Brown in 1985, the goal of the foundation is to, according to its mission, “improve the quality of children’s literature by helping authors and illustrators hone their craft.”

“Someone has to create the ‘Fun with a Purpose,’” says Brown. “The foundation targets all those who seek to benefit children by what they read and see.” For more than 25 years, the foundation hosted a once-a-year, week-long Writers Workshop at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York. “It seemed to me that if we could provide opportunities for writers and illustrators to share their ideas, processes and knowledge with each other, then we would be ensuring quality literature for future generations,” Brown says. While the program was successful, Brown and his staff realized they could offer more specialized and individualized workshops throughout the year — and they had the perfect location in which to do so — the same place where the magazine was brought to life, the home and property of Brown’s grandparents. The quiet and secluded property in rural Honesdale, Pa., was the ideal spot for writing retreats and workshops. For the past 20 years, Brown and his staff have welcomed more than a thousand writers and illustrators to the grounds to participate in lectures, one-on-one critiques, creative activities and group workshops. “We want to give authors and illustrators uninterrupted time to hone their craft,” says Brown. By 2012, the foundation added a conference center; two years later, they completed a new lodge. They now offer more than 40 programs year-round, including “Unworkshops” that

provide a retreat for those who just want to work on a project. “In the end, it’s the readers — children of all ages, from pre-school to young adult — who are the beneficiaries of the Highlights Foundation,” says Brown. “The task is to help writers and illustrators create inspiring, meaningful, engaging content.” The future of the foundation is bright. Helmed by Brown’s son George Brown as executive director and niece Alison Green Myers as program director, it continues to focus on diversity and is expanding into podcasts and online courses. Campus and facility upgrades are ongoing. “It’s impossible to calculate the rippling effect,” Brown says. “An aspiring writer is sitting in a class led by Patti Gauch or Jerry Spinelli; listening to a lecture by Traci Chee; watching Floyd Cooper’s amazing illustrative techniques; learning how Leah Henderson dives into character development. They start to experiment. Something connects. The books they create are read by thousands. They teach others what they’ve learned. New books are created. New readers enjoy the experience. I don’t think it’s possible to quantify the far-reaching effects of authors sharing with other authors their craft, knowledge, successes and failures, the hopes and dreams that drive them to create.”

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FROM THE GROUND UP |

PHOTO BY JONATHAN WONG/SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST VIA GETTY IMAGES

Stephen Wong ’89, chairman of investment banking for Hong Kong at Goldman Sachs, and co-head of the bank’s real estate group for Asia Pacific ex Japan, is one of the world's leading experts on baseball artifacts.

The National Pastime by Andrew Wickenden ‘09

This summer, on the heels of the Washington Nationals World Series win, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. will present one of the most ambitious exhibitions to date, “Baseball: America’s Home Run.” Stephen Wong ’89, a life-long collector and one of the world’s foremost authorities on baseball history and its artifacts, is an honorary senior advisor and major lender to the exhibition. Wong has generously shared items from his private collection — many of the game’s most historically significant uniforms and other treasured collectibles — for this exhibition, which opens its three-year run on June 27.

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aseball has been a fixture of American life for nearly as long as the country has existed, and yet “Baseball: America’s Home Run” is the “first major baseball exhibition the Smithsonian has ever put on,” says Stephen Wong ’89. The author of Smithsonian Baseball: Inside the World’s Finest Private Collections (2005) and Game Worn: Baseball Treasures from the Game’s Greatest Heroes and Moments (2016), Wong has spent decades studying baseball history, collecting and documenting rare memorabilia and organizing important baseball-themed exhibits around the country. The Smithsonian’s, however, is special — and worth the wait. “There hasn’t been an exhibition of this magnitude ever,” explains Wong, who has been working for two years with the museum’s curator and administrators to craft the exhibit’s themes and script. “This is the biggest and most important project of my lifelong journey of baseball collecting. Writing the books was a huge privilege and something I’ll cherish my entire life, but to put together a museum project of this magnitude, to work with the Smithsonian and the special people there, and lend items from my collection — this is the absolute pinnacle for me.” As chairman of investment banking for Hong Kong at Goldman Sachs, and co-head of the bank’s real estate group for Asia Pacific ex Japan, Wong says “it’s important to have passion and hobbies in life outside of work and family life. You raise a family, have your day job, it’s a mad scramble to be successful, but it’s really important to have that balance and that’s what baseball and this journey has done for me.” Wong has always been a die-hard baseball fan. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he collected baseball cards as a kid and went to Giants games at Candlestick Park. When a friend showed him a 1959 Topps baseball card of Roger Maris, issued before Maris’s longstanding singleseason homerun record with the Yankees in 1961, Wong had an important early glimpse of the magic of rare memorabilia, “the aesthetics and nostalgia” aspect of collecting. Later, while researching a high school history paper, he happened upon Franklin Pierce Adams’ poem, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon,” bemoaning a double play by the early 20th century Chicago Cubs (Adams was a rabid New York Giants fan). Tracing the origins of that poem, which Wong can now recite from memory, led him to Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times, revered as one of the pivotal works of baseball historiography.

Ritter’s book was not only “the genesis of my foray into learning about baseball history,” Wong says, but the template for his own first book. In the early 1960s, Ritter traveled the country interviewing the aging great ball players of the first two decades of the 20th century. In the same spirit, Wong traveled to 21 of the most renowned private collections in the world, compiling stories and photographs of baseball’s rarest artifacts. “No one had showcased these beautiful pieces of Americana for the public to appreciate,” Wong says. “I felt strongly and passionately about the artifacts that commemorate baseball and its heritage, and wanted to share that with the country.” Since then, he has written a follow-up, Game Worn, which studies and features the hobby’s most coveted game-worn uniforms and the stories of the players who wore them. But like his books, the Smithsonian exhibit isn’t just about the artifacts and “it goes well beyond commemorating a sport — it goes to the notion of commemorating the soul of America and baseball’s pivotal role in that,” says Wong, who has lent upwards of 60 pieces from his own collection that commemorate the history of the game and the nation. The exhibit features the Brooklyn Dodgers road uniform Jackie Robinson wore throughout his second season with the Dodgers (1948); the New York Yankees team jacket Lou Gehrig wore at Briggs Stadium in Detroit on May 2, 1939, when he took himself out of the lineup after playing 2,130 consecutive games (a major league record that stood until Cal Ripken broke it in 1995); and the bat Babe Ruth used during the 1920 season, when he “singlehandedly saved baseball,” Wong says, after the tragic 1919 World Series Black Sox scandal drove fans from the stadiums and nearly ruined the game. French-American historian Jacque Barzun once wrote, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” From baseball’s early beginnings in the 19th century to the Civil Rights movement and beyond, Wong says “when you go to this exhibition, you not only will appreciate the artifacts commemorating America’s most sacred sport, but also a kaleidoscope of American life.”

The Smithsonian's blockbuster exhibition on baseball at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. explores America’s national pastime. Featuring artifacts and stamps commemorating great players and historic moments, such as the Babe Ruth stamp shown above, and drawing on original artwork and archival material from around the globe, the exhibition approaches the story from a unique, worldwide perspective. The display of stamps and mail will be complemented by rare artifacts loaned by other Smithsonian Institution museums, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, law enforcement agencies and private collectors, including Stephen Wong. postalmuseum.si.edu/ upcoming-exhibitions

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FROM THE GROUND UP |

Changing the Conversation about Mental Illness by Bethany Snyder

Mental well-being is a foundational component of living a healthy, balanced life. While one in four people will experience a mental illness at some point in their life, many find it difficult to engage in necessary and life-saving conversations on the subject. Pamela Harrington ’89 works to combat the stigma and discrimination.

n 2010, award-winning actress Glenn Close was looking for someone to lead her new nonprofit, Bring Change to Mind (BC2M), an organization dedicated to encouraging dialogue about mental health. She turned to Pamela Harrington ’89. “I was in the right place at the right time with the right skills,” Harrington says. Those skills included extensive experience in the nonprofit startup space. She helped launch The Jed Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting emotional health and preventing suicides of teens and young adults. “My niche specialty is taking an organization from a concept and bringing it to life, building a board and finding funding streams,” she explains. Close was inspired to start Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) by her sister, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and her nephew, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Harrington’s life has been touched by mental illness, too — she has lost high school and college friends to suicide. At the time, she says, “I had no comprehension of why someone would do that. No one was talking about mental health in the ‘80s and ‘90s. No one was raising awareness of how to help yourself or others when they were struggling.”

As one of the first employees of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Harrington was fundamental in shaping the national conversation about breast cancer — which in turn led to increased awareness, education, funding and research. She is now doing the same with mental health through BC2M. “You can’t have overall health without a sound mind,” she says. “Mental health is a baseline we all have, and our work is reaching those at the further end of the spectrum. We’re guiding people to either get back to health or to learn to thrive where they are.” Giving young people the skills and vocabulary they need to talk about mental illness is one of the key initiatives at BC2M. “Stigma is a learned behavior,” Harrington says. “We mimic the attitudes and language of our elders and pass our beliefs on to the next generation.” The Bring Change to Mind High School program is designed to stop the cycle of silence and shame by encouraging conversations and providing more than

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PHOTO BY DREW ALTIZER

10,000 students across the country with the tools they need to manage their mental health. While Harrington finds her work rewarding, it’s often difficult. “For every beautiful story of health and resilience, there are stories about families losing loved ones and kids who’ve lost friends,” Harrington says. “It’s incredibly fulfilling and heartbreaking and inspiring, and there’s rarely a day when I don’t have a tearful moment.” She finds continued strength and hope in the children in the Bring Change to Mind High School program. “The kids are really inspiring,” Harrington says. “They’re showing more empathy and compassion. They’re changing the language they use to talk about mental health. They’re standing up against bullying. They’re changing lives.”

Disrupting the Cycle of Violence, Poverty and Incarceration by Bethany Snyder

Children who grow up in communities mired in poverty and violence often find themselves trapped in a cycle of incarceration and recidivism. Youth development provides a foundation of education, opportunity and access that can help break that cycle. Hasan Stephens ’00 uses personal experience to make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth.

asan Stephens ’00 grew up in The Edenwald Projects, the largest and arguably one of the most notorious housing projects in the Bronx, home to more than 5,000 residents. Stephens recalls the “daily atrocities” he saw, “walking by drug addicts in the hallway and watching people die regularly from gunshots.” Education was the tool Stephens used to escape. A scholarship program for academically high-achieving youth from low-income families named Prep For Prep led him to Horace Mann School, a private college prep school in the Bronx, and from there to Hobart and William Smith, where he completed an independent major in film and music. Working at WEOS put him on the path to a career as a disc jockey, which eventually brought him to his adopted hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., where he earned top ratings at iHeart Radio stations. He later pursued graduate studies in business at LeMoyne College. Stephens has served as an adjunct professor of political science and Africana studies at the State University of New York at Cortland for 10 years. “Because of my experiences growing up, I value at-risk youth more so than I believe the world does,”

he says. “They deserve a chance, just like I was given a chance.” To give that chance to others, in 2009 Stephens established the Good Life Youth Foundation, an organization that uses hip-hop culture to help marginalized youth understand financial literacy and entrepreneurship and, ultimately, live better lives. The board of directors includes fellow Hobart graduates Henry Culbreath ’99 and Winfield Prass ’99 as well as Syracuse mayor Ben Walsh. “We work with kids the world has thrown away and turned their backs on,” Stephens says. “We’re teaching them how to be innovative, how to be creative, how to take their natural talent and use it to add value to the community.” A key initiative of Good Life is the R.E.A.L. program (Ready to Enter and Accept Life), which focuses on life skills, asset building and financial education, entrepreneurship, career readiness and health and wellness. Participants are paired with a life coach and engage in group mentoring, experiential learning activities and cultural development projects. Good Life also created three companies: fullservice promotional print and embroidery company GL Imprinting, vending machine company Good Eats and lawn care company Good Lawns. “These social ventures, as we call them, allow our youth to generate personal income while also providing sustainability for the organization,” says Stephens. And it’s working. Good Life recently purchased a 37,000-square foot building that will become The Hip-Hop Center for Youth Entrepreneurship. Along with providing headquarters for the organization’s social ventures, the space will include a café to support culinary interests and a gallery for the display and sale of original artwork. Stephens is working on developing corporate and collegiate partnerships to help “establish this building as a creative central hub for the youth of Syracuse to learn how to be entrepreneurs,” he says. In addition to an ongoing capital campaign, partial funding for the building project has been secured from local foundations and state grants. Stephens notes that Syracuse is among the nation’s top locations for concentrated poverty among African Americans and Latinos and is one of the most segregated cities in the United States. But where some see only hardship and trauma, Stephens sees hope, opportunity — and a proof of concept. “If we can affect change here, then we can do it somewhere else,” he says. “We’re building a Find out more about The Good Life replicable model that can be used everywhere.” Youth Foundation at gly.foundation.

PHOTO BY ABC CREATIVE

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FROM THE GROUND UP |

To Protect and Serve by Natalia St. Lawrence ‘16

Public safety is a fundamental element of a functioning society. Every day, Sasha Borenstein ’14 agrees to assist, comfort, step in and step up to help others as a patrol officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

n any given night, Sasha Borenstein ’14 division, has evolved through her training on may arrive on the scene of 20 different the ground at the LAPD and her education at the radio calls throughout greater Los Colleges. Angeles. And in her work as a patrol officer with A psychology major with minors in sociology the Los Angeles Police Department, she’s called and social justice, Borenstein has always applied on to wear just as many hats. a critical understanding of people’s behaviors “Being a police officer is being someone’s to her work. Her earliest experience in law friend, someone’s mentor or a confidant for those enforcement, as an intern for the City of Geneva who need someone to trust and talk to,” says Police Department, was completed in conjunction Borenstein. with an independent study with Associate Though she often sees people in their worst Professor of Sociology James Sutton, a national moments — a domestic dispute, a robbery expert on interpersonal violence, vulnerable or a traffic accident — providing populations and deviance. a helping hand through loss and After taking ridealongs with GPD “Getting to trauma is a critical component of see their faces officers and observing court cases at creating safe spaces in homes light up when the Geneva City Court, Borenstein would and neighborhoods throughout compare her experiences to the writings I grab a ball the city. and ask them of experts on socially deviant behaviors. Sworn to protect the public, to play — that’s She also debriefed with Sutton, who Borenstein has learned that the stuff that continues to be one of her mentors. the interactions that take Borenstein’s path to law enforcement really makes place between radio calls me love what was aided by a connection she made are fundamental to building when she was considering attending I do.” community trust. In fact, the former William Smith. Dr. Lowell J. Levine ’59, Heron uses one of her abilities and a board-certified forensic ondontologist passions — her love for basketball — to develop and the director of operations for the New York meaningful connections with community State Police Medicolegal Investigations Unit, was members. A four-year member of the William a member of the teams that identified Nicholas II Smith basketball team, Borenstein continues of Russia and investigated the death of President to play for the LAPD women’s basketball Kennedy. Through Levine, Borenstein has been team, where she participates in a departmentable to attend homicide seminars and connect sponsored youth program that keeps the lights with people and opportunities that eventually led on so kids can play in the park after dark. her to the LAPD. Having the opportunity to shoot hoops in a “Lowell showed me how a liberal arts neighborhood park offers Borenstein the chance education was the right path for me, how it could to establish positive relationships with local kids. give me endless opportunity,” she explains. “Getting to see their faces light up when I grab a Borenstein’s long-term career plan is to ball and ask them to play — that’s the stuff that work in the robbery homicide division of the really makes me love what I do,” she says. LAPD, taking her expertise in community policing Borenstein’s commitment to a philosophy to a new level and furthering the safety of the of community policing, in which she develops people she has sworn to protect. meaningful connections to the people in her

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by Bethany Snyder

Community development is a foundational component of a resilient, diverse and vibrant society. Strategic solutions for enhancing communities happen when the right people and resources come together. D-L Casson ’70 has dedicated her life to making those connections happen.

n her sophomore year, Diane-Louise “D-L” Kenney Casson ’70 realized she was one of just a few black women at William Smith. “I wanted to figure out what to do about it,” says Casson. So she went straight to the top. A conversation with then-President Albert Holland led Casson to volunteer in Admissions, first as a campus tour guide and then, during her senior year, traveling with staff to outreach programs and college fairs in New York City. Her conversation with Holland was the beginning of a life spent identifying problems, finding solutions and connecting community resources. Casson spent much of her career working in higher education, holding administrative posts at Stanford University, Mary Washington College, Fisk University and Atlanta University. It was a relocation to Pennsylvania — where she worked for many years at the University of Pennsylvania — that eventually led to one of the most rewarding experiences of her career.

PHOTO BY DANNY SCHWEERS

Making Community Connections

In 2009, the nonprofit Public Health Management Corporation received a grant from the Kellogg Foundation to fund the Philadelphia Urban Food & Fitness Alliance, designed to increase access to healthy food and safe places for physical fitness for young people. Casson was brought on as project director. “One of our goals was to teach high school students how to advocate for improved food in their schools,” she says. Many of the communities with the greatest need exist in food deserts with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables or food that isn’t highly processed. “We wanted to not only improve health outcomes for young people, but give them the skills they needed to make positive change for themselves.” Approximately 60 students from African-American and Cambodian communities took part in the program. Along with nutrition and food preparation skills, the students learned how food was brought into their schools, primarily through commodities from the government. Some schools didn’t even have full kitchens. Casson and her team connected the students with nutritionists and provided tastings. The students then presented the information they’d gathered back to the schools, teaching the kitchen staff how to prepare food so that kids would eat it and not waste it. “One of their mottos was, ‘if you roast it, we’ll eat it,’” Casson says. “I mean, who wants to eat a soggy vegetable?” Throughout the project — which culminated in a capstone Chopped competition, in the style of the popular Food Network show — Casson was particularly struck by the rapport being built between students. “I knew something good had happened when I saw an African-American girl teaching Vietnamese and Cambodian youth how to make egg rolls,” she says. The African-American girl lived down the street from the grandmothers of the other students, and while those kids weren’t interested in hanging out with their grandmothers, the African-American girl was. The older women taught her the art of making

egg rolls, and she in turn taught her peers. “I’ll never forget that night,” says Casson. “It was a slam dunk: we won.” Creating connections that foster change is what inspires Casson every day. In her retirement, she works as the parish administrator at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington, Del., connecting parishioners and community members with services they need, from a cup of coffee to a dollar to get their prescription filled. For Casson, it’s all part of building strong, supportive communities. “Without community development, things fall apart,” she says. “It’s the connective tissue of our society.”

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THE LAY OF THE LAND

The Lay of the Land by Andrew Wickenden ’09

The Seneca Nation, the Pulteney Estate and the Pre-history of Hobart and William Smith

With the Hobart bicentennial just two years away, the Colleges are reflecting on the history and foundations from which the institution has emerged.

This map, created by Guy Johnson in 1771, was prepared in a time before much exploration by Europeans had occurred. Important landmarks include “Chenussio,” which was a Seneca village located near the modern village of Geneseo, and the “Little Seneca River,” which is today known as the Genesee. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE GENEVA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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he story of Hobart and William Smith begins on the traditional territory of the Seneca Nation. The 320 acres that the Colleges call home, as well as the surrounding territory stretching west to the Genesee River and beyond, was for generations the domain of the Senecas, who established communities and farms across what was originally the westernmost territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the union of six nations (also known as the Iroquois League) that also includes the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and Tuscarora Nations. “There are various opinions of how long ago we began to occupy these areas,” says G. Peter Jemison, an artist, activist, member of the Heron Clan of the Seneca Nation and historic site manager of the Ganondagan State Historic Site at Victor, N.Y. Archaeologists tend to base their estimates on the presence of bark longhouses, which indicate established communities and, accompanying them, an agricultural way of life. Those estimates date as far back as the 12th century C.E., but, as Jemison says, Senecas had been hunting, fishing and trapping in the area for probably 1,000 years before that, or longer. According to Haudenosaunee creation stories, Native peoples lived in the area since time immemorial. During the formation of the Confederacy — estimates range between 600 and 1,000 years ago — the Senecas were resistant to join, says Jemison, but an idea was put forth by the Peacemaker, one of the founders of the Confederacy, to unite the Nations.

Forced to relocate, Senecas reestablished communities on the northern end of Seneca Lake, including a town of approximately 5,000 at White Springs, just three-fourths of a mile from the center of what is now the Hobart Quadrangle.

Professor of Anthropology Jeffrey Anderson

Because the Senecas had powerful warriors unwilling to give up fighting, Jemison explains, the Peacemaker proposed giving them the responsibility of protecting the nations to their east, which is why the Senecas are known as the Keepers of the Western Door. By the time of the Beaver Wars of the 17th century, Senecas had expanded Haudenosaunee land farther west by defeating and assimilating tribes like the Huron, Erie and Neutrals, their rivals in the fur trade. As demand for pelts rose and beavers became scarce in Haudenosaunee territory, Jemison says, “we then had to act as middlemen, either conducting trading parties to the western Great Lakes or deciding who could travel through our territory to the Lakes. This is the role that we the Keepers of the Western Door were in and the main reason Denonville sent his army.” The July 1687 raiding party sent by the Marquis de Denonville, the governor of New France, destroyed Seneca communities including one of the largest at Ganondagan, the Seneca Nation’s eastern capital. Forced to relocate, Senecas reestablished communities on the northern end of Seneca Lake, including a town of approximately 5,000 at White Springs, just three-fourths of a mile from the center of what is now the Hobart Quadrangle. From about 1688 to 1715, Senecas farmed at White Springs, and by the mid-18th century, they had built their capital, Kanadesaga, near what is now the intersection of North Street and Preemption Road in Geneva, where William Smith later made his fortune as a nurseryman.

At Seneca communities like White Springs and Kanadesaga, “there was a sense of ownership of land but it was communal,” explains Professor of Anthropology Jeffrey Anderson, who teaches courses focused on Indigenous Peoples and has for more than 30 years researched the language, culture and history of the Northern Arapaho Nation of Wyoming. Anderson notes that clans, rather than individuals, decided where and when to move to the next farming site, decisions influenced predominantly by women. Haudenosaunee women represented the land in council meetings, both “because men were often away at war and trade for long periods of time,” as Anderson says, and also because of the central role women played in growing food and selecting farming sites. Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Whitney Mauer, an Indigenous Studies scholar whose work focuses

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THE LAY OF THE LAND

on Indigenous development, self-determination and sovereignty, says that women were the driving force behind the evolution and success of Haudenosaunee agricultural practices, which relied on irrigation and planting without the use of plows or draft animals. Mauer, who is of Piscataway Nation descent and has worked with Indigenous tribes in the Pacific Northwest, says that by the time of colonial Assistant Professor of contact, the Haudenosaunee had developed a Environmental Studies “very sophisticated” and “extremely productive” Whitney Mauer agricultural system, and “women were the primary knowledge keepers of this system.” The In fact, throughout precontact history, Haudenosaunee Haudenosaunee women held positions of power and “were held with great esteem within traditional had developed Haudenosaunee societies,” says Agnes F. Williams, a “very M.S.W., coordinator of the Indigenous Women’s sophisticated” and Initiative and a member of the Wolf Clan from “extremely the Cattaraugus Territory of the Seneca Nation. “Some date the founding of the Confederacy to productive” 912 A.D. when women secured the Peace with agricultural their appointments of Chiefs and Faith Keepers. system, and Haudenosaunee women provided a continuity of culture for 1,000 years, until the Europeans arrived “women were the with their white supremacy, superior weapons and primary knowledge dominance in the Americas.” keepers of this During precontact history and through the arrival system.” of early Europeans, the Senecas’ political, social and agricultural stability also derived from the geography and topography of Western New York, says Rylee Wernoch ’21. Her interdisciplinary portrait of Seneca Lake, created as part of a 2019 summer research project, explores the cultural, social, economic and biological importance of the lake through history, as well as initiatives currently underway to help protect the health of the lake and the watershed. Wernoch learned that in building their communities on hills, near springs and the heads of streams, the Senecas enjoyed a steady supply of fresh water, access to fertile land and rich fisheries, and vantage points from which to spot threats. “They also used the lake as a highway,” she adds, noting that the speed of water travel was a strategic political and military advantage for the nation, which at the time was the largest and most powerful of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. “Seneca land was contested by the French, British and later the Americans through trade and settlement,” Anderson says. “It was part of global struggle. By the 18th century, the Senecas were not a simple isolated Native people but connected to a global system of trade and political forces. They were a true nation and a powerful one for many years, and Kanadesaga was the capital of that nation.” At Kanadesaga, there were about 50 longhouses, with more on the town’s periphery, each housing a number of nuclear families of a given clan. The 40 / HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES

longhouses were set on a hill, and stretching out around them were fields of beans, corn and squash (the Three Sisters), and orchards of peaches and apples. There was also a palisade and blockhouse, a typical frontier fort, built by the British as a defense against rival trappers and fur traders. The Seneca Nation had for many years been trading beaver pelts with other Europeans, but because the British had better trade goods than others, and “better by far than the Americans,” Anderson says, the Senecas at Kanadesaga formed an alliance with the British, which lasted into the American Revolution. On Sept. 7, 1779, Major General John Sullivan’s American troops destroyed Kanadesaga. The “scorch and burn” campaign under the orders of George Washington was retaliation for the Senecas’ association with the British during the war, though some Senecas had in fact fought with the colonists. In his orders to Sullivan, Washington described the campaign’s “immediate object” — “the total destruction and devastation of [Haudenosaunee] settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible” — and wrote that it would “be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” As Anderson explains, “the newly formed United States desperately wanted this land to bring in revenues because, simply put, both the government and most financiers were broke due to ending economic ties with Great Britain. The motto at the time was ‘Empire for Liberty’ (thus New York as the ‘Empire State’ even today). Most Revolutionary War troops had not been paid by the 1790s and the plan was to pay them with free land acquired from Indians. That rarely happened, however, with most land ending up in the hands of big land speculators.” In 1788, New England speculators Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham bought pre-emption rights (right of first refusal) to six million acres in what is now New York from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Phelps and Gorham Purchase, comprising predominately Seneca land, spanned from the Pennsylvania border north to Lake Ontario and from just outside Kanadesaga (where Preemption Road now sits) west to the Genesee River. But, unable to make their debt payments despite selling off parcels, Phelps and Gorham lost their claim to Massachusetts, which in turn sold about 1.25 million acres to Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and future U.S. senator. Morris’ British agent, who happened to be Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, quickly sold that land and more — 12 million acres — to a group of British investors called the Pulteney Associates, despite the Nonintercourse Act of 1790, which established that only the U.S. Government could

cede and acquire land from Native Americans. The Pulteney Associates then tapped Captain Charles Williamson to administer the subdivision and sale of the 12 million acres, and Williamson, who had fought for the British during the American Revolution and later married an American, began a robust campaign to attract white settlers to the area, building roads, inns and land offices. The 19th-century Geneva historian Charles Milliken writes that before long, the area “was invaded, so to speak, by ladies and gentlemen, many of whom came with their servants and slaves.” Over the course of the following decades, parcels were sold off to white Americans and European immigrants, including acreage at Kanadesaga and White Springs. The early nursery industry, which was the main economic driver in Geneva for many years, “began with the Kanadesaga fruit trees that survived Sullivan’s scorch and burn campaign,” Anderson notes. “The key is that colonizers saw the success of Seneca farms and orchards as a lure to acquire the land and farm it themselves. The idea of pioneers clearing the land and bringing farming to the frontier is misplaced here, since they just took over Iroquois farms that already existed.” In 1877, having found success raising trees near the Kanadesaga site, William Smith and his brother Thomas purchased an unknown amount of land at White Springs. Other portions of the Pulteney Estate, as it came to be known, were sold to families whose names appear on the HWS campus, including Rees and De Lancey, as well as to those who founded the Geneva Academy and Geneva College. Arthur P. Rose — a graduate of the Hobart Class of 1862, a Trustee of the College and later mayor of Geneva — was the last administrator of the Pulteney Estate.

In 1790, Seneca chief and diplomat Cornplanter delivered a speech on behalf of the Seneca Nation, beseeching newly elected President George Washington and the U.S. government to meet the obligations agreed to by Phelps, Gorham and others. Acknowledging complaints of fraud, and that the Haudenosaunee “have been led into some difficulties” around land sales, Washington later told Cornplanter and other Seneca delegates “that it is my desire, and the desire of the United States that … in future the United States and the six Nations [sic] should be truly brothers, promoting each other’s prosperity by acts of mutual friendship and justice.” Nevertheless, conflict flared between the U.S. and Native American nations. In a 2011 essay for the Syracuse Peace Council, G. Peter Jemison

Seneca chief and diplomat Cornplanter

The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua The Haudenosaunee sent 1,600 representatives, including 800 Senecas, to meet with U.S. Colonel Timothy Pickering and General Israel Chapin, and Quaker mediators in an attempt to recognize the sovereignty of the Six Nations, establish land rights and make peace.

recounts a “stinging victory” that “a confederacy of nations in the Ohio region won … [against] the U.S. Army [in 1791]. Tension grew between [the Haudenosaunee] and white settlers immigrating into the Finger Lakes. Washington concluded that if the Six Nations joined the Northwest Confederacy, their combined strength could prove insurmountable for the now 15 states.” To ease tensions and stave off such a formidable alliance, the U.S. and the Six Nations convened delegations in Canandaigua in 1794 to discuss a treaty, as Seneca chief Red Jacket said at the time, “to brighten the Chain of Friendship between us and the 15 fires.” The Haudenosaunee sent 1,600 representatives, including 800 Senecas, to meet with U.S. Colonel Timothy Pickering and General Israel Chapin, and Quaker mediators in an attempt to recognize the sovereignty of the Six Nations, establish land rights and make peace. Ultimately, the Treaty of Canandaigua codified U.S. recognition of “lands reserved to the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations” and set out the boundaries of Seneca land — essentially the entire state of New York west of Geneva. The treaty includes a U.S. promise to never claim Seneca land, “nor disturb the Seneca Nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or of their Indian friends residing thereon, and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof; but it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same, to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase.” In the 225 years since the Treaty of Canandaigua was signed, the friendship between the Haudenosaunee and the U.S. has been strained, lands appropriated and the treaty violated, but it remains intact and recognized today by the governments of all signatories. As Jemison writes in his 2011 essay, “The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua,” Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga lands “were later taken by New York State in illegal treaties. The St. Lawrence Seaway destroyed Mohawk land and fishing grounds (1954); Kinzua Dam flooded 9,000 acres, removing Seneca people from traditional farming and medicine-gathering land, graves, even the Longhouse (1964); the Niagara River project took Tuscarora land (1967); Reynolds and General Motors built plants that polluted the entire St. Lawrence River (1950s on).” The U.S. continues to make annual payments for the distribution of cloth to the Haudenosaunee, an important symbolic acknowledgement, Jemison notes, of the U.S. obligations to the treaty. “Enrolled members are each entitled to one yard of cloth, which has no real purpose in a utilitarian way,” he says, “but shows the U.S. understands the terms of the treaty are still in place and allows us to turn to the U.S. and say, this was established and ratified, is the law of the land, entered into nation to nation, Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 41

THE LAY OF THE LAND

and we can say we’re still here, expecting you to respect what you entered into 200-plus years ago.” Each November, the signing of the treaty is commemorated in Canandaigua by members of the Six Nations, the U.S. government, Quakers, local governments and community members, including local colleges and universities. While students and faculty have represented HWS informally in the past, this fall marked the Colleges’ first official appearance at the celebration. “The Treaty of Canandaigua was signed just 25 years before Geneva College was granted its charter from the State of New York. Without it, the Colleges very well may not be here,” says President Joyce P. Jacobsen. “Our presence at the treaty commemoration is a modest but important sign of our determination to reckon honestly with the institution’s past and promote respectful connections with our Haudenosaunee neighbors that will endure and deepen moving forward.”

Against the backdrop of the Colleges’ history and that of the Finger Lakes region, “what’s really important is to acknowledge that this landscape is still meaningful to Seneca people,” says Professor Whitney Mauer. “It’s a living part of their culture.” Mauer was one of the faculty who co-taught a Sustainable Living and Learning Community last spring in which students planted crops at the Colleges’ Fribolin Farm, including heirloom varieties of corn, beans and squash that the Senecas living at White Springs would have planted themselves. While the course offered a chance to explore the historical context of White Springs and the Haudenosaunee of the 17th century, Mauer says that too often Native issues are “treated as history that has happened, when they are not — they are contemporary, impacting people who are here and present.” It is critical then for the HWS community to reflect on both the history that led to the founding of HWS and its legacy today, says Jason Corwin, Ph.D., executive director of the Seneca Media and Communications Center and a member of the Seneca Nation. “Was the manner in which rights to the land were gained by European-Americans just and fair? And if not, what should present day Americans do about it? What responsibility do people, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity, have toward the environment of the region? How can universities cultivate respectful and reciprocal relationships with Native peoples?” Corwin says that those living and working in the region must “ask themselves these questions and use their own moral compass and interests to decide what to act upon to create a better 42 / HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES

In 1877, William Smith and his brother Thomas purchased an unknown amount of land at White Springs. Other portions of the Pulteney Estate, as it came to be known, were sold to families whose names appear on the HWS campus, including Rees and De Lancey, as well as to those who founded the Geneva Academy and Geneva College.

world and think seven generations forward. This is particularly important at a time when environmental issues and social injustices seem very dire, leaving many young people to feel pessimistic about the future.” It was that sentiment that prompted the Hobart Dean’s Council to convene a public panel discussion in the spring 2019 semester, examining the context of the Colleges’ historical connections to the Senecas and Haudenosaunee and their contemporary expressions. The panel featured Professor Jeffrey Anderson and G. Peter Jemison alongside Patrick J. Solomon ’92, P’20, P’23, founding partner of Thomas & Solomon LLP and an Associate and Appellate Justice of the St. Regis Mohawk tribal court, who played on championshipwinning Hobart and Iroquois National lacrosse teams; the Rt. Rev. Dr. Prince G. Singh, eighth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester and HWS Trustee; and Nicole Scott, director for the Native American Future Stewards Program at Rochester Institute of Technology and a Diné (Navajo) of The Red Running Into Water Clan born for Big Water Clan. Khuram Hussain, Hobart Dean and Associate Professor of Education, had asked the Dean’s Council — an advisory group of students — to research campus history and traditions, particularly the Hobart oar that supposedly belonged to the (almost certainly fictional) Seneca warrior, Agayentah. As the story goes, in the aftermath of a canoe accident on Seneca Lake, the echo of Agayentah’s dying cry reached the shore. The legend inspired the original name of the Hobart College yearbook, the Echo of the Seneca; the call letters of the Colleges’ radio station, WEOS; and the iconic Hobart oar. According to the legend, Agayentah’s “spirit was preserved in the form of an unusual tree … from which the original Hobart oar was supposedly carved,” as Grace Ruble ’21 recounted in The Herald last spring. Ever since a member of the Class of 1859 found the original oar, Ruble writes, it has been “guarded by the Druids and passed from one senior Hobart class to the next” — a tradition that inspired the Hobart Alumni Association’s gift to seniors, a small replica oar, which “is supposed to remind [graduates] of their time at Hobart and the fact that they are the determiners of their own lives.” While the Council’s research turned up various iterations of the legend of the oar generated by Hobart students throughout the early 20th century, they also found no real historical evidence of an actual tie to the Seneca people. When the Council made that discovery, Hussain says, it “made us consider what might still be of value to those traditions and whether they could be part of an evolving of traditions. Specifically, if this is an effort to connect Hobart College to the people and the

land, then let’s explore the oar tradition within that wider context.” For one thing, says Agnes Williams, “it is important to recognize the impact of 500 years of colonial oppression and repression, including the federal government’s policies designed to gain land and natural resources in our territories.” With the Buffalo, N.Y.-based Indigenous Women’s Initiative and other groups across the country, Williams and her colleagues have been working for decades to support and preserve Native communities, their lands and their languages and cultures. In honestly addressing the historical record, she says the role of higher education “cannot be underestimated. Most non-Native institutions offer general education courses in media and stereotypes to begin the process of dispelling the misinformation about the Haudenosaunee. History courses in colonial regional history taught from the Native perspective are very important to correct the misrepresentations of Native peoples perpetuated by mainstream education.” Environmental stewardship is another critical area where the Colleges can work to sustain and advance relationships with Native communities, says Jason Corwin. “Senecas, like most Indigenous people, have viewed their relationship with the environment as being one of responsibility rather than rights or dominion,” he says. “Agriculture, hunting, fishing and foraging for wild edibles as the sustenance for villages long term over countless generations requires concepts of sustainability that were woven into the culture. These values and philosophies still persist to this day as many Native communities, the Seneca included, have placed a high importance on protecting the environment from pollution and revitalizing traditional lifeways, particularly agriculture.” Assessing and mitigating the Colleges’ environmental footprint is essential, Corwin says, but so too is “supporting the work of environmental sciences and recognizing the vital role [of ] Indigenous sustainable technologies, traditional ecological knowledge, and philosophical traditions … in informing a comprehensive approach to dealing with the environmental crises of today … For too long Indigenous ways of knowing have been dismissed by mainstream society and academia as being primitive and superstitious.” HWS, he says, must “take a strong stand for social and environmental justice, for in a truly comprehensive approach to the concept of sustainability, the two must be seen as intertwined.” As an institution that values interdisciplinary academics, community engagement and sustainability, HWS has the opportunity and responsibility to pursue these and other “meaningful and intentionally long-term acts

Haudenosaunee flag

“We begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional territory of the Onondowaga or ‘the people of the Great Hill.’ In English, they are known as Seneca people, ‘the Keeper of the Western Door.’ They are one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the world’s oldest continual participatory democracy.”

designed to build lasting relationships,” says Professor Mauer. In 2019, Mauer, Hussain and Director of Admissions Bill Warder ’96 attended a gathering at the University of Rochester focused on ways to recruit and retain Indigenous students, a valuable opportunity, Hussain says, to “collaborate with members of the consortium from other institutions to cultivate the kind of environment that will invite and support Native students on our campus.” Meanwhile, the HWS Deans Offices have worked with Seneca and other Indigenous scholars and educators to develop the land recognition statement now recited before major HWS campus events and ceremonies: “We begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional territory of the Onondowaga or ‘the people of the Great Hill.’ In English, they are known as Seneca people, ‘the Keeper of the Western Door.’ They are one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the world’s oldest continual participatory democracy.” The oar’s role in the Hobart matriculation ceremony has been replaced with a new tradition in which alumni present each incoming first-year with a shield pin, signifying the beginning of their journey as a Hobart student. The Druids, who have traditionally used the oar as part of the induction of new members, began their 2019 ceremony by “first addressing the problematic history of the oar,” says Hussain, who is meeting with the honors society in the spring 2020 semester to decide “how they would like to move forward with (or without) the oar.” Similar discussions are taking place about the Hobart Alumni Association’s senior gift. In the “longer walk toward reconciliation between the Seneca Nation and Hobart and William Smith,” as Hussain says, these first steps have been driven by HWS faculty, students and staff, who have also ensured that the Haudenosaunee flag flies at HWS events and that the Colleges will celebrate Seneca history as part of Hobart’s bicentennial festivities in 2022. Other proposals — such as collaborating with Native Studies programs at neighboring colleges and universities and recruiting more Indigenous faculty, staff, students and speakers — will take time and collaboration between HWS and Seneca partners to plan and implement. But as Professor Anderson says, “the difference between what the history of the area was imagined to be and what really happened” is where the conversation begins — not where it ends. For references and further reading visit: hws.edu/land.

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HWS COMMUNITY |

FANFARE | HONORS | AWARDS | CELEBRATIONS

HWS Community

Williams Club Membership Extends HWS Network Hobart and William Smith have rejoined the more than century-old Williams Club, which offers a space and opportunities to engage personally and professionally with fellow members of the liberal arts community. As an affiliate institution, HWS enjoys access to the Williams Club facilities at the Princeton Club in Midtown Manhattan, and members of the Colleges’ community — including students, graduates, faculty, staff and family — are eligible to join as members. “We are thrilled to create this resource for the HWS community,” says Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations Chevanne Graham DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23. “Our relationship with the Williams Club offers the Colleges’ community a great opportunity to connect with peers from other institutions and expand their social and career networks.” Club amenities include hotel rooms, squash and fitness facilities, a business center and dining venues. The club hosts cultural, social, educational and networking events, and members enjoy discounts at clothing stores and parking structures, as well as access to more than 200 reciprocal clubs around the world. Learn more at williamsclub.org/site.

New LGBTQIA+ Alumni/ae Network The Hobart and William Smith Alumni and Alumnae Associations are in the early planning stages of creating an LGBTQIA+ alumni/ae group. The network will provide an avenue through which graduates will connect with one another and the Colleges to promote and strengthen relations between the institution and LGBTQIA+ alums and students. If you would like to learn about how you can get involved, please contact Chevanne Graham DeVaney ’95, P’21 P’23, the director of alumni and alumnae relations, at devaney@hws.edu. Other identity and professional-based affinity groups include the Afro Latino Alumni/ae Association (ALAA), William Smith at Work, the Statesmen Athletics Association and the Heron Society.

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Kappa Alpha House circa 1800s.

Kappa Alpha Celebrates 175 Years Hobart College is home to one of the oldest remaining branches of the Kappa Alpha (KA) Society, itself the oldest Greek-lettered collegiate fraternity in the U.S. and precursor of the modern Greek system. On Dec. 7, more than 90 current and alum members of KA gathered on campus to celebrate the New York Beta Chapter’s 175th anniversary. KA was founded at Union College in 1825. William Talmage McDonald, Class of 1845, and Lawrence Stern Stevens, Class of 1848, were initiated at Union in 1844; they in turn initiated six other Hobart students into the Hobart chapter (also known as the CH chapter). Historical documents from the past 175 years were presented during the chapter's reunion weekend and are now being archived. Many will be presented to the Colleges and the Geneva Historical Society. Edward G. Mooney ’77, president of the Hobart College Kappa Alpha Alumni Board of Directors, hosted a gala dinner at the reunion. “I enjoyed spending time with Hobart KA alums spanning the past 45 years, conjuring up all the great memories we spent at college,” he says. More than 1,000 Hobart students have had the privilege of calling themselves KAs. There are 27 active members of KA on campus who are involved in sports, clubs and events, and dedicated to service and community involvement.

175

Alum Event Photos

1| Mark D. Gearan L.H.D. ’17 and Mary Herlihy Gearan L.H.D. ’17, P’21 enjoy a day with HWS alums at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston in October. 2| Board of Trustees Chair Thomas Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18 and Barbara Bozzuto welcome President Joyce P. Jacobsen to Baltimore in November. 3| Vice President for Advancement Bob O’Connor P’22, Henry Rosenberg Jr. ’52, L.H.D. ’02 and Chief of Staff Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13 at the Baltimore welcome for President Jacobsen. 4| Martha Stuart Jewett ’68, William Martin ’66, Karen Salemo Van Arsdale ’88 and Marc Van Arsdale ’85 enjoy the Baltimore welcome. 5| Michael Schoen, Jean Ann Linney ’72, Joel ’56 and Jacqueline Wrubel Savits ’57, P’82, P’87, P’90, GP’16 attend the D.C. welcome for President Jacobsen in November. 6| Kristina Santry and Arthur Santry III ’78 at the D.C. welcome for President Jacobsen.

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HWS COMMUNITY |

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11|

7| Trustee Edward Cooper ’86, The Hon. Ludwig Gaines ’88 and Mark “Skip” Darden III ’87, P’17 at the D.C. welcome for President Jacobsen. 8| Thomas Burke, Cynthia Fults Burke ’87, Trustee Craig Stine ’81, P’17 and Kathy Stine P’17 at the holiday gathering at the Williams Club in NYC in December. 9| WS@Work participants Julie “Cat” Forman ’15, Egan Sachs-Hecht ’19, Allie Haversat ’19, Gabriella Milano ’19, Margaret “Mimi” Scott ’16, Caroline Demeter ’15 and Elizabeth “Liza” Plummer ’19 pose with President Jacobsen during the NYC welcome. 10| James and Bernadette Atwater P’19, P’23, Wheeler Jackson ’70 and Ellen Fridovich David ’71 at the NYC welcome. 11| Joshua Leach ’01, Turiya Minter and Latiqua Washington ’09 at the NYC gathering.

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HWS Community

events

New events are added daily. For details and to register, go to hws.edu/alum.

Regional Gatherings Join President Joyce P. Jacobsen for a regional event!

A Celebration of Rev. Dr. Alger L. Adams ’32, D.D. ’83

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Denver, Colo. Seattle, Wash. San Francisco, Calif. Boston, Mass.

March 27 – A Celebration of Rev. Dr. Alger L. Adams ’32, D.D. ’83. HWS Campus: Join us for a ceremony reflecting on the life and legacy of the first black man to receive a degree from Hobart College. April 7 – Blackwell-Hale Dinner, 6-8 p.m. in the Vandervort Room. April 9 – Join WS@Work for a career panel discussion from 6-8 p.m. at the Williams Club in NYC. April 21 – Join Professor of History Clif Hood for a talk on the New York City subway system from 6-8 p.m. at the Williams Club in NYC.

HWS Alumni, Alumnae and Parent Trips Visit www.hws.edu/alum for more information.

March 12 March 16 March 18 April 29

April 17 - Charter Day, 4:30 p.m. at St. John's Chapel.

Moving Up Day

Morocco

Sept. 18-27, 2020

(9 days and 8 nights) Explore the local culture, history and heritage on an unforgettable journey to Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat.

Ireland

Oct. 2-11, 2020

(10 days and 9 nights) Join former Interim President and Professor Emeritus of Economics Patrick A. McGuire, L.H.D. ’12 and Sandra A. McGuire to learn the history and culture of Ireland.

April 24 - Moving Up Day, gather at 4:30 p.m. at the William Smith Hill, 4:45 p.m. at Stern Lawn.

Join Us!

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HWS COMMUNITY |

Indelible Effects

AUFSES

3 / Robin Dissin Aufses ’71, P’11 on Professor of English Katherine Dapp Cook, L.H.D. ’84

Nine alums reflect on the professors who helped to set the foundation of their lives and careers.

STEWART

WOODWORTH

HAYDON

COOK

CAPREEDY

1 / Nick Stewart ’15 on Associate Professor of Theatre Chris Woodworth

2 / Nicholas Haydon ’19 on Associate Professor of Classics James Capreedy

Professor Woodworth inspired me to find what it was that I enjoyed about theatre. She pushed me to think about the content in a play and not just enjoy the story; there are always connections between a play and real or current events. When I was cast in Professor Woodworth’s production of Alice in Wonderland, I found my niche for losing myself and becoming the character. Professor Woodworth allowed me to see that there are no flaws in theatre. That year, I was able to pick myself off the ground and run head-on into the art as I embarked on my journey to graduate school to receive my MFA. If it wasn’t for Professor Woodworth as a mentor and supporter in who I was as a person, beyond the stage, I wouldn’t have the work ethic and drive I do today. Because of her, my favorite plays are written by women.

When I was a senior in high school, I visited Hobart so I could have first-hand experience of what it would be like to attend. During that visit, I was privileged to meet with a few professors in the Classics department, my eventual major. Professor Capreedy took the time to have lunch with me. He answered my questions, provided insight and exuded a friendly, welcoming attitude that I would not forget. It was only fitting that three years later, Professor Capreedy served as my advisor for my Honors project. His knowledge, patience and tutelage guided me through the painstaking process of writing an Honors thesis. The writing and research skills I learned through working closely with him prepared me for my job after graduation, and I still use them to this day. But, more importantly, his mentorship and friendship made the experience something for which I am forever grateful.

Stewart is a company member with Step Afrika! in Washington, D.C. Woodworth earned her doctorate at Bowling Green State University. She joined the faculty in 2013.

Haydon is the grants manager with the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Washington, D.C. Capreedy received his doctorate from the University of British Columbia. He joined the faculty in 2009.

I first encountered Katy Cook when she proctored a Western Civ exam. Halfway through she stopped us and served us Cokes. When I took her James Joyce seminar she had us over for Irish coffee, and when I visited her because I couldn't figure out how to write about Molly Bloom, she served me sherry. My memories of her are related to more than serving drinks, of course. I've been a high school English teacher for more than 40 years and I think of her whenever I hand something to my students. Professor Cook called all of her handouts Throwaways. That little James Joyce in-joke — and so much more — made us feel we were part of a family and that studying literature was the highest good and the most fun. I've tried to be like her, and in my best years and best classes I think I've succeeded, at least a little. Aufses is the director of English studies at the Lycée Français de New York in New York City. Cook died in 1998. She served as a member of the faculty for 37 years.

HOWARD

DAISE

4 / Thomas Howard ’72 on Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Benjamin Daise Ben Daise was my teacher, mentor and friend (which he remains). He showed me how the study of philosophy is practiced — and that changed my life. His Socratic approach, wry wit and insistence that his students be passionate about their studies transformed me from an unfocused adolescent into an adult, with the intellectual foundation that has sustained me throughout my life. But Ben was more than the teacher, and I needed more than that to undertake a transformation. He became my mentor. Not only did we study Plato, Kant, Dewey, Sartre, Kierkegaard and others in the classroom, but we continued to discuss diverse issues through the night. He taught me to love knowledge and critical thinking, to learn. Thanks to him, I earned the Sutherland Prize for Excellence in Philosophy in 1972, graduated from New York University School of Law and was able to find reward in the substantial, but more practical, challenges of the law. Howard is a founding partner at Howard Law LLP in Hackensack, N.J. Daise retired from teaching in 2008 and lives in Rochester, N.Y.

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JONES-JOHNSON

JIMENEZ

5 / Themba Jones-Johnson ’92 on Associate Professor of Africana Studies Marilyn Jimenez P’12 Professor Jimenez’s classes were probably the most challenging ones I took at the Colleges. She had a unique ability to always make me stretch myself academically. Her classes were some of the few offered that dealt with marginalized people, and I was immediately drawn to the subject matter. She was a role model professor in the small HWS community and a welcome face for many students of color. To this day, I still remember some of the things that were taught in her film class. Thank you for the lessons learned. Jones-Johnson is a real estate agent in Teaneck, N.J. Jimenez will retire in 2020 and lives in New York City. She joined the faculty in 1984.

STOLP

MCGIVNEY

SMITH

7 / James McGivney ’68 on Professor of Political Science Maynard Smith P’76 Maynard Smith taught me both political science and how to think and act. Thought was to be used not to reinforce already existing, probably inherited beliefs, but to analyze those beliefs and try to determine if they were correct. Action was to be taken only after well-conceived thought and only with due regard for the rights and feelings of others. Maynard taught by example: He was never rude or belittling; he had great questions, and it was your job to answer, not his to answer and for you to accept. We never knew whether he was a Democrat or a Republican. He did not avoid the controversies of the times, but he did not make his answers your answers by stating his thought as an absolute truth. Maynard turned 100 in November, which shows you what living right can do! McGivney is an attorney with Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP in New York City. Maynard retired from teaching in 1990 and lives in Canandaigua, N.Y.

MILLINGTON

6 / Derek Stolp ’69 on Professor Emeritus of Political Science Tom Millington When I began my teaching career in 1969, with no formal training, I drew upon the model of Professor Millington, who always engaged his students in discussion — a style that was open, welcoming and non-judgmental. While the lecture method in the hands of a talented performer could be entertaining and informative, I found this transmission model of teaching to be limiting. Instead, I asked my students from pre-algebra through calculus to wrestle with problem solving through discussions. After all, the task was never simply to get the right answer; the goal was to create an argument in support of a conclusion, and to convince others (not just me) that the argument was valid. Through this process, my students came to understand that learning is more than simply recapitulation; it is the personal construction of knowledge through conversation, and my students have Professor Millington to thank for that. Stolp recently retired from a career as a math teacher, including 29 years at Milton Academy in Milton, Mass. Millington retired from teaching in 1997 and lives in Geneva, N.Y. He would love to hear from former students and can be reached at millimuz61@gmail.com.

WALKLEY

de DENUS

8 / Janelle Walkley ’10 on Associate Professor of Chemistry Christine de Denus In the spring of 2008, I was selected for the Chemistry Student Summer Research Program with Professor de Denus. I quickly learned that planning, attention to detail and adapting to unforeseen challenges were very important to success in the lab. This experience led to an Honors project that expanded on my lab work. Summer research and my Honors project gave me invaluable exposure to the abstract submission process and poster presentations. Professor de Denus allowed me freedom to perform my research, but was always there to provide feedback and push me to contribute. She also supported my decision to expand into other areas of research after graduation. An entry-level research study position eventually led to my current role as a program manager for multicenter clinical trial operations. The skills that I learned working with Professor de Denus helped to set the foundation of my research career.

MNUCHIN

CILETTI

9 / Heather Crosby Mnuchin ’89 on Professor Emerita of Art History Elena Ciletti When I arrived in Geneva in the fall of 1985 I immediately enrolled in every art history course I could. Professor Ciletti was famous for being a hard teacher who demanded a lot from her students. When I finally made it to one of her classes I found her to be warm and friendly; she made art history that much more interesting. Her passion made the history of art fascinating; she made the art relate to the politics, religion and music of the era and made it all tie in to one incredible piece of history. She soon became my advisor and helped me navigate to a successful cum laude graduation in art history and religion. My friends and I loved Houghton House, the gardens, the studios and all that Professor Ciletti let us explore as art history students. Mnuchin is retired from a career in entertainment marketing in Los Angeles, Calif. Ciletti retired from teaching in 2013 and lives in Romulus, N.Y.

Walkley is a clinical trial program manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. de Denus received her doctorate from the University of Manitoba. She joined the HWS faculty in 1999.

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CLASSNOTES THE LAST| WORD

A historical novel by Herbert J. Stern ’58, P’03, LL.D. ’74 and Alan A. Winter

BOOK REVIEW BY BILL BOYD Boyd holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an M.S. in computer science from the University of Memphis and a B.S. in physics from Rhodes College. The former Visiting Scholar in the Quantitative Analysis Center at Wesleyan University is married to President Joyce P. Jacobsen.

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PHOTO BY DOUG ZACKER/ZACKER IMAGES

Rise of the Wolf

How did Adolph Hitler, a World War I corporal and failed painter, become dictator of one of the most educated, advanced countries in the world and turn it into an evil war machine that ultimately caused the deaths of 60 million people worldwide? In the newsreels, we see him as a not very attractive man making long, strident speeches before large German audiences. How did such a seemingly ordinary man rise to be the master of a nation? Herbert J. Stern ’58, P’03, LL.D. ’74 and his coauthor Alan A. Winter provide the answers. Stern, a lawyer, former Federal prosecutor and judge, as well as an honorary HWS trustee, has written several successful books, but this is his first novel. His first book, A Judgement in Berlin, about the trial of a hijacker from East to West Berlin, in which he served as judge, was made into a movie and is excellent for its portrayal of the conflict Herbert J. Stern ’58, P’03, LL.D. ’74 between a judge’s duty to ensure a fair trial and the needs of the State Department in doing international diplomacy. Another of his books, The Diary of a DA, gives insight into the life of a prosecutor. Both are excellent reads, and though true, are as exciting as any work of fiction. Alan Winter, his co-author, has written several novels including Island Bluffs and the highly successful Savior’s Day. The authors have quite thoroughly researched Hitler, his strengths as well as his flaws, and have written a novel that clearly explains his rise to power. Much has been written about Hitler as the genocidal maniac but few have really looked into the person to understand how he acquired power. The authors have masterfully portrayed Hitler, or “Wolf,” as he was known, as well as his rise. Accompanying this novel is a website that documents their research. In many ways the website is as interesting as the novel, as it updates much scholarship that overlooked aspects of Hitler’s personality that did not seem to fit the image of the monster he became. Hitler was a master at managing his public image. He set out to become the leader of the German people and deliver them from the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. To do so, he portrayed himself as a man so dedicated to Germany he didn’t have time for relationships, let alone marriage. In reality he was rarely without at least one mistress, and often more. All of this he did out of the public eye, protecting his image assiduously. He was especially fond of 17 and 18 year olds, but he also charmed rich older women, who helped fund him. Although he wasn’t handsome, as Eva Braun explained to her parents, “he had such wonderful blue eyes.” And Hitler was very caring of old loves, sending them flowers and gifts, promoting their husbands and even attending or hosting their marriages. His old loves would come running when he sent for them years after their breakups. If you note the films taken after Hitler became the leader of Germany, you see young women swarm his stage just as young women did rock stars a generation after his death. Hitler could also be very charming. While he never failed to get revenge against his enemies, he was very thoughtful of his friends and employees, as evidenced in many letters that he wrote. His secretaries said that he never raised his voice and would send them home when they were sick; sometimes he sent his personal physician. One of the myths debunked here is his story in Mein Kampf that he had been gassed in 1918 and suffered blindness for a couple of weeks as a result. Many historians have taken him at his word. Actually, he was diagnosed as a psychopath with hysterical blindness and was treated in a hospital by a psychiatrist. When Hitler came to power, the hospital records disappeared and the psychiatrist was found deceased, a suicide by gunshot. Although most of the characters in the novel are real, the authors have invented the main character, Friedrich Richard. While being treated in the hospital’s mental ward for amnesia resulting from his wounds, Friedrich meets Wolf. Because of his blindness, Wolf cannot even feed himself, so Friedrich cares for him and they form a lasting bond. As an outsider, but also a trusted friend of Hitler, he is in the unique position of seeing the effect of the Nazi’s actions on ordinary Germans while maintaining an important position within the party. Although Friedrich is not anti-Jewish, he believes that most of Wolf’s program is good for Germany. He naïvely expects that the anti-Semitism will fade when Hitler comes to power. The novel follows Friedrich from 1918 through Hitler’s rise to power in 1934. Along the way, we meet Friedrich’s friends and lovers and come to understand the delicate balance between his love for Germany and faithfulness to his friend on the one hand, and his empathy with the people that Hitler vilifies on the other. The authors have succeeded marvelously in conveying an understanding of Hitler, the person and his rise to power. They have documented the people, events and personalities in the accompanying website, justifying their interpretation of the character of the individuals involved. This is a portrayal of history modified to make it a compelling story rather than a dry recitation of events; a must read. — BILL BOYD

The Annual Fund

supports every aspect of the HWS experience, from scholarships to guaranteed internships to study abroad stipends.

The Annual Fund took Kevin Cervantes ’21 to the Smithsonian. An annual fund stipend helped Kevin afford an internship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He was then offered an internship with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.

Global Internships

The Annual Fund took Darby Johnson ’19 to the Midwest to chase tornadoes. An annual fund scholarship helped Darby earn her geoscience degree. Now she’s working on her master’s in meteorology at Ohio University.

Storm Chasing

The Annual Fund took Josh Hylkema ’21 to Europe. An annual fund scholarship gave Josh the opportunity to take academic trips to Germany, Poland and Wales. Now the history major and Statesman football player is spending a semester studying in the Netherlands.

Studying in Europe

Your gift matters. Give to the Annual Fund today. Questions? Contact Dulcie Meyer P’20 at (315) 781-3082 or dmeyer@hws.edu. | www.hws.edu/give Pulteney Street Survey | Spring 2020 / 81

Non profit org. U.S. Postage PAID Burlington, VT Permit No. 19

Pulteney Street Survey

300 Pulteney St., Geneva, NY 14456

Spring 2020

1. What motivates you? A desire to do good in the world

1. What motivates you? Learning new things or skills

2. What’s your dream destination abroad? Patagonia

2. What’s your dream destination abroad? Lake Baikal, Siberia

3. Who inspires you? Young people around the world who are recognizing their voice and agency and mobilizing to create a more sustainable world

3. Who inspires you? People who immigrate to places where they don’t speak the language and where others don’t speak their language

4. What languages do you speak? English, some Spanish and Swahili

4. What languages do you speak? English, Russian and Spanish

5. What’s your best travel tip? Only pack what you can carry

5. What’s your best travel tip? Travel only with a carry-on

6. Window or aisle? Aisle

6. Window or aisle? For a short flight, aisle

Sarah Cavanaugh ‘20 Fulbright-Hays Scholarship recipient. Cavanaugh spent a semester teaching folk dancing in Barnaul, Russia. Majors: Dance, Russian Area Studies Hometown: Hopkinton, Mass.

THE PULTENEY STREET SURVEY | HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES | Spring 2020

Parallels

9. Which faculty member inspires you the most? Assistant Professor of Dance Kelly Johnson

From the

10. What was your last volunteer experience? Volunteering at an animal shelter 11. What one change would make the world a better place? Remembering that everyone deserves to have their humanity and dignity recognized

Ground INSIDE The Seneca Nation, the Pulteney Estate and the Pre-history of HWS

Exploring literal and figurative foundations

HWS Pulteney Street Survey - Spring 2020

Articles inside

classmates The Last Word

The Lay of the Land

Seneca Review at 50

Catch up with your

Indelible Effects

Upfront: A letter from President Jacobsen

From the Ground Up

KA Celebrates 175 years

New Leadership for Athletics