Menlo College Magazine Summer 2020 by Menlo College

Creativity During Crisis

Graduating During Crisis On Saturday, May 9, 2020, 153 students graduated from Menlo College. Although there was no on-campus celebration, a virtual graduation was celebrated from homes all over the world. Below are the names of each graduate and their degree. The list is continued on the inside back cover of this issue. Congratulations Class of 2020!

Kaliyah Burton ‘20 has a lot to be proud of on graduation day.

Feroz Ahmed Abbassi, Accounting/Finance – Noah Hassan Aini, Finance – Salote Christabella Alipate, International Management – Abigail Grace Aragon, Marketing/International Management – Amanda Arena, Finance – Joshua James Arrieta, Marketing – Ayinde Banjoko, Entrepreneurship Bastian Barsoe, Entrepreneurship – Gavin Richard Bean, Marketing – Ariana Leilani Belarde, Marketing – Precious Bell, Psychology – Cameron Bellucci, Marketing – Sofya Belova, Marketing – Eric Alan Benedetti, Sports Management – Noble John Boutin, Finance – Kaliyah J. Burton, Accounting – Douglas Scott Burton, International Management – Kaley Sierra Buscher , Marketing – Jayrick Joseph Cadelina-Canyete, Accounting – Joselyne Calle Ramirez, Human Resource Management – Jon Sebastian Cano, Marketing – Colin Casey, International Management Nicholas Melchior Castellanos, Psychology – Crystal Cebedo, Marketing/Human Resource Management – Victoria Isabella Cervantes, Accounting Alexandros Chaitidis, International Management – Stephen Chipman, Finance – Alexandra Christoforatos, Accounting – Aidan Vincent de Cadenet, Finance – Emily Catherine Crew, Psychology – Alexis Kahinuhinumailani Delovio, Marketing – Nicole DiMartino, Real Estate – Rodrigo Donor III, Sports Management – Niko Jeremiah Dugay, Sports Management – Pamela Raina Dungo. Psychology – Sheyla Eriza, International Management – Stone Escobedo, Management Information Systems – Christina España, Marketing – Isaiah Isaac Espinoza, Sports Management Devin Lewis Everk, Entrepreneurship – Aaron Matthew F lores, Sports Management – Esther Funez F lores, Psychology – Brenda F lores-Reyes, Entrepreneurship – Gabrielle Fukumoto, Marketing – Kobey David Fusinetti, Finance – Anya Janae Gamez, Sports Management – Marilyn Garcia, Accounting – Brett Gavin, Finance – Dillon James Gibeau, Management Information Systems – Ángel Antonio Gómez Figueroa, Marketing – Yasmin Alejandra Gomez Cabrera, Marketing – Teresa Gonzalez, Finance – Isaiah Grady, Finance – Harrison Groves, Accounting – Laianne Guimaraes, Finance – Retesh Gupta, Finance – Matthew Hamamjy, Real Estate – Lauren Emillee Harrison, Marketing – Aziza Mariama Harrison, Marketing Communications (BA) – Eric Hegmann, Entrepreneurship – Axel Helmertz, Finance – Keeley Hernandez, Human Resource Management – Jessica Noemi Hernandez, Psychology – Nicolas Herrera, Finance – Derrick Higgins, Psychology – Jeremiah Holbrook, Marketing – Huansen Hu, Finance – Ashlee Taylor Hunt, Marketing/Entreprenuership – Sachal Jogi, Marketing/Management Information Systems – Ra’Vein La’Que Jones, Psychology – Jarrod Jordan, Sports Management – Ka’ilihiwa Ka-ne, Marketing – Moeaikama’ama’ama Mililani Kekauoha, Marketing – Kelila T. Kemere-Clum, Human Resource Management – Noa Matthew Kerr, Sports Management – Zachary William Krampert, Entrepreneurship – Juan Javier Sarthou Lacson, Finance – Traci Laeha, Human Resource Management – Karsten Lee, Finance – Matthew James Lopez, Sports Management

MENLO COLLEGE M AG A ZINE | SUMMER 2020

Creativity During Crisis In this issue, we look at all the ways Menlo College students, faculty, and staff faced the Covid-19 pandemic with courage and creativity. Introduction 1 Message from President Weiner 2 Letters to the Editor 3 About this Issue 4 “Who” by Xiyao Liao

Features 5 7 9 11 13 15

Creativity as a Team Sport Humanistic Inquiry is Vital Carpool Creativity Art Is . . . Art and Solitude Writer’s Block

Faculty and Classroom 17 Independent Directed Research 19 Capstone Research 21 Professors and Tutors Pivot 23 Faculty Books 28 Solitude to Solidarity 29 Socks! 31 Creative Work 33 Faculty News 36 Real Estate Scholars 37 Vote! 38 How to Tweet

Internships 39 Campus Jobs 41 Career Connect Day

Student Life 43 Women in Business 45 Stress Management 47 Focus on Enzo Durrey 48 The Ka- nes 49 Students’ Corner 50 Menlo and Hawaii 51 Understanding Disability 52 Honors Awards 53 Nimitz at Ease

Alumni 55 56

Athletics 57 58 59 61

Farewell Bob Shane In Memoriam

Oaks Stand Proud Olympics Delayed Spring Sports Virtual Athlete Banquet

Graduation 2020 62 Valedictorian 64 Commencement 2020

Menlo College Magazine, published by the Menlo College Office of the President, brings news of the College and its community to alumni, parents, and friends. 1000 El Camino Real, Atherton, California 94027-4301 Tele: 800-55MENLO, editor@menlo.edu, www.menlo.edu

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Pamela Gullard SENIOR EDITOR Lisa Ann Villarreal, Ph.D. STAFF WRITER Lauren John CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Erik Bakke Bianca Barros ’21 Jeffrey Burkholder Miranda Canniff ’22 Caroline Casper Kelly Davis Fabian Eggers Aaron Gillespie Dylan Houle Taryn Ichimura ’21 Ka’ilihiwa Ka-ne ’20 Micah Ka-ne ’91 Michael Lilly ’66 Kathi Lovelace Grande Lum Giselle Martinez ’20 Margaret McFarland Lisa Mendelman Melissa Michelson Bruce Paton Steve Pickford ’68 Solin Piearcy ’20 Leslie Sekerka Arthurlene Towner Steven Weiner DESIGN Marsha Gilbert PHOTOGRAPHY Andrey Poliakov Brian Byllesby - Oakssports.com Miguel Lim ’23 Esteban Ramirez ’23 Samuel Spector ’23 Lisa Ann Villarreal EDITORS Lauren John Linda Teutschel MENLO COLLEGE PRESIDENT Steven Weiner CHAIR OF THE BOARD Micah Ka-ne ’91 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Thomas (Tom) Byers Alma Clayton-Pedersen Andrea (Andy) Cunningham Howard (Howie) Dallmar ‘74 James (Jim) A. Davlin Chris Garrett ‘94 J. Michael (Mike) Gullard David C. Irmer, Sr. ’58 Helene Kim Jordan Long ’09 Larry Lopez ’84 Roxane Marenberg Zoanne Nelson Fran Schulz ’85 Shireen Udenka Benjamin (Ben) Wagner EMERITI TRUSTEES John Henry Felix ’49 Julie Filizetti Charles “Chop” J. Keenan III ’66 Thor Geir Ramleth ’87

A Remarkable Response From the President – Steven Weiner

People around the world have creatively solved problems presented by the Covid-19 crisis. Small manufacturers quickly pivoted to create some of the millions of face masks and other equipment needed to protect workers, grocery stores re-designed their aisles for social distancing, and musicians and writers generously offered online sessions to raise money for those in need. At Menlo College staff, faculty and students navigated our response to unprecedented conditions with creativity that combined speed, agility, and compassion. I am so proud of our faculty for learning to teach by Zoom and re-designing their classes for online learning in five days. I cannot think of another industry adopting a new platform so quickly and with such grace. Faculty and staff also worked together to identify students with few internet resources and made sure they were connected. We took measures to safeguard those students whose only practical choice was to shelter-in-place on campus. We listened to students overwhelmed with fears and found them resources to reduce anxiety, and we kept in communication with struggling families. The pandemic has not, though, distracted us from the importance of continuing to move Menlo forward. Looking ahead, we are doing everything we can to ensure we can offer a safe haven in the fall for new and returning students. Even as we’re developing new protocols for sanitizing our campus, we are also reviewing our general education curriculum to ensure its relevance to the changing business environment and to evolving practices and research in psychology. As we reexamine course offerings in the arts and sciences, we will challenge students to look more deeply, for example, at politics and its relevance to the business world. Data analytics will enhance the skillset and career-readiness of a twentyfirst century professional, and interdisciplinary studies will teach our students to make good decisions incorporating seemingly disparate strands of information. At Menlo, we want our students to dream the previously unimagined, and navigate the unforeseen. That’s creativity. I extend my sympathies to those of you who have lost somebody to this virus, have someone in your life who is sick or are suffering economic hardship. I hope for all Oaks to stay safe and to stay well – and to infuse your lives with creativity. I have sorely missed the vibrant campus and can hardly wait to see you all and hear about the new ways you created to learn and express yourselves.

Kudos to the class of 2020 for breaking new ground at Menlo College and all good wishes as you continue on your innovative journey.

I also want to thank our magazine editor-in-chief Pamela Gullard and our new senior editor Dr. Lisa Villarreal not only for creating our original theme of creativity on campus, but for scrambling nights and weekends to re-vamp this issue to fit the context of our troubled times.

Reopening Planned for this September Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the upcoming fall semester – and likely the immediate semesters to follow – will differ in significant ways from life as we knew it before the pandemic. We are closely following the guidance issued by the federal, state, and local agencies in order to provide for the safe reopening of our campus on September 8, 2020. Our professors, who pivoted to online learning this spring, continue to develop new ways to teach, including hybrid models, through the changing demands of the crisis. The one certainty for the fall is that innovation will be required and that we will meet the challenge.

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to the Editor Editors, your work is inspirational for all who read our Menlo College magazine. I am a big fan! David Irmer ’58 — Sausalito, CA

The magazine looks super great!!! I was wondering if I would be able to get a PDF version of the magazine to share with friends and family? Rufus Pappy ’22 — Menlo College, Atherton, CA

Excellent, exciting issue! Student-centered, alumni involved. Diversity throughout. Beautiful design, colorful photos. Tina Fairbairn — Belmont, CA

Just read the latest Menlo magazine. Another great job! I was very pleased to see Fran Schulz has joined the Board. I worked with her extensively on one of my IPOs. She is great person. Looks like the Board is growing. Some very impressive people! Finally, and I say this every time I send you my reaction to the latest issue, how enormously pleased I am with the progress of the school under Steven Weiner’s administration. Tom Scannell — Cupertino, CA

Ed. Note: Though William Jarrott attended Menlo School, not the College, he was kind enough to send us a reminiscence of the days when the School and College shared facilities.

I was just out to celebrate my Menlo School 55th Reunion last October. There were about a dozen of us from the class there to celebrate - BOTH campuses look great and still bring back many fond memories!! As a freshman “boarder” in 1960, we dined in the “Forty Niner Room,” the small building adjacent to the Bowman Library that serves as the book/memorabilia store now. It got its name from the fact that the Forty Niners football team trained at Menlo during the summers and dined in that facility during their training. The current library was the main dining hall for both the college and the school. We were THRILLED when the new dining hall opened in ‘62 or ‘63. School diners were required to be in “coat and tie” for dinners Monday through Thursday! William M. Jarrott — Falls Church, VA

Soc s!

Ed. note: To see an online version of the magazine, go to: issuu.com/menlocollege

I just received the Menlo College Winter 2020 Magazine. An article that mentioned Bob Shane and the Kingston Trio brought back wonderful memories. My brother George Morales and I attended Menlo in 1955, and we spent much time with both Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds, often seen together in the Menlo dining room, where Bob would often strum his guitar and casually hum or sing to us during our meal and Nick would talk about his racing car, which I think he raced at the Pebble Beach races. Later, Bob Shane and Nick and a student from Stanford formed the Kingston Trio. I remember those days at Menlo with very warm, and in a way at this age, treasured, sentimental feelings for a time gone by. Thank you, Menlo, for the memories, and teachings. Ariel Morales ’56 — El Cajon, CA Author, Life and Times of Lola Montez

CORRECTIONS: • In the Winter 2020 issue, at the end of the article “Electricity-Drive Alumni,” we inadvertently switched first names of alumni Steve Pickford and Kris Whitten. Our apologies. One positive result has arisen, however—in our correspondence about the error, Steve Pickford agreed to write about another alumnus he admired, Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio. Please read Steve’s wonderful article on page 55. • In the Winter 2020 issue, student Samuel Spector ‘23 took the photo of a resident assistant at the bottom of page 18, and the photo of an alum with his dog on page 51. Many thanks to Sam for his pictures.

Like the socks you see on pages 29-30? Reach out to campusstore@menlo.edu to get a pair of your own. We hear they’re already in demand for shoe-less Zoom calls everywhere. M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

About this issue By Lisa Ann Villarreal, Ph.D., Senior Editor

This issue was planned to explore the research, design thinking, and other forms of creativity that are nurtured at Menlo College by faculty, students and staffâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; both in the classroom and in other aspects of student life. Then a global pandemic and national economic emergency intervened, and the question was raised: should we really be concerned with creativity in a time of worldwide crisis? But as the crisis unfolded, it became increasingly clear that creativity was the engine that kept us going. At Menlo, faculty and students needed to devise new ways to teach and learn. Staff and administrators needed creative solutions to keep students safe while still providing opportunities for engagement. And everyone in our community needed to concoct new ways to stay connected to friends and loved ones, to take care of themselves, and to find the strength to meet this challenge. Creativity has helped us all to cope. Baking, crafting, and painting have swept the nation as Americans have sought to channel anxiety into productive energy, finding comfort in the knowledge that amidst all the risk and uncertainty, it is still possible to make and to build, to add something new and beautiful to our world. But more than that, creativity is courageous. It means refusing to accept things as they are, but instead looking for ways to make things better. It involves challenging assumptions, both your own and those of other people. And for the Menlo community, it means marshalling the collective power of our experience, ingenuity, and unwavering commitment to Menloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission to ignite potential. Together, Menloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students, faculty, and staff have found new ways to keep our community strong in the face of these unprecedented challenges. This issue is a tribute to their efforts.

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Words that Express the Inexpressible Students have responded to the sorrows of Covid-19 with great empathy and imagination. A poem, “Who,” written by a student from mainland China, Xiyao Liao (Rita), shows how gratefulness toward care workers crosses national boundaries.

谁的汗水浸湿了衣裳谁在守护着期望谁又倒在了岗位上口罩下的笑和泪防护服里的劳累他们正在铸就着辉煌谁的父亲在病房外哭泣谁的母亲像战士一样上战场谁又在与死神争分夺秒脸上被勒出的印记心中被填满的坚定他们正抗击着冠型病毒廖希瑶 2020年4月22日

Who Whose sweat wets the clothes Who is healing hope Who works to the point of falling at the post Laughter and tears under the mask Exhaustion in protective clothing They are creating glory Whose father is crying outside the ward Whose mother is on the battlefield like a warrior Who is racing against death? She has a mark of exhaustion on her face The firmness filled in the heart They are fighting the coronavirus By Xiyao Liao 4.22.2020 M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Teaching Creativity as a Team Sport Business schools have long believed that teaching creativity is important. Being able to innovate is required for success as an executive, a small business owner, or in any other job in the fast-moving innovation economy. But we have recently focused on teaching creativity less as an individual skill, and more as a team sport. A new Management course on Creativity and Collaboration explores the premise that creative collaboration can indeed be learned. In my course at Menlo College, students work together in a series of creative challenges, including developing a short video with a randomly chosen team in 30 minutes, or helping teammates navigate blindfolded through a crowded space boobytrapped with mousetraps. One part of the course focuses on a technique known as integrative thinking. In this approach, teams of students tackle a complex problem by exploring and drawing from very opposite models of what a problem is and how to address it. Another part of the course helps students explore their thought processes in order to help them collaborate more effectively. They identify “mind patterns” - different ways that individuals focus attention, sort through alternative courses of action, and generate new ideas. Differences in how individuals focus and process information can lead to conflicts in team projects. Students then identify “thinking talents” they use habitually. People with different clusters of thinking talents 5 SUMMER 2020

(in a time of social distancing)

By Bruce Paton, Ph.D., Professor of Management

often struggle to collaborate effectively because different skills create different priorities. For example, a student who is good at planning and completing tasks on schedule may find themselves in conflict with a colleague who is great at generating new ideas but struggles with deadlines. The course asks students to work in teams with diverse mind patterns and thinking skills to create a significant and personally meaningful project. Simultaneously, each team prepares a report on how their mind patterns and thinking skills shaped their creative process. In Fall 2019 a team of women athletes and student leaders created a series of paintings on canvas focused on their shared Mexican-American heritage and used them to voice their concerns about U.S. immigration policy. The team found they had very similar ways of processing information, but very different thinking talents. That fortuitous combination allowed them to spur each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creativity, while completing the complex project on schedule. The Covid-19 crisis, of course, has complicated the process of collaboration and highlighted the intense need for new ways to work together. Scientists around the world have set aside individual ambitions and are working together on a vaccine. They exemplify the art of â&#x20AC;&#x153;distant collaborating,â&#x20AC;? a talent our Menlo College students are learning and already practicing to be prepared for the sophisticated problems and opportunities their generation will face next. M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Become who you are. The Vital Role of Creative Thinking and Humanistic Inquiry

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There is an ancient motto of philosophy: “become who you are,” which is to say become who you truly are, as opposed to what you or others assume that you are. By Jeffrey Burkholder, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Intensive English Program

ome students enter college with the idea that higher education is mainly about honing the practical skills necessary for a future job. This idea springs from an assumption that the ultimate purpose of a university is to provide professional training, because this will lead to economic productivity. A productive economic life is a worthy goal, but preparing for one involves more than acquiring specific concrete skills; it demands training in more foundational abilities, such as critical thinking, creativity, imagination, sympathy and the capacity for humane inquiry.

it lets us be present to others: it’s the medium that connects our thoughts to other people. That most reviled student task, the college essay, has to it an essential sweetness: it is the product of individual thinking and argument, but it necessarily addresses itself to the care and attention of others in order to be validated. There’s scarcely a more useful thing that students can take from higher education than effective, articulate speech, which makes us appealing and persuasive, better equipped to understand and influence others, to create meaning and intimacy, and to think for ourselves.

Sometimes cultivating these abilities involves a necessary degree of abstraction: there must be some detachment, some daylight, between university study and our regular economic, social and familial life. Otherwise we risk merely repeating the lives of our parents and reproducing the world as it already is—instead of opening it up to change and improvement.

After all, many of the ideas we formulate in our ordinary lives are based on prejudices—in the literal sense of prejudgments that we have not really thought through and verified, but only repeated and retransmitted. We receive opinions from everywhere—from parents, from friends, from the media—and often only passively repeat them. College courses that challenge students to look at the world from new perspectives can interrupt this repetition and this passivity through imagination and creative thinking.

Yet students understandably want “concrete” things that relate directly to their lives. They tend to struggle to see the practical value of studying Sophocles or Shakespeare. In the context of their college curriculum, the arts may seem like merely a more or less agreeable bonus. The study of literature, however, gives us valuable structures of perception and feeling to which we are not exposed in the ordinary course of our existence. Even more fundamentally, when we study language and writing, we refine our thinking itself. Language is what allows for complex thought. It makes us known to ourselves, even as

There is an ancient motto of philosophy: “become who you are,” which is to say become who you truly are, as opposed to what you or others assume that you are. What this actually entails is the risk of shattering the established, familiar identity that we have inherited from others; we must engage with what is beautifully different, profound, and capable of affecting us in unpredictable ways. The liberal arts seek to foster this engagement, in the hopes of preparing students for a life that is not only productive, but meaningful.

We must engage with what is beautifully different, profound, and capable of affecting us in unpredictable ways. M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

9 SUMMER 2020

How Two Menlo Professors Turned out to Be Innovative and Effectual Carpoolers By Fabian Eggers, Ph.D. and Kathi Lovelace, Ph.D.

Several times a week Management Professor Kathi Lovelace and Marketing Professor Fabian Eggers share the driving on a long commute to campus, time they have spent generating creative research ideas. In eight years of carpooling they have published those ideas in the Academy of Management Education and Learning (AMLE), Creativity and Innovation Management (CIM), and other highly respected journals; produced many conference presentations; and devised new techniques for classroom teaching and assurance of learning assessment. Their CIM article was one of the top 20 articles downloaded in the journal’s history. Here, they discuss their latest “carpooling” paper. With hours to fill on the road, we quickly tired of critiquing the driving skills of other drivers or solving world problems. What to do? Count telephone poles or turn to discussions of scholarship and teaching and productivity? By turning to the latter, we have embodied aspects of one of the decision-making strategies described in our latest research. In order to make decisions within the uncertainties of the start-up business environment, entrepreneurs employ an effectual or causal strategy, or no strategy at all (flying by the seat of their pants). While analyzing these approaches, we realized that our creative research process perfectly illustrates an effectuation strategy, that is, the concept that provides a way to control a future that is inherently unpredictable. Effectuation rests on several principles that help to deal with uncertainties. These principles identify the next, best step by assessing the resources available in order to achieve goals, while continuously balancing these goals with the latest resources and actions. The effectuation principle of “Pilot-in-the-plane,” where the future is created by willful agents, applies to our conversations about our research while we were in the car. We took the long hours and willfully fashioned them into fruitful sessions. Then we asked ourselves what we had in common, which included using web-based simulations in our courses, perfectly illustrating the “Bird-in-hand” effectuation principle – imagining new opportunities by starting from available means. We then systematically outlined our ideas detailing the research questions, research design, data collection and analysis techniques appropriate for the questions. Our first journal submission was actually reflective of the effectuation principle “Lemonade.” Though our original paper was deemed not appropriate for the targeted AMLE special issue, we were able to recraft it as a regular submission, highlighting this principle’s definition of imaginative rethinking that transforms the unexpected into new opportunities. For our second journal article, we extended our creative range by bringing on a third author whose expertise in creativity helped facilitate our research on critical thinking and creativity. This action represents the effectuation principle of “Crazy-quilt” – sharing business opportunities with committed partners. All in all, we have found that spending hours together in a car can actually enhance the creative process (though we still critique our fellow drivers!), and can lead to high quality scholarship, new teaching and learning approaches, and service contributions. M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Erik Bakke, Senior Director of Student Academic Support

Richard Man shares his calligraphy technique with Alexandros Chaitidis ‘20. Photos by: Lisa Villarreal

Art is a super power. Art is experience. Art is freedom and beauty. Art is my escape. These were just a few of the responses students gave earlier this semester, when they were asked to complete the phrase “Art is…” Using dark black ink on paper, artist Richard Man transformed the students’ responses into calligraphic Chinese characters. Some students shared their talent and put their own responses into calligraphy as well. The artist’s biography describes how he became practiced in the art of calligraphy: “Growing up in Hong Kong, Richard would watch his father create ‘spring couplets’ 春聯 calligraphy every year for their neighbors, to invite good fortune into their households. After practicing Tai chi for a number of years, Richard had an epiphany as to how Chinese calligraphy also functions as an expression of a person’s ‘Qi.’ Wielding a brush with a thick head as long as 8 inches, Richard practices creating large scale calligraphy that combines artistry with the martial arts.”

S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U LT Y The amazing photographs on the opposite page are examples of Menlo student and faculty creativity. (Top three) When he’s not working on his marketing degree, Miguel Lim ‘21 cultivates a passion for photography, doing freelance work and contributing much of the art for Menlo Magazine, while also capturing the stunning landscapes of the Bay Area. (Bottom three) Lisa Villarreal also found a passion for photography in college, which she now puts to use in her role as Senior Editor; she has documented her travels to (clockwise from left) Vienna, Paris, Geneva and beyond. 11 S U M M E R 2 0 2 0

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Perspectives on Art & Solitude

In November of 2019, two cottonwood trees were planted at a 55-acre wilderness and artist retreat on the Salinas River in King City, California. This marked the beginning of the artists project Lesnini Field, a collaboration between Andre Dekker and Erik Bakke. Part of Lesnini Field was farmland at By Erik Bakke, one time, but it was reclaimed by the Senior Director of flooding Salinas in 1995. Now this Student Academic area is home to coyotes, boar, rabbits, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, and Support king snakes.

Andre Dekker is a founding partner of Observatorium, an artists group started in 1997 and well-known internationally for their large-scale artworks in areas of transition. You may know Erik Bakke for his work directing Menlo College’s Writing Center and Intensive English Program; he has also worked as an artist and art writer for over thirty years. In the spring of 2019, after reconnecting at Dekker’s offices in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the two artists began to collaborate on the concept for the Lesnini Field project. The two populus fremontii, mentioned above, were planted near where a number of trees had died in the long drought at the start of this century. Originally, the artists planned to actively intervene in the large space and make a garden and establish a sculpture park. After camping and working on the site of Lesnini Field at the end of 2019, they concluded that they should “refrain” (a word that became part of the lexicon of the project) and that the site served best as a protected wilderness and a retreat for artists and creators. Lesnini Field does not have a formal residency—individuals of diverse backgrounds are invited to visit and practice their craft alone in a wilderness without amenities. A few of the participants who have spent time at Lesnini Field are ecologist Jennifer Robin Berry who chronicled some of the plants and animals on the site and spent time tracking juvenile boar and reading animal scat; photographer Gerco de Ruijter who specializes in aerial photography and took photographs of Lesnini Field; the New York Times Beijing bureau chief Steven Lee Myers who, after being expelled from China along with other American reporters, spent time at Lesnini Field working on stories about Covid-19 and outlining more philosophical reflections on exile and animal trails; and Greta Mart, who collected sounds from the Salinas River for a radio piece on Lesnini Field she is developing for the NPR affiliate Central Coast Public Radio KCBX. Bakke and Dekker completed a number of large-scale, abstract paintings based on their mapping of Lesnini Field and the 26 areas they defined. Lesnini Field is an evolving project. To show public support for the Black community after the racist attack on Christian Cooper made headlines, the artists extended an invitation to Mr. Cooper to observe the many types of birds on the land. In the near future, more trees will be planted, and artist Brandon Ballengée will become one of the creators reflecting on the space and sharing their inspiration; he will temporarily install a site-specific version of his Love Motels for Insects. Visiting photographer Gerco de Ruijter with Marjo Smits-Schouten (top); reporter Greta Mart collecting sounds for an NPR radio piece on Lesnini Field (below). Facing page: Andre Dekker works on a painting made in collaboration with Erik Bakke. 13

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Writer’s Block: The Midnight Madness By Pamela Gullard, Senior Adjunct Professor Scholars differ about where and when writing was invented, but we can be sure that an hour later, writer’s block was born. Have you ever faced a writing assignment and felt like your ideas were frozen in a block of ice you couldn’t crack? I’ve been a professional writer for years and have never gotten over my fear of the blank page. I have, however, studied that fear and found a few tricks to conquer it.

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First, panic: Set a timer. For

fifteen minutes, stare into the abyss and feel the dark matter whistling through you. You have no ideas, everyone is smarter than you, you’re an idiot, the professor who assigned you this essay is an idiot, and why are you writing an essay instead of lolling on a beach in the Caribbean anyway? When time’s up, you are not allowed to panic over this project again. Any rising feelings that could become panic must become fuel to write down something, anything that pertains to your topic.

Which leads us to step two: Know the

difference between a first draft and a second draft. A first draft is 2 any nonsense that could become 1 a good idea. Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, recommends free writing for a half hour a day. When I’m stuck, I hand-write questions to myself as if I were being interviewed. “Pam, why does this character leave the house?!” Then I make myself answer.

Step four: Treat the creation of ideas as a job, not a mystical activity. Novelist Anthony Trollope, who wrote 47 novels, awoke every morning at 5:30 a.m., sat down at his table, and wrote for exactly three hours. “It was my practice to allow myself no mercy,” he said. Assigning yourself a particular time and place to write each day can help overcome writer’s block. You will establish the habit of producing something in that spot. Step five: Make yourself sit still,

without distractions, even if you produce nothing. After a tiring session of not writing, I often get my best ideas in the parking lot of my office. Sitting in quiet frustration somehow seems to prime the pump for a good idea to pop up at an odd moment.

Step six: Take a bath.

Everything goes better after a bath.

Step three and beyond: Tame your inner

critic. That critic might arise, ironically, from high expectations. Did you get all A’s in your last class? Are you destined to write the best college paper ever seen? That huge thought might create a huge inner critic. Celebrated novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald attributed his writer’s block to “premature success.” He wanted critics to love every story as much as his last, which left him with what poet Coleridge called “an indefinite indescribable terror” of the written word.

Finally, know that you are not alone. Every author I know and, I would guess, every student at Menlo College has stared into space and wondered if inspiration will ever arrive. Don’t leave your desk. Make yourself keep staring, and when you’ve just about given up, the tiny speck of an idea, like a gift, will float into view.

Note: When you get to the second draft, unmask your personal critic and scrutinize each line and idea. Just don’t do this too soon.

References: The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain, by Alice W. Flaherty and “Blocked” by A Critic at Large in the New Yorker, June 7, 2004.

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Self-Discovery through Research and Reflection By Crystal Cebedo ’20

The ideology of the American Dream is based on the belief that America is a meritocracy; those who participate in this social system are often promised eventual prosperity. Subscribing to this mentality, even subconsciously, can feed into workaholic behaviors on a cultural level and perpetuate constant feelings of inadequacy at the individual level. I think that we as a culture tend to sensationalize economic transcendence to the point where we will sacrifice anything to achieve it, such as our health, relationships, and integrity . . . I know I definitely have. As Elon Musk once said in a controversial tweet: “There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” Motivated by these concerns, I decided to make this topic the subject of an Individual Directed Research Project. I think sometimes what we choose to research says a lot about ourselves. I chose to write about the internalization of the American Dream because I’ve always had such a tumultuous relationship with my own work ethic, specifically as it relates to my own identity. This was something that I needed to bring into an academic conversation, especially somewhere as high-functioning as Silicon Valley. This is easily one of the most intense projects I have ever done, but the hardest part was synthesizing narratives from multiple sources and marrying them together in a package that could actually make sense. Ironically, it allowed me to learn as much about myself as much as it did about our country.

Axel Helmertz ‘20 created an Individual Directed Research Project on “The Rise of the Titans: How Innovation and Venture Capital Fuel the U.S. Economy.” 17 SUMMER 2020

Building Research and Writing Skills while Promoting Social Change By Solin Piearcy ’20 For years, I observed the silent eating disorder epidemic consume myself and those around me. During my junior year, I decided to write my senior Research Writing paper on eating disorders as part of my own recovery. At first, I imagined the project would span over one semester and result in a 12-page research paper about how eating disorders affect individuals. However, under Professor Lisa Mendelman’s expertise and guidance, the piece creatively blossomed into an independent research study, which included a 20+-page thesis that examines both the factors that influence the development of these disorders, and their effects. My project, “Eating Disorders at Menlo College,” explicates scholarly and popular media sources, such as Hilde Bruch’s The Golden Cage (1978), various songs from modern female artists, and Katie Green’s graphic novel, Lighter Than My Shadow (2013). It also incorporates original research I conducted with volunteers from the Menlo College community, via a brief, anonymous Qualtrics questionnaire. The questionnaire’s results paralleled findings from the scholarly and popular media sources, revealing the pervasive influence popular media has on triggering eating disorder behaviors as well as how social media can be used to help raise awareness about eating disorders. This is the most ambitious and extensive writing process I have undertaken thus far. I adjusted my research question numerous times because it did not align with my original idea for the project. Throughout my drafting process, I scheduled various appointments with tutors from the Writing and Oral Communication Center and the librarians at the Bowman Library, as well as with Professor Mendelman, to help streamline my thoughts and research. Finally, this Spring, I co-hosted a research colloquium and an art reception with Professor Mendelman to share my findings on eating disorders while encouraging discussions about this prevalent issue in safe environments. This lengthy, complex project was extremely rewarding: I contributed to raising awareness, helping myself and others in my community better understand these eating disorders.

I know that eating disorders often come from a push from family and friends.

Sometimes when school is hard or there is a lot of pressure on me for family things I turn to food.

Above: Participant responses and quotes

I decided to... focus more on body-positive models and people who look more like me. M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Changing Directions on Research By Giselle Martinez Collado ’20

All Psychology majors at Menlo College complete a senior thesis: an in-depth, carefully researched academic paper on a topic of their choosing. For my thesis, I chose to analyze the relationship between childhood trauma and the development of dissociative disorders later in life. In the first semester of my senior year, I took a course called “Empirical Research Methods and Evaluation” with Dr. Mark Hager. This course taught me about the plethora of methods researchers use in order to carry out a study. We also analyzed ethical issues involved in research and its applications to everyday life. This course allowed me to understand academic papers and journals in order to synthesize them and create my thesis, and to begin developing my own research topic. Initially, I wanted to examine the association between self-efficacy and memory in the elderly population. This semester, however, I have been working as a volunteer research assistant at The Stanford Psychophysiology Laboratory, and I became fascinated by the lab’s research on the causes of dissociation. At the lab, we seek to understand how childhood adversity influences emotional reactions to one’s own face as well as dissociative behaviors. This is analyzed through face-morphing tasks and psychological assessments. My interest in this research spurred me to change the topic of my thesis; while this change meant I would need to do a significant amount of additional research, it hasn’t been a burden because I am so intrigued by the topic. While I continue to explore research that can inform my thesis, as we approach the end of Spring, I am focused on refining my writing. I view this project as a valuable foundation for my continued studies after graduation, when I plan to pursue a Master’s degree in Community Health and Prevention Research. My thesis year has equipped me with the skills needed to be a proficient researcher in my field.

Banners around Bowman Visible from any vantage point on the quad, the eight greater-than-life-size banners displayed on the columns of the Bowman Library make a statement: your Menlo degree opens doors to success, and no two of those doors look alike. Under the guidance of Trustee Andy Cunningham, the staff and students who enrolled in her Market Menlo class last year conceived of the banners as a way to celebrate the diverse and creative paths that our alumni have pursued. The banners provide snapshots of the alumni, and the embedded QR codes offer the chance to learn more about the journeys of each of these accomplished individuals. Photo of Victoria Schultz taken by Collin Forgey ’12.

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Giselle Martinez ’20 brings her creativity to the research process, but also to her hobbies; in her spare time, she plays guitar and sings in a band, as well as writing her own songs.

Menlo’s Osher Scholars Mary G. F. Bitterman, President of The Bernard Osher Foundation

Scholarships have been at the heart of The Bernard Osher Foundation’s grant-making for more than 40 years, and since 2005, the Foundation has focused their support on “reentry” students – preferably students between the ages of 25 and 50 who have experienced a break in their education of at least five years and who have many years of employability ahead of them. Of the nearly 100 universities and colleges across America enjoying Osher Reentry Scholarships, Menlo College was an early grantee, receiving support in 2007. To date, more than 250 Menlo students have been Osher Reentry Scholars. In late February, my Foundation colleague, Eric Cho Gillespie, and I came to campus and had a wonderful meeting with several current Osher scholars – Yasmin Gomez Cabrera ’20, Leana Darden ’21, Devin Everk ’20, Traci Laeha ’20, Aline Soto Gordoa ’22, and Tommy Wright ’22. Eric and I were impressed with the purposefulness of every student and how each of them has worked very hard to get to Menlo College. They are pursuing various business concentrations – from accounting and human resources to marketing and business management – with a view to preparing themselves to lead meaningful and productive lives that benefit their families, communities, and the nation at large. We at the Osher Foundation, including our patron Bernard Osher, who received an honorary degree from Menlo College in 2014, and our trustee John Pritzker ’76, who gave the commencement address that same year, hope that our scholarships not only provide needed financial assistance but serve to enhance the self-esteem of their worthy recipients. We want all Osher Reentry Scholars to realize their full potential, to participate in the affairs of our day, to vote in a well-informed and responsible manner, to volunteer to help others if they can, to expand their knowledge and understanding about the world in which we live, and to make their mark.

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Community in Crisis:

Core Values and Improvisation Help Our Students Succeed By Lauren John, Staff Writer

On a Tuesday afternoon in March, thirteen students across the United States and Europe connected online in an upper-division Menlo College class, English 450: Identity and the Body. Their goal was to review the first drafts of their research papers— collaborating in smaller groups meeting in separate virtual workspaces. English 450 had been meeting online via Zoom since Covid-19 emptied Menlo College campus classrooms, propelling students and professors into new worlds, both real and virtual. As the students’ faces appeared one by one on the screen, they appeared to have mastered the fundamentals of Zoom. Harder to gauge were the social, emotional and, for many, financial strains brought on by fear, isolation and uncertainty. What’s more, they missed our campus, which is especially beautiful in the Spring. Dr. Lisa Mendelman, who regularly practices yoga and meditation, offered a remedy. Once the students had “arrived,” she encouraged everyone to close their eyes and do some stretching exercises focused on the neck and shoulders. “The idea was to help everyone arrive mentally, to offset the physical strain that being on our screens all day puts on our bodies, and to bring everyone together,” she said. One of the distinguishing features of Menlo College is our tight-knit community of students, faculty and alumni. A distinguishing feature of Silicon Valley is improvisation and the ability to quickly change course in response to new challenges— a strategy known to entrepreneurs as “the pivot.” When Covid-19 suddenly entered our community, our professors faced the challenge of maintaining student engagement in a new and socially distant world. Many faculty had to pivot, developing an entirely new set of technical and instructional skills within days. But their creativity, empathy and dedication to students are lifelong, inherent skills, values and abilities that they are drawing upon in innovative ways. Photos: Miguel Lim and Esteban Ramirez 21 SUMMER 2020

OLD WAY

For Dr. Mendelman, innovation came in the form of her one minute of guided exercise. For Business Communications Professor Nick DeJosia, improvisation emerged as he played acoustic guitar for his students, providing a five-minute musical interlude for their Quickwrite assignment: What is a company culture? According to DeJosia, the goal was “to get the students in an inspired, peaceful, and engaged state of mind. I have been playing guitar since I was very young so I have always appreciated how music can positively impact thought process.” Students responded with smiles and applause. Business Ethics professor Dr. Shalini Gopalkrishnan “pivoted” by focusing on what businesses could do to help communities during the Covid-19 crisis. Originally the 89 students enrolled in the three sections of her class were studying ways to promote the California Consumer Protection Act. But as Covid-19 became the most pressing issue in California and indeed, the world, students used various tools such as Google Drawing, Canvas and PowerPoint to collaborate on multimedia public health campaigns. They also created a campaign for applauding health workers nationwide on April 1. Says Dr. Gopalkrishnan, “each student sent a message to ten people via social media and we reached thousands of people in forty states around the country, who enthusiastically joined in.” Dr. Dima Leshchinskii, Professor of Finance, realized that he could adjust a couple of virtual games for his classes. In Behavioral Finance, he conducted a “concept check” at the end of each class, in which he privately communicated a concept to a student from material studied earlier, and the student had to draw a picture of it on a whiteboard in Zoom. In Real Estate Finance the class played a “20 Questions” game, in which Leshchinskii showed a picture of a house and invited students to ask questions about the property. Later, teams in virtual Zoom breakout rooms would come up with their best estimate as to the price of the property. Psychology professor Dr. Mark Hager reports that he is spending a great deal of time reassuring students and helping them to excel in difficult circumstances. “I have become more attuned to students and their moods and engagement,” he says. Our faculty, based in Silicon Valley, continue to explore new ways to use technology to educate and engage students in a situation of extraordinary constraints and challenges. But they are also sensitive to its drawbacks, aware of the need to couple the use of technology tools with the human side of teaching, reaching out to students with empathy and encouragement to help them succeed.

Supporting Students through Challenging Times By Lisa Ann Villarreal, Ph.D., Associate Director of Student Academic Support With the sudden shift to remote learning in mid-March, the college’s academic support services worked round the clock to find creative ways to provide help for students facing a new layer of challenges as they adapted to an unaccustomed teaching and learning style. Menlo’s tutoring program and library rapidly developed new services, retrained staff, and reached out to the student body to ensure all students knew how to access resources. The Math and Peer Tutoring Center and the Writing and Oral Communication Center services shifted online, with tutors meeting students via Zoom. Tutors at the two centers showed remarkable enthusiasm to put in the extra time and effort required to continue to support students; these tutors — the majority of whom are students themselves — took on the responsibility of learning to host Zoom meetings and troubleshoot tech problems. Erik Bakke, Senior Director of Student Academic Support, and I quickly developed a new set of best practices to guide student tutors in conducting effective tutoring sessions online, and also developed a new tutoring option, Online Document Review, designed to accommodate students who had inconsistent access to internet: students needing help with writing and math assignments were invited to upload work for a tutor to review, providing them with written feedback that the students could view when they next gained internet access. According to Bakke, “This asynchronous approach has also worked well for busy students, students in different time zones, and for those who are more comfortable with written exchanges.” Ultimately, the tutoring programs at Menlo conducted nearly 800 remote tutoring sessions after the transition to remote learning, and helped even more students through Online Document Review. A survey circulated among students at the end of the spring semester indicates that the students who participated in online sessions overwhelmingly had a positive experience, and appreciated having tutors available to support them through the transition. Peer Tutor Alexandra Christoforatos ’20 notes that many of the students she worked with reported having difficulty getting used to classes on Zoom: “They felt like it was harder to keep up with what the professor was saying, so they appreciated having a tutor go over the material that they didn’t quite catch when it was covered in class.” Bowman Library staff also quickly pivoted to best serve our community in distance mode. With course guides, article and subject databases, and a variety of ebooks already in place, the main focus became how to successfully deliver instruction and research help through Zoom, over email, chat, or by phone, and how to make print course reserves in the Library available to students virtually. In a matter of days, the library team organized newly available resources, including course textbooks, continually adding to and updating the guides to benefit the whole Menlo community. Despite the change in platforms, the weeks of finals in May were the busiest period for research appointments with the librarians.

NEW WAY M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

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Finding Peace, Then and Now By Grande Lum, Provost, Menlo College

AMERICA’S PEACEMAKERS The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights

BERTRAM LEVINE & GRANDE LUM

In the summer of 2012, three days after I was sworn in as the ninth director of the Federal Community Relations Service, I learned from an airport television tuned to CNN that there had been a mass shooting in a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. My CRS staff members and Department of Justice colleagues and I immediately got on our cell phones to contact Sikh leaders throughout the country and to work together to understand the situation, share information, and strategize next steps. Tragically, the shooter, a white supremacist, had killed six people and wounded four others. The community was in crisis, with many questions being asked about whether another shooter was at large and about dangers to other American Sikhs. Within three days, CRS conciliators—along with Jim Santelle, then the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin—ran a leadership meeting to discuss hate crimes, analyze community concerns over the shooting, coordinate law enforcement, and assess community needs for funerals and for when the Oak Creek gurdwara could revert to a place of worship rather than a closed crime scene. CRS moderated a larger community meeting the next day for more than 250 people from the greater Milwaukee area at Oak Creek High School. Thus began a whirlwind three and a half years in which CRS played both a first responder role as well as a preventive one, with me at its helm.

When I left CRS in February 2016, I felt gratified to have completed some of the most important work of my life. I’m proud to have now written a sequel to the late Bertram Levine’s book about CRS, Resolving Racial Conflict: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights 1964-1989. My new book, America’s Peacemakers: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights A vigil held in 2017 in Portland, Oregon to bring the community together after a hate crime stabbing. CRS worked with the Oregon Coalition Against Hate by Bertram Levine and Grande Lum (University of Missouri Press, Crime and the Portland Police Bureau to help bystanders intervene safely, raise forthcoming 2020) includes an analysis of my CRS role and of awareness of hate crimes, and identify resources for victims and vulnerable earlier CRS work in Ovett, Mississippi after neighbors harassed communities. a lesbian community; throughout the country on hate and violence against Muslims, Sikhs, and others post 9/11; in Miami, Florida after two fisherman saved Elián González, which became a tense conflict between Cuba and the United States, and other situations. I cover the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, a game changer in preventing and responding to hate crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and disability.

Levine and Lum Cover.indd 1

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While I am personally grateful to reach the milestone of publication, I most appreciate shining a light on the many CRS staff members who have worked for decades helping to bridge differences in this country without fanfare and often in anonymity. Let us join together to thank all the first responders, past and present, who have given their hard work and talents to ensuring the future for all Americans.

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An Author Explains Process By Lisa Mendelman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English and Digital Humanities Modern Sentimentalism was either eight or thirty-seven years in the making, depending on how one counts. I started working on the project for my Ph.D. dissertation at UCLA in Fall 2011. But I’ve spent thirty-seven years processing the experience that the book seeks to describe, which is the experience of being alive as a woman in twentieth- and twenty-first century America. I’m both a highly structured and a deeply instinctive writer. I start out with a conviction that a collection of books and ideas are somehow related and that there is something interesting about that as-yet-amorphous connection. Eventually, I discover a branch that some of these leaves are tethered to, and then I perceive another branch, and then I realize that these branches are on some distantly related trees rooted on the same land mass. For example, Modern Sentimentalism started with novels I had read by American women writers from the first half of the twentieth century—all stories about young women growing up in a world that expected them to fall hopelessly in love and get married and live happily ever after, but who wanted to have a creative outlet and pursue meaningful professional work. But I didn’t recognize the books’ connection to each other at first. It took hours of conversation with my mentors and grad school friends, and workshopping and revising dozens of papers. Even after I started to realize the connections between these stories and their historical context—the changes in women’s lives, especially—it took thousands of hours of research to make those connections clear. I read about everything from nineteenth-century free love communities and interwar abortion practices to the period’s legal debates about minimum wage and prostitution, to name but a few. I spent months outlining, adding and deleting sentences, cutting and pasting paragraphs into Word documents that I’ll never open again, and deciding that it was time to organize my cupboard … until eventually, I had a draft of a manuscript. But that wasn’t the end. The draft went out to brilliant friends and trusted editors, and went through hundreds of hours of further revision. This developmental arc used to be painful and frustrating for me, but it’s gotten much faster in the past few years. The increased efficiency is intimately related to a developing faith that if I spend enough time amongst the leaves and branches, and even deep in the weeds, I will, eventually, find a forest.

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F aculty Lessons from the Past:

A Menlo Professor’s Research Sheds Light on the History of Viral Media in Times of Crisis By Lisa Ann Villarreal, Ph.D., Senior Editor

Dr. Jodie Austin, Assistant Professor of English, has recently embarked on a new research project that not only contributes to her field of early-modern literary studies, but also unexpectedly sheds light on our present historical moment. In the summer of 2019, Austin conducted archival research at Oxford University, supported by Menlo’s Harris Manchester Research Institute Visiting Scholar Fellowship, where she discovered evidence that between the late-sixteenth and mid-eighteenth century in England, a particular style of apparition narrative arises that, Austin believes, should be considered its own unique genre: “They were published as short pamphlets, meant to be mass produced and cheaply disseminated. What constituted an ‘apparition’ was ambiguous–it could include ghosts, but it also might include a bird appearing out of nowhere to deliver a message, phantom ships, toads falling out of the sky, or some sort of religious sign. They often showed up to warn people, offer advice, or give some kind of ‘life hack,’ for lack of a better word. They are sort of ghost stories, but also sort of propaganda, news or fake news–something akin to tabloid fiction,” Austin said. One striking feature of these apparition narratives was that many of them told the stories of women or servants–perspectives and experiences that were often ignored in other types of texts. And yet, these narratives also reinscribed stereotypes and prejudices about marginalized groups: “There’s a sexist angle, the histrionic woman who is imagining things, or the superstitious lower classes. Many of the stories had anti-Catholic overtones, with accusations of mysticism.” Furthermore, Austin cites exploitation endemic in the production and dissemination of these texts; often “people who were poor and illiterate had their narratives taken from them, other people were capitalizing on their stories,” Austin said. Austin points out that the period in which these apparition narratives were growing in popularity was marked by extensive conflict, at the same time that England was experiencing a terrifying resurgence of the plague. She believes that this historical backdrop is the key to understanding the rapid proliferation of stories in this genre: “When there is general unrest, people want to constantly consume media– there’s a hunger for answers, and desire to know what will happen–a sign or prediction. It gives people something to wonder about, and imagine that there are forces beyond their control, a greater power at work. At the same time, people were very interested in conspiracy theories; there was widespread paranoia, people turning on one another, baseless accusations and spurious claims–much like viral media today, misinformation is shared without question, and that’s a big problem, that information glut.”

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Here, Austin argues, there is resonance for our current situation: “There’s a lot to be learned, in the era of Covid-19, about how people behaved and treated one another. History teaches us that people are prone to acts of kindness in times of disaster, but they can also fall prey to distortions of reality and exploitation by those who would take advantage of the crisis at hand. If there are lessons to be learned from the past, especially in terms of looking at past crises, it’s that consumers of information should always be wary of the stories they tell and the stories they share.”

Austin’s project involved a deep dive into early-modern manuscripts in the Tate Library at Oxford University.

Fake News, Click Bait, and Bogus Stories in Modern America By Melissa Michelson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science The United States has always had biased media. As Jill Lepore put it eloquently in her recent book These Truths: “Newspapers in the early republic weren’t incidentally or inadvertently partisan; they were entirely and enthusiastically partisan.” They played fast and loose with the truth in order to promote their preferred candidates. While some mainstream media outlets aim for neutrality, much of today’s media tilts to the right or the left. The explosion of sources of news made possible by cable television, talk radio, and the Internet, means that individuals can (and do) choose to consume media that confirms their priors. This bias and the desire to consume news that reassures individuals that their beliefs are correct means that everyone is susceptible to consuming fake news. If it confirms something that they want to believe – that a leading politician has done something wrong or illegal, for example – their ability to critically evaluate that news and determine that it is fake is reduced. Realizing that we have perceptual screens that make us more likely to believe fake news that we like but to dismiss real news that we don’t is the first step. If all you are consuming is news that tells you the same, consistent story, it’s hard to be a critical consumer. One of the most useful exercises that I do with my students is the media bias paper. They have to pick a single story and then read about it in four different news outlets chosen from different parts of a chart that notes media bias and reliability. When faced with four different takes on the exact same news item, it’s easier to see the bias. M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

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What will change hearts and minds? Professor Michelson’s latest book, Transforming Prejudice: Identity, Fear, and Transgender Rights, co-authored with Brian F. Harrison, was released in March 2020 by Oxford University Press. “Both historically and today, opponents to transgender equality often call into question the legitimacy of transgender identity, dismissing transgender people as predatory, deviant, a threat to the natural order, or mentally ill. In recent and nationally reported fights over transgender people’s access to bathrooms and other public spaces, these familiar arguments are once again taking center stage… [W]hile the public is increasingly familiar with the concept of LGBT rights and with the definition of the word transgender, most of the shift in public attitudes and public policy that we have observed over the past few decades are focused on the L and G segments of the community… Many remain uncomfortable with the idea that gender exists on a continuum and violence against transgender people is disturbingly frequent. If information and coming into contact with transgender people have been found to be ineffective, it begs fundamental and more complex questions: what will change hearts and minds about transgender people and rights?”

Many remain uncomfortable with the idea that gender exists on a continuum and violence against transgender people is disturbingly frequent. 27 SUMMER 2020

From Solitude to Solidarity By Lauren John, Staff Writer Because the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China, Asians and Asian Americans in the United States have recently been subjected to expressions of fear, suspicion, anger, and exclusion in the media, as well as in their own communities. In an e-mail sent campus-wide Menlo College Provost Grande Lum reported, “As of April 2020 we know that anti-Asian harassment and violence have skyrocketed in this country and beyond.” He added, “The flip side is that Menlo students have been reaching out to each other to check in.”

Alvin (Zishen) Yu ‘21, Asian Student Association President, and Ashley (Yuanyuan) Shen ‘20 bring awareness of Asian cultures to campus, including a celebration of Lunar New Year in February.

Provost Lum says that although he has heard a few students report negative incidents based on race since the Covid-19 crisis began, “what gives me a glimmer of hope is that these same students then shared with me how safe they feel on the Menlo campus amongst friends and community who will protect each other.” With the goals of protecting and caring for students, Provost Lum convened a Zoom conversation entitled “From Solitude to Solidarity” one afternoon in April. “The gathering was both reassuring and empowering,” said rising senior Taryne Hu ’21 who is the Student Government Association’s Multicultural Representative. She said that part of the discussion centered on how social media was being used to promote racist stereotypes, and what our community could do to prevent and address that. The talk was facilitated by Professor Jodie Austin with additional leadership from Asian Student Association president Alvin (Zishen) Yu ’21, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Coordinator Senior Adjunct Professor Erik Bakke. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee meets twice a month through the school year to create the kind of institution that can respond to any issues of discrimination that may arise. The Committee’s mission is to “preserve, cultivate, promote, embrace, and celebrate diversity on campus and ensure that diversity is understood, respected, accepted and valued.” Members of the Committee have worked to create an environment where the values and abilities of everyone are appreciated and “to develop policies designed to assess and improve the campus climate.” They will continue this work as the racial dimensions of this crisis are assessed. The conversation in April, which was not recorded so that everyone could speak freely and confidentially, included a discussion of student health and wellness. At the end of the meeting, participants were asked to contribute to a list of resources for further social action and study.

• Ian Martins ’21 presented an Instagram page created by Hawaiian students to promote Pacific Island Culture: (instagram.com/doseofmana)

• Provost Lum referred students to a web site called ihollaback.org, which offers bystander training to those who witness racists incidents.

• Dean of Library Services Valeria Molteni and staff provided a link to Bowman Library’s resource page on Coronavirus discrimination: (menlocollege.libguides.com/DEI)

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Soc s!

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The Menlo College Board of Trustees has provided steadfast support to the College through the coronavirus crisis and long before. For decades, members have anonymously donated their personal funds for scholarships and infrastructure, and

provided countless hours of service to the Menlo community. All this without any compensation whatsoeverâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;except for now, when they have each received a beautiful pair of Menlo socks! Here, several of them proudly display their Menlo pride from tip to toe to paws to flippers (courtesy of Micah Ka-ne).

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A lumni Creative Careers:

How One Former Menlo College Student Leveraged a Major in Management to Start His Own Fashion Label By Dylan Houle, Director of Internships & Career Services

Caleb Shifferaw, who attended Menlo College before leaving to start his own business, Design.Create.Inspire, sat down with Dylan Houle for a brief interview on entrepreneurship and creativity. DH: What line of work are you in now, and what aspects of your job require you to be creative? CS: I currently run a luxury accessories brand that merges Ethiopian leather with today’s fashion. To be honest with you, every aspect of my job requires me to be creative. What people don’t understand is that as a self-funded entrepreneur, we wear multiple hats. I design products, ship out orders, create email campaigns, take factory visits, and direct photo/video shoots. DH: How do you feel your time at Menlo College – both in the classroom specifically and in the campus community generally – prepared you for success in your current work? CS: Menlo allowed me to think outside the box. I give credit to my late business professor, Mr. Ron Kovas. He took me under his wing and gave me advice from product design to running a start-up. One thing that really impressed me about Menlo was its diversity. We literally had students from every part of the globe. This allowed me to network with like-minded students, who eventually turned into business partners. DH: What advice would you give to current students interested in pursuing a career that requires creativity? CS: I would tell them to just go for it. If you can, try to take a semester off to explore your creative passion. I left Menlo with a plan and one iPhone case prototype. … fast forward 4 years and we are now competing with some of the top luxury brands across the globe. None of this would have happened if I didn’t take that initial leap of faith. It’s going to be stressful and scary but nothing great ever happens if you stay within your comfort zone. Want to learn more about Caleb and his career path? A recording of the presentation he delivered for Career Connect Day is available online here: https://bit.ly/CalebShifferaw

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F aculty N ews The International Journal of Finance and Banking Studies published “Valuation Effects of Cultural Disparity on Cross Border Mergers: The Evidence from India,” authored by Professor Soumen De, Pradip Banerjee, and Professor Manish Tewari. Professor Stephanie Dellande reported that the highlight of her 2019-20 academic year was presenting the Golden Oak Service Award to Student Government Association President Ashlee Hunt ’20. Professor Bill Devine published three papers that reflected research he undertook in order to redesign the curriculum for the Legal and Societal Issues in Sport Management class. “Why The CEO Shouldn’t Also Be the Board Chair” appeared in the Harvard Business Review; and “CEO Chairman. Two Jobs. One Person. Why?” and “A Corporation’s Culture Will Dictate Its Fortunes,” which appeared in the Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog. Professors Fabian Eggers and Don Peppers co-taught a course on emphasizing customer relationships as part of the Marketing 441 class this spring. Ranked as the “world’s most authoritative expert on customer experience” (SatMetrix), and recognized as one of the Top 20 business intellectuals, Professor Peppers co-authored The One to One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time, which Inc. Magazine called “one of the two or three most important business books ever written.” Professors Eggers and Peppers will co-teach the class again this fall. The latest short story written by Senior Adjunct Professor Pamela Gullard, “Forty-Two Degrees,” appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of the Louisville Review. Continuing his research and consulting on mentoring relationships this year, Professor Mark Hager presented “Developmental networks in young adult literature: A closer look at Harry Potter,” at the University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute. He also chaired the Dissertation of the Year Award for the Mentorship & Mentoring Practices Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. Finally, Professor Hager is collaborating with the Department of Veterans Affairs on a national webinar series: “Coping with COVID 19: Mentoring Needs of Early Career Clinician Researchers in VA.” Professor Sherri Harvey focuses on sustainability in her English class. A conservation journalist, she was recently recruited by an ecotourism company to visit Borneo, to photograph and write about orangutans and the rainforest. Her journey, a photo essay called “Welcome to the Jungle,” was published in Endangered.org. An advocate of uniting cultures and promoting eco-change, her latest book is a collection of animal encounters while traveling (www.sherriharvey.com). In the age of digital transformation and Covid-19, Professor Nicole Jackson continues to build her thought leadership and work on higher education transformation and outreach. In conjunction with several Menlo College students during the spring semester, she created a health and social wellness initiative to reduce depression in the context of Covid-19 social isolation. Also this past semester, Professor Jackson published “Managing for Competency With Innovation Change in Higher Education: Examining the Pitfalls and Pivots of Digital Transformation” in Business Horizons; her Management Organizational Behavior & Teaching Conference presentation was reprinted in the Harvard Business School Press; two papers were accepted for presentation at the upcoming Academy of Management Meeting; and a presentation with Professor Annika Steiber was accepted for the upcoming Triple Helix Conference in Finland. Professor Kathi Lovelace will be presenting her paper, titled “Covid-19 and the Five Stages of Grief: Pedagogical Applications of the KüblerRoss Model” at the upcoming virtual Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society Conference. Recently a panelist at the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Conference, Provost Grande Lum has also joined the Board of Directors for Not In Our Town, working to build safe, inclusive communities. In August, he will be co-leading a collaboration between Menlo College and Ohio State Moritz College of the Law, and jointly hosting a Campus Academy Initiative on preventing division at higher education institutions. His most recent book, co-authored with Bertram Levine, America’s Peacemakers: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights, will also be released this fall. 33 SUMMER 2020

An article written by Professor Craig Medlen, “A National Buyout Plan of Eco-destroyers” was accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Issues. The article illustrates the costs of nationalizing the top fifty utilities that now produce and transmit three-quarters of the electricity in the U.S., four of the top oil companies and General Motors and Ford. In his article, Professor Medlen argues that such a nationalization would allow the rapid introduction of renewable energy given the federal government’s significant landholdings in the Sunbelt states. Professor Lisa Mendelman noted that her book Modern Sentimentalism (December 2019) from Oxford University Press, is now out in hard copy in the United States and the United Kingdom, and on ebooks everywhere. In addition, she was recently awarded two competitive fellowships to attend the prestigious Digital Humanities Summer Institute at the University of Victoria, scheduled in June 2021 due to Covid-19. Professor Mendelman also developed a new Humanities course, “Digital Humanities & Cultural Analytics,” which will be offered in fall 2020 to introduce students to these burgeoning areas of study. The course will also engage students in her research collaborations with Stanford’s Literary Lab and Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis. In March 2020, Professor Melissa R. Michelson (left) took her Civil Liberties class students on a field trip to San Francisco to hear oral arguments at the California Supreme Court, and to meet afterwards in chambers with Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (center front). Professor Michelson also recently released her sixth book, Transforming Prejudice: Fear, Identity, and Transgender Rights, published by Oxford University Press. She also published articles in Electoral Studies (on the effect of bilingual mailers on Latinx voter turnout) and Urban Education (on how low-income parents evaluate neighborhood schools), as well as book chapters on her work mentoring Latinx political scientists, the effect of the Hillary Clinton candidacy on women and girls, and LGBTQ partisan politics. She is currently under contract for her 7th book, LGBTQ Life in America, as well as a revised edition of her textbook Governing California, both forthcoming in 2021.

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F aculty N ews Adjunct Professor Marianne Neuwirth has been invited to conduct a webinar entitled Creating a Civil Workplace Through Effective Listening and Speaking for the Women’s Leadership Initiative at Stanford; she conducted a podcast interview with Menlo College staff member Kelly Davis on leadership and how communication defines and determines a leader’s effectiveness; and she conducted a realistic salary negotiation interaction with students and professional volunteers for her spring 2020 Persuasion and Negotiation class. Professor Leslie Sekerka’s manuscripts, Research as Practice, How Buying Less is Being More: Integrating Ethical Consumption into Business Education, Cost-Benefit Analyses, and Choosing Not to Buy When Tempted: Advancing Sustainable Development with Consumer Moral Restraint, were accepted for publication. Her work caught the eye of ESGX leaders, a group designed to advance education with regards to the environment, sustainability, and governance in business. As moderator of an Earth Week Webinar, she prompted ideas for academics, encouraging a triple bottom line approach. She engaged in a variety of conference meetings during “shelter-in-place,” adaptively participating in the Society for Case Research, Business & Economics Society International, and Ethics & Entrepreneurship initiatives.

Teaching Ethics Artistically By Leslie E. Sekerka, Ph.D. Professor Sekerka’s creative approach to teaching ethics helps learners at any age build moral muscle. In her “Being a Better Bear” children’s ethics series, young Fred (depicted) works at learning how to be his best self. As we all shelter in place, we are being mindful of others, exercising self-regulation, and accepting personal responsibility for our ethical duty. Dr. Sekerka’s forthcoming book is Exercising Your Ethics: Bringing Moral Strength to Business. Illustration: Leslie Sekerka; John, Lenny, and William Jenkins

Professor Annika Steiber reported that Sambhab Thapaliya ’21, the winner of the newly established 2020 Menlo College Entrepreneurship Award, has received funding for his early stage venture ASMI from the Dorm Room Fund. Established by First Round Capital in 2012, the fund is a capital firm focused on investments in student-run startups. Also, under the leadership of Professor Steiber, Menlo College launched a pre-incubator program to support early stage student-led startups. This aim is to increase the number of student-led initiatives, while also expanding the ecosystem for entrepreneurship on campus. Collaborations with Silicon Valley incubators will increase the likelihood that our student-led ventures will succeed.

Shaping the Domain of Ethicspreneurship We are fortunate to have Menlo College Board member and Stanford Professor Tom Byers connect our college to a world class think-tank, one that is now shaping and directing the novel domain of Ethicspreneurship. Weaving together the disciplines of entrepreneurship and ethics, Professor Byers has ignited leaders at Stanford, Duke University, and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN to develop a collaborative effort with some of the country’s top thought leaders. Professor Leslie Sekerka was asked to participate, based on her expertise in positive organizational ethics along with her research in adult moral development. Her work as the founding director of the Ethics in Action Center at Menlo College, coupled with her Silicon Valley scholarship focusing on organizational development and ethical leadership, will contribute to the aims of the group. The goals of the collaborative effort promoted by Professor Byers complements Menlo’s mission, in that the participants will be working to equip the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and innovators with the mindset, knowledge, skills, and confidence to better navigate the ethical challenges of entrepreneurship, and build better ventures and organizations. 35 SUMMER 2020

The Future of Real Estate

By Margaret McFarland, JD, Director of The Real Estate Center @ Menlo College NAIOP is a national organization that brings together a broad range of commercial real estate professionals, including those focused on multi-family dwellings, hospitality, office parks, and retail properties. The roles represented are equally varied, as some members are property managers, others are designers or developers, and yet others are responsible for commercial property construction and finance. After Brett Kondrick, the CFO for South Bay Development, approached me last spring about engaging Menlo students in an NAIOP young leaders program, The Real Estate Center @ Menlo College (TREC) sponsored the participation of Sachal Jogi ’20, Joseph (“JC”) Maroun ’20, and Meghan Regan ’20. NAIOP’s unusual approach to mentoring is to engage students with small groups of young professionals in their monthly activities. Thus, students are afforded the opportunity to meet with a group of 12-15 real estate professionals at once. This approach avoids the clustering among students that often happens at networking events. NAIOP’s sponsorship also opened the door for Menlo students to join many other events, including “happy hours,” site visits, and guest presentations. Our students interacted with professionals involved in some of the most exciting real estate projects in the Valley. JC Maroun ’20 said that the most exciting, as well as the most enlightening NAIOP event for him was a tour of the Main Street Cupertino project. The tour was guided by Michael J. Rohde, who provides marketing services for the Sand Hill Property Company. Maroun noted that the site visit revealed the challenges for an owner in developing and managing mixed-use properties, from retail to office to hotel. He delighted in learning about “positioning” retail tenants – which tenant should be placed where, and how will a given tenant drive traffic and sales (and hence rents for the owner!). This opened up a new world of possibilities for Maroun, who had been primarily focused on the office market. Maroun completed his real estate internship with Marcus & Millichap. Sachal Jogi ’20 found he was able to contribute his branding positions knowledge to the NAIOP group. He said he identified amenities and “delivering ideas” to the corporate team for such brands as Element, Moxy and Aloft. The opportunity to participate with a small group of young professionals through NAIOP enhanced his interest in using his marketing education in the real estate field. (Yes, marketing professionals are in demand in real estate too!) Jogi completed his internship with Marriott International in Bethesda, MD. Meghan Regan ’20 is a Business Management major, with a concentration in Human Resources. She jumped at the opportunity to learn about the real estate industry and consider career options in that field. She said that she enjoyed multiple white board sessions at various offices around the Valley, as well as site tours. Regan said, “I would recommend all real estate students apply for the opportunity to be a Menlo student representative to NAIOP. The site tours, particularly, are a great way to learn about a real estate project and all the different kinds of professionals who are part of the development process.” Much of the hands-on learning that Menlo has to offer, while on hiatus the last half of this semester, will start right back up in the fall. The collaboration with NAIOP is just one way that real estate majors and other interested students have the opportunity to learn about ways their interests can align with a career in real estate. After all, real estate is 30% of the economy and the opportunities for Menlo students in the Bay Area and beyond are brighter than ever. A note for alumni, parents, and of course current students: if you are interested in learning more about TREC and the Menlo real estate curriculum, please contact me at margaret.mcfarland@menlo.edu. Above: Professor Margaret McFarland (left) leads a panel bringing the views of real estate professionals to Menlo College students. M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Making our Voices Heard

Political Flex: Creative Ways to Get Students Vote! Involved in the Political Process By Melissa Michelson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science The vast majority of my scholarship focuses on how best to increase voter turnout, particularly among low-propensity voters. Healthy voter turnout is not only a sign of a healthy democracy but is also vital for the ability of citizens to have their voices heard. Compared to non-voters, voters tend to be white, to be older, and to have higher levels of education and income, and therefore, these groups have more political power. A more equitable distribution of power requires higher levels of turnout among people of color, younger people, and people with lower levels of education and income. A more vibrant campus experience for Menlo College students means those students need to exercise their potential political power at the ballot box. Menlo students could be kingmakers; they could sway election results. They just need to flex. I give a version of this pep talk every election season. I remind students of the size of their potential power as a bloc vote, and of the ways in which city council decisions, state legislative decisions, and federal policies affect their everyday lives. Some of them have definitely heard me. Students have attended council meetings and met with local elected officials, and statewide officials, to lobby for change. They have signed up to work with candidates for election and re-election, often working within those campaigns to increase student turnout and support. A few years ago, I learned of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, a national project measuring voter turnout on college campuses, allowing institutions to track their performance and compare it to that of other schools. Menlo College joined the project, and last year we received our first report card. In 2016, 230 of 647 eligible students voted (35.5%) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; below the national rate of 50.6%. We can do better. I made a short video to help students learn how to negotiate the voting process, and this semester students in my Campaigns and Elections course worked to mobilize the student vote for the March 3 primary elections. In the fall, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be working again with my students to increase participation. If all goes according to plan, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll show improvement in 2020, and earn Menlo some democracy bragging rights. Want to register to vote? Use the QR code below to access an easy guide to the process.

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How to By Melissa Michelson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science I consider my job as an academic to include not only educating students in my classes but also using my knowledge and insight to engage with the public. When I tweet, I’m sharing my thoughts about political current events filtered through my decades of experience and research. I want to emphasize my expertise in Latinx and LGBTQ politics and boost the voices of women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community. Sometimes I’m also sharing pictures of my dog or something silly, but that’s part of building an audience and my brand. Once in a while, a tweet leads to something – perhaps a call from a journalist, or just my tweet getting picked up in a news story (usually when I’ve been live-tweeting a political debate or similar event). Being a “blue checkmark” (the symbol Twitter uses to designate verified accounts of public interest) gives me credibility, and I try to use that to make a difference. I’ve been tweeting since February 2011, and I’ve definitely learned some lessons along the way. Tweets that include an image or a GIF are more likely to generate engagement, as are tweets that say something new instead of piling on. I’ve upped my hashtag game and my emoji game, and I’m more intentional about my tone. Again, it’s building a brand. It’s being consistent with my voice while varying the content. My tweets allow me to provide perspective, to amplify research or insights from other scholars and the media, and to contribute to the public arena. It’s also really fun.

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INTERNSHIPS

Campus Jobs Help Student Develop By Dylan Houle, Director of Internships & Career Services

id you know that Menlo College hires between 100-150 student employees each semester? Students work in nearly every department and building on campus, helping to troubleshoot tech, give tours, tutor peers, deliver mail, manage scoreboards, and the list goes on.

For many students, their on-campus job is their first work experience, and thus presents a golden opportunity for Menlo College to introduce and foster the development of certain career competencies. “My on-campus job [in Admissions] prepared me for life after college by teaching me responsibility, time-management, and some very important lessons about teamwork,” recalled alumna Tanvi Mathur ’18, who now works in Innovation Research and Data Management for IT services company Mphasis. Fellow alumna Taylor Morrow ’16, who worked three on-campus jobs during her student days, agreed, saying, “This [oncampus] experience ultimately helped lead to my internship, my first job out of college, and even my current job where I’m now the Head of 23andMe’s social media channels.” To help better understand how our on-campus jobs were supporting student’s career development, a task force of supervisors, in consultation with human resources, devised a student employee performance evaluation process based on the 8 NACE Career Readiness Competencies: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Digital Technology, Leadership, Professionalism, Career Management, and Intercultural Fluency. Students are evaluated once annually by supervisors, and also complete a self-evaluation; so far, more than 120 students have participated. This past fall, supervisors gave an average score of between 8.63 and 9.24 on all eight competencies, further evidence of Menlo College’s exceptional student talent; more than 1 out of 2 students reported feeling extremely satisfied with the work. Andrew Shatzel ’20, who helps manage the campus store, had this advice for future student employees: “Many may see this as a ‘college’ job, and think that it may not matter down the line. I, however, do not believe that working at the campus store was just a ‘college job.’ I learned many useful skills . . . and developed meaningful relationships with other students, staff, and faculty members.” After a successful pilot year, the Career Services team will continue the performance evaluation process going forward, to collect important information on how our on-campus jobs are helping students transition from college to career.

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Career Competencies

Tanvi Mathur â&#x20AC;&#x2122;18 (front row, far right) and Taylor Morrow â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 (opposite page) both credit their on-campus jobs at Menlo with preparing them to enter the professional world.

If you worked on campus and want to share how your oncampus job helped you succeed, email your story to Dylan Houle at dylan.houle@menlo.edu.

Student Responses in Spring 2020 Evaluation This job has helped me to develop skills or learn new skills. This job has helped me to understand workplace expectations. This job is directly related to my major and/or career interests. This job has helped me to plan and prepare for my future career. 0%

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INTERNSHIPS

Career Connect Day 2020:

Professional Development Delivered to By Kelly Davis, Assistant Director of Career Services and Study Abroad Career Connect Day (CCD)—a flagship day of professional development workshops—was one of Menlo’s first events to be impacted by Covid-19. Rather than cancel the much-anticipated event, the Internships and Career Services team decided to go virtual! On Tuesday, March 24, CCD engaged dozens of Menlo’s faculty, alumni and employer partners to lead virtual sessions for students spread across the globe. In an anonymous survey following the event, 85% of students who responded indicated that this year’s Career Connect Day met or exceeded their expectations. CCD “equipped me with knowledge that is applicable towards attempting a future career,” reported one student. One of the hallmark features of CCD is the alumni who return every year to share their industry knowledge and skills with current students. “The highlight was definitely being able to connect with students that were in my position 4 years ago,” says Caleb Shifferaw ’16, Founder and Creative Director of Design Create Inspire, LLC. Some panels and presentations were the product of collaboration between Menlo faculty, alums, and even current students. Dr. Marianne Neuwirth, Director of Oral Communication Programs, teamed up with Junior Sam Baker ’21 to teach students networking strategies. Cassandra Staff ’05, Chief Operating Officer of the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University, partnered with Menlo Professor of Management Bruce Paton for her session: “Social Entrepreneurship: Careers with Impact.” “I was inspired to see Menlo students who are actively seeking ways to impact the causes and communities they care about,” Staff said.

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Students Virtually Employer partners engaged both day-of as well as in an April Virtual Workshop series, including partners from Aston Carter, Facebook, Uber, GSV Labs, the Town of Atherton, and the San Jose Sharks - to name just a handful. The goal of Internship and Career Services in orchestrating Career Connect Day is to ensure that students reach their objectives for the day, regardless of how the content is delivered. “I really enjoyed it!!” wrote one student, “Being able to video in still felt personal, but much less pressured. … the information and sessions I was able to attend were valuable.”

Director of Internships & Career Services Dylan Houle and Assistant Director, Career Services & Study Abroad Kelly Davis recently launched the Menlo College Career Services “Leverage Your Potential” Podcast. Their series, now available on YouTube and Spotify, is designed as a Zoom-alternative means to explore career paths.

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S T udent

men in Business Menlo Student Looks at the Future

By Bianca Barros ’21 In January 2020, Menlo College junior Bianca Barros competed for the second time in a TechStars Startup Weekend hosted by the Institute for Innovation and Economic Development, CSU Monterey Bay. Her teams have won top awards, including one for devising a startup plan to end the gender pay gap (at the January event, teams involving Menlo students took all three top spots). Bianca Barros has already developed a strong voice on strengthening the place of women in business. Hear more from a leader to watch as women and men find ways to share power more equally. Spring 2020 was the most challenging semester of my academic life. Still, there’s a lot I’m grateful for in my junior year as a finance major at Menlo College. At Menlo, I am the founding President of the very first feminist club at Menlo, called Women in Leadership Development (WILD), a University Innovation Fellow at Stanford Design School (d.School), and am the Catalyst and Treasurer for Oaks Innovation Club. In all these activities, I work to advance the role of talented women, which I believe will improve the lives of us all, men and women together. Last September, I was one of the lead organizers of TEDxMenloCollege, based on the theme “This is America.” Collaborating with other students as we created this event to honor all the voices in America was exhilarating and gratifying. There was no better way of expanding our work and further developing my own leadership skills than attending the TEDWomen global conference in Palm Springs, California that December. TEDWomen conferences bring together a community of more than 1000 women interested in exploring how change begins. I have to admit I imagined the event to be life-changing, yet it went beyond all my expectations. At TEDWomen, I learned valuable skills for fundraising and partnerships, digital marketing, content curation and TED speaker training. The speakers gave thought-provoking and empowering talks, but I was also inspired by every single woman I met in the audience. They gave me hope that when women are supporting women, we can break new ground. A landmark McKinsey Global Institute report published in 2018, finds that companies with executive teams that are gender diverse are “21% more likely to outperform their peers in profitability and 27% more likely to have superior value creation.” Indeed, corporations and organizational leadership styles are changing, and the world yearns for more adaptability, motivational empathy and perseverance, all qualities that guarantee that women will be among the world’s next greatest leaders. In her TED Talk, Pat Mitchell, former CEO of CNN, quoted former Congresswoman Bella Abzug, saying, “In the 21st century, women will change the nature of power, rather than power changing the nature of women.” TEDWomen showed me how women can do exactly that. Envisioning a world where women are not constrained from accomplishing their goals because of their gender is at the core of my drive and mission. Bianca’s work continues: This summer 2020, she is serving as Head Chair at the largest Model United Nations event in Latin America (her third time in this role) and, alongside Brenda Flores-Reyes ’21, she will be the lead organizer for Startup Weekend Women at Menlo College. Bianca Barros receives a Gender Equity Award 2020 from Menlo College.

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S T udent Coping with Covid-19:

Students Creatively Manage Their Stress By Lauren John, Staff Writer Cooking, gardening, prayer and exercise are some of the ways that students are coping with the sudden changes in their lives brought on by Covid-19, says Jake Kelman, Psy.D., Director of Menlo College’s Mental Health Services. “While there is a lot of uncertainty out there and we cannot interact with others in our lives in the ways we might typically do, it is especially important for people to take care of themselves and consider their own emotional and mental well-being,” he says. One of the ways to take care of yourself is to check in with others. This is just one of the self-care tips that Dr. Kelman recommends from a list offered by The Clinic, a Bay Area consortium of psychologists and others. “Even if you live by yourself, you’re not alone. Call friends, neighbors, family—check in. Odds are they need it just as much as you do” (see: theclinicca.org). Menlo College students have instinctively found such ways to cope. In a recent Virtual Study Slam–an online version of Menlo’s popular Tuesday night group tutoring sessions–the usual greetings of “What’s Up?” or “How are you doing?” took on deeper meaning. During the quarantine caused by Covid-19, classmates really did want to know more details about their friends’ daily lives—ranging from health, to family issues to summer jobs or the lack of them. One of the tutors, Junior Sabrina Nava-Catalan ’21 lives in the small California coastal town of Half Moon Bay, a popular destination for surfing and hiking. This spring, under quarantine, beach days were out so she headed to her kitchen instead. “My mom and I have been baking flan, cookies and apple crisps,” she says with a smile in her voice. Flan, a traditional dessert in Mexico, is a rich, sweet custard baked with caramelized sugar with universal appeal. Small wonder, since it contains such comforting ingredients: sugar, milk and eggs.

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s Flan degrees. ’ a n i r Sab to 350

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The Student Affairs Office Helps Students Stay Connected Outside the Classroom Many in the Menlo community report turning to their culinary skills while their families shelter in place. As for those less talented in the kitchen, there is always the comfort of a perennial student favorite--instant ramen noodles. One Friday afternoon in April, junior Devon Nemelka ’23 hosted an online Ramen Creation Festival for classmates via Zoom. Students shared their recipes and ideas, including fashion celebrity Kylie Jenner’s creamy noodle version. The innovative recipes featured additions such as butter, garlic powder, milk and salt—and there was a vegan, non-dairy offering, too. But while some students were experimenting with food, Muslim students were fasting during the day through Ramadan, the Muslim month of prayer, fasting and reflection beginning on April 23 this year. This posed challenges for Muslim international student Maher Ramouki ’23 who was unable to get an airplane ticket home to France to join his family observances. Instead, Maher lived in dormitory space provided by Menlo College for international students facing travel delays. Maher stored his dining hall food in a small dorm refrigerator—breaking his fast each evening at sundown. “Ramadan is difficult alone,” Maher said, “but it is a test of faith and I like praying and being closer to God.” Fitness routines have always been priorities on the Menlo campus, and students are continuing to exercise at home to deal with stress. Katrina Newman ’21 faced several disappointments this spring. “This last week was a really hard one for me,” she wrote in April from her parents’ home in San Jose. “On Friday, my internship was canceled, and I will miss out on the experience of interning at an amazing firm.” Katrina says that scheduling physical activities through the week has helped restore a sense of order. On Monday and Wednesday evenings she takes a 45-minute Yoga class online. Other days include a bike ride close to home and gardening. “I have planted lavender and rosemary in my backyard to lift my spirits.” With majors in business and psychology, Menlo College professors and students are quite familiar with risk management. Covid-19 has quite literally brought these risks home. In the months and years to come, our community will be studying how all of us coped personally, professionally and academically.

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Learning the Real California Student Makes the Most of his Time at Menlo College By Lauren John, Staff Writer In the past few months, Menlo College international student Enzo Durrey of Bordeaux, France has biked through Silicon Valley, binge watched episodes of the series Breaking Bad, and competed in several Crossfit Challenges run by his new gym in Redwood City. Before the Covid-19 virus hit, Enzo, 21, explained that he was “learning the real California!” Enzo was here at Menlo on a gap year from the University of Bordeaux in order to get exposure to Silicon Valley and improve his English, which he considers, “the language of international business.” To achieve these goals, he realized that he needed to integrate into the community both on and off campus. He completed Menlo’s Intensive English Program and then matriculated into college business classes. At the same time, he joined both the Menlo College weightlifting team and a Crossfit gym in Redwood City. Ironically, it was his fluency in Spanish that first helped him to make friends. Though Enzo grew up primarily in France with a French father, his mother is Spanish. “When it was time for me to be born,“ Enzo says, “my mother returned to Spain and for the first six months of my life, I was with her family.” In California, he continues, “my Latinx teammates and classmates first knew me as a guy trying to speak English with a French accent.” They were amazed when one day he switched to perfect Spanish. He made friends quickly and was invited into his teammates’ homes for meals. With his social circles widening, Enzo continued to embrace new experiences. Until the shutdown, he coached soccer and basketball at the Riekes Center in Redwood City, a gym that offers sports, education and performing arts programs for local students between the ages of six and twenty. “On my first day there, they had an orientation exercise to introduce me to everyone,” he said. “I had never played the piano before in my life, but a woman there showed me a few things and after a short time we sat down together and played a Ray Charles song— Hit The Road Jack. Everyone was singing with me. It was truly an American experience.” This summer Enzo will return to France to attend Paris Dauphine University, but he will maintain his Silicon Valley connections. “I hope to return to the United States when I start my career,” he says. “But whether in France or the U.S., I now have a valuable understanding of American business, language and culture.”

Enzo Durrey (right) with the young students he coached at the Riekes Center.

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A Classic Oak and a New Oak:

Father and Daughter Ka-ne! By Micah Ka-ne ’91, Chair of the Menlo College Board, and Ka’ilihiwa Ka-ne ’20 The Ka-ne family has shown great faith in Menlo College for over thirty years. Micah Ka-ne ’91, serves as Chair of the Board, most recently

steering the College through the Covid-19 crisis, and his daughter Ka’ilihiwa graduated this year. We asked them why they chose to get their education at the College and why they plan to sustain a long-term relationship.

What quality of Menlo College means the most to you? Ka’ili: I describe Menlo in one word: Community. Over the course of my four years here, Menlo has become my home, and the faculty, teachers, and peers are my friends and family. I never thought that I would come to admire so many of my professors as much as I do now. I will forever owe all my gratitude to Professors Mulvey, Bakke, Austin, and Peeters for relentlessly supporting me in all of my endeavors. Micah: At Menlo College, relationships are authentic. It’s not just the fact that we’re a small college that gives us this opportunity for knowing each other – it’s much deeper than that. It’s our culture of treating every student as an individual, and investing in that individual. Also, positive energy pervades Menlo College. You can’t help but feel the energy of hope when you are learning at the “problem-solving epicenter of the world” surrounded by the beauty of the campus. It’s hard to beat.

Describe your most memorable events on campus. Micah: There was always something special about the transition to the spring semester. It was a combination of the weather, reconnecting with friends after the mid-year break, and the feeling of accomplishment that you were heading to the finish line of another year. Spring semester at Menlo College has always been an amazing time, which adds to the heartbreak of the interruption caused by the pandemic this year. Ka’ili: Lû’au! Can’t get much better than that. Also, my worldview expanded through studying abroad, which was the best decision I made in my college career. It’s important to immerse into other cultures.

Have you kept and expanded your Menlo friends and networks? Micah: Menlo College provides the opportunity to make lifelong friends, like no place I know. Almost 30 years after I graduated, my network of Menlo connections are incredibly meaningful to me. They have provided tremendous help to me throughout my career. Ka’ili: I came to Menlo with two of my best friends from high school, but the Pacific Islander Club welcomed me with open arms into a whole new family.

Why would you recommend Menlo College to future generations in your family? Ka’ili: Being able to follow in my dad’s footsteps here at Menlo whilst creating my own legacy has been so rewarding. Nothing can beat the relationships I have cultivated here; my gratitude is immeasurable. Micah: I feel so fortunate for all that life has given me, and Menlo College was foundational to that. As Chair of the Board of Trustees, I have the privilege of serving with an amazing group of leaders. We have a great management team led by Steven Weiner, who I believe is one of the top education leaders in our country—and he’s just getting started. We have a team of professors who are committed and gelling like at no other time in the history of our school. We have students who represent all walks of life, from all across the globe, but who share their incredible potential to positively affect our world’s challenges. How can you not want to double down your commitment when your school looks like that?

M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

’ S tudents C orner

We’re proud to introduce a new department at Menlo College Magazine: Students’ Corner. On these pages, we’ll feature work from the classroom, the student-run Oak Press, and the Virtual Island created by Professor Linda Bakke and her students studying the literature of the Pacific Islands. Please enjoy a story by our first student author!

By Taryn Ichimura ’21

Yoshihiko Taro, a Myth

When I was growing up, my grandpa would tell me stories about how he would go fishing off the Waianae coast. He grew up in the area and always turned to the ocean to spend his free time. Time and time again, he told my sisters and me stories about his childhood. He also told us that one time, he found a honu, or sea turtle, stuck among the rocks. As my grandfather got closer, he realized the turtle was tied up in old fishing nets and decided to cut it free. All of a sudden, he heard a “thank you.” He looked around wondering who said that, as it was just him and the honu. Once again he heard “thank you” and realized that it came from the sea turtle. Astonished by the fact that the honu could talk and understand, my grandpa was speechless. The turtle told my grandpa, “In exchange for the kindness you have shown me, I would like to show you my home.” Despite the obvious risks of following a magical turtle into the ocean, my grandpa’s curiosity got the better of him as he agreed to explore the deep sea.

He hopped on the honu’s back and descended into the water. As the cold water surrounded him, he realized that he could breathe and began to take in all of the colorful sights of the ocean. The honu kept swimming deeper and deeper until he reached an underwater city hidden in volcanic rock. The city was filled with all kinds of sea animals and creatures my grandpa had never seen before. The honu brought my grandpa to what looked like the city’s palace, where they were both greeted by a princess. My grandpa’s simple act of kindness towards the honu had earned him special recognition, and a personal celebration was held in his honor. Sea creatures prepared a feast as song and dance filled the palace. Despite having a great time--and loving being the center of attention--my grandpa missed his home and family dearly. Per his request, he arranged for the honu to bring him back to the shore. But before he left, the princess gave my grandpa a black lacquered box and instructed him to never open it. According to her, if he was to open the box, he would age 100 years. Scared into obedience, he accepted the gift and ascended out of the Hawaiian waters. “So? Did you open the box or what?” my sister asked. “No. I listen to directions, that’s why,” my grandpa joked. He then stood up and walked over to a storage closet in his house. After about a minute or so of scrounging around, he emerged with a dusty black box in his hands. My immediate reaction was to open that box, as I was curious about what was inside. But seeing that I love my grandpa and didn’t want to see him age by 100 years, and that I’m sure he’d never let me even try, I suppressed my curiosity. Now, whenever I drive along the Waianae coast, I think about this undersea adventure my grandpa had and find myself yearning to explore the wonders that lie beyond the shallow Hawaiian waters. Note from the author: My fictional story is based on the Japanese myth of the young boy Urashima Taro, which I’ve adapted using author Lehua Parker’s method of fashioning a fictional story from traditional sources. I was born and raised in Hawaii, but am ethnically Japanese. To tie my heritage into the story I wrote, I wanted to have Urashima Taro’s adventure happen on O’ahu, an island with local elements. My grandfather became the main character of my tale for many reasons. First, I love my grandpa with all my heart and miss him dearly every day. And second of all, he really did grow up in Waianae and loved to fish. The title of my story uses his Japanese name in place of “Urashima” (as taro just translates to “boy”). Overall, I found inspiration in Lehua Parker’s fiction, imitated it, and added my own personal twist. Hopefully I did her justice. 49 SUMMER 2020

Menlo and Hawaiʻi:

Whats’ da scoops? By Miranda Canniff ’22

Menlo students perform traditional dances at OAKtoberFest 2019. Photos by Esteban Ramirez (top) and Samuel Spector

imilar to the way a reporter picks up a “scoop” when researching an exclusive news story, Hawaiian Creole (pidgin slang) uses the word “scoops” to ask for information. “What’s da scoops?” = “What’s up?”

If you attended Menlo College, you probably have a few friends, or have at least met a good handful of people, that call Hawai’i home. Here, “Aloha” is a typical e-mail salutation. Hawaiian staples like poke, loco moco, and kalua pork are regular menu items in the dining hall, and it’s not unusual to hear island-style reggae blasting through the halls of one of Menlo’s four residential buildings. Hawai’i has even found its way into Menlo College’s curriculum: Professor Linda Bakke recently began teaching a course called Literature of Hawai’i and the Pacific, which is popular amongst the student body. And Menlo’s annual Lu-au, hosted by the Pacific Islander Club (PIC), is arguably one of the most anticipated student-run events of the year. The annual celebration of Pacific and Polynesian culture is the result of a lot of hard work. Performers learn Hawaiian, Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, and Maori dances and songs throughout the school year to be displayed in mid-Spring for the education and enjoyment of the Menlo community. As PIC’s finance director Jordyn Sanico ’22 explains, as “Lu-au is an opportunity for us to show people what our culture looks like.” PIC welcomes students from all backgrounds, and embraces Lu-au as a chance to bring students from many cultures together. Though, sadly, Lu-au had to be postponed this year due to Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings, the spirit of the event still lives in the Menlo community. Hawai’i’s local culture has rooted itself into Menlo culture–and for good reason. Hawai’i and Menlo share a lot of the same values. The community atmosphere and laid back, friendly people of Hawai’i can also be found in Menlo students and faculty. As a result, the college has historically attracted large populations of kama’aina (literally translated as “children of the land”: meaning anyone born or raised in the islands). As Thomas Depontes ’23, a student from the Big Island of Hawai’i, puts it, “This school offers a lot of ways to feel like you’re still at home in Hawai’i if you ever are getting homesick.” Menlo is a great place for Hawai’i students to be, but they also serve as a valuable asset to the school’s community. Sanico explains that Menlo’s Hawaiian students inject the campus community with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives: “I think because Hawai’i is such a diverse place and students can come from so many different backgrounds––culturally, financially, ethnically. Hawai’i is a melting pot, so even though we’re all from Hawai’i, we’re all different.” This background of diversity enhances an accepting campus atmosphere. M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

ON CAMPUS

Understanding Disability Through the Art of Film By Arthurlene Towner, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Humanities In April 2020, the Introduction to Disability Studies classes, partnering with the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, hosted an Online SUPERFEST Disability Film Showcase. Members of the campus community, family members, and friends were able to view ten short films giving perspectives on living with a disability. Many people in the audience commented on how deeply the films affected them.

SUPERFEST SHOWCASE

the BEST of disability & film

APRIL 2 2:10-3:30 & 3:40-5pm

Menlo College, Russell Center register & note access requests by March 27 at: superfestfilm.com/menlo

CHIN UP SUPERFEST 2019

PRODUCED BY

This was just one of many insights offered at the showcase. In one of the films, Gaslit, a woman with a disability fights for the opportunity to become a mother. Reacting to this moving story, one viewer explained, “The purpose of the film was to show that people with disabilities are in fact not helpless and have a voice of their own.”

PSYSSC 313: Introduction to Disability Studies in partnership with The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability Opportunity for 3 SERV hours, snacks, a raffle, and instructor approved extra credit!

“This showcase showed me quite a bit about disability culture that I had not previously known,” explained one viewer. “The main thing I learned is to not make assumptions about people and their disabilities, and especially not to call them ‘inspiring’ or ‘heroic’ for doing things that ablebodied people can do easily.”

INCLINATIONS SUPERFEST 2019

The poster for the Superfest Disability Conference drew many online participants.

SUPERFEST Showcases are a sampling of the films screened at the previous year’s core annual International SUPERFEST Disability Film Festival, the longest running Disability Film Festival in the world. It is one of the few festivals of any kind that prioritizes access. All films are represented with captioning and audio-description. ASL interpretation is provided for all live dialogue. The films are selected by a panel of ten judges, all with disabilities, who come from a range of backgrounds in film, disability studies, and disability activism. They only advance films that meet SUPERFEST’s standards of artistry, representations of disability, and creativity. The films selected are written and directed by people with disabilities, include actors with disabilities, and portray disability in all its diverse, complex, and empowering facets.

MUSIC MASTER: Internationally-recognized cellist, composer and recording artist Ian Maksin performed on campus in February.

51 SUMMER 2020

A nd V irtually

The 2020 Honors Awards Ceremony Every spring, the Menlo College community pauses to celebrate the outstanding achievements of faculty, staff, and students. The ceremony took place once again in 2020, but this time, tradition was upended: with a nod to the pandemic, the event moved from the stage to the cloud, where it took the form of a live YouTube feed on April 16. The stars of the event were those nominated for special recognition, but the legions who support Menlo’s students – families, partners, friends, faculty, and staff – were also applauded that evening. It was truly a community celebration.

Richard F. O’Brien Awards Freshmen - Erin Ginoza ’23 and Basil Merk ’23 Sophomores - Sigrid Eriksson Loid ’22 and Nicholas Abrams ’22 Juniors - Bianca Neme Barros ’21 and Katrina Newman ’21 Seniors - Solin Piearcy ’20 and Nicholas Castellanos ’20

Cheers, applause and good wishes came in an unusual way this year...Livestream congratulations and emojis.

Scholarships and Other College Awards Al Jacobs Scholarship - Anna Schobel ’22 Don Jordan Scholarship - Rasmia Shuman ’22 Wall Street Journal Award - Jeremiah Testa ’20 Psychology Award - Giselle Martinez Collado ’20 Judge Russell Award - John Paine ’20 Golden Oak Service Award - Ashlee Hunt ’20 Menlo Spirit Award - Keeley Hernandez ’20 Entrepreneurship Award - Sambhab Thapaliya ’21 Board of Trustees Award - Axel Helmertz ’20

Faculty Awards Emerick Teaching Award – Professor Bob Mulvey Dean’s Scholarship Award – Professor Lan Jiang Faculty Service Award – Professor Janis Zaima Adjunct Award – Adjunct Professor Arthur Chait

Student Affairs Awards Student Government Association Member of the Year – Joshua Salazar ’20 Resident Assistant of the Year – Alexandra Christoforatos ’20 Club of the Year - Womxn’s Impact and Leadership Development (WILD) Staff Member of the Year – Mike Palmieri

M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Menlo Alum

Sanctuary During Troubled Times Menlo College Alumnus Michael Lilly ’66, an attorney who argued two cases before the Supreme Court, served as Attorney General of Hawaii from 1981 to 1985. During his long and illustrious career, he also published over one hundred articles and two books, If You Die Tomorrow, and Nimitz at Ease, which appeared in 2019. Congratulations to Michael Lilly for this inside account of a World War II leader. By Capt. Michael A. Lilly ’66, USN (Ret) My writing sub-career began fifty-five years ago at Menlo College in Professor Edgar Weaver’s English Composition class. He taught us the basics of syntax, structure, and weaving (no pun) a theme. I can still hear his admonition, “You don’t start a sentence with ‘It’.” My latest book. Nimitz at Ease, chronicles the previously untold story of the close relationship between my grandparents, Una and H.A. “Sandy” Walker, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. The Walkers’ peaceful six-acre beachfront property on the north shore of Oahu, called Muliwai, became Nimitz’s weekend refuge, providing him with sanctuary from the tremendous pressures of commanding the largest armed forces in history, and thereby helping him win the Pacific war. Using Una’s war diary, hundreds of letters with Nimitz and his aide, Nimitz’s daily command log, family oral history and memoirs and unpublished war photos, I recounted for the first time Nimitz’s daily activities in war and peace. Admiral Nimitz is almost always pictured in uniform or suit. At Muliwai, however, he put on shorts or a swimsuit to relax on the beach. The image on the cover of my book shows my sisters leaning happily against him, his face a reflection of serenity despite war raging in the western Pacific. Behind him is another man in a swimsuit. This is retired Admiral Thomas Hart, who was in Hawai`i conducting the “Hart Inquiry” into the Pearl Harbor attack. That day Hart joined Nimitz for a weekend “at ease.” Nimitz praised the USO for keeping service members “in good psychological health” with “tonics of companionship, relaxation, active sports and congenial surroundings.” The Walkers provided Nimitz his own private USO and psychological support. Refreshed at Muliwai, he could cope with the heavy responsibilities and sorrows of the Pacific war and bring it to an end. While writing this book, I was reminded of the importance of mentors in my life, both Nimitz and my first writing teacher, Professor Weaver at Menlo College.

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The photos are: the cover of the book (Nimitz, my sisters Maile and Sheila, and Admiral Thomas Hart in the background); my grandfather between Nimitz and Adm. Spruance at a garden party hosted by my grandparents in Honolulu; Nimitz on Kailua beach with my sisters Maile and Sheila; and Nimitz signing the surrender instrument which he inscribed to my grandparents in appreciation for their contribution to the war effort.

M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

In Memoriam

Bob Shane ‘56 (center), Dave Guard (left), and Nick Reynolds ‘56 performing as the Kingston Trio in 1959. Three years after graduation, their close harmonies were already hitting the top of the music charts.

Adios, Farewell to Bob Shane and the Beloved Sound of an Era By Steve Pickford ’68 By 1959, the Kingston Trio became one of the biggest pop music groups in the world. They went on to earn three Grammy awards and several Billboard Magazine awards, including having four albums in the top ten at the same time! No one . . . not Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, you name it . . . ever reached that plateau. And to think this all started when a transfer student from San Diego, Nick Reynolds, came to Menlo College in 1955. Attending his first accounting class, Nick noticed a guy sleeping in the back with a book covering his face, and thought, “Anyone who’s gutsy enough to do that, I’ve got to meet.” The guy in the back was Bob Shane. After a short conversation, they found they shared a passion for music. Bob had his guitar and Nick had bongos. Quickly becoming fast friends, they started playing local hangouts like Rossotti’s and Mama Garcia’s in Portola Valley, primarily for free beer and to meet girls. Bob’s friend from Hawaii, Dave Guard, who was at Stanford, would occasionally join them. Over a short time, the three became very very skilled as performers and very popular. A publicist from San Francisco’s Purple Onion and Hungry i, Frank Werber, caught their act at the Cracked Pot in Redwood City, and liked what he saw. Phyllis Diller was headlining the Purple Onion and was going on a hiatus, and Werber asked the guys if they could fill in. (“Uhh…YEAH!”) They had to find a name fast, and came up with “Kingston Trio,” since it sounded “collegiate,” and also referenced calypso music (as in Kingston, Jamaica), which was a big part of their repertoire. 55 SUMMER 2020

“We never considered ourselves folk singers,” said Bob. They considered themselves entertainers, who did some folk-oriented material, along with Broadway tunes, calypso songs, bawdy novelty songs, and even jazz and blues. But as Bob says, when Capitol Records came by with a wheelbarrow full of money and said, “Here, you guys are folk singers,” the Trio said, “You bet your ass we are!” The fond memories of Menlo were indelible for Bob and Nick. Bob said that while he intended to transfer to Stanford (his parents’ alma mater), he discovered that he preferred the smaller classes and closer teacher contact at Menlo, and stayed there instead. Plus, he was having too much fun at Menlo! Nick agreed: “It was just a magical place. All the professors knew the kids. It was smaller and very intimate.” In 2006, Menlo College awarded the school’s Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award to the Kingston Trio. Dave Guard had died in 1991, but Nick and Bob were able to accept the award. Bob said the honor ranked right behind having a Martin Guitar made in his name. Nick added that it was even more gratifying than their Grammy Awards, saying, “Menlo was like one big family. This is like getting a tribute from your family or your peers!” Thank you, Bob Shane, for all the entertainment you provided to the students who first heard you strumming in the Menlo cafeteria and the generations who have re-discovered the delightful Kingston Trio sound every year since. For further information, see Greenback Dollar: The Incredible Rise of the Kingston Trio by William J. Bush (Scarecrow Press, 2012) and “Famous Menlo Alumni to be Honored” by Katherine Conrad (East Bay Times, October 13, 2006).

Edward William Dias ’46 Edward Dias ’46 passed away earlier this year in the town where he had been born 94 years earlier—Hanford, California. Following his service in the U.S. Marine Air Corp, Ed played football at Menlo College. Just a few years later, he married Eleanore Luiz. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this past New Year’s Day. One of Ed’s heroes was the baseball legend Lou Gehrig. He would often quote Gehrig’s famous “Luckiest Man On Earth” speech, as he felt he too had been one of those luckiest men.

John Allan Cadrett ’50 In the final days of World War II, John Cadrett ’50 was a paratrooper and musician in Japan, as a member of the 511 Parachute Infantry of the U.S.- Army. He was a lifelong trap shooter, fly fisherman, boater, adventurous traveler, lover of nature, good friend, tireless gardener and a self-proclaimed tinkerer. He passed away late last year at the age of 92. John is survived by his wife, MaryAnn Mazoni Cadrett, his two sons and four grandchildren.

William Bruce Humphrey ’54 Bruce Humphrey ’54 met Peggy Hudgens when he was on summer break from his studies at Menlo College. They were married for 64 years, and raised three daughters. From his earliest years, Bruce was a “quintessential car guy.” In the 1950s, that took the form of building and cruising tricked out hotrods. In his later years, he rode dirt bikes with his family and friends, and tooled a motorhome around the country with his wife. Bruce worked for the Granite Construction Company in Santa Barbara, where he led their recycling initiative. The rock crusher he designed and engineered was transported to jobsites and used to recycle material for use in roadway construction. Bruce was 84 when he passed away of natural causes last August in Santa Barbara.

M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

ATHLETICS

In a Shortened Season, Oaks Stand Proud In 2015, Menlo College Athletics joined the very strong Golden State Athletics Conference and at first, most of our teams struggled. Just three years later, however, many Menlo College teams had gotten to league finals, and our athletes were winning individual awards in every category. While the 2018-19 season was widely recognized as the best-ever for Menlo Athletics, this year we were on a path to breaking last year’s records. That was when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and teams could no longer take the field and gym to complete their winning streaks. We mourn the season. We are sorry that student-athletes—and their families—who sacrificed so much to reach such heights could not reap all the awards that were surely coming their way. But we want to stand up and cheer with all our hearts for the magnificent displays of skill and courage that we in the Menlo community were able to see. The season may have been short, but we remember the packed gym and filled stands, the thrilling plays, and the Oak spirit rising between fans and players. A quick recap: In all of last year, our teams racked up 129 wins; when we had to stop the year ¾ of the way through, we already had 125 wins. When the 2020 season abruptly ended, we had already won:

• A record 27 Player of the Year awards

• 21 All Conference honorees

• 4 Coaches of the Year awards

• 41 Scholar-Athletes awards

• 4 Conference championships - in Men’s Soccer, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s Wrestling, and Women’s Wrestling

In these crazy times, it’s the better days ahead that give us hope. By accomplishing the impossible, year after year, the dedication of Menlo College athletes gives us reason to hope for better days ahead. In the next two pages, we show you a few of our athletes in action. 57 SUMMER 2020

Oaks’ Olympic Aspirations Delayed By Aaron Gillespie, Assistant Athletics Director The 2020 US Olympic Wrestling Team Trials were scheduled to take place on April 4, 2020, and Menlo College was set to be well represented at the event. As it did for so many aspects of our lives, Covid-19 altered the plan. A trio of current Oaks and a decorated alumna had already punched their tickets to the Olympic Team Trials, while a host of other Menlo athletes were on the fringe of qualifying before the season was cut short. Current students Precious Bell ’20, (right), Tiana Jackson ’21, and Alleida Martinez ’22 qualified for Team Trials thanks to their stellar performances at the US Open last December. Precious Bell headlined the list by winning her second-consecutive US Open title, ranking her second in the country at 76kg. Tiana Jackson entered the US Open as the #9 seed, but wrestled through a tough bracket to finish runner-up at 57kg. Alleida Martinez finished fifth at 50kg, as just a sophomore, to earn her spot at Olympic Team Trials. Alumna Katherine Shai ’10 is a veteran of the national scene as a six-time National Team Member, and she qualified for the Team Trials once again by finishing third at 53kg. Last season, Menlo had five national champions at the US Open, including Solin Piearcy ’20 and Marilyn Garcia ’20. Solin Piearcy was the top-seed at 65 kg, while Marilyn Garcia was the eight-seed as a defending national champion at 70 kg. Gracie Figueroa ’22 and Angela Peralta ’21 each finished second at NAIA nationals in 2019, and they were looking to pick up national titles this year to secure their place at Olympic Team Trials. The 2020 Olympic Games have been rescheduled for the summer of 2021. A new date for the US Wrestling Olympic Team Trials has not yet been determined, but Menlo is sure to be represented – a testament to the prowess and drive that defines the Menlo College Women’s Wrestling program! Photo: Brian Byllesby

M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

S ports spring

slide Save Southpaw

set shift

Sink 59 SUMMER 2020

stance

signal swing

Serve

slam

steal

M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZI N E

Honoring our Athletes and Coaches Aaron Gillespie, Assistant Athletics Director To celebrate the 2019-20 season, Menlo College Athletics hosted its first-ever Virtual Athlete Banquet in May. The awards ceremony recognizes athletic ability, leadership, academic success, and campus involvement. Menlo’s teams were on trend to deliver the best year ever in school history before Covid-19 brought the action to a premature close. We honor our student-athletes and their coaches for all their achievements and for setting such a blistering pace. Included among the athletic awards were: • Women’s wrestler Solin Piearcy ’20 was the Señor Carlos Lopez Award winner, and men’s basketball player Jeremiah Testa ’20 was the F. Philler Curtis Award winner. These awards honor senior student-athletes who, by scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability, have made outstanding contributions to campus life. • Fall Sports Athletes of the Year were Tim Staerz ’20 (men’s soccer) and Moea Kekauoha ’20 (women’s volleyball) • Winter Sports Athletes of the Year were Precious Bell ’20 (women’s wrestling) and Anthony Orozco’20 (men’s wrestling) • Spring Sports Athletes of the Year were Lauren Harrison ’20 (softball), Edin Ibrahimovic ’22 (men’s volleyball) • The Bud Presley Coach of the Year award was presented to Director of Wrestling, Joey Martinez ’03 (right). Coach Martinez was also named the 2020 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Coach of the Year and went on to win the 2020 NAIA Coach of the Year. The multiple honors recognized his role in leading our men’s team to a first place conference finish, and a second place national finish. Our men’s team also won the 2020 NAIA Team Sportsmanship Award. Menlo’s women’s wrestling team also took first place at our conference, and was in position to defend their 2019 national title when the pandemic forced competition to come to a halt. While just a few people were singled out that evening, the Menlo College community celebrates all our student-athletes and coaches for putting in the practice hours day after day, for somehow pulling out a win against the odds, for gracefully accepting a loss, and for teaching us all how to learn from experience and go on to greater heights.

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Through Tremendous Loss, Menlo’s 2020 Valedictorian Rises to the Top In mid-March, just a few days after Italy had reported a peak in deaths from Covid-19, Lucrezia Povero, the 2020 Menlo College valedictorian, answered my Zoom call from lockdown at her family’s property, Cantine Povero, a 250-acre vineyard and winery just outside of Turin in northern Italy. It was certainly a strange time, and a strange way, to be congratulating Menlo’s newest valedictorian, but as soon as Povero appeared on my screen, beaming with a reassuring smile, I knew all was well. That smile, I’d later learn, is one of the characteristics that defines her, particularly to those who know her better as “Lu.” “My family was so excited to hear this news,” Povero said. “This [graduation] would have been their first time in the states.” Family holds a unique significance for Povero and her journey. Like many international students, her first year at Menlo was hard. She missed her parents and two younger sisters, ages 22 and 21. She hadn’t expected the culture shock of moving from a small village in the Italian countryside to the Silicon Valley, where it seemed no one could understand her accent. “I thought people were joking when they first told me dinner was at 5 p.m.,” Povero said. “Where I live, restaurants don’t even open until 8!” It didn’t take long for things to change for Povero. She made friends easily—that smile is infectious. She joined the CrossCountry Track and Field team. She joined clubs and chose a major she felt good about—international management and marketing. But then, in the fall of 2017, just weeks after she’d started her sophomore year, her father called with devastating news. Her mother’s breast cancer, which she’d been managing with chemotherapy treatments since 2014, had spread to her brain. “My mum had been struggling like a warrior against cancer for eight years, but she had been able to conduct a normal life until that day,” Povero said. She booked the first flight home and made it to her mother’s bedside just twelve hours before she passed away. “I believe she was waiting for me,” she said. M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

When Povero returned to campus three weeks later, she was behind and overwhelmed. She said her professors were supportive, but she was often anxious and exhausted, filling her schedule with activities and social engagements to try suppressing her sadness. “I knew I needed help,” she said. “My grief was there, asking for my attention, but I wasn’t willing to give it to him.” Povero sought the help of a therapist on campus and received “precious advice.” She listened to podcasts on grief, started meditating and allowed herself to slow down so she could finally grieve, and heal. “I realized my mum would have been very proud of me, and that she saw in me a side of herself that she was never able to explore.” Povero said her parents, who grew the family winery from a small local name established in 1827 to the international distributor it is today, didn’t have the chance to attend college themselves. But they taught their daughters a strong work ethic and they knew how to “push without pressure.” “They taught us that we were smart and independent,” Povero said. During her junior and senior years, Povero thrived. She served as treasurer of the Menlo Culture Exchange Club and was a member of Women in Leadership and Development (WILD), the Sustainability Club, DECA, the Outdoor Adventure Club and the Pioneer Club. In 2018, she completed both a study abroad program at Menlo’s partner school, Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan, and an internship at Enoteca Vino Nostro, an importer of Italian wines in San Francisco. “Turns out my accent was quite useful in selling Italian wines here,” she said. Povero, who graduated from Menlo in December of last year, is now working in marketing for Cantine Povero and Cascina Vengore, and dreams of opening an American office of the business so she can spend time between her hometown and the states. “I am forever grateful to Menlo for opening this dream for me,” she said.

Povero (center) with her parents and sisters on vacation in the Netherlands in August of 2017, less than a month before her mother Mary (white hat), passed away.

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CLASS of Kil

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Roman Richard

2020

WHEN THE SKY FALLS, Tina Petelo

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USE IT AS A BLANKET

Conner Samson

CLASS OF 2020

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Nathalie Vega

To the Graduating Class:

DeaJa Norris

Aaron Flores

Let 2020 be the Year of Looking Forward By Caroline Casper, Adjunct Professor of Literature and Humanities

On Saturday May 9, 2020 Menlo College celebrated this year’s 92nd commencement ceremony in an unusual way. In an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, the College asked graduates and their families to stay home but tune in, becoming one of the first colleges in the U.S. ever to host its graduation online. The virtual ceremony, which was held via a pre-recorded video on Menlo’s website, began just like all the graduations before it--with a serenade of traditional Scottish bagpipes over iconic views of Menlo’s campus. The ceremony was officially convened by Grand Marshal Charles “Chop” Keenan III ’66, who introduced himself on computer screens around the world with valuable advice for the graduating seniors. Given these challenging times, he said the class of 2020 is going to need “foresight, not hindsight.” The audience was then treated to a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem sung by graduating senior Solin Piearcy, who President Steven Weiner later referred to as “something of the Meryl Streep of Menlo College.” Piearcy was also the 2020 class salutatorian and recipient of this year’s Richard O’Brien Award. President Weiner appeared on screen next, in full regalia. “Some thought we shouldn’t gather today unless we could do so in person,” he said. “But today is a day to celebrate…and in the midst of global tragedy, our community came together and demonstrated ingenuity, agility, compassion and determination. I’ve never been prouder to be your president.” President Weiner praised the graduates for their achievements, while also acknowledging the seriousness of suffering the world is facing, and the significant way Menlo graduates can make a difference. “My heart goes out to those of you who have been touched by this pandemic…as difficult as this moment is, I have faith in our future, and I believe that we will get through this because of the talent, energy and drive of the class of 2020.” M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z i ne

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Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Grande Lum appeared next to thank Menlo’s faculty and to introduce the student speakers, Valedictorian Lucrezia Povero ’20 and Student Government President Ashlee Hunt ’20. “These remarkable young women are emblematic of the talent that was exemplified by the class of 2020,” said Lum. “They have left their mark on Menlo College.”

Matthew Lopez

In touching and intimate speeches recorded from their homes, both Povero and Hunt thanked their families, friends and professors while acknowledging their disappointment in not being able to gather and celebrate in person. From the living room of her family’s home in northern Italy, Povero said that although the internet format was unexpected, she was honored to be the first Menlo valedictorian to give her speech online.

Laianne Guimaraes

“We are stronger than our excuses; stronger than our fears and the apparently unwinnable battles that life makes us fight,” she said. “Start living your life as though everything is a miracle.” Next, Hunt, who is also a former University Innovation Fellow and this year’s Golden Oak Service Award recipient, thanked her family and professors for all of their support, but saved most of her gratitude and encouragement for the classmates she was missing, those who put up with her “dark humor, around the clock sarcasm, and indepth cartoon rants on multiple occasions.”

spoke next from his home state of Hawaii to offer his own words of encouragement and advice. “Don’t let this pandemic overshadow what we should be celebrating today,” he said. “The world we left pre-Covid and the world we will be entering post-Covid is going to look a lot different, and will be framed by those who step into the issue, not those who step back.”

Anthony Ramos

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“I know the conditions under which we are making this transition might not be favorable, but we are the future,” she said. Micah Ka-ne ’91, Chair of the Menlo College Board of Trustees and father of graduating senior Ka’ilihiwa Ka-ne,

Keynote speaker Mary G.F. Bitterman addressed the class from her beautiful garden. She is President of the Bernard Osher Foundation, a 40-year-old philanthropic organization based in San Francisco that seeks to improve quality of life through support for higher education and the arts. Bitterman, who previously served as president and CEO of both the James Irvine Foundation and KQED, encouraged the graduates to view this pandemic as an opportunity, an auspicious time to be entering the workforce.

Nicholas Castellanos

“I’m convinced that each of you will make a difference,” Bitterman said. “In fact, you must…contribute to fashioning a post-Covid world, reflecting the better angels of our nature.” Bitterman, who is also the current director of the Bank of Hawaii and the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, emphasized that although global markets are bracing for the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, members of the 2020 graduating class may already be “several steps ahead” of those trying to foster renewal and crisis reconstruction, and may even, one day, be considered another Greatest Generation. “You are poised to play a singularly positive role,” she said. “You already embrace the importance of purpose… climate change, sustainability, ever greater innovation…the value of diversity and inclusion…of honest, accountable and compassionate leadership.”

Stone Escobedo

And finally, at a point in the ceremony when the class of 2020 would normally take to the stage to receive their diplomas from President Weiner, the event concluded with the graduates presenting themselves in pre-recorded videos of thanks and self-expression. And, instead of the standard cap toss and a spray of confetti, President Weiner concluded the ceremony by encouraging the graduates to move their tassels from right to left. He then offered a final–and singular– “congratulations,” before a moment of silence and a phantom roar of applause heard by thousands of Oaks around the world. 65 SUMMER 2020

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New graduate Ayinde Banjoko ‘20 is ready to take on the world. Right: Kaliyah Burton ‘20 and her family share in a virtual commencement celebration.

Jose Lopez, Marketing – Alexandra Lundqvist, Psychology – Karan Mandoth, Marketing – Sebastian Marin, Accounting – Louis Didier Marle, International Management – Joseph Charles Maroun, Real Estate – Giselle Martinez Collado, Psychology – Ryan McCarthy, Psychology – Jesus H. Medina, Entrepreneurship – Thanthawat Moengchaisong, Entrepreneurship – Sean Joseph Moore, Finance – Nicholas Nightingale-Grey, Accounting – DeaJa LaShun Norris, Marketing – Jessica Abbey Damian Padilla, Psychology – John Owen Paine III, Accounting – Natalia Lea Palladino, Marketing – Jenae Pennywell, Marketing – Mikel Dean Perales, Human Resource Management – Russell W. Perkins, Accounting Kilisitina “ Tina” Petelo, Finance/Accounting – Daniel James Piazza, Finance/International Management – Solin Nicole Piearcy, Marketing/Human Resource Management – Carly Polisso, Psychology – Lucrezia Provero, Marketing/International Management – Arline Ramirez Vizcarra, Real Estate – Jacob Daniel Ramirez, Finance – Ariadna Ramirez Fernandez de Lara, Sports Management – Anthony Philip Raval Ramos, Human Resource Management – Diana Ramos, Marketing – Joseph Samuel Ratto, Sports Management – Elijah Redding-Moment, Finance – Meghan Marie Regan, Human Resource Management – Iliana Revuelta, Human Resource Management – Jorge Reynoso, Sports Management – Roman Richard, Entrepreneurship – Taylor Robinson, Marketing/Entreprenuership – Francisco Rodriguez, International Management – Jessica Jewell Rogers, Marketing – Petr Ropek, Marketing – Joshua Ramos Salazar, Marketing/Human Resource Management – Conner Michael Samson, International Management – Christie Jazmine Sandez, Psychology – William Sandvik, Marketing – Apollo Santos, Finance – Hannahli Kahaunani Burke Sarmiento, International Management – Jennifer Shahid, Marketing – Andrew Christopher Shatzel, Finance – Manpreet Singh, Psychology – Jason Hiroshi Sisneros, Entrepreneurship – Tim Staerz, International Management – Valentino Stradford, Accounting Vanessa Subana, Marketing – Emily Sunada, Marketing – Jeremiah Testa, Accounting – Javier Uriagereka, International Management – Bruce Elijah Caguin Valdez, Entrepreneurship – Gabrielle Katyana Valencia, Accounting – Nathalie Paola Vega, Marketing – Austin Venezia, Sports Management – Pukana Kahokukaimanakai’opua’okelani Vincent, Marketing – Jared Wall, Marketing – Kylie Wetzel, Marketing – Hannah Nicole Willard, Psychology – Angelo Willi, Sports Management – Tamara Bianca Williams, Marketing – Colton Wirth, Marketing/Finance Karla Woods, Finance – Pengxiang Xi, Sports Management – Taisuke Yamamoto, International Management – Auli’i Kapuahiwiahiwaokanoe Young, Human Resource Management – Maleyah Angelique Zataray, Psychology – Taisheng Zhang, Finance – Hongzhi Zhao, Accounting

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