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President: Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD

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The St. Mary’s College Ceremonial Mace

May 2017

By Sarah Jablon ’16, English major The ceremonial mace is an object that extends far back in Western European history as a symbol of authority and honor. In the fourteenth century the mace, once considered a weapon of warfare, became an elaborately decorative item carried by figures of religious and political power. As time passed, the mace was incorporated into universities as a symbol of status. Institutions like Yale University and the University of Notre Dame have included a mace in ceremonies since the early twentieth century. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, too, has used its own mace in commencements and convocations for the past thirty years.

The St. Mary’s mace was commissioned in 1981 by Jonathan Ingersoll, professor of art, and Reed West, professor of theater. It was meant to add “further grace” to the school: an initiative led by Renwick Jackson during his presidency at St. Mary’s (1968-1982).

President Jackson oversaw the transition of St. Mary’s College from a junior college to a fouryear, coeducational institution, and the installation of several prestigious programs, such as the Order of Lord Baltimore in 1980 and the Order of Margaret Brent in 1981.

The mace was constructed by artists Nancy Hopkins and Earl Hopkins of Williamsburg, Va. Earl Hopkins was a craftsman nationally acclaimed for his work in sculpture, and his deep understanding of the symbolic nature of objects. It was carved of St. Mary’s County black

A newsletter for the community, faculty, staff and students.

walnut, so from its very roots the mace was an artifact symbolic of the history of St. Mary’s College and the surrounding county. Jackson noted in his book, “The Golden Run,” that the mace was “more beautiful than ornate gold or silver.”

The mace was finished just days before the commencement ceremony of 1981, and saw its first moment of glory in the hands of Velma Perkins, professor of English and leader of the 1981 commencement procession. Since then, it has become a symbol of authority, carried by the procession leader who is chosen annually by the Faculty Senate. This year, the mace will be carried by Wesley Jordan, professor of neurosciences and psychology.

When the St. Mary’s mace is not in use, it is on display in the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.

Thank You for Your Service!

On April 19, President Tuajuanda C. Jordan recognized faculty and staff service anniversary milestones at a celebratory dinner program held in Daugherty-Palmer Commons.

Employees were recognized for their years of service along with 2016 retirees. Shown here with President Jordan are those with 30, 35, and 40 years of service, L to R: Chip Jackson (30), Clayton Hartley (30), Larry Vote (35), President Jordan, Ray Yarber (40), Robin Bates (35), Elaine Szymkowiak (35).

Trailblazer Award to Julie Croteau ’93

Rugby Team Headed to Championships

President Tuajuanda C. Jordan presents Julie Croteau the Trailblazer award.

The men’s rugby team secured a spot for the 2017 NSCRO (National Small College Rugby Organization) championship held near Philadelphia, Pa., in June. This will be the club’s second run for the championship, having had a strong first appearance last year.

Want More?

News, Student and Faculty accomplishments: www.smcm.edu/news Campus Events Calendar: www.smcm.edu/events/calendar 240.895.2000 | www.smcm.edu

President Tuajuanda C. Jordan presented the President’s Trailblazer Award on April 8 to the first female to play NCAA men’s baseball. Julie Croteau ’93 achieved this notable first when she made the St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Division III men’s team as a freshman. Among many accomplishments in her baseball career, Croteau was the first woman to coach an NCAA Division I team and was one of two women ever to play in a Major League Baseball sanctioned winter league. Croteau also played first base for the women’s professional baseball team, the Colorado Silver Bullets.

Julie Croteau in 1989

Q& A : Danielle Kushner, asst. prof. of political science

Bay to Bay Service Days Clean Up!

Why are public goods not always public?

Danielle Kushner joined the faculty in 2013.

In the teaching of comparative politics, does knowledge in other disciplines (like statistics, economics, psychology) help a student thrive? If so, is the study of comparative politics a niche of liberal arts education?

Comparative politics is definitely a niche of liberal arts education.

Comparative politics is the subfield of political science that examines the domestic politics of various countries around the globe. Therefore, students’ knowledge of other disciplines like history, economics, and even psychology, deepen their understanding of how political institutions, actors and processes work in the U.S. and abroad.

From a professor’s viewpoint, what advice do you wish students would heed with respect to prioritizing work on their St. Mary’s Projects as deadlines approach?

Begin with the end in mind. I know this sounds cliché, but I do feel that for students to successfully complete an SMP, they need to be able to visualize, very early on, what they will need to generate the final product.

This means thinking at the very early stages of the SMP about not only what the student wants to study (the research question), but also what resources and sources (literature and data), are and are not available to them as they work on this year long project.

Public goods are not always public because around the world we witness private individuals and organizations providing key goods like security, healthcare, clean water and education.

The non-state actors who provide these goods can range from large MultiNational Corporations (MNCs) and International NonGovernmental Organizations (INGOs), to small community and faith-based organizations.

The non-state supply of public goods usually occurs in instances where the state has failed to supply such goods, or in cases where citizens simply want a higher quality good than the state can provide.

SMCM students and alums collected 1700 lbs. of garbage on April 23!

St. Mary’s College of Maryland alumni formed teams across the country to give back to local communities, April 22 and 23. Groups of alumni and some current students joined other volunteers for 12 service projects during the 2nd Annual Bay to Bay Service Days, exemplifying the principles and lessons they learned as students through the St. Mary’s Way. Service project sites were located in San Francisco, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; Miami, Fla.; Cape Cod, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; and several locations in Maryland including Frederick, Baltimore, Annapolis, Charlotte Hall and St. Mary’s City.

“Hire Hawks” Entrepreneurs Advance to Finals

How can the provision of nonstate public goods influence how people get involved in politics?

The impact of the non-state provision of public goods on political participation really varies. Let’s take security as an example. For some people who primarily rely on nonstate security like a private security firm (e.g. ADT), or neighborhood watch group, they may feel less inclined to participate in politics. For them, participation in politics is not necessary when the goods and services they need are being supplied by actors outside of the state.

But in some cases, citizens’ reliance on non-state security can boost their involvement in politics. This is more likely to be the case when citizens are not satisfied with the non-state services they are receiving and/or they have a deep conviction that the non-state services they are receiving should be supplied by the state.

If you were taking a pleasure trip, where would you go?

Italy. Hands down, Italy.

I can’t think of a more beautiful, historically relevant place--that is also a foodie’s heaven :)

What’s Happening in Sports The women’s sailing team came in first place at the MAISA conference championship at U.S. Naval Academy on April 22-23, and qualified for the 2017 Sperry Top-Sider College Sailing Women’s National Championships (semi-final round) to be held in Charleston, SC May 23-24.

Greer Wattson ‘17 (on right) was named to the All-Conference (MAISA) second team. Carolyn Smith ’17 (on left) was named as a finalist for MAISA Women’s Sailor of the Year and 1st team All-MAISA for the second year in a row. Carolyn is also a returning Honorable Mention Women’s All-American skipper. Congratulations and good luck to the women’s team!

The St. Mary’s College of Maryland entrepreneurial student group, Hire Hawks, beat out 20 other

pitches in the first round of the Southern Maryland CrabPot Pitch Contest held Thursday, April 13 at Elements in Lexington Park. They advance to the next round on May 11 for a chance to win $5,000 and a year of coaching and mentorship.

Pictured from left to right: Peg Duchesne ’77, a member of the College’s Board of Trustees and adviser for Hire Hawks; team members Ryan Grant ’17; Marsalis Hurley ’18; Sam Saunders ’19; Ivan Messi ’17; Tally Aumiller ’17; Professor of Sociology Elizabeth Osborn; and team member James Loftis ’17.

Kudos to...

Eli Ayres ’16 (TFMS) received the Visionary Award for his animated film “One Way Town” at the international Visions Film Festival & Conference, hosted annually by the Film Studies Department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The Visionary Award (or “Best in Show”) is given to the top entry in the festival. Eli produced “One Way Town” in 2016 as his SMP filmmaking project.

Nicole DeAngeli ’14 (biochemistry, psychology) was announced as a recipient of 2017 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The program recognizes outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. DeAngeli is now at Dartmouth.

Liza Gijanto (asst. prof. of anthropology) is a recipient of the highly competitive Howard Foundation Fellowship through Brown University, dedicated “to furthering the personal development of promising individuals at the crucial middle stages of their careers in the liberal and creative arts.” Gijanto was recognized for her project: “Emancipation and Commerce: The Gambia Colony and American Plantations in the Age of British Abolition.”

Katharina von Kellenbach (prof. of religious studies) recently published a chapter in the book “Lived Religion and the Politics of (In)Tolerance” (Springer, 2017). The book explores ten case studies that address shortcomings in the relationship between religion and (in) tolerance and offers an understanding of micro-politics of (in)tolerance and the roles of lived religion in it. The book is published in print and electronic format.

Walter Hill (prof. of political science) along with Nicholas A. Valentino and John Leslie King from the University of Michigan, will be published in the May edition of Computer magazine. The article, “Polling and Prediction in the 2016 Presidential Election,” analyzes what went right and wrong in experts’ failure to predict the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Jeffrey Coleman (assoc. prof. of English) edited a special issue of The Delaware Poetry Review, “‘This Thing Called Life’: Poetry Inspired by the Music and Spirit of Prince.”The issue was released one year after the artist’s death. There are 32 contributors including Cacayo (pseudonym of José Ballesteros, Steven Muller Distinguished Professor of the Arts and professor of international languages and cultures).