LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES
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President: Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD
Sean Tulley ’19, student-athlete
September 2016
By Alex Bird ’16, English major They say college is a young man’s game. Collegiate sports, with their intensive demands on the human body, even more so. However, tell that to 48-yearold Sean Tulley ‘19 and he’ll point you towards the St. Mary’s River where, for the last two semesters, he’s walked down to the banks at five in the morning to practice with the men’s varsity rowing team. Tulley, who, after twenty years’ service in the United States Army, enrolled as an undergraduate student at St. Mary’s the previous fall, has spent the last nine months complementing his recent academic pursuits by rowing for the St. Mary’s College crew team, the school’s competitive rowing club. For Tulley, committing himself to the strenuous demands of the rowing team seemed like a tailormade opportunity. “I’ve always wanted to row,” he says. “I’ve known all my life that crew is one of those great, pure sports that requires a great combination of strength, endurance, skill, heart and determination.” Seeing that the rowing team was holding tryouts shortly after his matriculation, Tulley decided to try his hand at the endurance sport. “I knew that it was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down,” he says. “At worst, I’d hate it and never have to worry about getting up at 4 a.m. to go to practice every morning.”
He took to rowing immediately, throwing himself into the intensive training regimen and passionate campus community that revolves around the sport. Tulley made the cut for the men’s team’s leading boat, competed in several collegiate races and became an essential member of the crew team both on and off the water. “The team has been great,” says Tulley. “I have to step back sometimes and remind myself that I’m 48 years old, not 20. That’s how accepting they’ve all been towards me.” On a personal level, rowing has provided him with a firm basis upon which to pursue his academic career. “Crew grounds the whole experience,” he says. “Having crew forces me to be responsible both to myself and the team. I can’t let the academic stuff slide until the last minute, and then pull an all-nighter because I feel like I would be letting the team down if I didn’t come to practice prepared.” After a year of rowing, it’s apparent to both Tulley and the team that he’ll have no problem being prepared for the next race or practice. Tulley says rowing has enriched his college experience. “I’m learning a lot about myself from the interaction with my teammates and classmates. I truly feel like I’ve won the lottery and am living a life that most people can only dream about.”
A newsletter for the community, faculty, staff and students.
Building Campaign Goal Achieved! On July 1, St. Mary’s College of Maryland announced it had completed the College’s building campaign, raising $2.5 million in private gifts. Reaching the goal allows the College to utilize approximately $76 million in state funding for a new academic building with an auditorium and a new athletic stadium complex. The success of the campaign can be attributed in part to the William P. Roberts, III family. The Roberts family donated $2.2 million to the College, with a portion of the total donation enabling the building campaign to reach its goal. As a result of the Roberts family gift – the single largest gift in the history of the College – the new athletic stadium complex will be named the Jamie L. Roberts Stadium, in honor of Jamie L. Roberts ’11, an economics major and three-sport star athlete who was tragically killed in June 2014 while riding her bicycle across the country to raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund.
Opening Convocation by the Numbers
Sean Tulley, standing second from left, with his rowing teammates and coach.
1270 chairs(all filled) 340 first-year students 237th day of the year 118 transfer students 92 degrees (in the shade) 12 new tenure-track faculty 6 inspiring speakers
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
Countless: number of hugs goodbye between students and families
Stu d y T o ur Sp o t li g h t :
Summer Goes Global
The Liberal Arts Develops Global Citizens: Summer Study Tours Go Far and Wide SMCM students and faculty covered some 20,000 miles this summer to experience the liberal arts in the world. The Greece Study Tour, led by Michael Taber, associate professor of philosophy, included visits to the ancient cities of Athens, Corinth, Nemea, and various other famous classical and historical sites. While there, students participated in the Nemead, a modern revival of the Pan-Hellenic games. How appropriate during an Olympic Games summer! Running in the Nemead, a modern revival of the Pan-Hellenic games in Greece. Photos by Sarah Fellerman.
See more pictures from both trips on Flickr.
The Andean Study Tour provided students the chance to explore the culture and history of Peru. Led by Adriana Brodsky, associate professor of history, and Ruth Anne Phillips, visiting assistant professor of art history, the group visited Machu Picchu, Cusco, and joined workshops in weaving and ceramics. Photo (right): Brooke Lamplough; (below): Ruth Anne Phillips.
What’s Happening in Sports
The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) has named four SMCM students, for outstanding achievement, to its All-American Team: Alexander Curtiss ‘16 (Lake Bluff, Ill) Coed skipper Shelby Jacobs ‘17 (South Toms River, NJ) and Mariah Leffingwell ’16 (Easton, MD) crew Carolyn Smith ’17 (Newport Beach, CA) Women’s skipper
Particle Physics is Focus of Day’s SmURF Research Supported by the St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SmURF) Program, Tommie Day ’17 (physics and computer science) worked this summer with Erin De Pree, associate professor of physics, in the field of theoretical high-energy particle physics. Day is developing a computer program, as part of her St. Mary’s Project, that could determine how black holes should affect the rates of particle production near them. Day was one of ten students whose research proposal was selected for the eight-week program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as well as by internal sources, including the Office of the President and the Office of Academic Affairs.
SMCM Rugby Sensation Stuns the Nation at NSCRO 7’s Championship Chosen as a wildcard team, the SMCM men’s rugby team made it to the final round of NSCRO 7’s Championship in early June. After defeating strong college teams from Franklin & Marshall, Claremont, and Susquehanna, SMCM ultimately fell to the defending champions from New Mexico Highlands University. From a wildcard entry, the SMCM men’s rugby team is now ranked second in the nation within the NSCRO group!
Kudos to... Shelby Perkins ’14 (coord. student activities) begins her Peace Corps journey in September. She is serving in Lesotho, South Africa in the education sector. Perkins plans to host an SMCM alumni reunion in South Africa knowing that there are alums currently serving in the Peace Corps in Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, and Benin. Russ Rhine (assoc. prof. of economics) is working for Congress during the fall semester as a senior economist with the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, a bipartisan bicameral committee. Jennifer CognardBlack (prof. of English) recently published “Becoming a Great Essayist” through the Great Courses Program. Her release includes essays from contributing students and faculty. The Great Courses are a series of educational classes offered to “surround the world’s greatest teachers with a team of experts who collaborate on crafting a customized and entertaining educational journey.”
Pam Mertz (assoc. prof. of chemistry and biochemistry) published with colleague Craig Streu, “Teaching Undergraduates Professional Skills” in ASBMB Today, the journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The article appeared in the August 8, 2016 issue. Joe Lucchesi (assoc. prof. of art history and coordinator of the WGSX Program) was consulting curator of “The Art of Romaine Brooks,” an exhibition at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Lucchesi was also interviewed on NPR’s “Morning Edition” as consulting curator for the exhibition, which runs through Oct. 2. Bill Ward (dir. of sailing) was named the 2016 winner of the Sail1Design Coach of the Year, presented by Henri-Lloyd. Sail1Design staff chooses the annual winner from reader nominations. Nominees must embody energy, leadership, patience, creativity, and dedication.