 Lisa Kaplan '13 and Danny Garin '13 have taken the lead in an effort to raise funds for humanitarian aid to Haiti through Partners in Health, and two anonymous alumni pledged to match $25,000 if the students raise that much. Initiatives include t-shirt sales that raised more than $6,000 and a benefit dinner and silent auction Feb. 26. Parents not attending may bid via e-mail in the silent auction, which includes Red Sox and Celtics tickets and a pair of skis. See progress and details. Efforts to help Haiti by individual alumni include the Jonathan Glynn ('74) Haiti Aviation Project, which carries supplies to Haiti, and Adam Cote '95's role in procuring artificial limbs.
 So much for climbing the corporate ladder. Why not start off as president? In their final semester at Colby, Nick Friedman '10 and Brandon Pollock '10 are splitting their time between classes and a business venture that they expect will become a full-time job after graduation. The cofounders of Blue Reserve, a bottleless water cooler company, are working to secure clients in Maine and beyond. More »
 Two current students took time out from classes to teach Maine National Guard leaders about Afghanistan in an effort to foster cultural awareness and sensitivity among troops going to Kabul in March. Sulaiman Nasseri '12 and Khaled Wardak '13 joined Qiamuddin Amiry '09 and John Campbell '09 of the Afghan Scholars Initiative to teach officers about the subtleties of Afghans' religion, taboos, code of honor, etc., in hopes of minimizing avoidable misunderstandings that could turn deadly. More »
 The third biggest Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant in Maine came to Waterville and Winslow thanks in large part to efforts of Steve Erario '10. The senior environmental studies major has been a force in the community throughout his Colby years, helping organize Sustain Mid-Maine and now providing all the data and co-writing a $170,000 grant for energy conservation and alternative energy. The work will leverage the money to stimulate jobs in the community, and residents should save $115,000 per year at the current price of heating oil. More »
 At the second annual Winter Carnival (redux), the Student Government Association and six clubs collaborated to hold a broomball tournament on Johnson Pond, a telemark skiing clinic at Sugarloaf, an ice-climbing trip, opportunities for volunteer work in the local community, and a semiformal Snow Ball. Alas, lack of snow made the popular snow sculpture contest impossible. See an Echo video featuring a horse-drawn wagon and broomball on the pond.
 Colby's November production of Metamorphoses received a merit award for outstanding ensemble excellence at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region I competitions Jan. 26-31. Judge Aynne Ames, sent by KCACTF to evaluate and respond to the performance, which involved a swimming pool built in Strider Theater, called it "possibly the best thing I've ever seen at the college level." More »
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 It's been a good winter for the Mules. Both basketball teams advanced to the NESCAC final four with victories in Wadsworth Gym last weekend. The second-seeded women (22-3) will play Bowdoin at Amherst at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27. Third-seeded men's basketball (19-5) plays Middlebury at Williams, also at 4 p.m. Saturday. ... Both ice hockey teams qualified for the first round of their NESCAC tournaments. The men (11-8-4) take on first-seed Bowdoin at Bowdoin at 7 p.m. Saturday; women's hockey (3-16-5) plays top-seed Amherst at Amherst at 1 p.m. Both hockey teams beat their upcoming opponents during the regular season, including two men's victories over Bowdoin in December. All four games will be webcast. Details ». ... Lots of other news from skiing, squash, swimming, and track teams online.
 Elizabeth Hanson '02, a CIA agent killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan Dec. 30, will be remembered with a scholarship fund at Colby in her name established by her family. Stationed at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province, Hanson and her team were collecting information about militant networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plotting missions to kill the networks' top leaders, according to the New York Tmes. See more about the fund or contribute to the scholarship.
 Parents and alumni have many opportunities to keep learning from Colby's outstanding faculty. Each year professors speak to regional alumni club gatherings, to which parents also are invited. Recently Tilar Mazzeo (English) spoke in Boston, New York, and Washington about her award-winning biography, The Widow Clicquot. Catherine Besteman (anthropology) will speak to the New York Colby Club March 9 on the Somali Bantu refugee community in Lewiston, Maine, and Cal Mackenzie (government) will speak to the Sarasota club March 26 about Barack Obama and the ghost of Lyndon Johnson. After a one-year hiatus, Alumni College is back July 25-28, 2010, with a program on the Great Depression. Parents are invited to attend. Colby faculty also often accompany alumni travel-study trips. See the full schedule of events.
Five assistant professors were granted tenure at the Jan. 23 Board of Trustees meeting. Click to read about Phil Brown (economics), Walter Hatch (government), Arne Koch (German), Tilar Mazzeo (English), and Philip Nyhus (environmental studies).
The applicant pool for the Class of 2014 is 4,210 deep, with substantial increases in numbers of African-American and Latino/a students vying for admission to Colby. Overall applications decreased 7 percent from last year, due in part to a sharp decline in the number of 17-year-olds coming out of high schools in the Northeast, traditionally Colby's strongest recruiting ground, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Parker Beverage said. Applications from African-American students are up 45 percent and from Latino/a students are up 14 percent from last year. Applications from outside New England increased to 58 percent of the pool. Ten percent of applications were for early decision. There are 74 siblings of current or former students and 97 sons or daughters of alumni. |
