Fingers crossed for fair weather, students, faculty, and families are readying for Sunday, May 20—a day to honor the Class of 2012, 470 strong, and to hear from a high-profile former world leader. Alumni can view the password-protected live webcast using your Colby Alumni Network (CAN) username and password. Those alumni without CAN login credentials may call 207-859-5930 between 3 and 6 p.m. EDT Friday, May 18 or between 3 and 6 a.m. EDT Saturday, May 19, (password required by phone system is 1813) to receive a password to view the webcast. Questions or difficulty? Call 207-859-4353. Please don't share your password, but do share or follow commencement on Twitter using #ColbyGrad. More details on Commencement 2012 are online.
There's something different about varsity crew captain Jill Howell '12. Not just that she's the smallest one on the boat or that she wields a mic instead of an oar. As coxswain—the eyes of the team—she is every inch a team leader, but it's not a crew of women following her directions. Howell is the first woman in Colby history to captain a men's varsity team. Read more in an insideColby profile by Josephine Liang '14.
Four professors won 2012-13 Fulbright fellowships to do research and teach on three continents. "It's a measure of the broad strength of Colby's faculty that we see professors from the humanities, sciences, and social sciences all receiving Fulbright awards in the same year," said Lori Kletzer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. Read more about Patrice Franko (economics), Bob Gastaldo (geology), Paula Harrington (English), and Sandy Maisel (government) and their Fulbright plans.
Matt Apuzzo '00 won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in April as part of an Associated Press team that revealed the New York Police Department's secret surveillance of Muslims. Read how Apuzzo complicated Colby's presidential transition as an Echo reporter in 1999, and get links to his post-prize interview on NPR's Fresh Air, to the award-winning AP series, and to a story about his cub reporting days at the Morning Sentinel.
The actors onstage get most of the glory. But the costumes, set design, and wigs in this spring's production of Moliere's 17th-century comedy Tartuffe were so remarkable that Sonia Vargas '15 made a video about them. Take a look at all that went into this semester's big show before opening night rolled around.
Colby received a record number of applications this year and—more good news—the number of students who accepted Colby's offer of admission (known as the yield) increased as well. A particularly bright spot is the yield among Presidential Scholars, the students with the strongest academic records. Read more.
Elizabeth Hanson '02 was a rising CIA star with ponderous responsibilities and the profound respect of her superiors when she was killed along with six colleagues in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in 2009. Editor Gerry Boyle '78 probes Hanson's extraordinary service to country and the shadowy circumstances of her death in a feature story in the spring 2012 Colby magazine, now online and in the mail.
Was Beethoven a revolutionary? Alumni, parents, and friends are invited to explore this question and other theories on the Atlantic Revolution at Alumni College, July 22-26 on campus. The Age of Democratic Revolution? From the American War of Independence to the Revolutions of 1848 is the title, and Colby faculty members will lead sessions and discussions covering history, philosophy, art, and music from this period. Get information and register online.
As an American who grew up on multiple continents, Winsor Wesson '12 faced a challenge typical of what are known as "third-culture kids." At Colby people expected him to get American cultural references. "They don't entirely understand why you wouldn't understand these things," he said. Wesson is among third-culture kids profiled in a new insideColby feature by Teko Mmolawa '12 about these students, some of whom first experienced U.S. living at Colby.
More than 600 students presented projects at the 13th Colby Undergraduate Research Symposium and related departmental events in April. Topics ranged from computer modeling of tectonic plate boundaries to dressing for success in Dickens to how Bisphenol A affects behavior. Read about three students' projects or browse an array of online abstracts.
An awards ceremony May 1 in Lorimer Chapel recognized students, faculty, and staff with College-wide and departmental awards. The ceremony, now in its fourth year, included announcements of senior class speaker Sam Deeran '12, Condon Medal winner Nicole Sintetos '12, and the Charles Bassett Senior Class Teaching Award winner Professor Lisa Arellano. The full list of award winners is online.
The Colby Parents Welcome Committee is a great way for parents with busy schedules (whose isn't?) to volunteer. No meetings, and volunteers determine when, over the course of eight weeks this summer, to make fewer than 10 phone calls to welcome parents of the incoming Class of 2016 to the Colby family. Thank you to those who have already volunteered; if you haven't yet, it's not too late and your help is greatly appreciated. Please contact the Office of Parents Programs at parents@colby.edu.
Nearly half of senior parents have made a commitment to the Senior Parent Gift in the last 50 days, and Class of 2012 parents are on track to break participation and giving records. With commencement fast approaching, join the Senior Parent Gift Campaign to help reach our 50-percent participation goal, which will trigger a matching $50,000 gift by a group of fellow senior parents. Join them in honoring your students' experience on Mayflower Hill. Every gift matters—make yours today.
