The global pandemic has claimed one of Colby’s former professors. Nicholas Rohrman, an experimental psychologist who reimagined and strengthened Colby’s Psychology Department, passed away Dec. 26, 2020, from COVID-19 at his home in Saco, Maine. He was 83. Rohrman came to Colby in 1977 from Florida State University “at a time when the department needed...
Colby remembers the life of Marilyn “Lyn” Sweeney Mavrinac, associate professor of education and history, emerita, who died Nov. 29, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wis. A dedicated teacher, scholar, and activist, Mavrinac provided the vision and leadership that broadened Colby’s Education Program into its current liberal arts-based exploration of education and its role in society. “Lyn...
In the midst of the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Colby received the largest and most competitive applicant pool in its history, reflecting a significant demand for the distinctive elements afforded by a Colby education. More than 15,700 students from around the world applied for admission to the Class of 2025, resulting in a...
Acclaimed novelist Nicholson Baker will be the first Jennifer Jahrling Forese Writer-in-Residence in Creative Writing Fellow, heralding a new opportunity for Colby’s student writers to interact with and learn from some of the most accomplished practitioners of the craft. “Colby has one of the best creative writing programs at any college in the country, as...
String members could rehearse masked, divided into small groups and socially distanced. The winds couldn’t make music in the same space at all. The same went for the Collegium. And yet, for the Department of Music, the show—ensembles concerts typically scheduled for live performances on campus post-Thanksgiving—must go on. “We wanted to make sure the...
WATERVILLE, Maine, December 7, 2020—Colby College’s Dare Northward fundraising campaign surpassed $563 million from 22,500 donors and positioned Colby within reach of its $750-million goal, the largest in liberal arts college history. In 2019-20 11,200 donors made $86 million in new commitments and provided $72 million in cash and assets, the third highest year-end total...
WATERVILLE, ME, Nov. 18, 2020—Colby College is thrilled to announce multimillion-dollar gifts from Trustees Jack O’Neil ’77 and Tim O’Donnell ’87 for the ice arena in Colby’s new Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center. Their gifts will name the 38,650-square-foot ice arena the O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum and also name the venue’s rink in honor...
Colby and the Waterville community mourn the death of Douglas N. Archibald, Roberts Professor of English, emeritus, who also served as vice president and dean of faculty from 1982 to 1988. He died at home in Waterville Nov. 13, 2020. Archibald came to Waterville from Cornell University in 1973 when he was chosen in a...
In recognition of her distinctive leadership and innovative approach to Jewish education, the Covenant Foundation has honored Rabbi Rachel Isaacs with a 2020 Pomegranate Prize. Each year the prize recognizes five emerging Jewish educators from across the country whose work the foundation finds influential through bold, inclusive, and creative action. Since her arrival in Maine...
Earlier this week, the College began phase one of the new Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts project. The center, planned to be built at the southern gateway to campus, will be a key part of Colby’s ongoing efforts to make the arts a more central component of the student experience as well as...
Last spring, after COVID-19 closed the campus and scattered the College community, leaders of the Student Athletic Advisory Board (SAAC) Justin Masella ’21, Bret Miller ’22, and Robyn Pirie ’21 put their heads together over a Zoom call. They wanted to draft a statement reflecting on the unprecedented times. As thoughts landed on the page,...
Artifacts relating to Olympic athlete and author James Brendan Connolly from Colby’s Special Collections & Archives are included in the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum, which opened in July in Colorado Springs, Colo. Connolly was the first medalist in the first modern Olympic games of 1896, and the loan includes Connolly’s 1896 silver Olympic medal (hop-skip-jump, now called the triple jump)...
President David A. Greene, in consultation with the Committee on Promotion and Tenure and Provost and Dean of Faculty Margaret McFadden, and the approval of the Board of Trustees, has recently promoted six faculty members. Yuri “Lily” Funahashi, music, has been promoted to associate professor while professors receiving a promotion to full professor include James...
Colby has recently learned that Suellen Diaconoff, professor of French, emerita, passed away Feb. 12, 2020, of heart disease at her home in Santa Fe, N.M. She was 79. During the 20 years she taught at Colby, she was a constant advocate for the humanities who also broadened the French major to include the larger...
Colby mourns the loss of celebrated hockey coach John “Jack” Kelley, who passed away Sept. 16, 2020, in Oakland, Maine, at 93. In the 1950s Kelley transformed Colby men’s hockey into an indomitable force in New England and made a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of players. “The term ‘legendary’ is used too...
A team of scientists led by Assistant Professor of Geology Bess Koffman has been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs to develop a new approach for “fingerprinting” atmospheric dust in ice cores using geochemical processes. Geochemical fingerprinting allows scientists to gain insight into the causes and impacts of abrupt...
The current speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, Democrat Sara Gideon, holds a five-point lead against her Republican opponent, four-term incumbent United States Senator Susan Collins, according to a poll conducted by researchers at Colby College. The new survey found that 44 percent of likely voters would support Gideon, 39 percent would vote for...
Visionary Leader Brings Deep Experience from the Art Institute of Chicago and Metropolitan Museum of Art Colby College today announced the appointment of Jacqueline Terrassa as the Carolyn Muzzy Director of the Colby College Museum of Art. Terrassa, who currently serves as the Woman’s Board vice president for learning and public engagement at the Art Institute of Chicago, will...
Following the recent announcement from the NESCAC Conference that there will be no conference play or championships this fall, Vice President and Harold Alfond Director of Athletics Mike Wisecup sent this letter to Colby’s student athletes: Dear Colby Mules, In April, I wrote to you shortly after we made the transition off campus for the...
Assistant Professor of Government Lindsay Mayka, an expert on Latin American politics, has been named a 2020 Clarence Stone Scholar by the Urban and Local Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, a leading professional organization for the study of political science. THE APSA committee selected Mayka based on her significant contributions in the area...
