Colby College's 183rd commencement provided a poignant mix of sadness and celebration on Sunday as families, friends and faculty hailed 484 members of the Class of 2004 and mourned the loss of one, Dawn Marie Rossignol, murdered last September in the fall of her senior year. President William D. Adams read a citation and presented a posthumous honorary bachelor of arts degree to Dawn's parents, Charleen and Emilio Rossignol of Medway, Maine, as somber faculty members, classmates and guests listened, some mopping tears, some sobbing audibly.
"The Class of 2004, forever diminished by your absence, is nevertheless blessed to have called you its own," President Adams said in his citation addressed to Dawn Rossignol. The mood remained more subdued than usual as graduates crossed the stage one by one, receiving degrees from Adams in the Alfond Athletic Center, where the ceremony was moved because of rain.
Before the presentation to the Rossignols, Adams presented honorary doctorates to five distinguished individuals: Shelby Davis, the founder of the Davis Selected Advisers, L.P., and sponsor of the Davis United World Scholars scholarship program; Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Barry Mazur, university professor at Harvard and a renowned mathematician; Bernice Johnson Reagon, historian and founder of the vocal ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock; and Richard Russo, author, Colby professor and father of Kate Russo, who graduated from Colby Sunday.
Russo delivered the commencement address, which included "Russo's Rules For A Good Life," which he called "four simple, deeply flawed rules to live by."
"Rule number one: Search out the kind of work that you would gladly do for free and then get somebody to pay you for it." Explaining the first rule he said, "While you search for this work, you'll need a job."
"Rule number two: Find a loving mate to share what life has in store, because the world can be a lonely place, and people who aren't lonely don't want to hear about it if you are." to which Russo added, "After 30 years, my wife Barbara and I continue to delight in each other's company, and that's astonishing given the number of other people we've grown weary of."
"Rule number three: Have children. After what you've put your parents through, you deserve children of your own."
"Rule number four: If you have one, nurture your sense of humor." Russo said, "in an age as numbingly earnest as this one, where we're more often urged to be sensitive than just, where genuinely independent thought is equally unwelcome to fundamentalists on both the left and the right, it's laughter that keeps us sane. Indeed, the inability to laugh, at the world and at ourselves, is a sign, at least to my way of thinking, of mental illness."
The first student in line to receive a bachelor's of arts degree was the class marshal and valedictorian, Justin Juskewitch of Mercer, Maine.
The class speaker, elected by her peers, was Kate Chuprevich of Monmouth, Maine. "It seems I blinked and college is over," she said. "Friends will be more than just an instant message away, but honestly, I've never felt so prepared for the unknown. ... We are leaving now with so much more than we came with."
Receiving the Condon Medal for engaged citizenship, the only award presented at commencement, was Jenn Rosenberg of Worcester, Mass., who was director of the Colby Volunteer Center.
Transcript of Richard Russo's address is online at http://www.colby.edu/news/detail/488/
"Art in Bloom," an exhibition pairing works of art from the Colby College Museum of Art with floral arrangements designed by members of area garden clubs and local florists, will be on view June 3-5 at Colby's museum in Waterville. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.
A reception to open the show will be held Thursday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and refreshments will be served.
"Art in Bloom" will include 40 floral arrangements, each complementing the style and feel of an individual work on display in the museum as part of the permanent collection or in the Tabletop Arenas exhibition. The event is sponsored by the Central Maine Garden Club.
Simultaneously on view at the museum will be The Joan Whitney Payson Collection, 21 works including paintings by world-famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists (through June 6); Tabletop Arenas, contemporary still-life paintings by members of the national association Zeuxis (through June 13); Contemporary Highlights from the Permanent Collection (through October 31); works by Alex Katz in The Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Art of Alex Katz (ongoing); and American art from Colby's permanent collection, including the John Marin Collection, in The Lunder Wing (ongoing).
Colby museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, and the museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. For information call 207-872-3228 or visit www.colby.edu/museum.
The Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville will be closed for Independence Day on Saturday, July 3, and Sunday, July 4. The museum will be open regular hours Monday, July 5.
Currently on display at the museum is Contemporary Highlights from the Permanent Collection. Upcoming exhibits include Sites Unseen: Photographic Visions from the Vernacular Landscape, opening June 20, and Contemporary Painting: Curated by Alex Katz, opening June 27.
Colby museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, and the museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. For information call 207-872-3228 or visit www.colby.edu/museum.
Students from 33 states and 21 foreign countries will receive degrees at Colby College's 183rd commencement on Sunday, May 23, but there will be no shortage of Central Maine content. Richard Russo, whose award-winning novel Empire Falls is closely associated with the area, is the commencement speaker. The Class of 2004's valedictorian and class marshal is Justin Juskewitch of Mercer, Maine, a few miles to the west. And the class speaker, elected by members of the Class of 2004, is Catherine Chuprevich from Monmouth, Maine.
Graduation ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. on the lawn of Miller Library. Russo, who holds the rank of professor at Colby and taught a fiction class this year, will accept an honorary doctor of letters degree and will be onstage when his daughter Kate Russo receives her bachelor of arts degree from President William D. Adams. The public is invited to attend. However, in the event of bad weather the ceremony may be moved into the field house, in which case tickets are required.
The Class of 2004 numbers 485 and includes the first group of Davis-United World College Scholars, who came to Colby for four years from countries all over the world*. In 2000 Shelby M.C. Davis and his family offered to pay the full financial need of any student who completed one of the 10 international secondary schools known as United World College (UWC) and gained admission to Colby or to four other American colleges. The Davises now spend approximately $15 million a year on scholarships that send UWC graduates to those colleges and on partial scholarships to 45 other schools. This year they paid the full financial aid for 96 Davis-UWC scholars attending Colby.
Davis, the founder of the investment company Davis Selected Advisers, L.P., will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree and will be on hand to congratulate the 13 inaugural Davis-UWC scholars. Others receiving honorary doctoral degrees from Colby will be Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the first African-American to serve as chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Barry Mazur, university professor at Harvard and a mathematician who specializes in number theory and algebraic geometry; and Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock.
Receiving her degree as a member of the Class of 2004 is Ellen M. Corey of China, Maine. The 59-year-old assistant director of donor relations began working in Colby's development office as a temporary secretary 22 years ago. She took classes for credit in 16 of those years and graduates this month with a major in Russian studies and membership in the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society.
* Class of 2004 Davis-UWC Scholars are from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Jordan, Sudan, Macedonia, Zimbabwe, Serbia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand.
Information about Colby's commencement, including biographical material on honorary degree recipients, is online at www.colby.edu/commencement.
A high-resolution image of Richard Russo is available for publication. E-mail pr@colby.edu to request it .
Colby College is gearing up for its annual Reunion Weekend, June 4-6, when Colby graduates spanning seven decades of classes will return to campus with spouses, families and friends. In all some 1,400 visitors from 35 states and three foreign countries are expected in Waterville, and local hotels, restaurants and shops expect to see an increase in traffic around the event, according to Kimberly Lindlof, president of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce. On Friday night Karl Dornish ’54, of Winslow, Maine, will receive a Colby Brick award as one of eight people receiving alumni awards. A parade of classes at 11 a.m. on Saturday will proceed through the Ludy and Pacy Levine Athletic Grounds to the gymnasium. Saturday afternoon events listed below are open to the public free.
2 p.m. Saturday, June 5
The People of Townshend, Vermont. Writer and photographer Karl Decker ’54 will exhibit and discuss black and white photos from his five-year documentary project, “The People of Townshend, Vermont.” Room 203, Lovejoy Building
Pets Have a Story to Tell. Cindy Fischer ’64, pet-care consultant and author of a holistic guide to the emotional development of pets, will talk about her energy-balancing program for companion animals. Room 211, Lovejoy Building
Quiet Images for Reflection and Healing. Jane Master Rohrbach ’69 will show photos from her award-winning book, which pairs images reflecting the beauty of nature with healing thoughts.
Room 208, Lovejoy Building
The History of the New York City Water Supply. Christopher Tompkins ’89, author of The Croton Dam and Aqueduct: New York, will talk about his photo history of the construction of the New York City water supply in the early 19th century, a great engineering success story of its time.
Room 215, Lovejoy Building
The Greening of Colby and the New Colby Green. Colby's Physical Plant Department Director Patricia Murphy will talk about construction of the elliptical 75,000-square-foot Colby Green, future site of three new buildings, including the Schair-Swenson-Watson Alumni Center.
Room 1, F.W. Olin Science Center
Girlfighting: Distinguishing Reality From Media Hype. Are today’s girls really meaner and more violent? Lyn Mikel Brown, associate professor of education and of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, will talk about her recent book, Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection Among Girls.
Room 105, Keyes Science Center
3 p.m. Saturday, June 5
The Wise Management of Grief. Victor Scalise ’54, a founder of the National Center for Death Education, will speak about dying, death and bereavement.
Room 205, Lovejoy Building
The Tip of the Spear: Vantage Point in the Drive to Baghdad. Boston Globe reporter Brian MacQuarrie ’74 will talk about his experiences covering the September 11, 2001, attacks, the war on terror in Afghanistan and the reconstitution of the Afghan government, and the war in Iraq.
Room 1, F.W. Olin Science Center
The Renaissance of Craft Brewing and the Shipyard Brewing Company. Shipyard's Bruce Forsley ’79 will lead a discussion of microbreweries and a beer tasting.
Room 105, Keyes Science Building
PIGe Bank. Michael Cameron ’89 and Brian Murphy ’89, entrepreneurs of PIGe Bank, will tell the story of two entrepreneurs, their design studio, a dot com bust, the Russian mob and a pig who wouldn’t die.
Room 213, Lovejoy Building
3-4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 5, Marchese Bluelight Pub, Cotter Union
Colby author book signing. Cindy Fischer ’64 will sign Our Pets Have a Story to Tell ; Richard Friary ’64 will sign Skate Sailing: A Complete Guide and Job$ in the Drug Industry: A Career Guide for Chemists; Jane Master Rohrbach ’69 will sign Quiet Images; Gregory Pfitzer ’79 will sign Picturing the Past: Illustrated Histories and the American Imagination, 1840-1900; Sally O. Lee ’84 will sign Lucy, Drageena's New Shoes, Magdalena Finds the Golden Pear, The ABC Coloring Book, Penny's Favorite Holiday, Lucy's Halloween, and Tinkerella and the Blue Door; Christopher R. Tompkins ’89 will sign The Croton Dam and Aqueduct; Professor Lyn Mikel Brown will sign Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection Among Girls, Raising Their Voices: The Politics of Girls’ Anger, and Meeting at the Crossroads: Women's Psychology and Girls' Development; and Professor Elizabeth Leonard will sign Lincoln's Avengers: Justice, Revenge, and Reunion after the Civil War and All the Daring of the Soldier.
On Friday night the Alumni Association will present awards. Reverend Victor Scalise ’54 (Brookline, Mass.) will receive the Ernest C. Marriner Distinguished Service Award. Rae Jean Braunmuller Goodman ’69 (Annapolis, Md.) will receive the Outstanding Educator Award. Giovanni Apicella (spouse of Libby Corydon-Apicella ’74), James Crawford ’64 (Richmond, Va.), Linda Johnson Crawford ’64 (Richmond, Va.), Karl Dornish ’54 (Winslow, Maine), Todd Halloran ’84 (Darien, Conn.), Colleen A. Khoury ’64 will receive Colby Brick Awards.
For information on activities contact the Colby Alumni Relations Office at 207-872-3190 or visit the reunion Web site at www.colby.edu/alumni/reunion.
Family Homecoming Weekend will be held at Colby College in Waterville Friday, October 1, through Sunday, October 3. The Alumni Relations Office reports that 1,400 visitors—alumni and families of current students—are registered to participate in weekend activities. Events listed below are open to the public and admission is free unless otherwise noted.
Bluegrass musician Tim O'Brien '76 rallies audiences with his spirited tunes on CDs like his latest, "Traveler." Now he takes his talent from the stage to the big screen, in Bluegrass Journey, a documentary that's touring the country and recently played at the Maine International Film Festival. Dubbed by Variety as "a genuine crowd-pleaser," the film explores the culture around the music featuring top musicians, O'Brien prominent among them.
For decades, artists like David Hockney, Richard Serra and Terry Winters have inspired other artists who have come to study at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Colby College is gearing up for its annual Reunion Weekend, June 4-6, when Colby graduates spanning seven decades of classes will return to campus with spouses, families and friends.
The Collins Observatory at Colby College will be open to the public for area residents interested in observing the transit of the planet Venus past the Sun on Tuesday, June 8.
Cellist Steve Witkin will give a concert titled "Bach to Beatrice: Beautiful Music for Cello and Piano" on Saturday, May 8, at 3 p.m. in Colby College's Given Auditorium in the Bixler Art and Music Center. Witkin will be accompanied by Cheryl Tschanz, adjunct associate professor of music at Colby. The concert will feature music composed by J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Samuel Barber and Beatrice Witkin. It is open to the public and free of charge.
Colby College was honored in Boston Thursday with an Environmental Merit Award from the New England Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award recognizes exceptional work and commitment to the environment in 2003. "Colby College is 'walking-the-talk' when it comes to combining strong academic environmental programs with tangible actions to reduce the environmental impact of its campus operations," the agency said in a press release.
United States Circuit Judge Richard Sheppard Arnold of Little Rock, Ark., was honored as the 2004 recipient of the Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award on Tuesday, March 30, at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Judge Sheppard is a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eighth District.
Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2002, will be the commencement speaker at Colby College in Maine on May 23, President William D. Adams announced. Russo served on the Colby faculty from 1991 through 1996 and returned to Colby this year to teach creative writing.
Humanitarian, hostage negotiator and former hostage Terry Waite will deliver the lecture "Moral and Ethical Decisions" on Thursday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at Colby College. The event will be held in the Page Commons Room of Cotter Union on the Waterville campus. It is open to the public and free of charge. A book signing will follow the lecture.
Native American poet, author and screenwriter Sherman Alexie will deliver the lecture "Without Reservations: An Urban Indian's Comic, Poetic and Highly Irreverent Look at the World" on Sunday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at Colby College. The event will be held in the Page Commons Room of Cotter Union on the Waterville campus. It is open to the public and free of charge. A book signing will follow the lecture.
Tabletop Arenas, an exhibit of contemporary still-life paintings, will open its national tour on March 28 at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville. It will remain on view through June 13. An opening reception will be held Saturday, April 3, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. It is open to the public and free of charge.
On Saturday, March 6, Japanese musicians Yoko Hiraoka, Kyokko Suga and Motoshige Kai will perform a concert of Japanese music for string instruments at Colby College in Waterville. The concert, part of the 2003-04 Music at Colby Concert Series, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Paul J. Schupf Wing of the Colby College Museum of Art. It is open to the public and free of charge.
