AROUND THE COLLEGE
Peace Corps ranks Colgate #15 among small schools In a recent letter to President Neil Grabois, Peace Corps director Mark Gearan announced that Colgate ranks 15th among all small colleges and universities producing Peace Corps Volunteers. The Peace Corps defines small colleges and universities as those schools with less than 5,000 undergraduates. In Peace Corps’ 36-year history, 236 Colgate alumni have joined the organization.
Francis Sejerstad, chair of the Nobel Prize Committee, spoke on the famous prize as well as disarmament and fraternity, and the criteria his committee seeks: "The sort of peace in hearts and minds that shall be honored.""Throughout its history, the Peace Corps can trace much of its success to the energy and idealism that college students . . . have brought to the agency," Gearan wrote in his letter to Grabois. "You and the faculty at Colgate can take pride in having instilled in your students a spirit of service and sense of adventure. By serving as Peace Corps Volunteers, your alumni have made a difference in the lives of people overseas and here at home."
Today, nearly 6,600 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in 87 countries, working to help fight hunger, bring clean water to communities, teach children, start new small businesses, and prevent the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 150,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps.
Yolanda King, oldest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, gave a lecture titled "The Dream is Still a Dream" and participated in a panel discussion during her November visit. A poet and actress, King speaks frequently on civil and human rights and her remarks at Colgate were focused on the importance of African-American history.
President Neil Grabois live on the Net
Save the date! President Neil Grabois will be coming to your computer screen March 4 (a Wednesday). President Grabois’ state of the college address will be illustrated with views of campus. You will be able to see and hear his presentation live, and key in questions for him, over the World Wide Web. To participate, you will need a large bowl of popcorn and personal computer with either Microsoft®Windows®95 and a sound card, or a Macintosh with System 7.1 or later and a minimum of 16MB of RAM — and a 28.8 or faster Internet connection. The seminar will begin at 8:30 p.m. EST. For those who can’t participate in the live broadcast, the seminar will also be availablefor playback afterwards from the Colgate Web site.
To learn more about this landmark interactive event — and to register to attend — please consult the Colgate web site (www.colgate.edu, then click on Alumni). Go there now.
Actor Armand Assante, who has played Odysseus — among many memorable characters — during his 20-year career, spoke on The Odyssey during an event sponsored by Core 151, University Studies and the Dean of the Faculty. "Film is the poetry of emotion always in action. I was smitten by the magic of theater and I am still trying to capture that love," said Assante.
College suspends Alpha Tau Omega
The college has suspended Alpha Tau Omega fraternity through July 1, 1999, after investigation of a November event at the fraternity revealed hazing and activities that Dean of the College Michael Cappeto said, "clearly fall outside the university’s code of student conduct."
The violations came to the college’s attention when charges were filed with the Hamilton Police Department following a night of activities leading to the initiation of new ATO members. As college officials spoke with undergraduates, alumni, and the ATO national, it became evident the fraternity had violated college rules.
The sanction closes the house through July 1, 1999. The fraternity may resume supervised fraternal activities outside the house on January 1, 1999. ATO appealed the ruling to President Neil Grabois, who upheld the sanction.
After conducting a concurrent investigation, the ATO national concluded there had been hazing and suspended the chapter’s charter.
Among activities specifically prohibited by the college’s policy on hazing are: "participation in or creation of situations which cause physical harm or emotional strain. . .," "use of physical brutality or force (including paddling, striking with fists, open hands or objects)," and "forced, required, condoned or explicitly coerced behavior resulting in lewdness or potential ridicule or bodily harm (such as forced nudity or partial nudity . . .)."
The code of conduct states: "Students at Colgate University accept membership in an academic community dedicated to the pursuit of intellectual and personal growth. As a liberal arts college, Colgate seeks to provide opportunities for students, both in and outside the classroom to develop critical thinking, integrity, judgment, a common experience of learning, appreciation of cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as the social and ethical values necessary for community life."
Hazing and the code of conduct are described in the Student Handbook, which is distributed to all students.
William Inge’s Bus Stop, the hit ’50s play and Marilyn Monroe movie vehicle, was presented by University Theater in Little Brehmer and off-off-Broadway at the Medicine Show Theater. The play, set in a diner during a Kansas snowstorm, is a wonderful character study, with clashing cultures and delicious sexual tensions. Directed by Director of University Theater Jacques Levy and designed by Associate Professor of English/Theater Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, Bus Stop continues Colgate theater’s growing connection with New York City. Children’s Theater performed in the City last spring and University Theater’s three Big Apple performances were well received. The Colgate Club of New York City hosted a post-theater reception with the cast and crew.
Music highlights
The second half of the fall Colgate Concert Series featured music spanning the globe as well as the centuries.
Music from ChinaMusic from China played both folk and contemporary Chinese music using traditional Chinese instruments including bamboo flutes, zithers, dulcimers, drums, gongs and cymbals. The University Orchestra’s "America and Lincoln" concert showcased virtuoso violinist Scott St. John in Stravinsky’s fiery Violin Concerto and Colgate’s Board of Trustees Chairman Wm. Brian Little ’64 as narrator for Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, an inspiring patriotic piece set during the Civil War. The orchestra continued the theme with Ives-Shuman’s Variations on America. The Queen’s Chamber Band, a recreation of the 18th century ensemble originally led by J.C. Bach to entertain Her Majesty in her private chambers, brought their rich vibrant sound with renditions of rococo — and earlier — pieces. Claud Brown presented a lecture/recital of "prepared piano" works of 20th Century composer John Cage.
G. Roberts Kolb directed his debut with the University Chorus and Chamber Singers, supported by the festival orchestra, with "A French Christmas" concert. Other performances by student ensembles as well as faculty rounded out the schedule.
Filmmaker Alan Berliner showed Nobody’s Business, his touching and funny award-winning film about his father, as part of the weekly Alternative Cinema series. After the screening, Berliner fielded questions from the Love Auditorium audience and dealt with both his father’s reaction as well as technical matters.
Real World recognized
Colgate’s Real World program, which is designed to give seniors a leg up on some of the issues they will face after graduation, was selected as the winner of the Innovative Program Award from Region II of the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA).
Programs and activities vying for the award — from a wide range of colleges and universities in the region — were judged according to innovation and creativity, contribution to student and/or professional staff development, contribution to the college and timeliness of the topic.
The three-day Real World seminar includes a series of alumni-led panel discussions addressing a variety of professions, as well as sessions that cover basic life skills that graduates will need to acquire as they leave the more nurturing college environment.
Associate Professor of Political Science Timothy Byrnes spoke as part of a University Colloquium titled "Equality and Justice: An American Creed for the Twenty-First Century." Also on the panel were, from left, Professor of English Peter Balakian, Associate Professor of History Andrew Rotter, Assistant Professor of Philosophy & Religion Amy De Rogatis, Associate Professor of History Pete Banner-Haley and Professor of Philosophy & Religion Marilyn Thie.
Cultural Center events
Chief Matthew Mukash came to campus to discuss the ongoing land rights struggle between the Cree communities and Hydro Quebec in Canada. And Jacob Holdt made his second appearance at Colgate with his multimedia show American Pictures. The Danish vagabondhas traveled throughout the U.S. since the 1970s, photographing his journey among some of the poorest Americans in the south and bringing his experiences to audiences throughout the country.
