News for the Smith College Community //September 2, 1999
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Excellent Employees Honored For the first time at Smith, 15 staff employees were honored and rewarded this summer for doing outstanding work for the college in the categories of service, teamwork or community relations. The Employee Excellence Awards, which were announced at the June 15 Faculty/Staff Picnic, recognized employees in several campus departments for their work and granted each a $1,000 after-tax award. The Employee Excellence Awards program began last November as a measure to address concerns raised by staff in their 1997 self-study report, says Weiss. A tool was needed, she says, that would help improve staff morale while rewarding leadership and superior performance. The college has traditionally honored long-time employees and those with perfect attendance, "but we wanted to add to that, doing excellent work," she said. "We also wanted to give people an opportunity to nominate a peer or a person in a different department. There are so many people that are doing such a good job." Winners of the first annual Employee Excellence Awards are Elizabeth Anderson, administrative assistant in Student Affairs, for service; Alan Bloomgarden, assistant director of faculty grants and government relations, for community relations; Sylvia Crafts, club caterer in RADS, for service; Charlie Conant, project manager in the Physical Plant, for service; Diane Garvey, major gifts assistant, for teamwork; Janet Gracia, administrative assistant in Health Services, for service; Donna Gunn, academic secretary in Humanities, for service; Sarah Lazare, coordinator of tutorial services in the Jacobson Center, for service/diversity/community; Felicia Leveille, administrative assistant in Humanities, for service; Eric Loehr, library systems coordinator, for teamwork; Olga Perez, dining room assistant in RADS, for service; Valerie Schumacher, coordinator of student employment and financial aid, for community; Rita Singler, assistant in Theatre, for service; Naomi Sturtevant, interlibrary loan specialist, for service; and Julie Van Doren, microcomputer systems analyst, for teamwork. A selection committee for the program was assembled in May after nominations were solicited from colleagues across campus. The committee received a total of 91 votes for people in several campus departments, says Gaynelle Weiss, associate director of Human Resources, who oversees the program. After the nominating closing date of June 1, winners were recommended by the committee to the president. Award winners will be further honored at a September 30 Community Forum that will also recognize other outstanding and long-time employees. A proposal was approved by senior staff and Staff Council for the program which this year enters its second year of a three-year pilot phase. If after three years the program is deemed successful it will be extended, Weiss says. It's Back by Popular Demand, Literally Responding to student concern about the revised schedule and format for the college's opening event, Smith administrators, in consultation with students, have decided to hold what is ordinarily called Opening Convocation (this year-for one time only-called All-College Welcome) on Monday, September 6, at 7:30 p.m. (instead of on Tuesday at 5 p.m. as was previously announced). Date, time and name changes aside, the event is expected to feature the usual assortment of high spirits, ear-splitting revelry and bizarre attire that customarily marks the opening of the new academic year. Balconies festooned with banners and students in outrageous costumes belie the dignity of this annual event, however, which brings the Smith community together as classes begin and features a faculty speaker and the announcement of student prizes by the Dean of the College. The event will begin with a welcome by President Ruth Simmons. This year's faculty speaker will be Susan Van Dyne, professor of women's studies, whose topic will be "What Does a Woman Need to Know?" Katrina Gardner, president of the Student Government Association, will greet new and returning students. The names of Smith student prize-winners in classes of 2000, 2001 and 2002-which first appeared in last spring's Last Chapel Awards program after virtually all students but those graduating had left the campus-will be announced during this fall's opening ceremony by Dean of the College Maureen Mahoney. Mahoney will also announce the recipient of the 1999 Arthur Ellis Hamm Prize, awarded to last year's first-year student with the best academic record. Originally, a gala celebration associated with family weekend and the launch of the college's 125th year, which will also honor a number of distinguished alumnae, was to be considered this fall's convocation. When it became clear how much importance students place on the hoopla of an early September convocation, Mahoney, Mela Dutka, new dean of students, and others in the administration agreed to make adjustments that would enable the college to celebrate itself twice--on September 7 and October 22. Respect Author to Read, Reflect Remember those required reading lists
of summers past? Some students viewed them as great escapes.
Others saw them only as a constant reminder of the academic year
ahead, of workloads, deadlines or the dreaded summer book report.
In Respect, Lawrence-Lightfoot explores the power of respect to forge salutary bonds between unlikely partners. Through six unique portraits she weaves together story and scholarship and celebrates triumphant individuals who share the ability to traverse social and economic barriers in reaching others: an important ingredient in anyone's life journey. As part of this year's orientation, "Journeys of Discovery," Lawrence-Lightfoot will reflect on her personal journey. All members of the Smith community
are welcome to attend the reading. A book-signing and reception
will follow at the Alumnae House. Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociologist, is Emily Hargraves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University, a MacArthur Prize Fellow and the first African-American woman in Harvard's history to have both an endowed professorship named in her honor and hold an endowed professorship at the School of Education. New Faces, New Places A quick look around campus will reveal some familiar folks who have taken on new responsibilities as well as some who are new to Smith. Confused? Here's a list of people who have assumed new roles on campus: Mela Dutka, dean of students; Jane Sommer, interim associate dean for international study; Fletcher Blanchard, acting director of institutional diversity; Brenda Allen, acting associate director of institutional diversity; Ann Shanahan, interim chief public affairs officer; Deborah Shaver, interim director of admission; Kathleen Ryan, assistant director of the alumnae fund; the Rev. Howard-John Wesley, chaplain to the college and adviser to Protestant students; Patricia Rockett, payroll and disbursements manager; Deborah Luekens, interim bursar. AcaMedia expects to carry profiles in subsequent issues of those who are new to the campus. Smith Honors its Legacy For well over a century, Smith College has educated a remarkable number of outstanding women who have excelled in nearly every field of endeavor. In October, as the college prepares to enter its 125th year, we will honor some of those women. During "Remarkable Women: A Smith Continuum," a convocation in the ITT at 5 p.m. on October 22, 28 women representing eight decades of liberal arts education at Smith will be recognized as representatives of the achievements of all Smith alumnae. Among them will be a former ambassador now an Ada Comstock Scholar, an internationally recognized choral conductor, a neurobiologist and Olympic swimmer, a botanic garden designer, an author of children's books, a leader of the Feminist movement, a reknowned chef, the curator of a major museum and Smith's first Rhodes scholar. This event, which will launch this year's family weekend, will be followed by other activities on October 23. It will be a celebration of the liberal arts, the inauguration of the college's quasquicentennial and the showcase for many of Smith's important programs and resources. "This is about Smith"-more details of the celebration will be published over the next several weeks. No Summer Slumber at Smith The Smith campus doesn't shut down during the summer. It simply shifts gears. This summer's campus projects and events were varied in scope and nature. Physical Plant, for example, took on complex construction projects such as renovations to the kitchens of Chase and Duckett. There was new construction at the Capen garden greenhouse and the reconfiguration of space in Unity House. An elevator (still not quite complete) was installed at the College Club and the central fire alarm system was upgraded. The School for Social Work awarded 124 master's and four doctoral degrees this summer. The school sponsored a 12-part summer lecture series with presentations by renowned guests on a range of topics including "Violence: Reflections on A National Epidemic," by Dr. James Gilligan, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and "Retracing the Journey of Slavery: Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage," by social activist Terri Nash. In keeping with the college's recently announced program in engineering, the Summer Science Program, designed to provide teen-aged girls from around the world a chance to explore their science interests, offered "Designing Intelligent Robots." From July 19 to 30, participants constructed and programmed their own Lego robots and equipped them with motors and sensors that enabled them to navigate and communicate. In July Smith hosted a global summit on sports for girls and women that marked the 50th anniversary of the International Association of Physical Education and Sports for Girls and Women. Smith's president emeritus Jill Ker Conway was the keynote speaker and welcomed to campus 100 of the world's most influential women in sports and physical education. The conference honored Dorothy Ainsworth '49, Smith's physical education pioneer, and provided a forum for presentations and discussions on topics as varied as "Sexual Harassment in Physical Training" and "Women's Football in England: The Struggle to Imagine a Community." Also during June, Community College Connections, a program designed to provide community college students from across the country with a brief sojourn in the world of the four-year women's college, welcomed 22 women to campus. Ranging in age from 19 to 58, many of the students were members of underrepresented minority groups. They experienced Smith for five weeks while taking two intensive courses and learning firsthand the demands of academic excellence and the challenges of house life. In the past two decades Smith alumnae Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan have used their prominence as first ladies to focus the nation's attention on social and economic issues. However, a first lady with deeper ties to Northampton was honored at Smith July 30, during "Grace Coolidge: Northampton to the White House," a one-day retrospective of the former first lady's life that took place at the chapel. Grace Goodhue Coolidge (1879-1957), wife of the 30th U.S. president, Calvin Coolidge, met and married her husband, a struggling young Northampton attorney, while she was teaching at the Clarke School for the Deaf. Grace Coolidge in her day was deemed as gracious and generous as her husband was "silent." The celebration, coordinated by the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation with assistance from Clarke School for the Deaf, Forbes Library and Smith College, honored Grace Coolidge's contributions as public figure, philanthropist and teacher of the deaf. Smith women have often capitalized on their high-quality liberal arts education, using it to achieve a significant goal. One such Smith alum, Mary Josephine Rogers '05, was the subject of a celebration here from July 17 to 20 held by the Maryknoll Sisters of the eastern U.S. region. Rogers (1882-1955) was the founder of the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, the first order of Catholic religious women in the United States devoted to foreign missionary work. The sisters work in 31 countries, serving refugees, providing medical services and education and promoting ecology, global awareness and women's causes. Rogers, once known as Mollie and later as Mother Mary Joseph, graduated from Smith with a degree in zoology. Initiating a new program to promote sports and fitness opportunities in scouting, the Girl Scouts of the USA held Girlsports, a week of clinics, practices and competitions, here the first week of August. It focused on the development of skills in basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, golf and swimming. Nutrition, conditioning exercises and sports medicine, careers and ethics were also discussed. Finally, from July 15 to 18, the 1999 Summer Institute for Educators made its debut at Smith. The three-day institute, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Metropolitan Life Foundation, highlighted current research on gender equity and adolescent girl's health, and promoted effective strategies to foster healthy and successful development of girls both in and outside the classroom. More than 80 math and science teachers and guidance counselors from across the country attended the program along with 73 high school girls. The keynote lecture, "Girls and Young Women: Thriving, Not Just Surviving, Adolescence," was presented by Michael Resnick, director of the National Teen Pregnancy Research Center at the University of Minnesota. All in the (Music) Family Four members of long-time faculty member Philipp Naegele's family will join him for "A Naegele Family Concert" on Saturday, September 11, in Sweeney Concert Hall. Naegele, a violinist, is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Music and has been a music department faculty member for the past 36 years. The concert, the first event in the annual Sage Hall Concert Series, will celebrate Naegele's last year on the Smith faculty. In performing Antonin Dvorák's Piano Quintet, Opus 81, Naegele will be joined by his son, Matthias D. Naegele, cello, daughter-in-law Emi Ohi Resnick, violin, wife Barbara E. Wright on viola, and brother-in-law William B. Wright on piano. The Naegele family musicians will also perform works by Wolfgang A. Mozart and Maurice Ravel. Philipp Naegele, after receiving his doctorate from Princeton University in 1955, became a member of the Cleveland Orchestra for eight years and served on the faculty of the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music for three of those years. He has also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont, since its inception in 1950. Naegele has made numerous recordings for Columbia Records and other companies and has performed in several countries and throughout the U.S. Naegele and his family of musicians have performed together in various combinations in the past. For this concert, Matthias Naegele and Resnick will travel to Smith from their home in Amsterdam. Pianist William Wright will come from the University of North Carolina where he is a doctoral candidate, and Philipp Naegele's wife, Barbara Wright, will take time from her work with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Handel & Haydn Society and Boston Baroque for the performance. Tickets for the concert are $12 for Smith faculty and staff, $3 for students. For information call extension 3197. New College Events Office On September 8, Ann Godin, summer programs coordinator, will move from Tilly House, where her office has been located for the past two years, to Garrison Hall to join Mary Stanton, college events coordinator, in a reorganized campus scheduling and calendar operation, which will be called, for the present, the College Events Office. Between them, Godin and Stanton will manage Smith's year-round scheduling system for all periods not under the jurisdiction of the Registrar's Office. They will reserve spaces for events, arranging set-ups and acting as liaison with RADS and Physical Plant to coordinate the use of campus facilities by outside organizations and maintain calendars, including a master online calendar, which we hope to have in operation later this year. Though there is still work to be done to achieve full consolidation of these operations, the goal is to develop a streamlined, centralized system of scheduling for Smith. The email addresses, phone and fax
numbers for Godin and Stanton will remain the same (you may send
a fax for either of them to either fax number): Daniel Horowitz, Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman
Professor of American Studies, was recently awarded the 1998
Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association (NEPCA)
annual book award for his book, Betty Friedan and the Making
of 'The Feminine Mystique': The American Left, The Cold War,
and Modern Feminism. The award will be presented to Horowitz
on October 30 at NEPCA's 22nd annual conference at the University
of Southern Maine in Portland. In his book, Horowitz challenges
previously documented assertions that Friedan, a founder of the
National Organization for Women, had lived a quiet, suburban
home life before "awakening" to write her ground-breaking
book, The Feminine Mystique. He contends that Friedan's activism
dates all the way back to her days as a Smith undergraduate when
she was a politically conscious editor-in-chief of the student
newspaper, promoting support for labor unions and warning against
fascism. Horowitz will receive a $200 stipend from NEPCA. Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism
and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports by Andrew Zimbalist,
Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, was published this month
by Princeton University Press. In the book Zimbalist advocates
a 10-point program that would dismantle the underlying incentive
system for winning schools and athletes and would relieve pressures
on athletics programs to raise revenues. Among the most radical
of Zimbalist's proposals is the suggestion that certain college
teams be allowed to include non-student participants. Named by
ABA Booklist as one of the top 10 sports books for 1999, Unpaid
Professionals focuses on the basketball and football programs
at the top 100 schools in the NCAA's Division I. Zimbalist will
read from and sign his book at Beyond Words book store in Northampton
on Thursday, September 9, at 7:30 p.m. "The Golden Door," by Ronald
Perera of the music department commissioned by the New York choral
group, New Amsterdam Singers, for their 30th anniversary was
performed by the group at a concert called "Seeking America:
Immigrant Voices" at Merkin Concert Hall in New York on
June 8. Perera and Donald Wheelock, also of the music department,
were recipients of 1999 ASCAP awards from the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers that recognized "the
unique prestige of each writer's catalog of original compositions
as well as recent performances of those works." The winners of the 1999 Smith College
Fine Arts Council Student Art Show, which was held last April
after the final issue of AcaMedia for the year had gone to press
were: Maria Webster '01, first prize; Diane Christian ACS, second
place; Patricia Woods '00J, third place; Hallie Silva '02, honorable
mention. Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, professor
of American Studies, received an honorary degree from Ripon College
in Ripon, Wisconsin, on August 27 when she delivered the keynote
address, "The College and the Liberal Arts," at the
college's fall convocation. Her fellow honorand was U.S. Sen.
Herb Kohl, D-Wis. "Professor Horowitz is a first-rate historian
who has helped us understand women's roles in the development
of our culture," says Ripon President Paul B. Ranslow. "I
particularly appreciated her book, Alma Mater, and its look at
the treatment of women during the development of American colleges
and universities." Ripon, which has an annual enrollment
of 880 students, was last year rated one of the best values in
liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. It is
also ranked consistently high as a top college for science education. Seito Play Baseball, a play by Kara Morin, alumnae outreach, was one of three plays featured in the New Century Theatre's "New Voices Playreading Series" during the theatre's summer residency at the Center for Performing Arts. Athletic Facility Lockers Van Drivers Wanted Faculty & Staff Faculty Meeting Students Presidential Open Hours Student Workshops Class of 2000 Parking Service Organizations of Smith John M. Greene Hall Storage First Semester Riding Information Intercollegiate Team Tryouts Painless Auditions Work-Study Jobs Neilson Library Carrel Sign-up Explore Your Museum |
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Please see the Smith College 1999 Orientation Brochure for orientation events. Wednesday, September 1 Central Check-in for students returning early. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.., ITT Thursday, September 2 Other events and activities President's welcome panel for entering students and families. Welcome reception follows on Burton Lawn (reception will be canceled if it rains). 2:30 p.m., John M. Greene Hall Friday, September 3 Lectures/Symposia Religious Life Saturday, September 4 Religious Life Sunday, September 5 Religious Life Roman Catholic Eucharistic Liturgy mass. Sunday supper follows. All welcome. 4:30 p.m., Chapel* Other events and activities Monday, September 6 Meetings/workshops All-College welcome. "What Does a Woman Need to Know?" Susan Van Dyne, professor of women's studies. See story, page 1. 7:30 p.m., John M. Greene Hall Other events and activities Equestrian team tryouts. See notice for details. 1-4 p.m., Equestrian Center Tuesday, September 7 Classes begin Fine/performing arts Wednesday, September 8 Meetings/workshops Novice crew team meeting. Open to anyone interested in learning to row (extension 2717). 5 p.m., Ainsworth gym lounge Information meeting for graduate international fellowships with Jane Sommer, interim dean for international study and faculty fellowship advisers. 7-8 p.m., Seelye 101 First semester riding registration. See notice for details. 7 p.m., Ainsworth faculty/staff lounge Religious Life Hillel informal dessert gathering. Welcome to all students. Meet leadership, hear about this year's programs. 7-8 p.m., Kosher Kitchen, Dawes House |
Thursday, September 9 Lectures/Symposia Meetings/workshops Informational meeting: "Welcome Back from Leave." For students returning from a leave of absence. Discuss updated policies. 5-6 p.m., Seelye 201 Religious Life Friday, September 10 Religious Life Saturday, September 11 Fine/performing arts Religious Life Sunday, September 12 Religious Life Morning worship in the Protestant tradition. All welcome. 10:45 a.m., Wright Hall common room (location for this week only)* Gospel choir workshop and auditions: Smith College All Peoples' and Pioneer Valley Gospel Choir. After the workshop, the choir's new CD album will be available for $12 ($13 at B-side Records, Northampton). For information, call Patricia Swan, 585-6005. 2-4 p.m., Edwards Church, Main Street, Northampton* Roman Catholic Eucharistic Liturgy mass. Sunday supper follows. All welcome. 4:30 p.m., Chapel* Exhibitions "Dwight William Tryon" celebrates the 150th anniversary of the tonalist painter's birth with a display of 20 works from the museum's collection and Forbes Library. Organized by archivist Michael Goodison. Through September 5. Museum of Art "Oliver Larkin" features a selection of watercolors, drawings and marionettes by the former Smith professor. Organized by Luce curatorial assistant Maureen McKenna. On October 16, the Museum of Art will host "Art and Life in America: A Celebration of the Legacy of Oliver Larkin and American Art at Smith College." Register on line at www.smith.edu/artmuseum by October 1. For more information call Mckenna, extension 2770. September 10 through October 24. Main Gallery, Museum of Art "Prints by Paul Gauguin" features the French impressionist's works from his first lithographs on zinc to the woodcuts for "Sourire," a journal he published in Tahiti. Organized by Ann Sievers, associate curator of prints, drawings and photographs, in honor of Elizabeth Mongan. September 7 through October 30. Print Room, Museum of Art "A Century of Physics" features 11 posters of milestones in the history of physics produced by the American Physical Society to celebrate its centennial in March 1999. For more information see the APS Website at www.aps.org. Through September 30. McConnell foyer |
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