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Not
Your Typical Rally Day
Caitlin
Scranton ’05 will perform a solo ballet dance at
Rally Day |
This year’s Rally Day,
on Wednesday, February 23, at 1:30 p.m. in Sweeney Concert
Hall, Sage, will include a couple of wrinkles that distinguish
it from those in years past. The theme for this year’s
Rally Day and Banner Contest is “Smith Through the Years.”
Of course, as tradition dictates, the Rally Day convocation
will honor five notable alumnae—this year from five
different decades—who stand out for their professional
achievements and public service (see related story). The 2005
Smith College Medalists are Candace McKee Ashmun ’46,
environmentalist; Judith Levenson Clapp ’51, software
engineer; Susan Low Bloch ’66, Constitutional law professor;
Anne E. Kazak ’77, pediatric psychologist; and L. Stoner
Winslett ’80, artistic director and choreographer.
Taking the place of the traditional keynote talk at this year’s
Rally Day will be a panel discussion among the five medalists,
in which they will respond to questions submitted by students
following the presentation of the Smith College Medal. The
panel will be moderated by President Carol T. Christ.
Also on the program is something the college has never done
before at Rally Day: a choreographed ballet dance. Caitlin
Scranton ’05, a dance major, will perform a solo dance
on the Sweeney stage, with accompaniment by Deanna Joseph,
soprano, and Grant Moss, harpsichord, performing Dido’s
Lament, an aria by Henry David Purcell, choreographed
by Rodger Blum.
The Smith College Glee Club will perform a jazzy tune called
Operator, popularized by the Manhattan Transfer,
under the direction of Jonathan Hirsh, with accompaniment
on keyboard by Clifton J. Noble, Jr.
This year’s Banner Contest, a traditional and always
colorful aspect of Rally Day in which each house creates an
artistic banner based on the event theme, will also be slightly
different from years past. The banners will be displayed in
the Campus Center during the week before Rally Day, and judging
of the winners will take place there. The two winning banners
will then be on display in Sweeney Concert Hall during the
convocation. As always, the winning houses, which will be
announced at the convocation, will receive monetary awards.
The Rally Day Show, a vaunted Smith tradition that usually
takes place on the evening of Rally Day, will be held this
year the night before, on Tuesday, February 22, at 9 p.m.
in John M. Greene Hall. And making its Rally Day Show debut
will be the very popular band The Distractions, featuring
Smith faculty members Floyd Cheung, English, Kevin Rozario,
American studies, Steve Waksman, music, Michael Thurston,
English, and Alexandra Keller, film studies.
Along with the slight changes in the Rally Day program will
be the traditional presentations of the Junior and Senior
Teaching Awards, voted on by students; the Elizabeth B. Wyandt
Gavel Award, also voted by students and given each year to
outstanding members of Smith’s staff; and the Banner
Contest awards.
Finally, one of the most honored Smith traditions will remain
on the program: the collective singing of Gaudeamus Igitur
to close the celebration.
A reception will follow the convocation in the Smith College
Club.
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