In this issue:

1. Multimedia: Commencement 2010 in words and images
2. Multimedia: Garcelon Field getting makeover — see it live
3. Video: Scholarship luncheon is a time of reflection and thanks
4. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Scholar-Athletes inducted for 2010
5. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ women’s rowing team repeats as national runner-up
6. The 14th Non-Required Summer Reading List
7. Leadership program provides skills for success
8. Resending: ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Alumni Pride created
9. Campus Construction Updates return
10. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ People in the News

1. Multimedia: Commencement 2010 in words and images
“I saw this headline,” renowned television journalist Jane Pauley told the 455 members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College class of 2010: ” ‘Inspiration is everywhere, but you have to be looking.'” Pauley was one of five honorary degree recipients at the College’s 144th commencement ceremony May 30 on the historic Quad.

Commencement videos, slide shows and text are online:

2. Multimedia: Garcelon Field getting makeover — see it live
Created in 1899 with the help of students who wielded shovels and axes to clear pastureland, historic Garcelon Field will get a major facelift this summer thanks to a similar cooperative venture, this time between the College and its donors.  Watch construction with our live webcam:

3. Video: Scholarship luncheon is a time of reflection and thanks
In the 2009-10 academic year, 40 percent of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students received scholarship grant aid totaling more than $21.5 million. At a recent luncheon,  donors who have made the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience possible for a new generation met some of the students who benefit from their generosity. See students’ remarks:

Give to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund, which helps make the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience possible:
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4. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Scholar-Athletes inducted for 2010
The sixth annual ceremony of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Scholar-Athlete Society was held May 29 during Commencement Weekend, honoring four alumni, a former faculty member and 35 members of the Class of 2010.
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5. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ women’s rowing team repeats as national runner-up
The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College women’s rowing team repeated its groundbreaking feat of a year ago, taking second place at the NCAA Division III Women’s Rowing Championships. The Bobcats matched last year’s women’s rowing team for the highest team finish by any ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ squad at an NCAA championship.

6. The 14th Non-Required Summer Reading List
Looking for a good book? Better yet, looking for a book recommended by a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ professor or staff member? Sarah Potter ’77, director of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Store, and her staff annually offer a summer reading list comprising titles suggested by faculty and staff. Each list typically includes some 150 titles recommended by more than 80 members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community.
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7. Leadership program provides skills for success
Managing time and stress, communicating effectively, running a good meeting — these are skills possessed by nearly any effective leader. A new program offered helpful training in leadership techniques. Titled Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow — aka B.E.S.T. — the program comprised eight evening sessions dedicated to budgeting, networking, public speaking and other skills.

8. Resending: ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Alumni Pride created
In May we announced the creation of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Alumni Pride, a new alumni network established to connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered alums to each other and back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. It will serve as a forum for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-related LGBT issues and will be hosting events, starting with a reception at Reunion this summer. Find out more by joining the e-mail list (contact Larry Handerhan ’05) and check out our Facebook Group at:

We learned that not everyone was able to use the May e-mail link.
So here it is again: larry [dot] handerhan [at] gmail [dot] com

9. Campus Construction Updates return
In March, the College launched a 15-month renovation of historic Hedge and Roger Williams halls that, when completed by summer 2011, will provide two state-of-the-art academic spaces. In early June, the razing of the Central Avenue grandstand marked the start of Garcelon Field’s reconstruction. Follow these exciting projects through the eyes of Campus Construction Update writer Doug Hubley — and learn why “getting your nails done” means something different at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

10. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ People in the News
Working many jobs at odd hours helped to pay for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, writes Lumina Foundation head Jamie Merisotis ’86 in The Indianapolis Star, but financial aid was the key. The Times-Union of Albany, N.Y., reports that Abby Samuelson ’10 and her mom, Olympic gold winner Joan Benoit Samuelson, are doing something they’ve never done: running a road race together, to celebrate Abby’s graduation. For comment on another kind of race, Maine’s Republican gubernatorial primary, the Bangor Daily News turns to Professor Emeritus of Political Science Doug Hodgkin.

The new ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Scholar-Athlete Society “makes clear our commitment to the scholar-athlete ideal,” said ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alumnus and trustee Dan Doyle ’72, who is founder and executive director of the Institute for International Sport, in Kingston, R.I. “ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is an example of a college that effectively combines academic rigor with a highly respected athletic program.”

The society will include seniors nominated by their coaches who have compiled a 3.5 grade point average or have received a special nomination from faculty and staff for distinguished academic achievement in their junior and senior years. To be eligible for induction, student-athletes must participate in a varsity sport for at least three years. The society is designed to honor about 25 student-athletes each year of the roughly 175 varsity athletes that graduate.

“The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Scholar-Athlete Society honors dedication to excellence in scholarship and sportsmanship,” said ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Elaine Tuttle Hansen. “It celebrates the ways in which athletics fits into the overall collegiate experience.”

Suzanne Coffey, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletic director and past chair of the , said that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student-athletes “will know from their first days on campus that induction into the Scholar-Athlete Society is a goal whose achievement is modeled by generations of outstanding students. By dedicating themselves intensively to both academic and athletic pursuits, students at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ set a standard for each other and for our wider academic and athletic communities. The academy is wrestling with the proper role for intercollegiate athletics programs within institutional missions. In creating the Scholar-Athlete Society, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is presenting to our students (and to the academy) a clear statement about the expectation for excellence in the classroom and achievement on the playing field.â€�

“Athletics certainly should not dominate,” Coffey said, “but it absolutely is part of the mission of our academic institutions. It should be considered in the same context as classroom learning, service-learning and study abroad.” Doyle added: “We know the special bonds that form in the classrooms, residence halls and playing fields at this time in young lives. We hope our society provides a model that other colleges might find useful.” A gift from Doyle to the College will support the program, annual awards dinner and newsletter.

Coffey stressed that the society is “more than a one-time event. We are creating a network, a continuous loop of expectation. Society members will in turn inspire undergraduates to want to be part of this now and as they climb professionally in life.”

As well as honoring undergraduates as they graduate, alumni who distinguish themselves as scholars and athletes and subsequently in their careers will also be inducted at annual ceremonies. Also honored will be one or more faculty members or former ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ coaches who have fostered the scholar-athlete ideal.

“It’s not about playing time but the commitment and dedication one puts into both academics and athletics; it’s the aggregate hours one spends on the practice fields and in the library that accentuates his or her unique talent and drive to succeed,” Doyle said. “I find one of the most admirable groups of young people in America to be Division III athletes who come to practice every day, work hard, support the team and yet are not rewarded with playing time. I have known many successful people who fall into that category. The Scholar-Athlete Society will include stars and substitutes who share a common commitment to superior effort in the classroom and on the playing fields.”

The inaugural induction ceremony will take place May 28, during ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Commencement weekend. The keynote speaker for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ first induction ceremony will be Donald “Dee” Rowe, considered the “father” of the University of Connecticut basketball program. Rowe was head coach at UConn 1969-77 and still works as a special adviser. Doyle said that years ago, Rowe was his high school coach, and his great inspiration for the way athletics brings together for common purpose athletes of very different backgrounds. Doyle said that Rowe, who is “76 years young” is considered “the best speaker in our field.”

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is uncommon in that nearly two-thirds of its students participate in 30 varsity and 12 club sports. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is a charter member of the (NESCAC), and its teams compete with fellow members Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams, as well as with teams from other colleges and universities.

The Scholar-Athlete Society complements the Milton L. Lindholm Scholar Athlete Awards, which have been given annually since 1976 to the senior male and female athletes with the highest academic averages. The awards honor Milton L. Lindholm, Class of 1935, who served as ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dean of admissions for 32 years.