“Next time, we need to get you guys on one of the big machines,” photographer Rene Roy told her subjects, who were posing in front of heavy construction equipment parked neatly by a large excavation.

“I’d like that,” said one of the subjects, Sarah Pearson ’75, �ֲ���ý’ vice president for college advancement.

“You’ll need a few hours of training,” remarked Stacey Harris, Consigli Construction’s superintendent of the creation of �ֲ���ý’ new science building. (“Yes please!” thought the ever-hopeful Campus Construction Update, eyeing the biggest of three excavators.)

Flinging the ceremonial gravel during the Bonney Science Center groundbreaking are, from left, �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer, Alison Grott Bonney '80, and Michael Bonney '80. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

Robert Schaeffner, a principal of the design firm Payette, offers remarks during the groundbreaking for the Bonney Science Center on May 2. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

Shown during the groundbreaking for the Bonney Science Center are two key figures in the building's existence: �ֲ���ý project manager Chris Streifel, at left, and Michael Bonney '80, whose gift with his wife, Alison Grott Bonney '80, made the building possible. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

Spades were plated and engraved specially for the groundbreaking. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

Ten-HUT! The Gendron & Gendron fleet at parade rest during the Bonney Science Center groundbreaking on May 2, 2019. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

It was a drizzly May 2 and a couple dozen people had gathered on the science building construction site for one of the big holidays in the construction world’s calendar: the ceremonial groundbreaking.

And this was no ordinary groundbreaking. It was also the debut of the building’s formal name: the Bonney Science Center, honoring both the couple whose generosity made the center possible, Michael Bonney ’80 and Alison Grott Bonney ’80, and the extended Bonney family, whose connections to �ֲ���ý date to the early 1900s.

Preceding a public fete held in Memorial Commons for the building and the Bonneys, the groundbreaking was a smaller gathering. In addition to Michael and Alison, six members of the Bonney family representing three generations were present, including Michael’s parents, Wes Bonney ’50 and Elaine Bonney.

Members of the Bonney family representing three generations were present.

Consigli’s Harris was joined by her colleagues, and Payette, the science center’s design firm, was represented by principal Robert Schaeffner and others. �ֲ���ý folks included President Clayton Spencer, science center project manager Chris Streifel, Streifel’s boss Pam Wichroski, and treasurer Geoff Swift.

Spencer and Schaeffner offered brief remarks, but most of the speechifying was reserved for the following campus-wide event, which also featured cupcakes and music, and less mud.

The Bonney Science Center groundbreaking: from left, �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer, Alison Grott Bonney ’80, and Michael Bonney ’80. At right, a passing stranger takes notes. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

The ritual gravel-flinging essential to a groundbreaking was undertaken by Spencer and various Bonneys, mostly Michael and Alison, in multiple passes directed by the photographers. Gleaming engraved spades had been provided for the occasion, as were enough brand-new “Bonney Science Center” hardhats to fill a table.

It was an easy and lighthearted occasion, and one of the many laugh lines came from Consigli project executive David Thomas: After the ceremonial gravel toss into the science center’s foundation hole, he said, there would be only 1.2 million shovelfuls of material left to move. So much for those shiny spades.

South parking: On nearby Vale Street between Nichols and Wood, Consigli is undertaking a related project that, as workers show up every day to build the science center, will help preserve on-street parking for residents and �ֲ���ý folks.

On-street parking around the south end of campus is a precious commodity. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

In vacant grassy space a block south of the science center site, the construction firm is creating new parking expressly for its own employees and those of the subcontractors. “This will minimize the impact to the campus parking supply during construction,” says project manager Streifel.

Pile on: By the day of the groundbreaking, the heavy equipment that sat decoratively during the ceremony had already removed a few million shovelfuls. The first phase of preparing the science center’s foundation hole, excavating to a uniform five-foot depth across the building footprint, had been completed a day or two prior to the groundbreaking.

Driving sheet piles to shore up the foundation excavation for the Bonney Science Center. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College).

Materials and equipment were in place for the second phase: shoring up the walls of the hole with so-called sheet piles. These are long, narrow metal panels, channeled for rigidity. Each long edge is curled such that adjoining panels can locked together (imagine curving your fingers and interlocking your hands, as for one of those isometric arm exercises).

One at a time, the piles are submerged several yards into the earth by a so-called vibratory (or vibro) hammer, a big hydraulic machine that perches atop the pile and creates rapid up-and-down vibrations. A car-sized power unit is tethered to the hammer by a bundle of hoses. The hammer’s weight and the persuasive effects of vibration on the soil make the pile sink.

After a test run on May 2, production pile-setting began the next day. A small crew from subcontractor H.B. Fleming of South Portland, Maine, is doing the job.

Rough-set sheet piles near Nichols Street on May 6, 2019. The pink figures indicate the intended depth for each pile. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The H.B. Fleming pile-setting team watches the the vibro hammer (what a name for a punk band!) at work. The seated worker is controlling the hammer with a remote box linked by cable to the power unit at her left. Note the fully set row of piles behind the crane. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Trenches are being cut around the Consigli field office to accommodate pipes that will carry water from the science building foundation site to the catchment basin shown here. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Driven to succeed: These sheet piles along the west edge of the Bonney Science Center foundation are fully set. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The vibro hammer sits like an anxiety attack atop a sheet pile being sunk along the Campus Avenue side of the Bonney Science Center foundation. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Let’s add a new pile to a row. Along the front of the row is a temporary structure of girders (which become “H piles” when they are implanted vertically). A crane hoists a pile by one end, floats it to the designated spot, and lowers it such that the curled edge locks into the adjacent panel. That helps keep the newcomer upright.

The crane operator eases the pile down and the ground workers use a giant clamp and other fasteners to fasten the loose edge, temporarily, to a horizontal girder. Then they pull ropes to release the crane’s clamps from the pile, and the crane, with a few engine revs and puffs of diesel smoke, picks up the vibro hammer.

Once the hammer is clamped onto the sheet, looking like a cherry popsicle (but muddier) on a long stick, one crew member operates it via a remote-control box. The other stands close to the new pile, checks it with a level as it sinks, and adjusts clamps and fasteners. Typically the crew does a “rough set,” driving a quantity of piles partway, and then after a quality check, finishes driving them. Just a bit of the piles remains visible.

An employee of South Portland subcontractor H.B. Fleming tightens a clamp holding a sheet pile in place on May 6. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

All told, unless they hit a rock or other obstacle, they can drive a pile in about 10 minutes.

Unlike the CLONG-CLONG-CLONG of a conventional pile-driver, the hammer makes an enveloping shudder that’s intense if you’re close to it and surprisingly mild if you’re a few dozen yards away.

The choreography among the crane operator and the two workers on the ground is captivating. You get the impression that the operator could use the crane to turn over a playing card. Because of vibration and engine noise, hand signals — pretty subtle ones — are key to communication.

The crew aims to set six piles a day, says Consigli’s Stacey Harris. Forty will be planted all told. By May 8, the Nichols Street side of the hole appeared fully empiled, if you will, and the long Campus Avenue side was about done.

Wasting no time, an excavator returned to the foundation hole on May 9 and started digging along the completed sheet-pile wall. This is to provide access for workers who will insert 12-foot long anchoring pins, like really long corkscrews, through the piles and into the dirt to hold everything together.

Once that job is complete, in a couple of weeks, wholesale excavation will resume.

Feeling drained: Frequent rains and even snow during April left a lot of water standing in the excavation. Most of it was pumped to the catchment basin at the back corner of the work site.

But Chris Streifel, �ֲ���ý’ project manager for the Bonney Science Center project, reminded us that in this endeavor, rising water is as much a consideration as the rain that falls.

Trenches are being dug around the Consigli field office to accommodate pipes that will carry water from the science building foundation site to the catchment basin shown here. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The excavation will go as deep as 20 feet in spots, and it’s possible that it could breach the groundwater table, he explains. That did not happen with nearby Kalperis Hall, four years ago, but the Bonney dig will go deeper. “And we’re downslope a little bit from Kalperis.”

“It’s absolutely something that’s on people’s minds,” Streifel says. “We’re thinking optimistically” — and taking steps. Water that enters the hole in quantity, from heaven or earth, will be pumped to the basin in the southeast corner. A crew from the local firm Gendron & Gendron is cutting trenches now for pipes that will convey the water.

In other watery news, during the fourth week of April workers from the city of Lewiston, Consigli, and Gendron got together to tap into a high-pressure municipal water line and run a connection to the perimeter of the science building site. This will be the building’s water supply for drinking, washing, and fire suppression.

“The city upgraded that line last year to give us high-pressure service for the science building,” Streifel says.

Finally, the south fence of the Bonney Science Center site recently gained a layer of quilted silvery-gray panels. For close neighbors, these ameliorate noise coming off the site, and block views that don’t fascinate everyone as much as they do Campus Construction Update.

Can we talk? Please send your thoughts about past, present, future, and speculative �ֲ���ý construction projects to Doug Hubley. Please put “Construction Update” or “Empiled? Are you licensed to make up words?” in the subject line.

Shortly before the start of a campus-wide celebration of the groundbreaking of the Bonney Science Center on May 2, attendees inspect a model of the building in Memorial Commons. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

“What’s lost or gained if we actually concede that humans are machines, and what is lost or gained if we concede that machines can become human?”

Roll these questions around in your mind for a minute, and you’ll get a sense of what makes �ֲ���ý’ approach to teaching neuroscience distinctive. As exemplified in a recent talk by Nancy Koven, John E. Kelsey Professor of Neuroscience, it’s an approach that considers not just the science of neuroscience, but the cultural context into which that science and its subjects are inextricably woven.

The �ֲ���ý neuroscience program, perhaps uniquely, points “specifically to the value of humanistic inquiry to help students evaluate the context in which neuroscience operates,” Koven said in the Oct. 25 talk that celebrated her appointment as the inaugural Kelsey Professor.

Nancy Koven delivers her address, “Stories of Neuroscience,” celebrating her appointment as the John E. Kelsey Professor of Neuroscience on Oct. 25. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

Titled “Stories of Neuroscience,” Koven’s address was the centerpiece of a crowded and festive gathering that, as President Clayton Spencer indicated in her welcome, had every reason to rock. “The celebration of a professorship is always one of the most significant moments in the life of a college,” she said, “and today’s celebration is particularly rich because it is multi-generational in multiple ways.”

First, the new professorship honors John Kelsey, who came to �ֲ���ý in 1979, taught and conducted research for 34 years, and, in Spencer’s words, became “a distinguished and beloved member of the �ֲ���ý faculty who had an outsized impact on the life of the college and the lives of many, many students.”

Kelsey, who was on hand for the occasion (and lent a hand too, helping to set out extra seats as the room filled up), played a definitive role in establishing �ֲ���ý’ Program in Neuroscience, which Koven chairs.

In Koven, Spencer continued, the Kelsey Professorship honors “a current faculty member who upholds these traditions of commitment and generosity in every aspect of her work — teaching, research, and service.”

Sally Kelsey and her husband, Professor Emeritus of Psychology John Kelsey — namesake of the new �ֲ���ý professorship— chat with another table prior to Nancy Koven’s address on Oct. 25. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

And the professorship itself, announced last spring, was the gift of a family “with long ties over many decades to �ֲ���ý”: the Bonneys, represented at Koven’s talk by members of three generations, including the couple who endowed the Kelsey professorship, trustee chair Michael J. Bonney ’80 and Alison Grott Bonney ’80.

Using his introduction to offer a primer on Kelsey, Koven, and the neuroscience program itself, Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill summarized the program as “one which today provides students with a deep understanding of the relationship between the nervous system and behavior, but also the historical, political, and ethical context in which neuroscience operates.

“This is important in our liberal arts context here at �ֲ���ý.”

A �ֲ���ý professor since 2006, Koven is a clinical neuropsychologist who studies connections between brain regions and cognitive and emotional functions. Her address did uphold its title with a couple of stories, including one about an early lesson about tribal hierarchies in the medical establishment.

The audience fills the Keck Classroom in Pettengill Hall for Nancy Koven’s talk, “Stories of Neuroscience” on Oct. 25, 2018. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

But the heart of the talk was a sampler of student work at the intersection of neuroscience and what Koven called humanistic inquiry — a means of enriching a discipline, she explained, that can otherwise be reductive to a fault, treat brains as disembodied phenomena, and fail to see its own reflection in its conclusions.

“In essence,” she said, “we simplify the complexity of a person into variables that we care most about, hope that we’re capturing the essentials, average those essentials with those from other stripped-down people, hope that the resulting data that’s really no one is really everyone, and then tip-toe quietly around this question of what to do with all those juicy leftovers.”

With science fiction common to both, a first-year seminar and an upper-level seminar that Koven created provided examples of the humanistic approach in action.

Offered in 2016, the FYS engaged new “students from the get-go with lines of humanistic inquiry,” she explained. Last winter’s upper-level course, “Embodied Cognition, Technoculture, and Future of Identity,” provided a “culturally critical lens” for students already well-versed in neuroscience.

John E. Kelsey Professor of Neuroscience Nancy Kelsey meets with neuroscience major Adelae Durand ’19 of Cumberland, R.I., in Koven’s lab on Oct. 11, 2018. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Why science-fi? It’s a genre that “prompt[s] a realization for the reader that the here-and-now of our world does not have to be the way it is,” and ideally liberates readers to ask challenging questions. Another commonality between the courses is that Koven asks her students in both to undertake creative work in a variety of media.

“What mental phenomena might we police?”

In the FYS, for instance, “I asked students to conceptualize a piece of future neurotechnology, and to think about commercialization by marketing this fictitious concept in the format of a Victorian-era ad,” she said.

In both courses, she assigned students to find two real examples of “body technologies that have implications for cognition, emotion, sensation, perception, or movement” — with one example being something sanctioned by medical neuroscience, and the other representing “body hacking,” where people install technology into their bodies independent of the medical establishment.

The body-hacking example was a “third ear” — an ear-shaped growth on an that is equipped with a microphone and wifi to enable, “basically, a global sharing of a person’s immediate soundscape.” Its medically approved counterpoint was a deep-brain stimulator, implanted in people with conditions such as epilepsy, that both monitors brain activity and applies an electrical pulse as needed to avert possible seizures.

Michael Bonney ’80, chair of the �ֲ���ý Board of Trustees, in conversation prior to Nancy Koven’s address Oct. 25 celebrating her appointment as Kelsey Professor of Neuroscience. Bonney and his wife, Alison Grott Bonney ’80, endowed the Kelsey chair. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

“What I deeply appreciate” about that example, Koven said, was a question that it raised for the student who submitted it, Claire MacKay ’20: “While this device addresses troubling symptoms of a disease, it is nonetheless a vehicle by which to impose electrical norms in the brain. What mental phenomena might we police?” That was one of many provocative student queries that Koven shared and that, in and of themselves, were one of the most engaging aspects of the talk.

An outstanding example of student creative work came from the upper-level course and Koven’s challenge to create a so-called body-shopping catalog for consumers in a future “in which the body is an optional mode of existence and is, as such, deliberately constructed and customized.”

Julie Stitt Self ’18 and Lindsey Beauregard ’18 rose to the challenge by creating a faux Amazon.com site that took themes from the course and set them in a commercial context. With one of their imaginary products, the customer can be re-embodied in literature: “Feel like you always have your head stuck in a book? Try your whole body. Swap out your meat bag and become a body of literature instead.”

“It opens the door for people, now bodies of information, to be uploaded into digital beings.”

The site came complete with Amazon verisimilitude in the form of apparatus such as customer reviews. “Generally love this product,” said one review. “Not only can I keep immaculate records of my memories, but I can also write myself into a new fantasy whenever I choose.”

Koven introduces her audience to a theme that has emerged from her students’ work: the relentless thinning of the wall between human and machine. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

That project speaks to one of the broader themes that emerged from the student work: the relentless thinning of the wall between human and machine, and a mind-bending projection of that trend. Digitalization, Koven said, “reinforces the idea that bodies can be read as information, opening the door for human beings to be rendered in code.

“For excited futurists, it opens the door for people, now bodies of information, to be uploaded into digital beings. A wide-scale leaving-behind of what some see as a perennial problem of the body would constitute a digital diaspora. Digital uploading also invites the idea of digital downloading, and it promises immortality either way,” as the body-shopping notion suggests.

Still, the prospect of a digital diaspora “is fraught territory,” Koven noted, especially among those who have worked so hard to defend their identities here in the realm of flesh and blood. She said, “Looking forward can sometimes seem like a dereliction of duty to the past and to the present.”

But not when it comes to teaching and learning neuroscience at �ֲ���ý. Koven concluded that “a vital part of undergraduate neuroscience is to look at brains — yes, absolutely to look at brains — but to also look at how we look at brains, and to contemplate the kind of cultural icon the brain has become.

“I think humanistic lines of inquiry help up do this kind of work, and I’m delighted to be part of a developing �ֲ���ý neuroscience story that recognizes this.”

From left, John Kelsey, Nancy Koven, Michael Bonney ’80, and Alison Grott Bonney ’80 pose for a photo after Koven’s talk. The Bonneys’ gift endowed the new neuroscience professorship held by Koven and named in honor of Kelsey, a member of the psychology faculty for 34 years. (Rene Roy for �ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý College today announced the election of Evelynn Hammonds, L.H.D ’11 to its Board of Trustees. Hammonds is the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science, professor of African and African American studies, and chair of the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.

Evelynn Hammonds, L.H.D ’11 has been elected to the �ֲ���ý College Board of Trustees. (Don West / fotografiks)

“I am thrilled to welcome Evelynn Hammonds to the �ֲ���ý board,” said Chair Michael Bonney ’80, P’09, P’12, P’15. “Evelynn is an accomplished academic leader, a distinguished scholar, and a recognized expert on issues related to race, gender, and science. She will add a uniquely powerful perspective to the work of the board.”

“I am very pleased to be joining the �ֲ���ý trustees,” said Hammonds. “I have long been aware of �ֲ���ý’ distinctive history and strong commitment to sustaining a college and community dedicated to academic rigor and inclusive excellence. I look forward to working on behalf of this wonderful institution.”

At Harvard, Hammonds is also the director of the Program in Race & Gender in Science & Medicine at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. She previously held senior academic leadership positions at Harvard, including dean of the college and senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity.

Focusing on the intersection of scientific, medical, and sociopolitical concepts of race in the U.S., Hammonds is an internationally known scholar on issues related to women of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In 2017, she was appointed to the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

She is the author of Childhood’s Deadly Scourge: The Campaign to Control Diphtheria in New York City, 1880–1930 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999) and numerous scholarly articles. Hammonds is the co-editor of The Nature of Difference: Sciences of Race in the United States from Jefferson to Genomics (MIT Press, 2008) with Rebecca Herzig, professor of gender and sexuality studies at �ֲ���ý.

Hammonds was named a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (2003–05) by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. She has been a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and a fellow in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.

Hammonds earned a doctorate at Harvard in the Department of the History of Science, a master’s in physics from MIT, a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Spelman College.

In 2011, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from �ֲ���ý for her “informed hopefulness and critical brilliance, twin qualities of leadership that encourage us all as we strive for greater social justice in our society and world.” She was also a Commencement speaker that year.

In 2015, Hammonds returned to the �ֲ���ý campus to at the �ֲ���ý-hosted Creating Connections Consortium Summit, speaking on “Creating an Inclusive Academy in the 21st Century.”

Two new residence halls at �ֲ���ý College will be named for Elizabeth Kalperis Chu ’80 and J. Michael Chu ’80 in recognition of their $10 million commitment to the college, President Clayton Spencer announced today.

“I am deeply grateful to Elizabeth and Michael for their wonderfully generous gift,” said Spencer in her remarks at the dedication of Kalperis Hall and Chu Hall on Friday afternoon.

“Their gift underscores the power of the residential liberal arts model and our conviction that a �ֲ���ý education, specifically and especially, is rooted in place and in the diversity of human connection,” Spencer added.

“The willingness of the Chus to step forward upon the opening of these beautiful new structures and in advance of our upcoming fundraising campaign also signals to all who are watching that the �ֲ���ý community is prepared to support ambition and excellence.”

“�ֲ���ý gave both of us a remarkable education that provided the foundation for our lives and careers.”

The Chus, who met at �ֲ���ý, emphasized that their gift to the college is a “small way to acknowledge what �ֲ���ý has given to our family.” Their elder son, Christopher, is a 2012 graduate.

“�ֲ���ý gave both of us a remarkable education that provided the foundation for our lives and careers as well as lifelong friendships that nurture us in so many ways,” they added.

“Our �ֲ���ý story is immeasurably enriched by the fact that our elder son, CJ, also had a wonderful experience here. Though our time at �ֲ���ý and our son’s time were separated by almost 30 years, the DNA and ethos of the college remain very much the same as when we were here.”

Elizabeth Kalperis Chu ’80 and Michael Chu ’80 pose in front of Kalperis Hall on Friday afternoon. Kalperis Hall and Chu Hall were named Friday in recognition of the Chus’ $10 million gift to �ֲ���ý. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Michael Bonney ’80, chair of the �ֲ���ý Board of Trustees, said that one of the great rewards of his work on behalf of �ֲ���ý is the chance to celebrate “excellence of our culture and the tremendous generosity of our community. It’s even more special when the generosity is embodied by dear friends.”

He added, “As Michael and Elizabeth’s �ֲ���ý classmate and their friend, I feel profound personal appreciation for their gift. And from an institutional perspective, I see their gift as another tangible marker of how �ֲ���ý is establishing itself as a model for the 21st-century liberal arts college.”

Located on Campus Avenue across from historic Chase Hall and the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, Kalperis Hall and Chu Hall — at 65 and 55 Campus Ave., respectively — opened in August as campus housing for 243 students.

Each forming an L shape, the two halls face and complement each other across a new lawn. In addition, Kalperis Hall includes street-level space for the relocated and reimagined �ֲ���ý College Store and Post & Print office.

The project to build two residences, announced in December 2013, is part of an initiative to improve �ֲ���ý residential offerings on a broad scale while maintaining campus enrollment at approximately 1,750 students. By embodying the concept of “vertical housing” — the integration of residential life with programs like the College Store — the buildings also establish a new, dynamic area of college life and a more defined and welcoming gateway on the south side of campus.

“Kalperis Hall and Chu Hall have made real what was envisioned during the planning process: spaces that create community,” said Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs Josh McIntosh.

“The living spaces offer our students an ‘at-home’ feeling, provide opportunities to live with friends, welcome lots of natural light, and bring together first-year students with upperclass mentors.”

The result is a stream of students coming and going through the area, “a hub of activity, student traffic, and life for the entire campus community,” said Philip Chen, project architect for Ann Beha Architects. “The area is embedded with the �ֲ���ý ethos of inclusivity, diversity, and community.”

Chu Hall, pictured here, and Kalperis Hall are strategic accomplishments to improve residential offerings on a broad scale while maintaining campus enrollment at approximately 1,750. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The project’s architectural vision has been realized, said Elizabeth and Michael Chu.

“The interior design is wonderful because of its beautiful sightlines, including exterior views of the campus. The study and group spaces are so well-laid out, promoting and fostering a real sense of community — the root of everything �ֲ���ý.”

Overall, they said, the architecture “reflects the design aesthetics of the campus as a whole while clearly introducing the world of today into the buildings.”

The Chus said that the new buildings continue what they valued about residential life at the college and its diverse pantheon of buildings old and new, large and small.

Kalperis Hall, pictured here, embodies the concept of “vertical housing,” the integration of residential and other uses, such as the College Store and Post & Print, to create a hub of student and community activity. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

“Our own various �ֲ���ý residences were so different and distinctly memorable in their own right, yet they all shared a common feature. They allowed for great friendships to develop. Whether the spaces were large or small, they all contributed to a social life that is such an integral part of the �ֲ���ý experience.”

Today, Michael Chu is a �ֲ���ý trustee emeritus who is the global co-CEO and co-founder of the private equity firm L Catterton. Elizabeth Kalperis Chu, whose career was in the securities industry, serves on a number of community and nonprofit boards.

Alison Bernstein, who died on June 30, speaks to a gathering of alumni, parents, and friends in Atlanta during the “Multicultural Voices” listening events held around the country in 2011. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Alison Bernstein, a member of the �ֲ���ý College Board of Trustees and a U.S. higher education scholar, policy expert, and activist who helped to open doors for diverse and historically underserved populations, died of cancer on June 30, 2016, at age 69.

Appointed to the �ֲ���ý board in 2007, Bernstein used her “wealth of experience and expertise in foundation philanthropy and academia” as a “champion of equity and diversity, both for the campus community and the Board of Trustees,” wrote President Clayton Spencer in her message to the campus community on July 5.

Bernstein served as vice chair of the �ֲ���ý board from 2010 to 2014, as a member of the Presidential Search Committee in 2011, and as co-chair of the Board Governance and Admission and Financial Aid committees.

Her daughter Emma Brown-Bernstein graduated from �ֲ���ý in 2009.

“Alison’s deep experience as an educator, forward vision, and keen understanding of the human condition contributed profoundly to the �ֲ���ý experience for nearly a decade. Alison embraced �ֲ���ý fully — our institution, our community, and our people — and we will miss the strength and warmth of that relationship,” said Michael Bonney ’80, chair of the �ֲ���ý College Board of Trustees.

Director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers University since 2011, Bernstein was earlier a Ford Foundation official for 14 years, rising to vice president of the Education, Creativity, and Free Expression Program, now known as Creativity and Free Expression.

“Ms. Bernstein was a polymath who brought her broad knowledge to bear on an array of causes” at the Ford Foundation, The New York Times noted in its July 10 story.

She “expanded opportunities for learning and tackled challenging social problems,” the story said and, specifically, “worked on improving community colleges and increasing the transfer rate for students to four-year institutions; opening up higher education to more Native American students; and advancing women’s and gender studies.”

In her tenure at Rutgers, said the Times, Bernstein “promoted interdisciplinary study on the areas of women and health and women, media and technology,” and led efforts to endow a professorship in Gloria Steinem’s name that will be devoted to media, culture, and feminist studies.

A professor of history at Rutgers who was a scholar of Native American studies and women and gender studies, Bernstein’s scholarship included the co-authored book Melting Pots and Rainbow Nations: Conversations About Difference in the United States and South Africa.

Bernstein’s first board service was in 1969, at age 22, when she was appointed a trustee of Vassar College, her alma mater, just months after her graduation.

In a sign of the times, then-Vassar president Alan Simpson said that “if anyone can mediate between hairy youth and hoary age, it is Alison Bernstein.”

In turn, Bernstein, as quoted in a 1969 Newsday story, said that “so far as I can tell, the generation gap is a creation of people who don’t realize we’re closer together than we think we are.”

With the college’s academic year coming to its official close on June 30, here’s a selection of top stories from the 2015-16 college year, told in text, photographs, and video.

Table of Contents

1. Largest gift ever
2. Civil rights icon John Lewis speaks at Commencement
3. 14 �ֲ���ý Fulbrights
4. Neuroscientist wins $720K “most prestigious” award
5. “Let’s debate the data” on police use of force
6. Women’s rowing builds on national success
7. Lewiston’s Basilica hosts �ֲ���ý-produced musical spectacular
8. Judith Isaacson ’65, Holocaust survivor and author, passes away
9. MLK Day address: Racial progress can “sow seeds of regression”
10. Women’s lacrosse delivers a spring surprise
11. Robert Indiana’s “Like a Rolling Stone” prints debut at �ֲ���ý
12. A second straight squash title
13. �ֲ���ý and the Declaration of Independence share the same magic
14. Chick Leahey ’52, baseball coach and mentor, passes away
15. �ֲ���ý convenes national summit on race in higher education
16. Biochemist wins $345K Lyme bacteria grant and �ֲ���ý teaching prize

Largest gift ever leads $19 million in donations for professorships and Digital and Computational Studies program

In February, �ֲ���ý announced gifts of $19 million from seven families to create six new endowed professorships and launch the college’s new Digital and Computational Studies program.

The new gifts are led by the largest single gift in �ֲ���ý history, $10 million from Chair of the Board of Trustees Michael Bonney ’80 and his wife, Alison Grott Bonney ’80.

An example of “what is possible when we pull together to advance this special institution.”

“I have never been more optimistic about the future of the college,” said Michael, praising “the acts of these seven families,” which “demonstrate, in this real and tangible way, what is possible when we pull together to advance this special institution.”

At right, Michael Bonney ’80 and Alison Grott Bonney ’80 sit with Mike’s parents, Wes ’50 and Elaine Bonney, at the February announcement of $19 million in new gifts to �ֲ���ý, including $10 million from the younger Bonneys. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Civil rights icon John R. Lewis speaks at Commencement: “I want to thank �ֲ���ý College”

Reflecting and leading the national discussion, �ֲ���ý convened a number of signature events in 2015-16 with strong themes around race, citizenship, and linked issues such as mass incarceration.

Tops among them was the compelling Commencement address by U.S. Rep. John R. Lewis, who began by recognizing a founding father of the modern civil rights movement: Benjamin E. Mays, �ֲ���ý Class of 1920.

Lewis cited Mays’ statement that �ֲ���ý did not emancipate him, but instead enabled him to emancipate himself, then said that “I want to thank �ֲ���ý College for what you did, and continue to do, to free and liberate humankind.”

14 seniors and young alumni receive Fulbright student fellowships for 2016–17

Fourteen �ֲ���ý seniors and young alumni have won Fulbright student fellowships for 2016-17, the college announced in May.

�ֲ���ý has earned Fulbright “Top Producer” honors, a distinction earned by a handful of colleges annually, for five straight years, 2012 to 2016, and in seven out of the last eight years.

That’s 63 Fulbright student fellowships won by �ֲ���ý seniors and young alumni over the last five years.

Neuroscientist Jason Castro wins $720K “most prestigious” NSF early-career award

�ֲ���ý faculty members secured more than $3 million in competitive research grants in 2015-16, led by a $720,000 grant to Assistant Professor of Psychology Jason Castro from the National Science Foundation.

The Faculty Early Career award is considered the “most prestigious grant” that a junior faculty scientist can win, said Matt Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at �ֲ���ý.

“A pretty powerful case that �ֲ���ý is a destination for students serious about STEM.”

The award will support Castro’s neuroscience research into brain structure and — in alignment with the college’s new Digital and Computational Studies program — help Castro infuse computational emphases into an introductory neuroscience course.

Auer praised Castro and his fellow STEM faculty for being “remarkable instructors who embed their own research directly into student coursework and lab work,” which, in turn, “makes a pretty powerful case that �ֲ���ý is a destination for students serious about STEM.”

�ֲ���ý neuroscientist Jason Castro’s early-career award is considered the “NSF’s most prestigious grant for junior faculty scientists,” said Matt Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at �ֲ���ý. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Economist Roland Fryer speaks at �ֲ���ý on police use of force: “Let’s debate the data”

Economist Roland Fryer, winner of the 2015 spoke at �ֲ���ý on Nov. 8 on “Understanding Racial Differences in Police Use of Force.”

Fryer, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard, has gathered several million data points from police departments nationwide. His quest: to have a data- and research-driven discussion about race and police use of force in the U.S.

“The debate should start with the data.”

While police-shooting videos are horrific, they should not drive the policy debate, Fryer told the full house in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. Instead, he said, “the debate should start with the data.”

To that end, Fryer’s data does not show a racial bias in police use of deadly force. However, the data do show that blacks, far more than whites, experience less-forceful police tactics, like being thrown to the ground.

“It makes you feel less than a whole human being.”

It’s a tactic used thousands of times a day in this country, and while not deadly, its power to strip away human dignity might as well be, said Fryer, who experienced that type of police force as a boy in Lewisville, Texas. “It makes you feel less than a whole human being.”

Economist Roland Fryer speaks at �ֲ���ý on Nov. 8, 2015. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Rowing builds on national success as 2016 NCAA runner-up

A month after celebrating the groundbreaking of a new men’s and women’s rowing boathouse along the Androscoggin River, the at the NCAA Division III Rowing Championships.

For the Bobcats, the defending NCAA champions, it’s the the sixth national runner-up finish in program history; the previous five came consecutively from 2009 through 2013.

�ֲ���ý celebrates its second-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Division III Rowing Championships in Gold River, Calif. (Aaron Morse/�ֲ���ý College)

Lewiston’s magnificent Basilica hosts a �ֲ���ý-produced musical extravaganza

In April, John Corrie, a lecturer in music at �ֲ���ý, realized his dream of — of Beethoven’s choral masterwork, the Missa Solemnis — in Lewiston’s magnificent Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Welcoming the capacity crowd, President Clayton Spencer recalled how Corrie “came to me, telling me of his vision…. So it is truly a thrill and an honor to stand here and anticipate what you’re about to hear.”

John Corrie conducts the Missa Solemnis, a landmark in Maine music-making in the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on April 3, 2016. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Judith Magyar Isaacson ’65, Holocaust survivor with unbounded spirit, dies at age 90

Educator, author, champion of equal opportunity for women, and a human-rights advocate whose passion was forged by her experiences in the Holocaust, Judith Magyar Isaacson ’65, LL.D. ’94, died on Nov. 10.

In 1994, �ֲ���ý honored her with an honorary degree, and the degree citation read, in part:

To remember vividly, so that none can forget — to say the unspeakable, so that all can hear — takes a voice of courage, power, and eloquence. Your strengths, Judith Isaacson, touch the lives of not only your family and your colleagues but those countless others who read in your personal and professional life the inextinguishable force of human worth.

In 2006, Judith Magyar Isaacson ’65 signs her memoir “Seed of Sarah” after a class about the Holocaust taught by former �ֲ���ý professor Steve Hochstadt. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Author and educator Jelani Cobb speaks at MLK Day: Racial progress can “sow seeds of regression”

William Jelani Cobb, the college’s keynote speaker on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said that even acts of progress on racial issues can “sow seeds of regression,” like the U.S. tragedy of mass incarceration, a theme of the Jan. 21 observance.

“The legacy is very clear.”

For example, the 13th Amendment eradicated slavery — “except for individuals duly convicted of a crime,” explained Cobb, a staff writer for The New Yorker and a history professor and director of the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut.

“So it is no coincidence that in the wake of Emancipation, Southern economies began to rely increasingly on the labors of people who were incarcerated,” he said. “The legacy is very clear.”

William Jelani Cobb gives the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote address in the Gomes Chapel at �ֲ���ý on Jan. 21. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Women’s lacrosse delivers a spring surprise

Before this spring, the women’s lacrosse team hadn’t posted a 10-win season since Bill Clinton was elected president.

But that all changed in 2016 as the Bobcats went 12-6 and earned the program’s second-ever bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The team’s 12 wins were the second-most in the program’s 42-year history (the 1992 team went 14-2), and ’16 of Greenwich, Conn., earned her second straight Division III Goalkeeper of the Year award and was named the college’s Female Athlete of the Year.

The defensive-minded Bobcats faced another tough defense in Springfield on May 15, and the two immovable objects produced the lowest-scoring game in the tournament’s history, a 3-2 win for the Pride.

Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College

�ֲ���ý Museum of Art debuts Robert Indiana prints based on “Like a Rolling Stone”

Now at the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art is the exhibition Robert Indiana: Now and Then, the centerpiece for which is a 12-print series merging the sensibilities of two of the 1960s’ definitive pop-culture figures, Bob Dylan and Robert Indiana.

“It’s an incredibly dynamic group.”

While Indiana’s work is often about variations on a themes, each “Like a Rolling Stone” print is “very distinct from the next. It’s an incredibly dynamic group as a result, and I’m really excited that we will be the institution that introduces these to the world.”

“Once Upon a Time” (2016), silkscreen in colors on triple-primed canvas from the “Like a Rolling Stone” series by Robert Indiana.

Amhed Abdel Khalek ’16 wins second collegiate squash title

In March, Amhed Abdel Khalek ’16 won his second straight College Squash Association national title.

His family back home in Cairo, Abdel Khalek got support at the tournament from another kind of family, the close-knit group of squash parents, alumni, and students who made the trip to Stamford, Conn.

“Words can’t express how I feel about those people,” Abdel Khalek says. “If I keep thanking them for a decade, I won’t be able to finish.”

In May, Abdel Khalek was named the college’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Ahmed Abdel Khalek ’16 of Cairo, �ֲ���ý’ two-time national collegiate squash champion, poses for a portrait at the �ֲ���ý Squash Center. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Political theorist Danielle Allen speaks at Convocation: �ֲ���ý students are “direct heirs” of the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence and a liberal arts classroom are both magical things, said 2015 Convocation speaker Danielle Allen.

And their magic derives from the same powerful source, Allen said. Both the Declaration and the liberal arts are about “human agency,” the capacity both to direct and justify one’s path in life.

Allen is author of Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, the assigned Common Reading for the incoming Class of 2019.

�ֲ���ý and �ֲ���ý students “are in some sense the direct heirs” of the Declaration, she said. The motivating effect of the Declaration led to abolitionism in the 19th century, a movement that engendered, among many other things, �ֲ���ý College.

William “Chick” Leahey ’52, baseball coach and mentor, dies at age 90

William J. “Chick” Leahey Jr. ’52, head coach of �ֲ���ý baseball for 36 years and a revered mentor who paid forward his own life lessons to his players, died on March 26, 2016, at age 90.

“He taught us to compete fiercely but fairly.”

“On the field, he taught me the importance of hard work and commitment. He disciplined me when I got out of line and praised me when I succeeded,” said Jim Sylvia ’84 of Newton, Mass., in 2014.

“He taught us to compete fiercely but fairly,” said Thom Freeman ’63 of Wrentham, Mass., an All-America pitcher for Leahey. “At no other time did I learn more about baseball and how to conduct myself on the field and as a person in general than when I played under his guidance.”

In 2014, William “Chick” Leahey ’52 donned his No. 11 �ֲ���ý jersey at his home on East Avenue, a day before �ֲ���ý retired his jersey. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý convenes national summit on race in higher education

In November, the college convened a national summit — the Creating Connection Consortium — that asked how higher education can help aspiring young scholars from underrepresented groups become college professors.

“We can and should learn from everyone.”

The goal reflects fundamental notions about higher education and excellence, said Crystal Williams, chair of the C3 Summit Planning Committee, associate vice president and chief diversity officer, and professor of English at �ֲ���ý.

First, she said, “the intellectual endeavor is enriched when many different kinds of people are engaged in the production and investigation of knowledge.”

Second, “the true power of difference is that we learn we can and should learn from everyone.”

Biochemist Paula Schlax wins $345K Lyme bacteria research grant and Kroepsch Teaching Award

Professor of Chemistry Paula Schlax had a big year in the classroom and the lab.

In the fall, she won a $345,00 National Institutes of Health grant to continue her studies of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. In the spring, the college announced that she’d won the 2016 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching.

“The most important teaching that we do.”

From Schlax’s perspective, each endeavor feeds the other, to the benefit of students.

“Students can collaborate with us on our research, and honestly everyone in our chemistry department feels that is some of the most important teaching that we do.”

In her second floor Dana Chemistry office, biochemistry professor Paula Schlax helps AsiaLuna Patois ’19 of Baltimore, Md. prepare for a chemistry exam.

New gifts of $19 million to �ֲ���ý shine a spotlight on two great �ֲ���ý qualities, says Michael Bonney ’80, chair of the �ֲ���ý Board of Trustees.

The gifts, from seven �ֲ���ý families, will endow six new professorships and launch a new Program in Digital and Computational Studies. Bonney and his wife, Alison Grott Bonney ’80, contributed $10 million.

The Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society recognizes the remarkable philanthropy and personal commitment of �ֲ���ý donors who have given $1 million or more in lifetime gifts to �ֲ���ý.

At Reunion, the Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society welcomed new members Lynn W. Willsey ’54 and Beverly Hayne Willsey ’55, P’79, P’81, P’89, GP’18.

Presenting the citation was Mike Bonney ’80, P’09, P’12, P’15, chair of the �ֲ���ý College Board of Trustees.

Citation for Lynn W. Willsey ’54 and Beverly Hayne Willsey ’55

Today, we are honored to formally welcome two lifelong champions of the college — Lynn Willsey of the �ֲ���ý Class of 1954 and Beverly Hayne Willsey of the �ֲ���ý Class of 1955 — to the Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society.

Lynn Willsey ’54 (center) and Beverly Hayne Willsey ’55 acknowledge applause as they are welcomed into the Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society at Reunion on June 13, 2015. At left is Mike Bonney ’80, chair of the �ֲ���ý Board of Trustees, who presented their citation. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Membership in the Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society is the highest distinction conferred upon benefactors of the college. For their extraordinary financial support of the college and the transformative educational opportunities they have created for �ֲ���ý students, Lynn and Beverly are highly deserving of the honor.

Among their lifetime giving to �ֲ���ý of more than $1 million, Lynn and Beverly established the Willsey Family Scholarship Fund to provide financial aid for deserving �ֲ���ý students.

With Trustee Emeritus James Moody ’53, they also established the Charles A. Bucknam ’53 Athletic Fund for the support of �ֲ���ý athletics programs.

As a member of the Board of Trustees, Lynn has played a vital role in the college’s fundraising efforts, serving in a leadership capacity on all four of �ֲ���ý’ campaigns. He also served as a class agent and co-chair of 1954’s Reunion Gift Committees four times. Just two weeks ago, Lynn was inducted into the �ֲ���ý Scholar-Athlete Society.

Equally passionate about the college, Beverly was a cheerleader for three years while she was a student at �ֲ���ý, a time when cheering was the only varsity sport for women. A member of the College Key, she served as an officer of the Hartford �ֲ���ý Club and has been class president since her 50th Reunion.

In 2011, the Alumni Council honored her service to the college with a �ֲ���ý’ Best Award. At Reunion 2006, the college honored both Lynn and Beverly with the Helen A. Papaioanou Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Lynn and Beverly have also generously shared their family with �ֲ���ý. Three of their four sons — Robert, Class of 1979; David, Class of 1981; and Jamie, Class of 1989 — graduated from �ֲ���ý. Their grandson Daniel Micah Willsey, son of David ’81, is a member of the �ֲ���ý Class of 2018.

Lynn and Beverly, it is my great pleasure to thank you for your decades of generous financial support that have strengthened the college and enhanced the educational experience for thousands of �ֲ���ý students. I welcome you to the Benjamin �ֲ���ý Society.

A gift of $11.5 million from current and past members of the �ֲ���ý College Board of Trustees will empower the college to strengthen core academic programs and “to position �ֲ���ý to embrace transformational change,” in the words of �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer.

Called the Catalyst Fund, the gift was announced Friday afternoon at a special campus gathering in Chase Hall by Michael Bonney ’80, chair of the Board of Trustees and chief executive officer of Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

Faculty members Lillian Nayder (English), Jane Costlow (environmental studies) and Tom Wenzel (chemistry) applaud the announcement of the Catalyst Fund gift. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The Catalyst Fund, Bonney told �ֲ���ý faculty, staff and trustees who filled Chase Lounge, represents “new financial resources that �ֲ���ý can spend, over and above our annual operating budget, in the next five years to move forward on key college initiatives — not tomorrow, not next year, but now.”

He said the Catalyst Fund is proof that donor families “understand and embrace the institutional priorities that have emerged in the last year. Their remarkable, collective generosity comes…from a singular excitement and enthusiasm about the direction that �ֲ���ý is taking.”

Video: Catalyst Fund announcement

Bonney praised the donors of the Catalyst Fund for their “eagerness, almost an impatience, to get going.”

In her remarks at Friday’s event, President Spencer said that “we have urgency, we have ideas, and we have ambition.”

Chair of the Board of Trustees Michael Bonney ’80 announces the $11.5 million Catalyst Fund gift as �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer applauds. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

But, she told the audience, “you won’t be surprised to hear that it takes resources to achieve ambitious goals. It takes resources to bring strength to strength and to position �ֲ���ý to embrace transformational change.”

Trustee Darrell Crate ’89 concluded the announcement with a champagne toast, noting that the goal of the Catalyst Fund is “relevant, pragmatic and inspired.”

In his toast, he said, “Here’s to �ֲ���ý, to the Catalyst Fund and to what is a materially stronger future for our college.”

Darrell Crate ’89, a member of the Board of Trustees, talks with Michael Murray, the college’s Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The $11.5 million Catalyst Fund will be spent on programs in three areas: the Engaged Liberal Arts, Purposeful Work, and Excellence and Opportunity.

The Engaged Liberal Arts

The Engaged Liberal Arts, Spencer said, “means delivering the best possible version of the personalized, residential model of liberal arts education.”

“Students learn along the way that while information may be a click away, mastery and meaning are not.”

In this model, “professors who are active scholars teach students to interpret, experiment, imagine, analyze, explore and explain. Students learn along the way that while information may be a click away, mastery and meaning are not.” At the same time, she added, “we will embrace innovative pedagogies and strategically use new faculty appointments to shape a forward-looking curriculum that prepares students for the changing ways we experience the world.

“Innovation takes many forms,” Spencer said. “The availability of massive amounts of primary content online, advances in brain science and the ability to measure the learning process are revolutionizing the experience of teaching and learning. And technology, writ large and small, is a cultural force that is altering the way we live our lives.”

In the face of such forces, Spencer said, “�ֲ���ý will be a leader in recognizing ways that technology can bring innovation to teaching and research.”

Spencer highlighted the work of Associate Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies Margaret Imber, who is  leading a project that supports faculty as “they make the critical investment of time and energy so they can engage the future right now,” Spencer said.

In collaboration with Michael Hanrahan, assistant director of curricular and research computing, Imber recently led a symposium that brought leaders in the digital humanities to campus to work with �ֲ���ý faculty “and to share the extraordinary developments available to them,” Spencer said.

“For our faculty, embracing technology requires an investment of time, which costs money, and a great willingness — which our professors possess — to master and deploy technology in ways that most help our students.”

Another force affecting higher education is the looming retirements of faculty born during the baby boom. In fact, she said, half of the �ֲ���ý faculty are eligible to retire over the next 10 years.

“Our central task as a college is to shape a forward-looking curriculum and hire the faculty to teach it,” Spencer said. “Similarly, we approach new developments in knowledge and pedagogy with zest and openness, as well as with a critical eye.”

Purposeful Work

“The goal of the Purposeful Work initiative is to embrace the reality that building a sustainable structure to help our students explore, understand and strengthen their relationship to work — in college and beyond — lies at the heart of the liberal arts mission,” Spencer said.

College graduates face the challenge of a highly competitive world where entering the work force is difficult, she said, to say nothing about finding work that connects with their interests and draws upon their best skills.

“All students…will have access to a wide range of work-relevant knowledge, connections and possibilities.”

Accordingly, �ֲ���ý will develop programming geared to the arc of its students’ four years that will help them to develop and discern their interests. Students will be able to link that process to an expanded suite of internships and other experiences that will increase their self-awareness, sharpen their skills and make them more marketable as graduates.

To support these goals, “�ֲ���ý will offer practitioner-taught courses and multi-year mentoring communities; strengthen job shadowing and apprenticeship opportunities; and create a robust internship program drawing on the interests and talents of alumni and parents,” Spencer said.

The Purposeful Work initiative, said Spencer, adds an important element to the college’s commitment to equity. It ensures that “all students, not only those with inherited networks of advancement, will have access to a wide range of work-relevant knowledge, connections and possibilities.”

Excellence and Opportunity

The commitment to Excellence and Opportunity is central to �ֲ���ý’ mission and history. “It means attracting and enrolling the very best students from a broad range of backgrounds and marshaling the resources to provide generous financial aid to support their education,” said Spencer. “And our current financial aid program reflects our commitment to these values.”

Forty-seven percent of �ֲ���ý students receive financial aid, and the average �ֲ���ý Grant is more than $35,000. Counter to national trends in student debt, �ֲ���ý financial aid is largely composed of outright grants, and students with loans graduate with an average debt load of approximately $17,000, compared to the national average of approximately $27,000.

“Any college, particularly a college like �ֲ���ý that has the advantage of having a strong tradition and strong resources, has an ethical obligation to make this experience available to people who can’t afford the very high cost it takes to mount a highly personalized residential liberal arts education,” Spencer said.