Lawrence University News

APPLETON, WIS. -- Abstract paintings, the intersection of fashion and art and manuscript illuminations will be featured in the latest exhibition at Lawrence University's Wriston Art Center galleries. The exhibition runs Sept. 22 - Oct. 28.

Chicago painter Todd Chilton, whose abstract images will be displayed in the Kohler Gallery, will be the exhibition's featured speaker Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. A reception with the artist will follow the address, which is free and open to the public.

Chilton's work often focuses on simple, layered geometric patterns that reveal a subtle sense of humor while also creating a visual tension between openness and resistance. His work was featured last year in solo exhibitions at The Suburban in Oak Park, Ill., and the Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Brigham Young University in 2002 and a MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005.

"Turn of the Century Art and Fashion" will be featured in the Hoffmaster Gallery. Pairing garments from the Lawrence theatre department with images from the Wriston galleries' permanent collection, the show explores the influence of fashion on art. It focuses on fashion trends of the late 19th through the early 20th centuries.

Late medieval and early Renaissance manuscript illuminations will be featured in the Leech Gallery exhibition "The Illuminated Book." The exhibition was organized and researched by Lawrence students in the art history course of the same name.

Wriston Art Center hours are Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from noon - 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays. For more information, call 920-832-6621 or visit http://www.lawrence.edu/news/wriston/.

APPLETON, WIS. -- Greg Peterson is hoping his new Lawrence University classmates and professors will understand if he occasionally answers their queries in the form of a question. Old habits are hard to break.

One of 376 new students Lawrence officials will welcome Wednesday, Sept. 19 for move-in day and the start of orientation activities, Peterson placed second in the 2007 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, which aired on national television at the end of July. Leading after the first day of the two-day finals, he wound up with a total of $38,600, finishing a mere one dollar short of the title on the popular game show known for its answers-in-the-form-of-a-question format.

After years of practice, the self-described "quiz show nut" from Park Ridge, Ill., says "it just becomes so natural to say 'who is' or 'what is' at the start of every sentence."

Peterson, who arrives at Lawrence after also applying to Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford and Yale universities, is planning on auditioning for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" next summer. In the meantime, he hopes to restart a campus quiz bowl team after he settles in. In 1965, a team of Lawrence students retired as five-time champions on the GE College Bowl, a quiz show that aired on CBS.

Whether or not he finds similar success, Peterson already has helped make school history as a member of Lawrence's largest-ever applicant pool. For the third consecutive year, Lawrence enjoyed a record-setting number of applications, jumping more than 12 percent to 2,599 over last year's total of 2,315.

"Lawrence's visibility on the national scale is rising and there are a lot more students seeking us out," said Ken Anselment, director of admissions. "We're increasingly enrolling more high impact, highly involved students and that has a ripple effect at high schools. When underclassmen at these schools see these student leaders heading off to Lawrence, that gets them thinking Lawrence is someplace they should be seriously considering as well."

Anselment also credits Lawrence's inclusion in the book "Colleges That Change Lives," with boosting interest in the college. The book, written by former New York Times education editor Loren Pope, profiles 40 schools "that will change the way you think about college."

Since 1998, as a follow-up to the book, Lawrence has participated in a special college fair tour that focuses solely on the 40 profiled colleges. In 2006, the tour made more than two dozen stops in major cities around the country and nine stops in Latin America.

"That's been huge for us," said Anselment. "People are coming out in droves on the tour, in part because they want a different perspective on what constitutes quality in higher education."

The increasing applicant pool coupled with the university's enrollment cap of 1,400 has enabled Lawrence to increase its selectivity. Lawrence admitted just under 56 percent of this year's applicants. Two years ago, the acceptance rate was 68 percent.

"It seems counter-intuitive, but when a school starts getting more selective, it builds student interest and that in turn fuels additional application growth," Anselment explained. "We're still the high-quality place we've always been, but now there are a lot more students interested in us."

Beginning in 2006, Lawrence became the first Wisconsin college, and one of a growing number nationally, to go "test optional," eliminating the requirement of standardized test scores (SAT, ACT) for admission, instead allowing students to choose whether they want the admissions committee to consider their scores. This year, the program's second, actually saw a small increase in the number of students opting to submit test results, 77 percent, up from 75 percent the first year.

"That was a little surprising, but not shocking," said Anselment. "Going into the test optional phase, we weren't sure just how many students would take us up on the offer. This year's bump shows that our rise in applications cannot be attributed solely to our going test-optional."

Two hundred seventy-five different high schools are represented by this year's 361 freshmen, who hail from 37 states and 21 countries. While Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota again account for a little more than half of all incoming freshmen, New York surprisingly sent the fourth most number of students (17), with California, Massachusetts, Oregon and China also ranked among the top 10 home areas of new freshmen. Slightly more than 10 percent (37) of the incoming freshmen are international students.

"It's a strikingly geographically diverse group," said Anselment.

The academic profile of the incoming freshmen remains as strong as ever, with new students boasting an average high school grade point average of 3.6 on a 4.0 scale, while the average ACT score reached an all-time of 28.9. Twenty percent of incoming freshmen ranked in the top five percent of their high school graduating class, including 10 valedictorians, while 71 percent graduated in the top 25 percent of their class.

"We are thrilled with the quality and energy of this class and with the steady increase in applications. All of this will help us to continue attracting and enrolling the most broadly talented and engaged students we possibly can," said Anselment.

More than 90 percent of the first-year students received financial assistance from Lawrence. The average need-based financial aid package exceeded $25,000.

"Lawrence continues to surprise people with the strength of our financial aid packages and remains accessible to families from a broad range of financial backgrounds," Anselment said.

Classes for Lawrence's 158th academic year begin Wednesday, Sept. 26.

APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University President Jill Beck officially opens the college's 158th academic year and kicks off the 2007-08 convocation series Thursday, Sept. 27 by examining the importance of an educated electorate and the value of student engagement in the political process in her annual matriculation address.

Beck presents "Educating Citizens, Supporting Students' Political Engagement and Getting out the Vote" at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The address is free and open to the public.

Since becoming Lawrence's 15th -- and first woman -- president in July 2004, Beck has focused on strengthening Lawrence's commitment to individualized instruction, increasing collaborative and complementary activities between the fine and performing arts and the traditional liberal arts and sciences and encouraging more active community engagement by Lawrence and its students.

Under her leadership, Lawrence established an innovative postdoctoral teaching fellowship program in 2005 that has since brought 19 recent Ph.D.s to campus for mentoring, teaching opportunities and research collaborations. Beck also organized an international conference on tutorial education earlier this year and established a partnership with the Posse Foundation in 2006 that will bring 10 "Posse Scholars" from New York City to campus each year beginning this fall.

In 1996, while at the University of California, Irvine, Beck founded ArtsBridge America, an outreach program that offers hands-on experiences in the arts by placing university students in K-12 classrooms as instructors and mentors. Lawrence, which now serves as national headquarters for ArtsBridge, is the only private institution to join the program, which includes 22 participating institutions in 13 states and Northern Ireland.

A native of Worcester, Mass., Beck earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and art history from Clark University, a master's degree in history and music from McGill University, and a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the City University of New York. She served on the faculties of City College of the City of New York and The Juilliard School and has written extensively in the fields of dance history, theory, repertory, and technique, as well as choreographing and directing ballet and modern dance repertory.

From 1995 to 2003, Beck served as the dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine, where she established the da Vinci Research Center for Learning Through the Arts, an interdisciplinary center for research focused on learning across disciplines.

Joining Beck on the 2007-08 convocation series are:

• Oct. 2 -- David Mulford, U.S. Ambassador to India. A 1959 Lawrence graduate, Mulford has served as Ambassador to India since January, 2004. He spent the previous 11 years as chairman international of London-based Credit Suisse First Boston. From 1984-92, Mulford was the Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs, serving as senior international economic policy advisor. Prior to his public service, Mulford was a managing director and head of international finance at White, Weld & Co. Inc., where he coordinated efforts with Credit Suisse on international business. From 1974-83, he served as senior investment advisor to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, managing the investment of Saudi oil revenues.

• Nov. 6 -- Paul Hawken, author, environmentalist and entrepeneur. Since the age of 20, Hawken has dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He is the author of seven books, including "The Ecology of Commerce," "Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution," which President Clinton called one of the five most important books in the world today and 2007's "Blessed Unrest," which examines the history of the environmental and social justice movement. He has founded and run numerous ecological businesses, including Smith & Hawken, the garden and catalog retailer and several of the country's first natural food companies that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods.

• Feb. 5 -- Andrew Sullivan, senior editor of The Atlantic and columnist for the Sunday Times of London. Considered one of today's most provocative political and social commentators, Sullivan was among the first journalists to experiment with blogging. His blunt observations about issues and people in the news are read by millions in his blog "The Daily Dish." A native of Great Britain, Sullivan wrote essays for Time magazine before joining The Atlantic. He began his journalism career as a summer intern at The New Republic, where he rose to become the youngest editor in the magazine's history, earning Adweek's "Editor of the Year" award in 1991. Sullivan also has written four books, including 2006's "The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back."

• May 22 -- Terry Moran, broadcast journalist and co-anchor of ABC's "Nightline." A 1982 Lawrence graduate, Moran has served as co-anchor of "Nightline" since Ted Koppel's last broadcast in November, 2005. Prior to "Nightline," Moran spent six years as ABC News' chief White House correspondent and often served as weekend anchor for the Sunday broadcast of "World News Tonight." He joined ABC as the network's legal correspondent, covering the trials of Dr. Jack Kevorkian and "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski. He began his broadcast career as a correspondent and anchor for Court TV, where he received critical attention for his coverage of the murder trials of O.J. Simpson and Erik and Lyle Menendez.

APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University will join nearly 600 other private colleges and universities around the country Wednesday, Sept. 26 in the launch of a new web-based tool designed to assist families in their college searches.

U-CAN -- the University and College Accountability Network -- was developed by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) in Washington, D.C., to help meet the challenge and responsibility of educating students, as well as their families, even before they decide which college to attend.

The first national consumer information tool developed by either private or public colleges, the U-CAN web site -- www.ucan-network.org -- will be operational Sept. 26.

U-CAN's goal is to provide detailed information on individual institutions to objectively assist high school students in selecting a college or university that best fits their intellectual, professional and extracurricular interests, their values and personality and their financial circumstances.

The web site's content and design are completely driven by consumer comments drawn from focus groups conducted in cities across the nation with prospective students and parents from all backgrounds who indicated what they most need to make an informed college choice.

"Lawrence University is delighted to participate in and contribute to U-CAN," said President Jill Beck. "As an institution devoted to helping individuals realize their full potential, we especially appreciate how this new tool can help students find schools that best suit their own unique sets of interests and abilities."

U-CAN consists of hundreds of institutional profiles presented in a concise, consumer-friendly common format. Each profile includes comparable data and targeted links to that institution's own web site for more detailed information on specific aspects of the institution.

The development of U-CAN grew out of a growing concern among American families, members of Congress and the U.S. Department of Education about the need for better and more transparent college consumer information.

APPLETON, WIS. -- U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford discusses the roles of the two countries in the global economy and the need for bilateral cooperation Tuesday, Oct. 2 in the second address of Lawrence University's 2007-08 convocation series.

Mulford presents "The United States and India: A Partnership for the 21st Century" at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

A 1959 graduate of Lawrence, Mulford has served as ambassador to India since January 2004, joining the U.S. Department of State from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he spent 11 years as chairman international of the London-based banking firm, directing worldwide, large-scale privatization business and other corporate and government advisory assignments.

In a June 2006 online interview with readers of Rediff.com, India's leading Internet news portal, Mulford championed India as an attractive destination for foreign investment because "it has a strong economy, a large, articulate and well-educated population, it is a democracy, it believes in rule of law and it has a sophisticated and well-supervised financial system. It is also a large market with a relatively youthful population."

Prior to his ambassadorial appointment, Mulford served as Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs from 1984-92. As the senior international economic policy official at the Treasury, Mulford served under Secretaries Regan, Baker and Brady.

Mulford's extensive financial experience includes eight years (1966-74) as managing director and head of international finance at White, Weld & Co., Inc., the Boston-based investment bank. In 1974, he was named senior investment advisor to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), where he served until 1983, overseeing the management and development of investment programs of Saudi oil revenues.

His service in both the public and private sectors has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. He has been the recipient of the Legion d'Honneur from the president of France, the Order of May for Merit from the president of Argentina, the Officer's Cross of the Medal of Merit from the president of Poland and the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury in recognition of extraordinary service and benefit to the Treasury Department and the nation.

After earning his bachelor's degree in economics from Lawrence, Mulford earned an M.A. in political science from Boston University and a Ph.D. from Oxford University. A football and basketball standout as an undergraduate, Mulford was inducted in Lawrence's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. He also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by his alma mater in 1984.

APPLETON, WIS. -- London-based AandBC Theater Company brings its unique version of "The Tempest" to the Lawrence University Wriston Art Center amphitheatre Friday, Oct. 5 as part of the 2007 Shakespeare on the Fox program.

The two-and-one-half hour outdoor performance begins at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are available at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton (920-730-3760). Tickets also will be sold on site the night of the performance.

Prior to the show, members of AandBC Theater Company will present a pre-performance lecture on "non-traditional theatre" at 5 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Combining improvised staging and direct audience contact, AandBC Theater Company's production of Shakespeare's popular tale of revenge and forgiveness takes place beneath a large, illuminated helium balloon that casts a moon-like island of light that defines the performance space. Audience members become part of the set by sitting on padded oil drums within the lighted circle.

Founded in 1989, AandBC Theater Company has performed at the Edinburgh Festival and the Bath Shakespeare Festival, among others. During an international tour that has taken the production to the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Romania, Russia and Trinidad, AandBC has performed "The Tempest" at castles, courtyards, churches, public parks, the middle of a rain forest and on a riverbank.

The Lawrence performance is one of 11 scheduled throughout the Fox Valley by AandBC Theater Company during a two-week residency in the area.

Lawrence is one of eight participating members in the Shakespeare on the Fox partnership, a coalition working to enrich and enliven the communities of the Fox Valley through a series of performances, workshops, demonstrations and other interactive programs designed to make Shakespeare accessible to everyone.

For a complete list of activities associated with the 2007 Shakespeare on the Fox program, visit http://www.shakespeareonthefox.uwosh.edu/schedule.php.