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‘Do your work’: Lawrence students, faculty, staff reach out on MLK Day

Lawrence University students, faculty and staff were out and about in big numbers Monday as they responded to the call to service in honor of the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

They took part in multiple volunteer efforts at area Boys and Girls Clubs, Feeding America, Brewster Village and Riverview Gardens, participated in an OxFam Hunger Banquet to get a deeper understanding of issues that keep families trapped in poverty and took part in faculty teach-in sessions on topics ranging from systematic racism to youth mental health.

That was a lead-up to Monday evening’s celebration at Memorial Chapel, a chance to embrace Dr. King’s legacy and reaffirm a commitment to carry his message forward.

Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. speaks at podium. — Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. speaks during Monday’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Memorial Chapel.

Keynote speaker Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. implored the nearly full house at the chapel to be active and vocal in pushing King’s messages of inclusion and equality.

“The people who really have me concerned are good people with good hearts who say nothing,” Moore said. “The best friend that hate has is silence.”

A Lawrence tradition

The day of service on MLK Day has been a tradition at Lawrence since 2003.

“It’s a day on, not a day off, for service,” said Kristi Hill, director of Lawrence’s Center for Community Engagement and Social Change.

Nearly 300 students, faculty and staff took part in the various service projects.

“Lawrence has made a commitment to build students who are change makers,” Hill said, calling Monday’s activities an opportunity for students and faculty to “learn, serve and celebrate” in Dr. King’s name.

The OxFam Hunger Banquet, held at the Warch Campus Center, featured a simulation to highlight issues and laws that keep people cut off from needed resources, stifling opportunities to escape the brutal cycle of poverty. The session looked to raise awareness of poverty and hunger issues here and around the world and inspire those participating to become active in fighting inequalities in access to resources.

Organized by the LU Food Recovery Network, it was a first-time event and drew upwards of 90 participants.

“It’s an opportunity to learn about equity in our communities,” Hill said.

Getting into the community

The service excursions around the Fox Cities gave participants a chance to engage with youth, interact with community elders and do work that assists area food pantries.

The Brewster Village program, created by Vicky Liang ’19 as part of the Building Intergenerational Relationships partnership between Lawrence and the Outagamie County rehabilitation and long-term nursing facility, had Lawrence students working with elders to create six-word memoirs to reflect their lives.

“We’re trying to raise awareness of the loneliness,” Liang said as Brewster Village residents paired up with Lawrence students around tables in the community room, engaging in conversations that tapped into memories and brought reflections of lives lived.

“With the MLK message, we usually think of the ‘I Have a Dream,'” Liang said. “But he fought for justice and equal resources for everyone.”

Lawrence volunteer talks with students at Boys and Girls Club. — Lawrence University student Beatrice Gee interacts Monday with kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Menasha.

At the Boys and Girls Clubs in Appleton and Menasha, a program organized by Sam Taylor ’19 had about 50 Lawrence volunteers talking with about 300 K-6 students about the work and legacy of MLK.

At the Menasha club, students in one room gathered in circles to talk through “Wings,” a book by Christopher Myers that tells the story of a boy born with wings who is shunned and mocked by his peers because he’s different and a young girl who finally gathers the confidence to speak up on his behalf.

Sophie Dion-Kirschner ’20, one of the Lawrence volunteers, said she believes the messages being delivered and the connections being made are a benefit to both the youngsters at the Boys and Girls Club and the Lawrentians who stepped up to volunteer.

“They all get something out of it that they weren’t expecting,” she said.

Teach-ins close to home

Five professors, meanwhile, hosted teach-ins in various residence halls, informal gatherings to talk about issues of education, diversity and inclusion. Students were able to come and go, joining in the conversation as they saw fit.

Professor Lori Hilt talks with students at Hiett Hall. — Professor Lori Hilt conducts a teach-in Monday at Hiett Hall.

Professor Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd talked about systematic inequalities in education; Professor Mark Jenike talked on hunger in a wealthy nation; Professor Lori Hilt on improving youth mental health; Professor Jason Brozek on the global climate justice movement; and Professor Jesus Gregorio Smith on systematic racism.

The teach-ins, a first-time offering on MLK Day, resonated with the students, Dion-Kirschner said. “The professors are showing people, I teach you this material, but here is what I can do with it. Here are the things that you can do to make this world a better place.”

A Dr. King celebration

That all led to Monday night’s community celebration at the chapel, a partnership between Lawrence, African Heritage Inc. and various community organizations, to honor Dr. King’s legacy. Moore, a noted activist who has forged a career as a speaker and consultant on issues of race and equality, was the keynote speaker for the 28th annual event, addressing the theme, “Why Keep Dreaming? A Time for Action.”

Turning that dream into action takes work, Moore said.

“When you’re committed, everybody has work to do,” he said. “It’s not just black friends or listening to Tina Turner or doing one thing with one person. It’s work.”

That’s true, he said, no matter how committed you are or how deeply you believe in all that King preached.

“I can’t just get there because I say I’m a good person,” Moore said. “Do your work.”

Speaking of doing the work, the annual Jane LaChapelle McCarty MLK Community Leader Award was presented to Norys Pina, who has been a leading advocate in the Fox Cities on immigration issues and a vocal resource in the areas of access and equality. She’s a lead organizer of Unidos por un Futuro Mejor – Fox Cities and works as a volunteer coordinator for the Fox Valley Literacy Council. She is the 25th recipient of the honor, first awarded in 1995.

Winners of the annual youth essay contest read their essays during the MLK celebration. They included Feyikemi Delano-Oriaran, a second-grader at Classical School in Appleton, Lilyanna Pieper, a sixth-grader at Huntley Elementary School in Appleton, and Catlin Yang, a senior at Kimberly High School.

More photos: See photos from Monday’s MLK Day events here.

Video: Lawrence students volunteer in the community on MLK Day

Multimillion Dollar Gifts Enable Lawrence University to Establish Two New Endowed Professorships

Deep-seated appreciation for film and opera has led a pair of Lawrence University alumni and an anonymous donor to establish new endowed professorships at the college. Lawrence requires a minimum of $2.5 million to establish an endowed professorship.

Tom Hurvis, and his wife, Julie, 1960 and 1961 Lawrence graduates, respectively, and the Caerus Foundation, Inc., have established the Jill Beck Professorship in Film Studies in recognition of Lawrence’s 15th president, her service to Lawrence, their love of film and their conviction that student participation in film studies has an important role in a liberal arts education.

In 2011, a $5 million gift from the Hurvises enabled Lawrence to establish the Hurvis Center for Interdisciplinary Film Studies, a facility dedicated to the integration of film production into the Lawrence curriculum.

Motivated by a desire to encourage participation in music and arts at Lawrence, an anonymous donor made a gift to enhance the college’s capacity to provide learning and performance opportunities for students in opera studies while increasing multifaceted collaboration within the curriculum by establishing the endowed director of opera studies position. The Lawrence conservatory, with the support of the theatre arts department, has annually staged an opera production since 1961.

In conjunction with the newly created professorships, Lawrence President Mark Burstein announced the appointment of Amy Abugo Ongiri, currently an associate professor of English at the University of Florida, as the Jill Beck Professor and Director of Film Studies and J. Copeland Woodruff, assistant professor and co-director of opera studies at the University of Memphis, as Director of Opera Studies.

Both Ongri and Woodruff join the faculty with the rank of associate professor. Ongiri’s appointment includes tenure.

“One of the many strengths that a Lawrence education develops is the ability to link a student’s own talent and creativity with performance and presentation, a skill one needs to succeed in the world today,” said Burstein in announcing the appointments. “The addition of Amy Abugo Ongiri and J. Copeland Woodruff significantly enhances our capability in this area both for students interested in film studies and in the conservatory and also in the larger Lawrence student body.

“I want to thank Julie and Tom Hurvis and anonymous members of the Lawrence community for making these two important appointments to our faculty possible,” Burstein added.

Award-winning Educator

Ongiri joined the University of Florida faculty in 2003 after four years at the University of California-Riverside. In 2006, she was recognized with both UF’s Teacher of the Year Award and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year Award.

Her scholarship interests focus on African American literature and culture, film studies, cultural studies, and gender and sexuality studies. She is the author of nearly 20 published journal articles, three dozen conference papers and the 2009 book, “Spectacular Blackness: The Cultural Politics of the Black Power Movement and the Search for a Black Aesthetic.” She spent 2005 in Dakar, Senegal on a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar in African film.

She is a member of the editorial board of the journals American Literature and Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of African American History and the Journal of American History.

At Florida, Ongiri has taught courses ranging from the history of film and African cinema in a world cinema context to an introduction to Asian American film and video.

Ongiri earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Bryn Mawr College, a master’s degree from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Amy Ongiri as the first director of film studies,” said Brent Peterson, professor of German, chair of Lawrence’s film studies program and a member of the search committee. “She is an accomplished scholar and dedicated teacher; someone who is there for every last one of her students at a large public university. She will be a terrific asset for Lawrence students. She is also exactly the right person to put together an expanded curriculum for film studies and to shape the program in film making.”

“Amazingly Creative, Innovative”

J.-Copeland-Woodruff_newsblog — J. Copeland Woodruff

Woodruff has taught at the University of Memphis since 2008. He previously has held teaching appointments at The Julliard School, Oberlin College, Temple and Yale universities as well as the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and Germany’s Universität Bamberg. He also has served as a guest instructor with La Musica Lirica in Italy, the Festival of International Opera of the Americas in Brazil and at Bejing University.

He has directed more than 90 opera productions, including the 2013 world premiere of “Raise the Red Lantern” at the Tianqiao Theatre in Bejing, one of three productions in China he has directed. Since 2006, Woodruff has earned four first-place National Opera Association Best Opera Production Awards and was recognized in 2013 with the University of Memphis’ Dean’s Creative Achievement Award.

Woodruff has enjoyed an extended relationship with Boston’s Guerilla Opera, serving as stage director of a new production of “Heart of a Dog” and earning Second Prize in the 2012 American Prize in Opera Performance competition, professional division.

“It is with great excitement that we welcome Copeland Woodruff to Lawrence,” said Brian Pertl, dean of the conservatory of music. “Besides being an amazingly creative, innovative and well-respected opera director and educator, he is also passionate about the liberal arts and cross-disciplinary collaboration. In short, he will absolutely flourish at Lawrence. We are entering an exciting new era for opera studies at Lawrence and I can’t wait to see how all the possibilities unfold.”

Woodruff attended the University of South Carolina, where he earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in vocal performance and also completed extensive master’s level coursework in theatrical design. He earned a master’s degree in stage directing for opera from Indiana University.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Music Professor Steven Jordheim Named Director of New Retention, Graduation Initiative

Lawrence University Provost David Burrows has announced the appointment of Professor of Music Steven Jordheim as project director of a new initiative designed to substantially increase the college’s retention and graduation rates, especially among at-risk student groups.

Steven-Jordheim_newsblog — Steven Jordheim

Jordheim will coordinate the implementation of an integrated network of academic support systems designed to help each student overcome obstacles and achieve their educational goals.

The program will be supported by a five-year, $2.1 million grant Lawrence has received from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP).

“I am thrilled that Professor Jordheim has agreed to serve as the director of this program,” said Burrows. “The work of helping all of our students successfully complete a Lawrence education is extremely important to us, and Steve will do a wonderful job with the program’s initiatives. He has a passion for helping students succeed, experience in retention programs and great organizational skills. We were fortunate to have several well-qualified applicants for this position; Steve’s combination of qualities made him a fine choice to lead these initiatives.”

A Broad Support Plan

Over the next five years, the SIP grant will support:

• Additional staff positions for the Center for Teaching & Learning and Student Academic Services that will substantially increase the hours of each term of one-on-one and small group academic skills development, as well as ESL services.

• A retention management system will be launched with new software to coordinate faster, more targeted connections to students who would benefit from supportive, individualized outreach by a network of faculty and staff.

• New bridge programs will develop core skills and better prepare incoming students for college.

• New and advanced training for faculty advisors to equip them with tools to provide better, more culturally competent academic advising and mentoring.

• The CORE peer mentoring program launched in the fall of 2013, will be expanded to serve all freshmen, matching each Freshman Studies section with two upper-division peer mentors. The CORE mentors will help first-year students make Connections, receive ongoing Orientation, identify and utilize campus Resources and develop realistic Expectations about academics and student life.

“This is an important moment for Lawrence. The Title III grant enables us to launch a comprehensive set of initiatives to foster success of our students throughout their years of study at Lawrence and through the completion of their degrees,” said Jordheim, who has taught saxophone and music pedagogy in the Lawrence Conservatory of Music since 1981. “The many and complex issues affecting student retention figure prominently in my work as a studio teacher each year. The new programs and positions created and the enhancements to existing programs and services will ensure greater numbers of our students fulfill their potential in their undergraduate study.

“I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with faculty, staff and students in the effort to increase student success and degree completion at Lawrence,” Jordheim added.

Nancy Truesdell, vice president for student affairs and dean of students cited Jordheim’s service over the years on numerous committees and task forces focused on issues of retention, graduation rate and support for students both in and outside the classroom, lab and studio that make him a great fit to direct the SIP initiative.

“Steve is a passionate spokesperson for doing all we can to ensure that Lawrence students can set and reach their goals,” said Truesdell. “I feel certain he will do an excellent job working closely with faculty and staff to shed new light on an important set of issues that many colleges face. His leadership will allow us to take full advantage of the grant to assist students as they thrive at Lawrence.”

The DOE grant includes up to $427,000 in endowment funds for ongoing support of the program, contingent upon Lawrence matching those funds through gifts and grants from other sources. Lawrence is seeking $575,000 in matching funds from private donors to create a $1 million fund to sustain the program.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence University Receives $1 Million Gift for Faculty Research Fund

A $1 million bequest from an anonymous donor will provide valuable research support for Lawrence University faculty while honoring the college’s 14th president, and his wife, Lawrence officials have announced.

Rik-&-Margo_newblog — Former Lawrence President Richard and Margot Warch

The bequest establishes the Richard and Margot Warch Fund for Scholarly Research. The fund will be administered by Provost and Dean of the Faculty David Burrows for faculty scholarship, travel expenses, student research support and the purchase of research materials, including instrumentation and books.

“One of the great strengths of a Lawrence education is the opportunity for students to work closely with faculty who are engaged in scholarly or creative projects,” said Burrows. “Our faculty are outstanding scholars and creative artists as well as excellent teachers. These funds will enhance the support available to faculty. All faculty will be eligible to apply for small grants that will help them complete such projects.”

The endowed fund honors Richard “Rik” Warch, former dean of the faculty and the second-longest serving president in Lawrence history, who led the college from 1979-2004, and his wife, Margot. President Warch passed away in September, 2013 at the age of 74.

“Rik felt interactions between faculty and students were the essence of the Lawrence experience,” said Margot Warch. “He celebrated the work and achievements of each faculty member as dean of the faculty and as president was always looking for dollars to encourage scholarship and development projects. He would be thrilled to know that a fund bearing our names now exists to support faculty research.”

Funds to support faculty research will become available beginning with the 2014-15 academic year.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

The Shrekoning, Twerking for Trivia Capture Crowns in 49th Annual Lawrence University Trivia Contest

Shrek Out of Ten 2: The Shrekoning easily won the on-campus title of Lawrence University’s 49th annual Great Midwest Trivia contest held over the weekend. The Shrekoning racked up 1,398 points, finishing comfortably ahead of Bucky’s Banastitudinal Buggery Brigade, which placed second among 19 student teams with 1,232 points. David and the Bells Decisively and Terminally Bash Discordant Academic Teams by Dominantly Activating Technical Backstabbing, Dosing Amphetamines Triply, Breathing Deeply, and Trying Best finished a close third with 1,207 points.

Twerking for Trivia out-twerked the 2012 champions Twerking Red Headed Iowans Violating Innocent Appletonians 1,300 points to 1,255 to claim the off-campus title from among 57 teams. Last year’s runner-up, Hobgoblin of Little Minds, dropped to third this year with 1,205 points.

Trivia-Phone-Answerers_newblog — Volunteers man the phones for answers in the WLFM studios during the 49th annual Lawrence University Great Midwest Trivia Contest.

Shrek Out of Ten 2: The Shrekoning received a non-functional bong made of 2-liter soda bottles while Twerking for Trivia was presented an empty bottle of liqueur filled with cream cheese, which the trivia masters smashed on the ground, as first-place prizes for their winning performances.

A total of 416 questions were asked during the 50-hour contest, which ended at midnight Sunday. This year’s contest featured a theme hour devoted to first-year Lawrence President Mark Burstein.

Unlike last year, when several teams were able to answer the contest’s final question, this year’s “Super Garruda” produced a shutout. No team was able to come up with the answer to this question: In the final resting place of Copernicus there are pillars with graffiti scratched into them. One of these pillars has graffiti that reads “EM is cool” and “DW is ok.” What does the only music-genre related graffiti on that pillar say?”

The correct answer is “PUNKS IS NOT DEATH.”

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

The Ultimate Intellectual Scavenger Hunt: Lawrence University Trivia Contest Turns 49

The irony is not lost on Addy Goldberg.

Addy-Goldberg-news-blog — Addy Goldberg, 2014 Grand Trivia Master

The Lawrence University senior and self–confessed “very bad” trivia player finds himself overseeing the 49^th edition of the nation’s longest-running intellectual scavenger hunt — Lawrence University’s Great Midwest Trivia Contest — despite never actually having played the contest.

He joined elite company in the contest’s illustrious history by earning anointment as a trivia master as a freshman in 2011, a feat matched by few first-year students. After two more years as a master, he was thrust into the contest’s ultimate position as this year’s Grand Trivia Master.

“I feel like I’ve been raised by it, because my introduction to the contest wasn’t through playing it or through witnessing it, but through running it,” said Goldberg, who doesn’t have any freshman among his 12 trivia minions. “I feel a lot of debt to the trivia masters who ‘raised’ me as the freshman who had no idea what was going on, which usually is not how it’s supposed to go.

“Trivia in the general sense, the more bar trivia kind of thing, I’m actually very bad at,” Goldberg concedes. “I was actually in Quiz Bowl in high school and I was bad there, too. But I like weird stuff and I happen to learn a lot about it. I can’t exactly spout it off in a useful way sometimes but if you want to ask me what I’ve been up to on the Internet lately it’ll probably be obscure. So in a sense the trivia contest is pretty well catered to me.”

Q1. Who is the president of the micronation that fixed their currency to the cost of radishes in 2007?

Under Goldberg’s direction, bragging rights to the title of this year’s 50-hour contest — last year’s battle royale of all things obscure drew 13 on-campus teams and 61 off-campus teams —kicks off anew at the precisely appropriately inconsequential time of 37 seconds after 10 p.m., Friday, Jan. 24 and runs continuously through midnight Sunday, Jan. 26. As it has since 2006, the contest will be webcast worldwide on the Internet at wlfmradio.com.

Launched in 1966 as an alternative activity for students who didn’t participate in an academic campus retreat, Lawrence’s Great Midwest Trivia Contest is a 50-hour celebration of all things insignificant, with 400 Google-challenged questions of various point values asked every three minutes, sandwiched around off-beat humor and eclectic music while teams scramble to call in answers to a phone bank in the WLFM studios.

Through its nearly half century existence, Lawrence’s trivia contest has enjoyed remarkable staying power, as Appleton in late January remains a destination point for many from around the country who return to the Fox Valley to reunite with friends and family for a weekend of fun and furious web surfing.

Q2. Which American state includes the greatest number of governmentally established plantations?

What’s the secret to the contest’s ongoing popularity?

“People seem to really care about it,” said Goldberg, a psychology major from Needham, Mass. “People are willing to work for it and put a lot of energy and effort into it, which is great, and there’s a lot of surprising energy there.”

Goldberg, whose doctor got excited during a recent office visit when he discovered he was examining this year’s Trivia Grand Master, also credits an intertwining of communities for the contest’s longevity.

2014-Trivia-Masters-newsblo — The 2014 Great Midwest Trivia Contest trivia masters, led by Grand Master Addy Goldberg (upper left).

“You get the tight-knit trivia masters who somehow manage to pull it together every year, and they are in debt to the players they see every day, their friends on campus, all of whom have a debt to the off-campus teams, the real lifeblood of the contest because they’re way more dedicated,” said Goldberg. “All the intertwining communities bring a lot of vitality to it.”

Q3. Zebulon Pike once floated all the way from Toronoto to Sackets Harbor, New York. What was he floating in?

Last year’s contest came to a clumsy conclusion when an on-campus team posted the answer to the final “Super Garradua” question on Facebook, prompting the trivia masters to cut short the time allotted to answer the 100-point question, preventing several teams, including the defending champions, from answering.

“I’ve been thinking about that, but as of yet there are no policy changes we’re going to announce,” said Goldberg. “It’s certainly going to be addressed, letting everyone know, ‘Let’s be serious, let’s watch ourselves.’”

This year’s contest will provide Lawrence President Mark Burstein with his trivia baptism. Following tradition, Burstein will have the honor of getting the 49^th contest started by asking its first question, which, also by tradition, is always the final question — the Super Garruda — from the previous year’s contest.

Q4. What three words are written in metal letters on the back wall of Cranky Pat’s in Neenah?

What is usually an unanswerable question, last year’s Super Garruda proved to be anything but as seven on campus and 14 off campus teams managed to get the correct answer before the contest was called prematurely.

The controversial ending was prompted by this question: Within a sculpture by Mike Sullivan, the creator of “The Sex Life of Robots,” there is a building called “Kino Ironhole.” What is carved into the pavement to the left of the word “lulu?”

All teams worth their smart phone should start the contest with an easy 100 points by knowing it was “Big Unit Jizzbot.”

Answers:
A1. Oskar Agustsson
A2. Maine
A3. Whiskey.
A4. Sing, Dance, Giggle

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

New Exhibition Opens in Wriston Art Galleries Jan. 17

Iowa City-based photographer Sandra Dyas delivers the opening lecture in the latest Wriston Art Center Galleries exhibition Friday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The exhibition runs through March 16. A reception follows Dyas’ remarks, which is free and open to the public.

Wriston Exhibition_Sandra Dyas_newsblog — “Caroline Louise, near Andrew, Iowa” by Sandra Dyas, from her 2013 project “Lost in the Midwest.”

The exhibition includes:

• Kohler Gallery: Dyas presents photographs and videos titled “my eyes are not shut.” Her work is informed by her interest in recording life “as she sees it” with careful attention to light and peoples’ relationships with their environments. A lecturer in art at Cornell College, Dyas’ book “Down to the River: Portraits of Iowa Musicians” was published in 2007.

• Hoffmaster Gallery: Leslie Smith III presents “Opposing Dysfunction.” Smith uses abstract forms on canvas and paper to communicate stories about conflict and power within interpersonal relationships. He is an assistant professor of painting and drawing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Leech Gallery: “Out of Place: The Obsolescence of Artifacts,” a culmination of student research in Assistant Professor of Art Ben Tilghman’s seminar “The Art of Stuff: Thing Thing Theory and Art History.” Student in the seminar selected an art object from the Wriston’s permanent collection, contemplating how recent developments in philosophy, archaeology and critical theory might impact how we respond to the “thingness” of the art piece — its materiality, status as commodity, varied functions and resistance to human mastery.

The Wriston Art Center is open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from noon – 4 p.m., closed Mondays. For more information, call 920-832-6621.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence Mourns the Death of Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Cliffe Joel

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Cliffe Joel died Thursday, Jan. 9 in Williston, Vt. He was 81.

Cliffe-Joel-web — Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Cliffe Joel

Cliffe joined the Lawrence faculty in 1968 and taught the full array of chemistry courses, including his personal favorite, “Chemistry of Your Brain,” until his retirement in 1997. During his 29-year tenure in the chemistry department, Cliffe played a leading role in creating innovative curriculum for Lawrence’s involvement with the ChemLinks Coalition.

He served as president of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference in the late 1970s and chaired the committee that revised Lawrence’s honor code in the 1980s. He spent 10 years serving as one of the college’s original “faculty associates,” eating meals with students in the residence halls and setting up review sessions.

Upon his retirement, Cliffe said working closely with individual students, especially those with either an academic or personal problem, was the most meaningful aspect of his career. “I’ve always tried to be a good listener, help them get things off their chest, put things in perspective and steer them toward a solution,” he remarked at the time.

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1932, Cliffe spent much of his youth in Vista, Calif., where his family owned an avocado farm. He graduated from Pomona College and went on to earn a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from Harvard University. He spent seven years conducting research at Harvard Medical School, focusing on the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the brain, which was related to the current omega-3 fatty acid trend, before joining the Lawrence faculty.

Cliffe spent much of his retirement living in Oceanside, Calif., near where he’d grown up. He volunteered in the Stephen Ministry Program and taught NAMI classes before moving to Vermont in 2010 to be closer to his children and grandchildren. Classical music and singing were among his passions and he demonstrated his love for nature through camping, hiking, traveling and gardening. He ran marathons and in his later years was known for his long walks with his walker affixed with two vases he filled with flowers he picked along the way.

He is survived by his wife, Emma, and her son, Daniel Cullinan and daughters Lisa Cullinan and Deborah Cullinan and husband Kevin Cunz; two daughters, Dr. Lisa Angstman and husband Paul Angstman, and Sara Joel and husband Dr. Ashesh Mehta; son, Eric Joel; 13 grandchildren; and his former wife and friend, Dr. Peteranne Joel and her partner, Don Manley.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Me2/Music for Mental Health, which can be made online or mailed c/o Lisa Angstman, 127 Brookside Dr., Williston, VT 05495. Online condolences may be left at www.gregorycremation.com

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence President, Provost Issue Statement Opposing Academic Boycotts

In response to calls by several academic associations for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions because of that country’s occupation of Palestinian territories and restrictions on Palestinian students and scholars, Lawrence University President Mark Burstein and Provost and Dean of the Faculty David Burrows have jointly issued the following statement.

“A central principle of a liberal arts education is the ability to discuss differing opinions in an environment that supports the exchange of ideas and the learning that comes from that exchange. At Lawrence we have supported this value of discourse since our founding 167 years ago.

“The longer we live and work within an academic community, the more deeply we are convinced that our most precious possession is the freedom to speak what we think, and to listen thoughtfully to one another. Whatever our political commitments, whatever the nature of any government’s policies, no boycott should interfere with this freedom of academic discourse either here or at universities elsewhere in the world. So we have joined the officers of other American universities, the American Association of University Professors, the Executive Committee of the Association of American Universities, and the President of the American Council on Education—all of whom oppose the call by the Association of American Studies to boycott Israeli academic institutions.”

Mark Burstein, President
Dave Burrows, Provost and Dean of the Faculty

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Abby Guthmann Wins Grand Prize in ACM Photo Contest

Abby Guthmann’s study-abroad experience in Tanzania generated a lifetime of memories—and an award-winning photograph.

The senior biology major from St. Paul, Minn., was selected as the Grand Prize winner in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest’s 2013-14 Off-Campus Study Photo Contest. Guthmann’s photo, “Girls in the Shambass” was taken while Guthmann was hiking through the Usambara Mountains in northern Tanzania.

“Children would often run after us and ask for their pictures to be taken,” said Guthmann. “These two followed me through the shambass, hoping to get a few more pictures. After asking if I could take one more, they grinned and clenched their fists with excitement as I took the photo and showed it to them.”

Guthmann traveled to Africa in fall 2012 to participate in the ACM Tanzania program Ecology and Human Origins at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. Her photo was selected among 109 entries submitted for the contest by ACM colleges’ off-campus study offices. Guthmann’s winning photograph will be part of a traveling digital photo exhibit at ACM campuses during winter and spring 2014.

This is the second year in a row that a Lawrence University student has taken home the Grand Prize in the ACM Off-Campus Study Photo Contest. Xavier Al-Mateen ’13 took top honors last year with a photo he took during a study-abroad trip to Senegal.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

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