Rick Peterson

Author: Rick Peterson

Campus Memorial Service Planned for Professor Emeritus Mojmir Povolny

An on-campus celebration of the remarkable life of Mojmir Povolny, Lawrence University professor emeritus of government and the Henry M. Wriston Professor of Social Sciences who recently passed away, is planned for Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center Nathan Marsh Pusey Room.

Everyone is welcome to attend the memorial service as well as submit any memories or reflections celebrating Professor Povolny’s life and career. A selection of the submissions will be read at the service and all letters will be assembled and presented to the Povolny family.

Anyone interested in sharing a letter or memory can submit them electronically to Janice Staedt at janice.staedt@lawrence.edu or mail them to:

Lawrence University
Attn: Janice Staedt
711 E Boldt Way SPC 18
Appleton, WI 54911

All submissions need to be received by Friday, October 19.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 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 1,450 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

An Update from the Chair of the Presidential Search Committee

Over the summer months, the Presidential Search Committee has made steady progress on its timetable to permit the appointment of a new President before December 1, 2012 (or as soon as possible thereafter).

First, we would like to thank all of you who nominated or brought to our attention names of individuals who you felt qualified for this position. No suggestions were ignored. Combining your input with that of Isaacson, Miller, our search partner, we were able to develop a pool of well-qualified candidates.

We are in the process of winnowing down the size of the candidate pool-reviewing qualifications, conducting reference checks, and will soon be involved with face-to-face interviews of a preliminary select group.

While we recognize that everyone is very curious of our progress, please respect the position of committee members who are pledged to confidentiality in order to protect the reputations of individuals considering our position as President of Lawrence University.

Previous announcements can be found on the Presidential Search page.

Dale Schuh, Chairman
Lawrence Presidential Search Committee

Lawrence Academy of Music Bel Canto Girl Choir Places Second in National Competition

The Lawrence Academy of Music‘s 56-member Bel Canto Girl Choir, the high school component of the Academy’s 330-member Girl Choir, earned second-place honors in the 2012 national American Prize in Choral Performance competition.

Lawrence Academy of Music Bel Canto choir

Conducted by the Connecticut-based Hat City Music Theater, Inc., the American Prize supports national competitions for the best recorded performances of music by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels.

Karen Bruno, director of the Academy of Music and the Girl Choir program, submitted more than 30 minutes of music culled from a variety of the choir’s recent performances for the national competition.

“We are thrilled to have earned this recognition, particularly as it is named the ‘American Prize,'” said Bruno. “The Academy Girl Choir program is proud to represent the Fox Cities and Wisconsin with this award. Our singers hail from a wide geographic area, attend public, parochial and home schools, and have families representing a wide range of income levels. Our scholarship program ensures that access to the Academy Girl Choir program is available to any girl who wishes to participate. We are truly a cross-section of our community; we are the Fox Valley’s girl choir program. On behalf of our singers, sincere thanks to the parents, teachers, and community members who have supported us for more than 20 years.”

The Girl Choir program provides quality choral opportunities for more than 300 girls throughout the Fox Valley region. Through the study and performance of the highest quality music, girls develop vocal technique, musical skills, creativity, expressive artistry, and an awareness of various cultures. The Girl Choir program strives to create an atmosphere that encourages girls to respect the uniqueness of others, to take risks that foster individual growth and to continue their development into self-assured young women.

Senator Russ Feingold Opens Lawrence University Annual International Lecture Series Sept. 20

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, who represented Wisconsin in the Senate for 18 years, opens Lawrence University’s 2012 Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies Thursday, Sept. 20.

Feingold presents “While America Sleeps – A Wake-up Call for the Post-9/11 Era” at 7:30 p.m. in Stansbury Theatre in the Music-Drama Center. The event is free and open to the public.

The address also will be webcast live by The Post-Crescent beginning at 7:25 p.m. Watch it online here.

He is spending part of the Fall Term at Lawrence teaching in the government department as the college’s Stephen Edward Scarff Distinguished Visiting Professor. Lawrence recognized Feingold with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at its 2011 commencement ceremony.

The address is based on Feingold’s 2011 New York Times best-selling book of the same title, which examines the challenges America faces as a nation since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including national security and constitutional values. Feingold argues the oversimplification of complex problems have helped undermined America’s ability to effectively adjust to its new place in the world.

Among Wisconsin’s highest-profile elected officials, Feingold spent 28 years in public service as both a three-time state senator (1982-92) and U.S. Senator (1993-2011). While in Congress, Feingold established himself as one of the Senate’s most independent voices, casting the lone vote against the Patriot Act in 2001, opposing President Obama’s decision to expand the war in Afghanistan and fighting against NAFTA and other financial deregulation and trade agreements he considered unfair.

After leaving public office, Feingold founded Progressives United, a grassroots organization designed to counter corporate influence in politics.

Mark Frazier, professor of politics and the academic director of the India China Institute at The New School in New York City, delivers the series’ second address. Frazier examines the pending change in leadership in China in “Who is Xi? The Knowns and Unknowns in China’s Political Future” Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium.

The Povolny Lecture Series, named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, who passed away in August, promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.

Lawrence University Ranked 56th Nationally in U.S. News’ Annual “America’s Best Colleges” Guide

Lawrence University retained its standing as the top-ranked liberal arts college in Wisconsin in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 “America’s Best Colleges” report.

Lawrence was ranked 56th nationally — up from 60th last year — among 239 national liberal arts colleges and universities. Lawrence was the highest ranked college among eight Wisconsin institutions in the category. Lawrence also was Wisconsin’s top-ranked college by Forbes in its college guide released last month.

U.S. News’ annual rankings are based on a combination of subjective information such as academic reputation (22.5%) and quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, including graduation and retention rates (20%), faculty resources (20%) student selectivity (15%) and alumni giving rates (5%), among others.

Lawrence showed improvement in several of the categories used in the ranking methodology including number of incoming students ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class (46%), freshman retention rate (89%), graduation rate (77%), and acceptance rate (53%). Lawrence’s commitment to individualized learning and small classes was reflected in its high rate of classes with 20 students or fewer (75%), one of only 30 schools among the 239 in the category with that high of a percentage.

“It’s nice to be recognized by this ranking, especially for our individualized learning,” said Ken Anselment, dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence. “It would be even nicer if the magazine counted all of the one-on-one courses we do at Lawrence, of which there are many. It’s an essential point of distinction for us, but unfortunately, U.S. News only counts classes with enrollments of at least two.”

While the national recognition is appreciated, Anselment says families should consider all college guides as but one tool in their college selection process.

“College rankings value different things according to their own system. The best way to discover if a college matches with your values is to experience it yourself by engaging with it as much as possible before deciding to enroll.

“Regardless of how each service assembles its rankings,” he added, “Lawrence will continue doing what it does best: providing a transformative learning experience that educates students as unique individuals.”

In compiling its 2013 “America’s Best Colleges” guide, U.S. News & World Report evaluated nearly 1,500 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, using data from up to 16 separate factors, each of which is assigned a “weight” that reflects the magazine editor’s judgment as to how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

Institutions are divided into several distinct categories. In addition to the best liberal arts college category that measures national institutions like Lawrence, other rankings are based on universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” institutions.

Pedal Power: Lawrence University Wins National Bike Challenge

Only a road trip to a local nature center to pick up some duckweed for a biology class that required the use of her car prevented assistant laboratory supervisor JoAnn Stamm from biking to work every day this summer.

Stamm’s dedication helped Lawrence University edge Ripon College to finish first among 111 colleges and universities nationally in the small-colleges division (less than 3,000 students) in the recently completed first National Bike Challenge.

Led by Stamm’s team-high 1,108 miles, Lawrence’s 27 faculty and staff riders logged 6,270 miles during the challenge that ran from May 1 to August 31. One point was awarded for each mile ridden with 20 points awarded to each rider for each day they biked.

Lawrence finished with a total of 21,505 points, edging Ripon College, which had led the challenge most of the summer, by just 279 points. Out of 9,578 workplaces nationally who participated in the bike challenge, Lawrence placed 124th.

Avid biker JoAnn Stamm helped Lawrence University win the small college division of the first National Bike Challenge.

“Everyone at the bank knows me because I come through the drive-in on my bike,” said Stamm, a 15-year Lawrence employee who makes the daily three-mile trek from her home to the Lawrence campus on an 18-year old Timberland crossroads bike. “I do my grocery shopping on my bike. I just try to ride every day all year long, as long as there isn’t any snow on the street.”

For the past several years, Stamm has averaged about 1,500 miles a year on her bike, but is hoping to top the 2,000-mile mark in 2012.

“Biking has been a part of my life since I was a teenager,” said Stamm, 58. “We only had one car in my family growing up so I used a bike to get around. It just became a part of my lifestyle.”

Patty Leiker, Lawrence’s employee wellness coordinator, said she was thrilled when the final standings were posted and Lawrence finished first in the nation in its category.

“It’s exciting to know that Lawrence values the well-being of students, faculty and staff and continues to support these and other types of wellness offerings through both on-campus opportunities and collaborations within the Fox Cities community,” said Leiker. “Kudos to all the Lawrence folks who participated.”

Lawrence will be recognized Thursday, Sept. 27 for its winning performance by the City of Appleton’s Trail Advisory Committee and Andy Clark and Elizabeth Kiker, president and vice president, respectively, of the League of American Bicyclists. The city of Appleton also participated in the challenge, placing second nationally in the “communities” category.

The awards presentation will be part of a public forum — “Making Appleton More Bicycle Friendly” — hosted by Lawrence at the Warch Campus Center Cinema from 6-7 p.m.

“Kimberly-Clark is pleased to be the corporate sponsor of the first National Bike Challenge. We congratulate Lawrence University on its first-place finish in the small university category,” said Rob Gusky, Kimberly-Clark’s Ambassador of Cycling. “As the National Bike Challenge was developed in the Fox Cites, it is exciting to see a local university have great success in this program.”

Kimberly-Clark Corporation organized the National Bike Challenge in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong and Endomondo, a mobile-based sports and fitness tracking community, as a way to promote bike ridership for both transportation and recreation purposes. The entire challenge generated 12,094,591 miles ridden, surpassing its overall goal of 10 million miles.

Sixty-three percent of Lawrence’s collective 6,270 miles were logged for transportation purposes, saving an estimated 5,740 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

Wisconsin Liberal Arts Colleges’ Collaborative Program Awarded $1.1 Million Grant

A highly successful and unique regional collaboration model between Lawrence University, Ripon College and St. Norbert College has been awarded a five-year, $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education TRIO to support the schools’ Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program.

The grant will support the McNair Achievement Program beginning in the fall of 2013 and running through Spring 2018. The program focuses on preparing first-generation, low-income and racially underrepresented students for graduate school and the completion of doctorate degrees.

“The McNair program helps level the playing field for students from less privileged backgrounds by providing exposure to, experience with, and support for graduate school,” said Nancy Wall, associate professor of biology and Lawrence’s campus coordinator for the program. “I think this is incredibly important because these students bring important and valuable perspectives that would not occur to students from more privileged backgrounds to the table.”

Dan Krhin, director of Student Support Services and McNair Scholars at Ripon, said the private liberal arts schools have a mission to educate everyone and the power of the consortium of the three schools makes it a stronger program.

“We are at a time in our country where we need more highly educated citizens, and we feel we are doing our part through the McNair Program to attain this goal,” said Krhin. “We have one of the more unique McNair models in the United States by combining three prestigious liberal arts institutions into one focused effort. All three schools contribute funding and institutional support to supplement the federal funding.”

The McNair Achievement Program currently is supported by a TRIO grant that runs through the 2012-13 academic year. According to Krhin, in the first four years of the current grant cycle, 40 students have been placed in graduate schools across the county, with 18 going directly into doctorate programs.

“The McNair Scholar’s Program has provided tangible support including financial aid for standardized testing and application fees, advice on the application and interviewing processes and preparatory guidance through my undergraduate education and research projects,” said 2009 Lawrence graduate Bryce Schuler, who is starting his fourth year as a combined Ph.D. and M.D. degree candidate at the Medical College and Graduate School of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

“Not only have I benefitted from being a part of the McNair Program as an undergraduate student,” Schuler added, “but I also have been able to provide insight and support to other McNair scholars as a graduate student. As our program continues to grow and develop, these forms of assistance to McNair scholars will continue to increase.”

New York City native Alex Ajayi, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Lawrence in 2012, says only now is he beginning to fully grasp the program’s “profound value.”

“Beyond the many instrumental resources it provides students to prepare them for postgraduate education, the thing that has stuck with me the most is the recurring narrative that students can circumvent the limitations of their background and aspire far beyond their frame of reference,” said Ajayi, currently in his first year of a Ph.D. program in counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “For students like me, who don’t have the precedence of doctoral education in my family, this program was a beacon of what was possible.”

Kevin Quinn, who coordinates the McNair Program at St. Norbert College, calls it “a life-changing opportunity for the students in it.”

“They are provided with great mentoring, financial support and solid guidance toward successful graduate school applications. Students entering the program not quite sure that they can measure up later find themselves opening up an acceptance letter from a grad program of their dreams.”

Thought Into Action: Matriculation Convocation Opens Lawrence University’s 164th Academic Year

: President Jill Beck

Under the theme “Thought into Action,” President Jill Beck opens Lawrence University’s 164th academic year and the 2012-13 convocation series Thursday, Sept. 13 with the annual matriculation address.

The convocation, at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public. It will be Beck’s final matriculation convocation. In February she announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2012-13 academic year.

Named president in 2004, Beck is the college’s 15th — and only woman — president. In 2009, Forbes.com named Beck a “barrier breaker,” one of 15 female college presidents on Forbes’ list of America’s 50 Best Colleges. A native of Worcester, Mass., she 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 the Ph.D. in theatre from City University of New York.

: Kathrine Handford

Beck will be joined by Kathrine Handford, lecturer of music and university organist and award-winning filmmaker Catherine Tatge, artist-in-residence.

: Catherine Tatge ’72

Handford presents “Connecting the Dots: An Organ Studio Transformed” that will focus on a trip she led last March to Paris with a half dozen student organ majors while Tatge will present “Telling Stories That Matter.”

As part of the convocation, a clip from a documentary film made about the trip to France, “A World of Sound: American Organists in Paris,” directed by 2012 Lawrence graduate Mark Hirsch will be shown, junior Mathias Reed will perform on Lawrence’s Brombaugh tracker organ and senior Alexis VanZalen will present the address “Music, Meaning, and My Experience with French Organ Culture.”

Other speakers on Lawrence’s 2012-13 convocation series include:

• Oct. 11, 2012 — Larry Robertson, award-winning author and founder of Lighthouse Consulting, which guides entrepreneurial ventures, their leaders, and those who invest in them.

• Jan. 24, 2013 — Lynda Barry, author and nationally syndicated cartoonist known for her comic strip “Ernie Pook’s Comeek” and the books “The Good Times are Killing Me” and “What It Is.”

• April 16, 2013 — Bill Viola, contemporary video artist who explores New Media through electronic, sound, and image technology.

• May 23, 2013 — Claudena Skran, professor of government and Edwin and Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science at Lawrence.

Ethnically Diverse Freshman Class Arrives Sept. 4 for 2012-13 Academic Year

Call it “back to the future.”

When Lawrence University welcomed its first class in November, 1849, 13 of the 35 students were Oneida Indians.

This year’s incoming class of new students will be nearly 12 times larger than that initial class, but Native Americans will once again be an integral part of the mix. Eight Native Americans, representing Indian nations in Arizona, Iowa, New Mexico and Wisconsin, will be among the 417 incoming freshmen of the Class of 2016.

This year’s class of 450 new students — the second-largest freshman class in Lawrence history (2010 was the largest with 452) along with 33 transfer students — arrives Tuesday, Sept. 4 to begin a week of orientation activities. Classes for Lawrence’s 164th academic year begin Monday, Sept. 10.

Emmet Yepa, one of the incoming Native American students from New Mexico, arrives on campus as a two-time Grammy Award nominee and a nationally-recognized youth leader.

Yepa began singing with the 14-member drumming ensemble Black Eagles shortly after the band won a Grammy in 2004 for “Flying Free” in the Best Native American Music Album category. Yepa helped the Black Eagles garner two more Grammy nominations in 2005 and 2007. He composed the song “Your Precious Smile,” a tribute to his younger sister, Angelina, for the 2007 Grammy-nominated album “Voice of the Drums.”

“I’ve been singing since I was very, very young,” said Yepa. “My dad introduced me to singing and I eventually joined the group. I sing every day. I’m always singing at home. I enjoy singing from the heart, lifting people’s spirits and making people happy.”

In 2010, Yepa and his father left the Black Eagles to form a new group, Northern Vibe, a nine-member drumming ensemble.

“We’ve had lots of people asking us if we’re going to do a CD. We’re in the process, but we haven’t completed it yet,” said Yepa, who has recording his own solo CD on his to-do list as well.

Yepa composes and performs both in English and the Towa language. Jemez Pueblo, Yepa’s hometown of 1,800 about 70 miles southwest of Santa Fe, is the only place in the world where Towa is spoken.

“It’s (Towa) pretty hard to pass on, because it’s not a written language, it’s only an oral language,” said Yepa, the oldest of four siblings.

Last December, Yepa added a “Champions of Change” award to his budding resume. Yepa was one of just 11 Native Americans nationally recognized in a White House ceremony with President Obama that honored individual efforts to give back to the community and demonstrate leadership. Yepa was cited for his efforts to establish the first-ever recycling program in Jemez Pueblo. The Walatowa (traditional name of Jemez) Green Stars Recycling Group headed by Yepa focuses on preserving and keeping ancestral lands beautiful through recycling.

Yepa is a member of one of the most ethnically and geographically diverse incoming classes Lawrence has ever had:

• 21 percent (88) of the 417 freshmen are students of color.

• 38 states and 18 countries are represented

• Five of the top 10 states from which this year’s freshmen hail are Western states — California, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

• 41 freshmen are international students, with China (6), Vietnam (4) and Ghana (3) accounting for the most.

Academically, 45 percent of this year’s freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating class while 70 percent were in the top quarter of their class. The average grade point average of the incoming freshmen was 3.62.

“In terms of academic quality, this year’s class looks very similar to last year’s class,” said Ken Anselment, dean of admissions and financial aid. “However, this year we enrolled a class that, in addition to being one of our largest, is more ethnically and geographically diverse than we have seen in a very long time.”

Approximately 80 percent of the freshmen are enrolling in Lawrence’s college of liberal arts and sciences while 20 percent are enrolling in the conservatory of music.

Ninety-four percent of incoming freshmen received need- or merit-based financial aid with need-based financial aid packages averaging $30,600.

Lawrence University — Once Again — Named a College That Changes Lives

For the third straight edition, Lawrence University once again is included in the latest version of the classic college guide “Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges.”

The third edition of the book was released Aug. 28 and is currently available on newsstands, at bookstores and online.

Originally written in 1996 by Loren Pope, the former education editor of the New York Times and re-released in 2006, the 2012 edition is essentially a completely new book, updated by Denver-based education writer Hilary Masell Oswald, who conducted all new school tours and in-depth interviews in selecting the 40 colleges for inclusion. Pope passed away in 2008.

“Making it into the book is an even bigger deal for us this time around because both the writer and the process of review was different than it was for the first edition,” said Ken Anselment, dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence. “As a former college admission counselor herself, Ms. Oswald is in a unique position to assess and write about the colleges that were included in the book. She greatly impressed me with her intelligence and care for her subject matter.”

A non-profit organization of the same name was founded shortly after the book was first published to advance and support a student-centered college search process as an antidote to the high-stakes, high-stress environment often associated with the college search. The organization, which offers programs and college fairs to packed houses all over the country, focuses on helping individual students find a fit with the mission and identity of individual colleges.

“Both the book and the organization have great visibility and credibility among prospective students, their families and the college counseling community,” said Anselment. “One of the things the book dispels is the myth that selectivity in admissions means the same thing as quality in education. As its name implies, the Colleges That Change Lives excel at changing the trajectories of students’ lives.”

The book organized the 40 schools into five geographic regions — Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest and Northwest.

In her revised edition, Oswald provides valuable information for prospective students on topics ranging from the look and feel of the campus and the quality of dining hall food to the percentage of students who study abroad or go to grad school and what professors have to say about their schools.

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