September 28, 2007
FRIENDS, AMIGOS BIG INFLUENCES ON THIS EARLHAM BONNER SCHOLAR
Community involvement is a central part of the Earlham experience for many students and their time here often leads to a life dedicated to service. For Katie Strohm '08, her call to serve has been formed by Friends and her work with Richmond's Amigos program. Providing service, especially to the Latino community, is a passion for this vivacious senior.
EDUCATION CONSERVANCY LEADER THACKER MAKES NOTE OF EARLHAM EDUCATION
In an interview published in the Sept. 30, 2007 edition of the New York Times magazine, Lloyd Thacker, founder of the Education Conservancy, is asked to name schools that he thinks are "good schools." Thacker dodges a bit before listing Earlham in his list of six underrated schools. Thacker's group questions rankings and commerical influence in the admissions process.
September 27, 2007
EC ENSEMBLES TO ENTERTAIN DURING FAMILY WEEKEND
The Earlham College Concert Choir, Madrigal Singers and Orchestra will each perform during Earlham's Family Weekend Concert on Saturday, Oct. 6. The music begins at 7:30 p.m. in Carpenter Hall's Goddard Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
EARLHAM PRESIDENT SOLE INDIANA REP IN MEETING WITH IRANIAN LEADER
Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett was one of 100 leaders participating in an hour-long, interfaith encounter with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. The gathering was organized by the Mennonite Central Committee and endorsed by the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends Committee on National Legislation, among others. This is the third in a series of conversations focused on establishing a dialogue between people of faith in the United States and the people and government of Iran. Known as “peace churches” for their historic witness to nonviolence, Mennonites and Quakers have long been at the forefront of international movements for peace and reconciliation. Continuing a strong commitment to Earlham’s mission to “engage the world,” Bennett was the only Indianan invited to take part in this dialog, according to the United Nations Liaison Office of the Mennonite Central Committee. You can read about this historic meeting in the New York Times or USA Today.
EARLHAM HOSTS MIAMI3 FOR MEETINGHOUSE CONCERT
Miami3, a trio of celebrated music faculty from Miami University, will perform a concert of crossover music on Sunday, Oct. 7, during Earlham College's Meetinghouse Concert. The music begins at 4 p.m. in Earlham's Stout Meetinghouse. Admission is free, and the public is invited. The program includes Afternoon Cakewalk — A Suite of Rags arranged by William Bolcom, and two pieces from The Garden of Eden: Four Rags for Piano composed by Bolcom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Grammy Award-winning American composer, who developed a style of playing ragtime that put in him in the forefront of the ragtime revival in the 1970s.
September 26, 2007
EARLHAM PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL LAUNCH OF U-CAN COLLEGE PROFILE WEB SITE
Earlham College is part of a national effort to supply prospective students and their families with information about colleges and universities free of rankings. Earlham has been involved in the development of the U-CAN Web site since the first calls for comparable and accurate data several years ago. Earlham President Doug Bennett says that the institution is "committed to be a college showing leadership in matters of accountability, transparency and public disclosure."
BENNETT: NEW COLLEGE INFO WEB SITES GOOD; NEED BETTER
For the second day this week, Earlham's Doug Bennett has been at the forefront of the nation's higher education news reporting. Today, Inside Higher Ed quoted Bennett, participating in an audio press conference held this week after the "Beyond Rankings" conference at Yale University. The Web sites are "tremendous steps forward," says Bennett referring to the U.S. Department of Education's College Navigator and U-CAN, launched today by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), "but we need to do better than that. They end up being fairly passive measures that project information to students."
September 25, 2007
BENNETT SAYS D.O.E. SITE POSES NO 'REAL HARM'
In a USA Today report on the launch of a new Education Department Web site which it considers to be more user-friendly and accessible to low-income students, Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett says that he sees no “real harm” in improving the Web site College Navigator, but says there is more to be done. Looking to minimize the influence of U.S. News & World Report rankings, Bennett says, “this is the beginning of a very important, long conversation.”
Professor’s Grass Roots Research Receives Seed Money
Associate Professor of Chemistry Mark Stocksdale is Earlham’s first faculty member to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant totaling $99,998 and entitled Uptake Specificity of Synthetic Phytosiderophore Analogs by Graminaceous Plants, will be used to study root systems in grasses. Stocksdale believes this research may lead to reduced use of agrochemicals in grasses, “our most economically important plant species.” The two-year long grant is hoped to have a significant impact on the enormous agrochemical market and make “significant use of undergraduate student researchers.”
September 24, 2007
EARLHAM GRAD CONTEMPLATES THE LANGUAGE(S) OF SOCCER
David Keyes ’02 discusses in the Christian Science Monitor how the universal game of soccer has very different meanings. In the article Win or Lose, It's How You Say The Game, Keyes says “English soccer, for example, is to Argentinian soccer as country music is to rap.” Noting the importance of linguistics Keyes states, “soccer may be the simplest and most universal sport,” but it also, “shows how language causes people around the world to see the game very differently.” This article first appeared on his blog, Culture of Soccer.
September 21, 2007
EARLHAM HAS POWERFUL PRESENCE AT FWCC CELEBRATION
The Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) recently celebrated its 70th anniversary with a gathering at Haverford and Swarthmore colleges. Declared keynote speaker Tom Hamm, "I would say the majority of people there had some sort of Earlham connection." Hamm, Earlham professor of history and archivist and curator of the Friends Collection, counted at least eight speakers at the celebration with Earlham ties, and many more in attendance were graduates or parents of graduates.
September 18, 2007
EC PROFESSOR'S ADVICE TO ROOKIE STAFFERS
Earlham's Director of Japan Study, Gary DeCoker gives his guide for entry-level administrators embarking on careers in higher education in the Sept. 21 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. DeCoker suggests keeping relationships with students professional, but urges administrators to “make the most of each interaction with a student” and to “take the time each situation requires, no matter how busy you may be.”
September 14, 2007
LEE HAMILTON SPEAKS ON "THE WAR ON TERROR" AT EARLHAM
The Co-Chair of the Iraq Study Group and the Vice-Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Lee H. Hamilton comes to the Earlham campus to present an extremely timely address on September 27, 2007. Hamilton, who served in the U.S. House as a Representative from Indiana for more than 30 years, is one of the most respected voices on foreign policy and the U.S. response to global terror.
September 10, 2007
BENNETT CHALLENGES PEERS ON RANKINGS
Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett continues to be one the country's most vocal critics of college rankings, such as those compiled annually by U.S. News & World Report (USNWR). Today, at Inside Higher Ed, Bennett expresses "dismay" at his fellow college presidents who refuse to stop filling out USNWR's "reputational survey" and challenged them to explain why they believe the magazine's approach is valid. Bennett was one of the original 12 signatories of a letter circulated in May urging colleagues to stop filling out the reputational survey and stop using USNWR rankings in promotional efforts. For previous coverage, see the June 22, 2007 entry in this category. You may read Dr. Bennett's remarks to the Annapolis Group on rankings here.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR RETURNS TO ALMA MATER
Dr. Manning Marable '71 presents "Diversity and Democracy in Higher Education: Making Multiculturalism Work" at Convocation on Sept. 19, in Goddard Auditorium. He's a national leader in the development of Web-based, educational resources on the African American experience.
CAMBODIAN REFUGEE OPENS LECTURE SERIES
Arn Chorn-Pond, a Cambodian refugee, has dedicated his life to building peace through art. He presents "Healing and Restoring Cambodia through the Arts" on Sept. 25, in Goddard Auditorium. This Artist and Lecture Series event is sponsored by the Kazue Fukuda Hawkins Endowed Fund.
September 05, 2007
RECENT ALUMNA RECEIVES STATE HONOR
Anna Crumley-Effinger '07 is one of a dozen Hoosiers to be named "Tomorrow's Leaders" by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. The award recognizes achievements in entrepreneurial, community, education and cultural arenas by adults under 30 years old. MORE: Read our recent Alumni Spotlight article on Anna and EC roommate Yvette Issar '07.
September 04, 2007
Team Welcomes First Female Football Player
The Earlham Quakers kicked off their 2007-2008 season with a new kicker -- junior Hillary Carter, the College's first female football player on the sidelines. Carter, who did not play in the home opener, may be the only female currently playing college football in the U.S.