Dickinson Magazine Spring 2013

spring 2013 volume 90

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Number

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dickinson magazine

spring 2013

volume 90

number 4

[ contents ] 12 The Durden Years: A – Z: A visual retrospective of the highlights

Dickinson Published by the Division of Enrollment, Marketing & Communications Publisher and Vice President Stephanie Balmer

and accomplishments of President William G. Durden ’71 and of this institution under his leadership.

Executive Director of Marketing & Communications Connie McNamara

16 Centennial Conference:

Scholar-athletes shined and school spirit surged as Dickinson teams,

Editor Michelle Simmons Assistant Editor Lauren Davidson

players and coaches raked in the accolades.

Contributing Writers Matt Getty MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson Tony Moore

ing students to effect change on campus, large and small.

25 Neuroscience: A look at Dickinson’s burst of curricular innovation during the last 14 years. 28 ROTC: Having served as a

Student Assistants Carson Koser ’15 Erin Owens ’15 Sasha Shapiro ’15 Photographers Pierce A. Bounds ’71 James Rasp Carl Socolow ’77

cadet himself, Durden is a vital element of Dickinson’s 60 years of

Multimedia Specialist Sarah Sheriff Designer Amy Wells

ROTC success.

Magazine Advisory Group Christina Van Buskirk Gail Birch Huganir ’80 David Richeson Adrienne Su Jim Gerencser ’93 Paula Lima-Jones

30 Treehouse: From the Strategic Plan to the

Master Plan, from solar panels to composting bins, and from Treekids

Web site www.dickinson.edu/magazine E-mail Address dsonmag@dickinson.edu Telephone 717-245-1289 Facebook www.facebook.com/DickinsonMagazine © Dickinson College 2013. Dickinson Magazine is published four times a year, in January, April, July and October, by Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA 17013-1773.

to farm interns, sustainability is engrained in life at Dickinson.

34 Xenophilia: Cross-cultural exploration is at the heart of Dickinson’s global education initiatives, and the world is our classroom.

Printed with soy-based inks.

Please recycle after reading.

Read Web exclusives at www.dickinson.edu/magazine.

d i c k i n so n magazin e Fall 2012

22 Idea Fund: Empower-

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12 up front

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from these grounds

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ask the archivist

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college & west high

10 in the game in back

36 fine print 37 kudos 38 beyond the

limestone walls 40 our Dickinson 54 obituaries 56 closing thoughts

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on the cover

Illustration by Elvis Swift, 2013

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[ from these grounds ] Looking back, looking forward William G. Durden ’71, president

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O

ne of the highlights of serving as president of Dickinson for the past 14 years has been to engage with the college community in multiple ways— whether it be on campus, at off-campus alumni and parent gatherings around the globe, through phone and e-mail exchanges, through my writings in the national media or through this column. Throughout all of these exchanges, my goal has been to inform, to inspire, to speak out on issues that matter and to position Dickinson appropriately as a top national liberal-arts college.

As I pen my final column for this magazine, I can’t help but reflect on these aspirations and how the hard work and determination of the entire community have built a platform of accomplishment upon which the college can continue to build well into the future. And with the help of the many talented individuals who have made up my leadership team over the years, we have worked with great purpose to achieve an evolving and broad-based set of key performance indicators that have taken Dickinson to the next level.

A snapshot of those accomplishments from 1998 to 2012 demonstrates the results of this extraordinary effort: • First-year applications rose from 3,030 to 5,844 (with an all-time high in 2011 of 6,067).

• The average SAT scores for incoming students went from 1189 to 1293.

• The percentage of domestic students of color increased from 5.4 percent to 13.8 percent.

• The amount of gifted scholarship/ institutional grant monies offered rose from $18.5 million to $39.2 million.

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technologyequipped classrooms across campus

• Total endowment monies increased from $151.7 million to $355.8 million.

• Campus wireless infrastructure grew from a single connection in 1998 to a completely wired campus with close to 900 connections.

• Likewise, we started with one technologyequipped classroom and now have 114 across campus.

• Prior to 1999 the college received only three gifts of $1 million or more from individuals; during the past 14 years, the college has received 33 such gifts.

• Prior to 1999 there were no faculty positions supported by gifts of $1 million or more; today, 17 faculty positions are supported by gifts at this level.

• Last, the college’s visibility through the media grew exponentially, with the number of news stories rising from 56 to 3,584 and a corresponding increase in impressions from 10.3 million to 904.9 million.

In terms of the less-quantifiable changes, I look to the new campus signage and, in particular, the beautiful “Dickinson” arches around the academic quad that were generously contributed by the class of 1960. We have the red Adirondack chairs, the organic farm, the many new construction and renovation projects across campus and the collaboration with the Borough of Carlisle that led to the reduction of High Street from four to two traffic lanes through town and the campus, plus the addition of bike lanes. I also note the significant increase in Dickinson’s nationwide name recognition (as opposed to confusion with another school in northern New Jersey).

These markers never could have been reached without the hard work of the entire faculty, administration and staff, as well as the financial support and

volunteer efforts of the alumni, parents and students.

I am indebted to each member of this community for the determination and perseverance it required to make these accomplishments a reality. Your efforts have put Dickinson in the spotlight as a true leader in higher education.

While my time as president comes to a conclusion on June 30, I look forward to returning to my alumni roots. In essence, I think of myself as an alumnus who did what he could for the college when he could with what he could. And I realized something defining about myself while at Dickinson: I like to build things. I like to take—with the significant help of others—an institution from one level of achievement to another. I like to think that my colleagues and I did that at The Johns Hopkins University with the Center for Talented Youth over a 16-year period, and it is still going strong and helping hundreds of thousands of children and youth around the world. I like to think that we did that here at Dickinson. That we built a platform that will educate our future students extremely well; that is rich material for our next president, Nancy Roseman, and her team to advance even further; and that will continue to make us alumni proud of our association.

Elke and I leave Carlisle with a wonderful feeling of community effort and achievement. And I like the way that we are leaving town: understated, low key and in the same car in which we arrived—a 1999 Audi with but 28,000 miles on it and symbolically, I like to think, in good shape and with miles to go. That continuity and momentum are comforting.

Thank you, each and every one.

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[ ask the archivist ] “What in the world was going on?”

— William G. Durden ’71

F

riends of President Durden recently donated several photographs that they found at a local antiques shop. The snapshots, apparently taken by a Dickinson student, date from the late 1920s. What led to the president’s question were five photos featuring a crowd of men on Biddle Field clad only in jockstraps or completely naked, all gathered around a pole.

The students were engaged in an annual activity known as the “flag scrap,” one of several competitions among the undergraduate men begun in the early 20th century that pitted sophomores against freshmen. The “freshies,” or “greenies,” were challenged to capture the flag at the top of a pole that was being guarded by the “sophs,” and they needed to do so in only 10 minutes. What ensued was a violent melee, and only on very infrequent occasions were the freshmen successful.

Of course, college traditions come about in many different ways, and they often evolve over time. When it first started around 1910, the contest took place on the academic quad. The students did not intentionally shed their clothes in these early years, though photos do show disheveled warriors following the fracas. After a few years the flag scrap was moved to Biddle Field, and after a few years more the sophomores began to grease the pole on which the flag was perched. Then, just to make things even more challenging, the sophs began to grease themselves too. Rather than ruin their own clothing, the freshmen naturally stripped down. One of the only rules listed in the student handbook was that “contestants must wear tennis shoes.” All other clothing was optional.

The flag scrap continued until at least 1940, a year when the freshmen were disqualified because some of their members had secretly sawed through a portion of the flag pole the previous night. Shortly thereafter, the outbreak of war and the accompanying changes at the college forced a suspension of such interclass scraps. The handbook for the 1947-48 school year leaves it “up to the classes involved as to whether they wish to revive these old Dickinson traditions.” With no mention of the scraps in subsequent years, we know that the students chose to leave that particular college custom in the past. —Jim Gerencser ’93

Send your questions for Ask the Archivist to dsonmag@dickinson.edu.

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[ college & west high ] Cultural Nexus Winter mini-Mosaic explores the intricate facets of Morocco

“I woke up around 5:45 to the sounds of the early-morning call to prayer, but I drifted right back to sleep.”

So begins Day 2 (Jan. 3) of Associate Provost and First-Year Class Dean Shalom Staub’s Morocco journal. Through the Morocco: Jewish and Muslim Religion and Culture Mosaic, Staub and 14 students— each enrolled in his fall ’12 course Ethnography of Jewish Experience or his spring ’13 course Saints and Demons: Muslim and Jewish Popular Religion of North Africa and the Middle East—spent the better part of January exploring religion and culture in Morocco, what Staub describes as a “nexus of Jewish, Arab, Berber, African, Spanish and French cultural elements and influences.”

Applying a “lived religion” perspective, the Mosaic saturated Staub and his students in Moroccan life, and journal entries by Staub, Kelly Thompson ’14 (international studies) and Christopher Brokus ’15 (French and anthropology) capture the experience, from Rabat to the Middle Atlas Mountains to Fes and beyond.

Jan. 5, Rabat Staub: Le Grand Synagogue. Men seated randomly around the room took turns leading prayers. One in particular had a clear, strong voice and sang in the most elaborate Middle Eastern ornamented style. I was happy every time the turn came back to him. I could have listened to him all morning!

Brokus: What does it mean to be Moroccan? There is no one Moroccan culture or identity, but many. The intersection of these identities, perhaps, is what makes someone Moroccan—and what makes Morocco such a fascinating, complex place.

Jan. 6, Rabat Staub: A fascinating lecture

by Farah, the co-founder of CCCL [Center for Cross Cultural Learning], and a second lecture by a professor at the university on sociological perspectives on Moroccan Islam, particularly post-Arab Spring. They offered a glimpse of so many nuances of meaning and significance that are obscured by the U.S. media.

Jan. 7, Rabat Staub: I spent the afternoon with Saad, the young man in this household. We walked along the Atlantic shoreline, along the Bouregreg River and to the Hassan Tower and Mausoleum (where the two prior kings of Morocco are buried). Tomorrow we leave for the Middle Atlas Mountains. We’ll be meeting with staff of an NGO that works on rural education and development, and we’ll be planting trees as part of a reforestation project. Then on to a small rural village called Ait Ouahi.

Jan. 8, Ait Ouahi Thompson: Our host family in Ait Ouahi is so kind and welcoming! We spent the evening exploring the most gorgeous little valley with the 12-year-old in the family, Ayesha, throwing around little bits of standard Arabic, French and English to try to understand each other. In spite of the cold, I wish we could stay here for more than just one night.

Jan. 9, Meknes Brokus: In the shadows and long arcs of its granaries is an echo of great, dark days. We encountered a Saharan man in the plaza selling healing implements, from a dried lizard to ostrich bones (the gazelle fat did smell pleasant

on the skin…). Passersby, intrigued by the healer’s growing legitimacy, flocked toward the stall.

Jan. 10, Fes Staub: We are in a delightful hotel in Fes, which is quite an amazing city: grand boulevards and every kind of shop imaginable in La Ville Nouvelle. We spent a lot of time walking through the labyrinthine streets and lanes of the medina, some so narrow that my shoulders were brushing against both walls as I walked.

We had a long cross-cultural dialogue with students in the cultural studies department at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University. It was really intense, with some really excellent exchange, some difficult moments and also the discovery of common ground.

Jan. 15, Casablanca Brokus: I stood in awe, looking up at the great Hassan II Mosque of Casablanca. Few sights have truly left me without words, yet all I could do was stifle little gasps of surprise. Ocean waves met the colossal mosque, children played in fountains, sunlight streamed under the arches and flooded the inner courtyard. And I’m just left with the most immense peace.

Jan. 17, Carlisle Thompson: I’m back home, but the henna on my left hand is still very dark and probably will be for a couple of weeks. Even at 5 o’clock this morning the security guards at the airport in Sale stopped to admire it and gave me the customary blessing in Arabic—“for your health and comfort.”

Brokus: One of my most enduring memories from this trip will be the phrase that Farida, my gracious host mother, repeated to me our last night in Morocco: Vous êtes marocain, Christophe.

As we danced together in the swirling rhythms of the band, I apparently revealed my Moroccan-ness. Our time together, our dance together, finally taught me what it meant to live in another culture. —Tony Moore

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[ college & west high ] from grapes to complex wine

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he anticipation was palpable as the musicians took their places onstage. Something big was missing, and the audience was curious to see how the performers would fill the void.

They’d come to experience an all-Mozart concert with no conductor at the helm—just as it was performed in Mozart’s day. Visiting artist David Kim faced the challenge of guiding the musicians from his seat in the violin section, moving the neck of his instrument in time while he performed the first-violin part.

The first American violinist to win a prize at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, Kim has served as concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1999. Last

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year, when his conductor fell ill just before a concert of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Kim guided the orchestra through the performance while performing his own part.

The concert was such a hit that he was asked to present another conductor-free program in January. Kim wanted to rehearse this unorthodox program with a college orchestra. He’d just returned from a residency at Dickinson, and he asked his contacts in the music department if they were game for a return visit.

“It would have been an honor to play with him as soloist.

It’s doubly and triply the honor to play with him in partnership on the stage, unconducted,” said Associate Professor of Music

“David Kim gives personal anecdotes and stories about the music. You can turn those stories into music that’s better than anything you thought you could play.”

— B r ayd e n D o w n i n g ’ 1 3

Jan. 22 marked David Kim’s second concert at Dickinson in a year. He says he feels an affinity with the college because his position as concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra is endowed in honor of Dickinson’s founder, Dr. Benjamin Rush.

Blanka Bednarz, who coordinated the visit. “If we compare it to the world of sports, it is like playing tennis with [Maria] Sharapova. We had to make it work.”

Although there was no time before the Philadelphia Orchestra concert when all parties were free, Kim still traveled to Dickinson one week after that event for an encore. Former music majors Leah Beshore ’03, Ben Vaughan ’06 and Aubrey Holmes ’11—who is pursuing a master’s in performance at Boston Conservatory—traveled back to their alma mater to take part.

On the night of the performance, the musicians were especially animated. “When there’s no conductor, the musicians move more than usual, because we need to keep that collective clock ticking,” explained Professor Emeritus Truman Bullard, who has played bassoon in the orchestra for 40 years. “It’s probably a lot of fun to watch.”

It’s also fun to perform, Kim added. “You have this wonderful community of musicians from different generations coming together to create music,” he said. “That’s very special. You have this great blend of grapes creating this complex wine.”

And for the students, the evening was also inspiring.

“Working with [David Kim] is intense, because he demands the utmost from us,” said violinist Alexander Strachan ’13, who reports that his master class with Kim last year sparked immediate results. “He taught me how to share voice with the conductor, not just play notes on a page.”

“He gives personal anecdotes and stories about the music,” said Brayden Downing ’13, a double major in economics and music. “You can turn those stories into music that’s better than anything you thought you could play.” —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

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[ college & west high ] Out of Context Who: Steve Riccio, director of staff development What: In addition to launching the Higher Education Leadership Institute of Central Pennsylvania (in collaboration with Bucknell University and Gettysburg College), Riccio is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of International Business & Management (IB&M), where he teaches Human Resource Management (HRM). “About four years ago, faculty in IB&M felt it was important to offer this course,” Riccio says. “Many students in the program aspire to management positions, and HRM offers them a framework for critical supervisory responsibilities such as employment law, performance and talent management, benefits, compensation and employee relations.”

Where: Althouse 207

Why: “While I was a corporate trainer and organizational consultant, I always had aspirations to someday work in higher education,” Riccio says. “My undergraduate experience was very meaningful to me, and there were some very influential people who helped me find my passion. I still look back on those experiences and want to give back to our students in any way I can.”

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Carl Socolow ’77

How: Since joining Dickinson in 2006, Riccio has built a management development program; numerous interpersonal-communications, personal-development and team-building workshops; monthly supervisory roundtable discussions; and an administrative assistant certificate program. He’s also introduced the campus community to the leadership canon: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Crucial Conversations, Emotional Intelligence and Change Anything.

“Having employees engaged in their own personal development and wellness is critical to any organization,” he says. “The programs support employees at all stages of their careers. They provide support in terms of work-life balance and help departments and teams work through challenges they face—from navigating through conflicts to goal setting.”

An avid runner and advocate for health and wellness, Riccio served five years as associate head coach of the women’s tennis team and established the Holistic Health Incentive Program, which rewards employees for participating in the college’s wellness offerings. The programs make business sense: In 2011, Dickinson garnered the Wellness Council of America’s Gold Workplace Award, and the college’s health-care premiums remain well below the national average.

Climate Action 2.0

spring

Events art dance music

April 9-May 3

Goodyear Gallery Rena Leinberger and Juanli Carrion: Common Contexts April 11

Clarke Forum Program Front Line of the Climate Fight Bill McKibben, Middlebury College April 18

Joseph Priestley Lecture Lupus and Snurps: Bench to Bedside and Back Again Joan Steitz, Yale University April 19

Dickinson Orchestra Augural Years in Music: 1813, 1913 April 26-28

Dance Theatre Group Spring Dance Concert May 19

Commencement June 7-Oct. 9

The Trout Gallery First Hand: Civil War Era Drawings from the Becker Collection

It’s one thing to sign a pledge; it’s another altogether to actually follow through. In 2007, when President William G. Durden ’71 signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, the college already had been actively shrinking its carbon footprint.

But the pledge set into motion an even more ambitious strategy: the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The college set out to conduct a greenhouse-gas-emissions inventory, integrate sustainability into the curriculum and transition to climate neutrality by 2020.

Dickinson is nearing the halfway mark of that pledge, and on Jan. 25, Neil Leary, director of the Center for Sustainability Education, and Ken Shultes ’89, associate vice president for campus operations, reported on the college’s progress: An inventory completed in 2008, several measures implemented and sustainability concepts woven into the fabric of the curriculum. Leary and Shultes then outlined next steps, including the newly formed Climate Action Task Force.

“We’ve put our reputation on the line,” Leary said. “Dickinson has made progress toward its goals, but meeting these goals requires further planning and renewed effort.”

Those efforts include the creation of four teams to review energy efficiency and conservation, transportation, renewable energy and new construction. The teams, led by faculty and staff and supported by student-research assistants, are charged with developing a 2.0 version of CCAP. A draft of that plan will be presented to the campus community in late April, and the task force anticipates implementation in September. Considerations range from simple reminders to turn off the lights to major building retrofits, programs encouraging employees to car pool or use public transit and generating much of our electricity on campus with solar energy.

“We need to think small and big, and recommendations need to include costs,” Shultes said. “Incrementalism really matters.

We have 3,100 people on this campus, and a small change can make a big difference.”

—Michelle Simmons

Learn more at http://dson.co/cseclimateaction.

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[ in the game ] Men’s Basketball

Women’s Swimming

The men’s basketball team enjoyed another outstanding season, winning a school record 21 games and the Centennial Conference (CC) championship to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Red Devils finished the regular season 21-8 and were among the top free-throw-shooting teams in the nation. The Devils set a CC record, going a perfect 27 for 27 from the line against Ursinus College.

Adam Honig ’14 and Gerry Wixted ’15 earned first-team All-CC honors and were both selected to the D3hoops.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region team. Honig scored his 1,000th career point as the Devils won their first NCAA opening-round game, at home in front of a sellout crowd at the Kline Center.

At the end of the game, a jubilant red wave of fans swept onto the court, and the moment was highlighted by CBS Sports and ESPN as an example of good sportsmanship. For more on the championship game, visit http://dson.co/devilsadvance.

The Red Devil women posted wins in five of their final six dual meets to finish 9-5 overall and 5-2 to tie for second in CC standings. Caitlin Klockner ’16 had a standout rookie season, earning first-team All-CC honors and winning the title in the 500 freestyle. She earned All-CC with the 200 free relay and set school records in the 100 free and with the 400 and 800 free relay teams. Carson Gannon ’14, Caroline Brennan ’15 and Alex Melchiorre ’15 joined Klockner to earn All-CC honors with the relay.

Women’s Basketball

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winning games in men’s basketball

The women’s basketball team finished 13-11 overall and 9-11 in the CC. A strong corps of seniors provided the Devils with strong leadership, both on and off the court, leading Head Coach Dina Henry to her 200th career win. Belma Mekic ’13 earned All-CC honors, following a remarkable senior season. She led the team in scoring and steals and was second in rebounding.

Men’s Swimming

The men’s swim team turned in a 9-3 dual-meet record and finished third in the regular-season CC standings with a 4-2 mark. Jason Adams ’14 garnered three individual CC titles and joined two relays to capture five first-team All-CC honors. He broke his own conference record in the 50 freestyle (20.16). Ed Barnard ’14 earned All-CC honors in the 200 breaststroke and captured titles with the 200 and 400 medley relays.

Theo Hubbard ’16 earned five All-CC honors as well.

Men’s Track and Field

The men’s indoor track and field team broke two school records in preparation for the CC championships. Aaron Pannell ’14 broke his own mark in the 60-meter dash with a record time of 6.86 seconds. He ran to All-American honors with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA championships. The men’s distance medley relay also set a new school mark as Ryan Steinbock ’14, Jonathan Jackson ’14, Robbie Sansevere ’14 and Greg Clark ’14 combined for a time of 10:20.50.

Women’s Track and Field

The women’s indoor track and field team earned second-team All-CC honors in the 5,000 meters as Sarah Rutkowski ’15 crossed the line second. The Red Devils claimed honorable mention with three third-place showings at the conference championships.

Vivian Butali ’13 leaped to third in the triple jump, while Kristina Link ’15 placed third in the high jump, and Olivia Schumann ’15 garnered third in the 200 meters. Schumann broke the school record in the 300 meters this season, clocking a time of 43.22.

—Charlie McGuire, sports information director

Need more Red Devil sports? Check out all the stats, scores, schedules and highlights at www.dickinsonathletics.com.

Information about live streaming and radio broadcasts is available on a game-by-game basis, so check the Web site regularly or follow @DsonRedDevils on Twitter for the latest updates.

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Carl Socolow ’77

Watch a time-lapse video of the championship game at www.dickinson.edu/magazine.

Stepping Up Gerry Wixted ’15 shoots for championship season

Gerry Wixted ’15 was always the tallest kid in his class. He began playing organized basketball when he was about 10 years old, and he could dunk by the time he was a highschool sophomore. So it makes sense that he would end up playing collegiate ball, and Dickinson is glad to have the 6-foot-7-inch forward.

The Moorestown, N.J., native scored 20 points the first time he wore a Red Devils jersey, but he says it wasn’t as easy as walking on and dropping bucket after bucket.

“It was a big adjustment coming to college,” Wixted says. “I’m a big homebody, so not having my parents at every game”—he laughs­—“it was definitely a little nerveracking.” Wixted also found another element of college basketball jarring at first. “Coming in with mostly upperclassman last year, it struck me how physical and fast the game was,” he says. “It was challenging.”

Facing that challenge head-on, Wixted went on that season to average 17 points and just over nine rebounds per game, both of which led the team. He also set a Dickinson record for free throws, sinking 157 of 182 (he made 26 of these consecutively to start the season).

Citing his desire to attend a college where his on-court time would be balanced by a full academic experience, the history major says he already is looking to put his Dickinson education to work, first in graduate school and then in law school.

Wixted’s second season included recovering from a fractured thumb while helping the Devils advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in team history. He was named Centennial Conference (CC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week twice and earned a spot on the All-CC Team and led the team in points, rebounds and free throws.

“We got the school’s first 20-win season, hosted an NCAA tournament game for the first time and took the conference for the first time since 1997,” Wixted says. “Even though we had dreams of going further than the second round of the tournament, we accomplished a lot of things we can be proud of, and we made a lot of memories that will last a lifetime.” With the ink barely dry on the 2013 season, Wixted is already looking ahead to 2014, which will find the team without six graduating seniors.

“We’re ready to take another step forward and carry on the legacy that the class of 2013 helped create,” he says.

“Make no mistake, the future is very bright. —Tony Moore

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“But time I hope will do my opinions justice.

I believe them to be true and calculated to lessen some of the greatest evils of human life.

If they are not, I shall console myself with having

aimed well and erred honestly.”

—Benjamin Rush to John Adams

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The Durden Years: A-Z

W

hen the editorial team sat down to plan our unofficial William G. Durden ’71 special issue, we began with a timeline and some high points that we wanted to hit in a standard narrative. As the list of high points grew (and grew), we realized that no single narrative could tell the story of Dickinson’s transformation during President Durden’s 14-year tenure.

Rather, there were multiple narratives; we settled on 26, to be exact.

And like most Dickinson projects, “The Durden Years: A-Z” is the result of imaginative collaboration: We asked students, faculty, alumni, administrators and staff to weigh in on their Durden moments. As a result, the following pages reflect a diversity of views, as well as Durden’s spirit of connecting with the past while aiming for the future.

And at the center is not just one man but a vital, thriving community perched on the edge of possibility. —Michelle Simmons P.S. This is by no means The Definitive Durden, and we invite you to send your own A-Z list to dsonmag@dickinson.edu. We’ll add it to the full list on the magazine’s Web site.

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Adirondack Chairs

15

Carl Socolow ’77

A. Pierce Bounds ’71

C James Rasp

Carl Socolow ’77

Centennial Conference

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S

Bob Gamble

James Rasp

James Rasp

James Rasp

ince 1999, the Red Devils have garnered a multitude of championships and awards, from the dynamic dynasty of the women’s cross country team (2000-07) to nationally ranked men’s lacrosse team (2011-13). Learn more about the tournaments, titles, All-CC picks and All-Americans at www. dickinson.edu/magazine.

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E

lke

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As you look at this photograph, it appears outwardly simple: a domestic setting, a woman on a couch, a dog in a dog bed on the floor. But a photograph is also a series of questions that we ask ourselves. And a photograph is also about light, space, states-ofbeing. Relationships.

What we do know, as members of the Dickinson community, is that this is Dr. Elke Durden, who taught German while at Dickinson, and Lotte, longtime companion of Elke and husband Bill.

Renowned photographer Diane Arbus once said, “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” —Carl Socolow ’77, college photographer

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acres vegetable production

18 3

13

acres animal pastures

Mongolian-style yurts

4 40 130

part-time student workers during the academic year

summer apprentices/interns per year

percent of acreage dedicated to Dickinson Dining Services

700

families fed by the Campus Supported Agriculture program per year

pounds of food waste collected per day for composting

10,800

$

30

saved by Dining Services by composting

kilowatts hours per day produced by the large solar array

(enough to power the average home)

3,000

Carl Socolow ’77

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square feet of greenhouse space

beef cattle

ingredients in Red Devil Hot Sauce (five of which come from the farm)

Farm

—compiled by Carson Koser ’15

Visit www.dickinson.edu/magazine for more farm facts.

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How did a German and philosophy double major and firstgeneration college graduate use his personal experiences and global foundation to lead Dickinson into the 21st century?

In his own way. In his own words:

G “I am quintessentially a Dickinsonian in my movement through space and by my conversation. I am comfortable engaging at once America and the world. For me, as for all Dickinsonians, there is little paradox and much advantage in embracing both. … I traveled and worked all over the world—touching down repeatedly and often adventuresomely in at least 60 countries from Europe to Africa to Asia to South America. It has more than once been reported to me that I was seen on several different continents having lunch at the same time. And it could have well been true.”

—Inauguration Speech, October 1999

“Today, perhaps more than ever before, we are cognizant and appreciative of the fact that our connection to Dickinson is a lifelong one. It is an affiliation that defines us and is key to our professional and personal fulfillment.” —Alumni Weekend, June 2006

“I’m a first-generation college student. … One evening my mother and I came into Carlisle, and it was pouring, but it was one of those nights where it was steamy, so there was a haze, a fog over the entire campus. …

And I saw those limestone buildings, and they were a little moist, and I saw this haze coming up, sort of like a London fog, and I just turned to my mother and said, ‘That’s it. This is it. I like fog.’ And so I applied Early Decision, and the rest is as you see it.” —Fall Open House Remarks, October 2010

“It probably comes as no surprise to learn that, as a college president, I am often asked to speak to groups of young people about what it means to be a leader and to comment on my own leadership journey. On such occasions, people often are surprised to learn that my experience raising chickens as a boy in upstate New York provided me with several life lessons that I continue to draw upon.” —From These Grounds, Dickinson Magazine, Summer 2011

“Every summer my wife and I travel the world to challenge our preconceived notions, to unsettle the ‘tyranny’ of familiar place—no matter how appealing and comfortable that place may be—and to remain receptive to seeing what always has been in new ways.

I attribute this lifelong habit of purposeful, disruptive travel to my Dickinson junior year abroad in Freiburg many decades ago—when I was about your age and in this community as a student.” —Convocation Address, August 2012 “Much is at stake to define explicitly and to reassert the usefulness of a distinctively American liberal-arts education. The liberal arts are under assault by those who, under the mantle of affordability and efficiency, would reject it for the immediate, but often temporary, benefit of higher education defined as job training. My own experience offers a definition for the 21st century, in fact, for any century, where economic uncertainty prevails. I was a German and philosophy double major. At first glance, what could be more useless? And yet, my professional life has proven such a conclusion wrong.”

—“A Useful Liberal Arts,” Inside Higher Ed, November 2012 “I have been—sometimes simultaneously—a military officer, a pre-collegiate teacher, administrator and coach. I founded an athletic team, developed a major center at a prestigious research university, acted as a senior consultant to the U.S. Department of State with diplomatic status, served as a corporate officer at two publicly traded companies and now serve as president of Dickinson College. For none of these careers did I ever study formally or take a class.” —“A Useful Liberal Arts,” Inside Higher Ed, November 2012

Read Durden’s fall 1999 inauguration speech at www.dickinson.edu/magazine.

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H High I

Benjamin Rush’s vision of a “useful education” included civic lessons in the town hall.

Dickinson’s tradition of community engagement began with Benjamin Rush, whose vision of a “useful education” included civic lessons in the town hall. And while Dickinsonians remained active in the community through the centuries, President William G. Durden ’71 sparked a whole new era of town-gown relations in 1999 when he established the Office of College and Community Development (OCCD).

“He said something like, ‘I know we’ve had a good relationship with the community, but I want us to have a better one,’ ” recalls Rusty Shunk, retired executive vice president of college and community development.

The first goal was to work with local organizations and businesses to develop a stretch of West High Street that links the college to the town square. Thus, the High I partnership was born.

Over the years, Dickinson participated in the Pitt Street Pride revitalization project; backed key local institutions and businesses; supported the establishment of the Downtown Improvement District; rented and leased downtown properties for offices, rehearsal spaces and additional student housing; and formed a committee to promote on-campus support.

In 2010, a study by Professor of Economics William Bellinger and 13 Dickinson economics majors trumpeted the good news: Downtown establishments like Mt. Fuji, Issei Noodle, Café Bruges, Alibis and the ClothesVine were popular with campus and community members alike.

But the work had just begun. In 2008 Dickinson worked with the Carlisle Borough Council and Clean Air Board to co-fund a traffic study that would find ways to reduce truck traffic and increase bicyclist and pedestrian safety in town, promoting further retail growth. That dream was realized by the 2011 completion of the Road Diet, which reduced automobile travel lanes and added turning and bicycle lanes. Healthy walking and biking will be enhanced by the Carlisle Borough Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Network’s continuous-trail system, now under way. The last leg of the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail, from Newville to Carlisle, also is in the works.

Dickinsonians bolster community health in other ways too. The college continues to lease downtown spaces and co-sponsor major local events. It also provides rent-free space and organic produce for local food bank Project SHARE, supports the regional farmer’s market and the upgrade of Carlisle Theatre facilities and participates in United Way programs.

In 2012, students provided approximately 40,000 volunteer hours through the Office of Community Service, and the college’s many public cultural, educational and artistic events boost regional quality of life. Professors like Bellinger contribute to community knowledge by weaving community experiences into courses, and college departments and centers tap local resources for wider educational use.

And the community returns these favors. Students involved in service trips, volunteer events and community-based campus organizations gain personal satisfaction and practical and professional skills.

Community members turn out in impressive numbers to support student performances, exhibitions and other college events. Students have served on the United Way board since 2006—a boon for everyone involved.

“The word that emerges for me is ‘partnership.’ No one person or institution can do what needs to be done,” says Shunk, who, several years into his retirement, still champions the cause. “This partnership will continue to grow and thrive.” —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

View a timeline of Dickinson’s collaborative partnership with Carlisle at www.dickinson.edu/magazine.

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I Idea Fund

There’s no dearth of great ideas on Dickinson’s campus; the challenge is putting thought to action. When a group of students began kicking around the possibility of a revolving loan fund that would support sustainable entrepreneurship—and when William G. Durden ’71 kickstarted that idea with seed funding —the Idea Fund was born.

“There are a lot of people at Dickinson concerned about sustainability, and we wanted to have a place where anyone could bring their idea and get the resources to get it up and running,” explains Matt Guariglia ’12, one of the fund’s founding directors.

The fund provides loans for initiatives that repay the fund through the savings or profits they generate. Since its creation in 2011, the fund has helped launch several new projects, including The Handlebar bicycle co-op and The Peddler coffee cart.

The Peddler, which first rolled up to Old West in spring 2012, has become a campus fixture. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, students can count on their fair-trade coffee fix before and between classes.

More recently, the fund helped replace the tired lights in Mathers Theatre with new, eco-friendly lighting.

Now situated in a downtown office, the Idea Fund comprises an executive board of 11 student members and alumni fellow Anthony Silverman ’12, the founding board chair. They hold weekly open meetings in Tome Hall, where all students are encouraged to present their ideas or to just hang out for the weekly brainstorming sessions.

“Through the Idea Fund, we hope to create a more unified, conscious community,” says environmental-science major Madison Beehler ’15. “The fund makes it easy for a member of the Dickinson community to engage his or her community as a proactive agent of change.” —Carson Koser ’15

Learn more about the Idea Fund at http://blogs.dickinson.edu/ideafund.

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J udaic Studies

From the 2003 opening of the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life in a former Phi Epsilon Pi house to a six-year, $300,000 grant from the Posen Foundation Program for the Study of Secular Jewish History and Culture, Dickinson in the 21st century is enjoying a Jewish renaissance—academic and co-curricular.

Interested in Jewish intellectual history from Spinoza to Seinfeld? How about the ethnography of Jewish immigration to Latin America? Or the intersection of Judaism and Ecofeminism? There also are spring-break service trips, the Global Campus Scholarship for students from Argentina and Uruguay, a vibrant Hillel chapter, a student-led kosher cooking club and extensive participation in Birthright Israel, a subsidized program for Jewish students 18-24 who have never been to Israel.

The couple responsible for much of Dickinson’s recent growth in Jewish life is the latest dynamic duo of Andrea Lieber and Ted Merwin, who are building on the legacy of Professor Emeritus of Religion and Classics Ned Rosenbaum and his wife, Mary Pottker Rosenbaum ’75.

Lieber, associate professor of religion and Sophia Ava Asbell Chair in Judaic Studies, has introduced a cultural-studies approach to the curriculum while Merwin, director of the Asbell Center, has guided Jewish campus life. The Judaic studies department now also include Nitsa Kann, associate professor of religion, and a halfdozen contributing faculty from history, political science and religion.

“We have a historically rooted commitment to Judaic studies,” says Provost and Dean Neil Weissman. “It’s not a fad with us.” —Michelle Simmons

K KoVe

Launched in 2010 under the watchful eyes of mashgichot Louise Powers and Ricki Gold, the KoVe (for Kosher-Vegan) dining alcove quickly became a student favorite—and for obvious reasons, given the sample menu provided by Dining Services.

Lunch

Kosher entree: Parmesan sundried tomato tilapia Vegan entree: Cajun spiced tofu burgers Vegetable: Baked creamed corn with red peppers and jalapen~os Soup: Zucchini lentil Dinner

Kosher entree: Thai chicken burgers with curry mayo Vegan entree: Broccoli and tofu in garlic sauce and thai quinoa Vegetable: Broccoli with garlic sauce Salad: Thai cucumber and tomato

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ycenae

L Lion

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Legendary home of demi-god Perseus and Homer’s Agamemnon, the great citadel of Mycenae is considered to be one of the world’s most important archaeological sites. And Dickinson has exclusive, privileged access to it, thanks to an extraordinary partnership begun in 2002 with the Athens Archaeological Society and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory.

Under the leadership and direction of Christofilis Maggidis, associate professor of archaeology and Christopher Roberts Chair in Archaeology, students and alumni participate in the archaeological investigation of Mycenae and Mycenaean citadel of Glas every year, receiving top field training and unparalleled research opportunities.

Participants learn how to excavate, supervise fieldwork, write fieldnotes, collect and record data, conduct pottery study and cataloging, museum research, systematic archaeological and remote-sensing geophysical surveys. The program includes field trips to nearby museums and ancient sites in Athens, Argos, Corinth, Olympia, Delphi, Thebes and Glas—all designed to offer students hands-on experience and a deeper understanding of Prehistoric Aegean and Classical art, as well as familiarize them with modern Greek culture and language.

—Michelle Simmons

Neuroscience It’s hard to imagine Dr. Benjamin Rush thinking of the impact of neural proteins on Alzheimer’s disease when his quill hovered over Dickinson’s charter in 1783, but embracing new fields of study like neuroscience was exactly what he had in mind.

“Dr. Rush knew this from the very beginning,” says President William G. Durden ’71. “Seeking new knowledge was vital to his vision for a distinctively American form of higher education.”

With the 21st century bringing plenty of new challenges, Dickinson has been particularly busy “seeking new knowledge” during the last 14 years. In addition to launching a neuroscience major in 2004, the college has embraced 16 other new majors, minors and certificate programs since 1999.

The new millennium has given us the rise of China, growing unrest in the Middle East, the mapping of the human genome, a global war on terror and a national health-care crisis. Dickinson has countered with a minor in Chinese, a Middle East studies department, an endowed faculty chair in bioinformatics and certificate programs in security studies and health studies. And in each of these fields, the liberal-arts approach has been crucial.

“The interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience at Dickinson continues to make a difference in my life,” says Marianh Aman ’12, a recent neuroscience major applying her study of neurodevelopment to teaching middle-school students through Teach for America.

“I see the relevance of neuroscience everywhere now. And that openness was fostered at Dickinson. I studied autism in Developmental Psychopathology and neurodiversity in Neuroethics. My Latin professor even recognized my major and helped me delve into the relationship between Latin poets and insanity.”

Similarly, Jake Sternberger ’12, one of the college’s first students to earn a security-studies certificate, sees the blend of innovation with the traditional liberal

N

arts as a “distinctly Dickinson” strength.

“What stands out about security studies here is the multidisciplinary approach,” says Sternberger, now in his first year at the Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law and eyeing a career in national-security law. “It allows us to blend traditional aspects—in courses like European Security, International Terrorism, and Intelligence and National Security—with new challenges, like cyber-warfare, energy security or global pandemics.”

All of this is by design. With nearly half of graduating seniors majoring in interdisciplinary fields, more than 40 professors appointed to these programs and more than 80 faculty members contributing to them, Dickinson is clearly committed to crossing disciplines in its pursuit of new knowledge.

“This is something many institutions boast about, but in reality their interdisciplinary programs are treated like second-class citizens,” says Neil Weissman, provost and dean of the college. “Here at Dickinson, that’s not the case. We value interdisciplinary approaches—and we provide them a lot of institutional support—because fields like neuroscience engage contemporary challenges that demand insights from many different disciplines.”

So maybe Rush wasn’t thinking about those neural proteins—or threats from failed states, the wonders of nanotechnology and the role of new media in the Arab Spring for that matter—when he wrote in the second section of the charter that “it is the evident duty and interest of all ranks of people to promote and encourage, as much as in them lies, every attempt to disseminate and promote the growth of useful knowledge.”

But he knew that new knowledge is always useful knowledge, and accordingly Dickinson’s burst of curricular innovation during the last 14 years is encoded in the college’s DNA—another subject Rush would be happy to know Dickinsonians are exploring today. —Matt Getty

Timeline of new programs since 1999 1999-2000: Dance & music Film studies minor

2000-01: Women’s studies (from certificate to major; expanded to women’s & gender studies in 2008-09) Creative writing minor 2001-02: Archaeology 2003-04: Neuroscience Law & policy Policy management 2005-06: Health-studies certificate Chinese minor Japanese minor 2007-08: Middle East studies Africana studies 2009-10: Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies Security-studies certificate 2010-11: Dance certificate (with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet) 2011-12: Portuguese & Brazilian studies minor

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P O

really look forward to my regular “ Ioffice hours at The Quarry. Students can stop by and share lunch or just chat about campus concerns and developments, national problems, global issues or how to improve life in our community.

William G. Durden ’71,

distinctly remember “ I[President Durden]

”

letter to admitted students, 2007

”

”

lead travel editor, U.S. News & World Report

my junior year, “During my roommates and I all

had questions about some campus policies. His office hours were pretty busy that week, so we invited him to our house to have dinner and discuss the policies. To this day, that is one of my favorite stories to tell about what sets Dickinson apart from many other schools.

”

O l i v i a L e w i s ’ 1 0 , student pursuing at Towson University a certificate of advanced study in school psychology

policy analyst for the National

Weather Service

never quite sure which direction “ Iourwasmeeting would take (despite my carefully prepared plans), but it was invariably fascinating and exhausting.

Anya Malkov ’08,

pursuing a master’s in public policy at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University

”

Read the full text of student and alumni remembrances at www.dickinson.edu/magazine. dickinson magazine

extracurricular hours, but he also was invested in making me the best journalist and editor that I could be.

Miriam Weiner ’09,

instructing the students that when someone asks, ‘Where did you go for your undergrad?’ an alum should not immediately assume that the person has never heard of Dickinson. Instead, we should confidently say, ‘Dickinson!’ just as one would say, ‘Harvard!’ or ‘Princeton!’ His dedication to inspiring students to take pride and ownership in their Dickinson degrees … will be one of his biggest legacies.

Mike Bilder ’07,

only was he interested in how “ Not students were spending their

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are both fearless inquisitors, and “ We he has reinforced my mantra, ‘You never know until you ask.’ ” Terra Joy Allgaier ’13,

political-science major

P

today Dickinson is a dual-city Posse partner, recruiting students from New York City and Los Angeles. To date we have enrolled 223 Posse Scholars at Dickinson. Of those eligible for graduation the current graduation rate is 89 percent. Our retention rate for all cohorts is 94.5 percent.

Posse has amplified our recruitment and retention of underrepresented students by introducing Dickinson to schools and community groups that did not know us before. Because of our success—and the amazing success of our Posse/Dickinson alumni—more and more students have heard about Dickinson.

Posse helped us to achieve critical mass: that all-important and necessary component of recruitment and retention of a diverse student body.

Students have been attracted by our broadened diversity, our strong programs and our reputation as a mentoring community. Our Posse/Dickinson alumni have gone on to careers of distinction, graduate programs and service to their communities including the military. For all these Posse/ Dickinson alumni who are teachers, doctors, lawyers, climatechange administrators, nurses, human-rights advocates, college administrators, theologians and amazing citizens and contributors, we are enriched as a community. I will be forever grateful for a leader who said, “We will be more diverse!”

—Joyce Bylander, special assistant to the president for institutional and diversity initiatives (pictured below with Posse alumna Flosha Tejada ’11.)

Carl Socolow ’77

Posse

People ask what the key to becoming a diverse campus is. I tell them, first and foremost, leadership from the top.

I remember when I first came to Dickinson in 1998. People told me that the college had been working to become a more diverse, representative community for decades. They lamented that they would achieve diversity in the student body only to lose it again. Many longtime faculty expressed frustration with not being able to maintain the progress that was made. Good people who were working hard told me that “it was so hard to recruit underrepresented students to Carlisle.” I even heard that from top leadership.

Then Bill Durden became president of Dickinson College.

From the beginning he put in place a team that understood that, to compete for the best and brightest young people in this country, we would need to better reflect America and engage the world. So, Bill Durden said, “we will be more diverse.” He didn’t ask if it would be hard, nor did he believe that it would be. He said we would be, and he expected us to make it happen. And we did.

Robert Massa, vice president for enrollment and college relations at the time, introduced us to The Posse Foundation.

Founded by Deborah Bial in 1989, the program has offered an alternative model for identifying promising young people from less-advantaged, urban environments and opened opportunities for these students to pursue higher education.

We enrolled our first posse (a cohort of high-achieving students) from New York City in fall 2001. I’m proud to say that

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OTC

Quiz Bowl Q: In 1803, what sitting U.S. president donated funds toward the building of Old West?

Q: Spencer Fullerton Baird, class of 1840, was a noted naturalist and friend of John James Audubon. After teaching at Dickinson for a few years, he moved to Washington, D.C., to head up what large museum and center for learning?

Q: What famous poet, author of “The Road Not Taken,” was the first person to receive the Dickinson College Arts Award in 1958?

Q: Through a cooperative agreement with The Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson established its first program abroad in 1964 in what city?

Q: Who is the Southern-born abolitionist from the class of 1849 who helped his father’s slaves escape to Ohio, who authored numerous works including a biography of Thomas Paine and who was a personal friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman?

Q: Horatio Collins King, class of 1858, penned the lyrics to the college’s alma mater and then set these lyrics to what holiday tune?

Answers: Thomas Jefferson; Smithsonian Institution; Robert Frost; Bologna, Italy; Moncure Daniel Conway; “O Christmas Tree” or “O Tannenbaum.” dickinson magazine

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The U.S. Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) was active on Dickinson’s campus long before William G. Durden ’71 became president in 1999. But we couldn’t resist the opportunity to include this photo of a certain young graduate about to receive his 2nd lieutenant’s bars in 1971.

Durden was commissioned at the height of the Vietnam era; since then, ROTC programs—or any military presence—tend to be viewed with skepticism on college campuses. Even during a decade that saw wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and a global war on terror—“today’s college student knows very little about the military,” Durden wrote in a recent op-ed. “With only 1 percent of Americans in the armed forces, most college students will never serve … and [will] come to believe that the nation’s military engagements and wars exist as distant tasks for others.”

That certainly isn’t the case at Dickinson, from its robust ROTC program and partnership with the nearby U.S. Army War College to the security-studies certificate program launched in 2009. The college also enhanced the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Yellow Ribbon Program with its own Yellow Ribbon Scholarship, which meets up to $15,000 of any additional tuition costs with scholarships and grants, allowing post-9/11 veterans—and their children—to attend college virtually for free. —Michelle Simmons

S

tatue

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Treehouse

T I pledge

to use non-toxic cleaners, detergents and soap.

I pledge to wash clothes with cold water.

i will only shower when i smell

I pledge to turn off the lights and the faucet after I finish using them :)

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“No, it’s not an actual tree house. The kind you built out of lumber scraps and rusty nails when you were a kid.”

“OK. Um, do you really have to pedal a bike hooked up to a crankdriven generator to watch TV?” “Not anymore. Long story. Next.”

“What about the three-minute showers?”

“That one’s true. Each treekid, as we call ourselves, limits shower time to three-minute sessions. You don’t have to have the water running to lather yourself into a lather, so it’s probably something everyone could do. Last question.”

“I heard there’s no electricity, and they live by candlelight and wash their clothes in the river with a washboard and …”

“The residents are concerned citizens living a sustainable lifestyle, not Luddites. Please see below for further information.” *

So here’s what’s true about the Treehouse: It was founded as the

Center for Sustainable Living in the early 1990s, instantly renamed the Treehouse by students and moved to its current location in 2006. It’s a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certified building (the first of its kind in Pennsylvania) created by merging three row houses on the fringe of campus. The 14 student residents live the life of environmental forward thinking and use as little electricity as possible: Everyone’s clothes are line dried, air conditioning isn’t an option and the house is kept at a nippy 58 degrees during the winter. (As treekid Annaliese Ramthun ’13 puts it, “Living in the Treehouse makes you get resourceful.”) They come from a variety of majors to form a close-knit community, experiencing an immersive, sustainableliving environment together.

With its solar panels, composting station and corn-fired stove, it’s the embodiment of sustainability on campus. Of course, the Dickinson sustainability puzzle has many pieces of varying sizes, so this might be a small one. But they all click together to form an astonishingly green portrait—from small pieces like the Treehouse to big pieces like Dickinson’s strategic plans.

When William G. Durden ’71 became president in 1999, his administration drafted Strategic Plan I, which outlined Dickinson’s overarching goals for 2001-05. Listed under Defining Characteristic IV was this: “Create a campus culture that is committed to environmental sustainability at all levels.” Strategic Plan II (2005)

put forth that “Educating for sustainability requires a holistic approach … that embodies liberal-arts education and promotes an engaged community. The college must serve as a living example of sustainability in all arenas.” Strategic Plan III (2011) affirmed sustainability as a defining characteristic of the college, confirmed Dickinson’s commitment to becoming climate neutral and put forth sustainability as an area of study for special emphasis in the curriculum.

Sustainability isn’t an afterthought at Dickinson. It’s not an add-on. It’s not here to be cool, to be trendy, to get the stamp of approval from the Sierra Club (although Dickinson has gotten that, of course). It swims in the lifeblood of its students and its community and circulates through the institution.

Still not convinced? How about taking a look at the college’s 2008 Master Plan. Outlining the campus, its structures and their functions and future, the plan insists that Dickinson must “create a campus culture that is committed to ecological sustainability, both operationally and academically” and “instill a culture of prudent use of resources and respect for the natural world that supports civilized society.” Or how about Dickinson’s LEED Building Policy, which dictates that construction of all new buildings and major renovations must meet a minimum standard for LEED silver certification (all buildings erected since have been certified gold). Dickinson also has signed the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future’s Talloires Declaration and the Rio+20 Declaration of Higher Education, both of which drive institutions of higher learning onto ground already firmly occupied by Dickinson.

A lot of fine rhetoric, you say. Something for the newspapers, for admissions to put on postcards to send prospective students.

Ah, but what if it’s working? And what if organizations around the world are taking notice? Let’s start with the Association of Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) slapping a Gold rating on Dickinson, one of only a few institutions to receive this distinction. We’ve also earned straight As from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on their College Sustainability Report Card, and the Princeton Review has named the college to its Green Honor Roll (one of only 16 schools in the nation to receive a 99 Green Rating). We also received a Climate Leadership Award from Second Nature in 2010, the award’s inaugural year.

In short, we’re Red Devils with green blood, and some of us live in a Treehouse. The world we inhabit is sustainable, and sustainability inhabits us as well. —Tony Moore

Unity Rally One p.m. Sept. 23 [2000]. Temperature: fair; sky: overcast. And, as a distant bell rang once to mark the new hour, a pernicious rally began east of Dickinson, in front of the Cumberland County Courthouse. More than 20 men cloaked in hoods and gowns assembled on the courthouse steps to spread the word of Aryan supremacy under the aegis of the Church of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Klansmen waved confederate flags, played white supremacist music over a ragtag stereo system and belched “White Power” every time their energy seemed to fade. Twenty or 30 supporters returned the racist salute, while a larger scattering of protestors responded with boos or chants such as “Take it off!”—a reference to the hoods. But most of the estimated 600 onlookers just watched, silently—not participating, but too compelled by curiosity to walk away.

A few blocks to the west, Dickinson and Carlisle were gathering for a “rally” of a different sort. …

From “United We Stand” in the winter 2001 issue of Dickinson Magazine. To read the entire story, visit www.dickinson.edu/magazine.

*No treekids were harmed in the crafting of this imagined dialogue.

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V Carl Socolow ’77

iew from Old West

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WDCV

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Xenophilia

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international part—what can we do as informed, concerned citizens in the global world in which we live—but also, how can we improve things locally?” says Duperron. “If you’re really going to reach out in terms of sustainability initiatives, you have to be able to communicate with the people you’re reaching out to.

Therefore, knowing their language will be the most obvious way to make yourself understood and understand what’s going on.”

Brubaker says Dickinson is pursuing partnerships with other schools to study broad issues like global health. “That’s where we see things going,” he says. “Study abroad is not just about learning Spanish in Spain or French in France. Now, we’re saying, ‘That’s great, but also what are the current challenges with immigration and other related issues?’ ” These other related issues will likely be explored through several global programs introduced over the last decade, such as those in Australia, New York City, the United Kingdom and South America, the last of which has two home bases: in Cuenca, Ecuador, and Mendoza, Argentina. New partner programs also are in place, such as at Hebrew and Ben Gurion universities (Israel), Akita International University (Japan), Durham University (UK) and AMIDEAST (Morocco and Jordan).

“We’ve got faculty and students out there across the world,” Brubaker says. “Is it common for schools to run their own programs? Yes. Is it common for schools the size of Dickinson to run the longer-term programs—full-semester and yearlong?

Absolutely uncommon.” —Tony Moore

“Where do you want to go?”

When a student walks through his office door for the first time, Brian Brubaker ’95, interim executive director of the Center for Global Study & Engagement and director of education abroad, might begin a conversation with that question.

“Hyderabad, India? Sure. And you want to study theatre there? No problem. Economics in Amman, Jordan? Done. How about creative writing at Oxford? Philosophy in São Paulo, Brazil? Where else?”

With nearly 60 percent of each graduating class studying abroad, Brubaker could be pretty busy with conversations such as this. And these students don’t leave it all behind when they graduate: Coming from global majors such as international business & management, environmental studies and international studies, Dickinsonians find themselves in every corner of the globe once they leave the limestone walls for the last time.

“Students coming to Dickinson are looking not just to travel abroad but to actually immerse themselves, to get involved,” Brubaker says, noting that Dickinson’s programs span more than 50 locations worldwide and 50 areas of study. “And we’re leading the charge with that.”

He mentions Dickinson’s standing among other liberal-arts institutions to extend his point: “Some schools will say, ‘We have a program in London.’ And that’s great. London’s great.

But we’re talking Norwich, Brisbane, Málaga, Bologna. Nobody has our scope.”

The idea of Dickinson as a global campus, or a xenophilic institution, doesn’t end with each pin pushed into a world map.

Right on campus, 48 countries are represented in the student body, and Dickinson also is one of the nation’s top institutions for foreign-language study (13 languages are offered).

In short, if you love studying language, hearing diverse perspectives and delving into foreign environments, Dickinson has you covered.

Here’s a good example: Last summer, Associate Professor of French Lucile Duperron took a group of students to France for what could be the quintessential Dickinson study-abroad trip: La ville rose: êtes-vous vert? (“The Rose City: Are You Green?”).

It was an excursion designed to exponentially develop language skills and encourage cross-cultural explorations through immersion in the Toulouse region—with one of Dickinson’s core values at the heart of it all.

“We approached language and culture through the sustainability lens,” Duperron says. “That helps everyone understand that when we’re talking about sustainability, we’re talking about geography, politics and people’s values, so it’s really a humanities perspective that informed the shape of the project.”

Students spoke French exclusively during the five-week program, focusing on topics and issues related to sustainability in France, with both local and international impacts.

“We’re trying to bridge those two dimensions: the

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Y

aounde, Cameroon

{

}

Zeitgeist: n. The spirit of the time; the taste and

outlook characteristic of a period or generation.

35

[ fine print ] The Human Face of Big Data

By Rick Smolan ’72 Big Data is defined as the real-time collection, analyses and visualization of vast amounts of information. In the hands of data scientists, this raw information is fueling a revolution that many people believe may have as big an impact on humanity as the Internet has during the past two decades. The Human Face of Big Data captures—in glorious photographs and moving essays—this extraordinary revolution that is sweeping, almost invisibly, through business, academia, government, health care and everyday life.

The Poet’s Freedom: A Notebook on Making

By Susan Stewart ’73 Why do we need new art? How free is the artist in making? And why is the artist, and particularly the poet, a figure of freedom in Western culture?

MacArthur Award-winning poet and critic Susan Stewart ’73 ponders these questions in The Poet’s Freedom. Through a series of evocative essays, she not only argues that freedom is necessary to making and is itself something made but also shows how artists give rules to their practices and model a self-determination that might serve in other spheres of work.

A Violet Season

By Kathy Leonard Czepiel ’88 The violet industry is booming in 1898, and a Hudson Valley farm owned by the Fletcher family is turning a generous profit for its two oldest brothers. But Ida Fletcher, married to the black sheep youngest brother, has taken up wet nursing to help pay the bills, and her daughter, Alice, has left school to work. As they risk losing their share of the farm, the two women make increasingly greater sacrifices for their family’s survival— sacrifices that will set them against each other in a lifelong struggle for honesty and forgiveness. A Violet Season is the story of an unforgettable mother-daughter journey in a time when women were just waking to their own power and independence.

i ci n k isn z ien eSpring Spring 2013 3636 d id ck osno n m amgaagzai n 2013

Kudos Dickinson was awarded a $700,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a digital-humanities initiative to further infuse the liberal-arts curriculum with the latest digital technologies. The grant will fund a postdoctoral fellowship in digital humanities, internal grants for faculty and student work, workshops for faculty committees and a virtual studio to publish and showcase digital projects. For more information about the programs being supported by the grant, visit http://dson.co/ digitaldickinson.

Provost Neil B. Weissman published “Sustainability & Liberal Education: Partners by Nature” in the fall 2012 issue of Liberal Education, the flagship journal of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. To read the article, visit www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-fa12/weissman.cfm.

Melinda Schlitt, professor of art history and William E. Edel Professor of Humanities edited Gifts in Return: Essays in Honour of Charles Dempsey.

Published by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at Victoria University in the University of Toronto, the volume brings together new scholarship in Italian art and culture from the 13th to the 18th centuries first presented during April and May 2007 at two conferences celebrating Charles Dempsey on his retirement from teaching at The Johns Hopkins University. The authors—among the most noted scholars in their fields—address a wide range of issues, including patronage, style, iconography, reception, textual sources and cultural context.

Stephen Weinberger, Robert Coleman Professor of History, published “From

Censors to Critics: Representing the People” in the fall 2012 issue of Film and History.

Ben Edwards, associate professor of earth sciences, received a $25,000

grant from the National Science Foundation RAPID Program to conduct research on a volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The award is part of a collaborative research project with the University of Alaska–Fairbanks, the University of Oregon and the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia.

Matthew Pinsker, associate professor of history and Brian C. Pohanka ’77

Chair in American Civil War History, developed the Emancipation Digital Classroom as part of his House Divided project, which provides a host of digital resources for K-12 educators. The Emancipation Digital Classroom’s “Unofficial Teachers’ Guide to Spielberg’s Lincoln” features a scene-byscene summary of Tony Kushner’s Oscar-nominated script, analysis of artistic license taken by the filmmakers and historians’ reaction to the work.

The guide also features side-by-side comparisons of historical figures and the actors who play them in the film and is being used in classrooms across

the country. For more about the House Divided project, visit http://house divided.dickinson.edu.

Jacob Sider Jost, assistant professor of English, received $7,235 from the

William F. Milton Fund of Harvard University for his research project, “The Magazine and the Economics of Eighteenth-Century Poetry.”

Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Wendell Smith published “ ‘Ver mundo’: Enchanted Boats, Atlases, and Imperial Magic in the Second Part of Don Quijote” in Cervantes, the journal of the Cervantes Society of America.

The Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, Fulbright Scholar in Residence program has awarded funding for a scholar-in-residence at Dickinson to help forge new global partnerships around the unifying concept of Afro-Brazilian culture. The project was designed by Carolina Castellanos, assistant professor of Spanish & Portuguese; Lynn Johnson, assistant professor of Africana studies; Brian Brubaker ’95, interim director of the Center for Global Study & Engagement; and Neil Leary, director of the Center for Sustainability Education. The scholar-in-residence will teach spring 2014 courses about society, the environment and development in Brazil.

A series of images made during a five-year photographic study by College Photographer Carl Socolow ’77 depicting changes in daily life in the Mexican village of Mata Ortiz were included in a recent issue of Journal of the Southwest, a refereed journal published by the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona.

Author and poet Brenda Marie Osbey, who received an honorary doctor of letters from Dickinson in 2006, recently published History and Other Poems, an examination of the transatlantic slave trade and the still-palpable effects of European and American colonialism.

Ben Edwards conducts research on a volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula.

37

[ beyond the limestone walls ]

D

BY Jennifer L. Blanck ’92 Alumni Council President

{

Show your Dickinson

pride

o you have Dickinson pride? There are a lot of reasons to have Dickinson pride— from your own experiences on campus to your achievements related to Dickinson to the accomplishments of the Dickinson community. And there’s pride because of the successes during the Durden years.

A majority of you may not have been around throughout Bill Durden’s entire presidency, so you might not be aware of all that’s happened during his term. Throughout these pages, you will get to know the Durden years better. By the time you finish reading this magazine, I hope your pride has swelled even more and you’re ready to share it. Heck, I hope you’re ready to shout it out!

Let’s assume you have Dickinson pride and you’re looking for ways to show it. There are many things you can do. In fact, you’re probably doing some of them already, but there are always more opportunities.

You show pride by staying connected. You probably keep in touch with friends you met at or through Dickinson. Maybe you stay in touch with others within the community. You might even follow a specific aspect of Dickinson, such as women’s lacrosse or the annual Public Affairs Symposium.

You also can stay connected by ensuring your information is up-to-date. If you’re an alumna/us, maintaining updated information allows other alumni to get in touch with you—to renew old friendships or connect for business/professional purposes. It also provides an opportunity for students to contact you with career or life questions.

You show pride by serving as an ambassador.

Take opportunities to represent or spread the

word about Dickinson. Talk with others about your experiences or what’s going on at the college.

Wear your hat, sweatshirt or some of the latest gear found in the bookstore. Hang your diploma on the wall. Attend Dickinson events in your region or hometown.

You show pride by being an advocate. Try making connections between the Dickinson community and others. Volunteer in such areas as admissions or the Career Center to help ensure the best students come to Dickinson and that they have fantastic career opportunities during and after their college tenure. Recommend the college to others. Establish a recruiting connection between your employer and Dickinson or create an internship for a Dickinson student. Share internship or job announcements with the Career Center so students and other alumni find fulfilling opportunities.

You show pride by providing support. You all have expertise in something that others would benefit from hearing. Consider speaking to a class or another group at or affiliated with the college.

You also can show support by donating money. Help someone who otherwise might not be able to afford it obtain an excellent education. Make programs or activities possible or help the college make critical infrastructure improvements, such as the Kline Center expansion or the new residence hall.

There are a lot of reasons for the Dickinson community to have pride. I know that Bill Durden helped so many of us develop a deeper level of Dickinson pride. And I hope you’re just as excited as I am to see what happens during Nancy Roseman’s leadership. In the meantime, show your Dickinson pride today!

For more information about the Alumni Council, e-mail jlblanck@yahoo.com

dickinson magazine

Spring 2013

38

Why volunteer?

“I’ve realized how much I love feeling like I’m still a part of Dickinson, feeling like there is a mutual investment between me and the school to continue bringing great students to campus and providing amazing opportunities once they get here. I know I’m part of something great.”

—Emily Bailin ’07

“I view my work mentoring young alums as an opportunity to return the favor in addition to something that is inherently rewarding. The Dickinson network made a difference for me, and I view it as an obligation to work with those energetic and enthusiastic young alums who need doors opened as they begin their careers.” —Derek Peachey ’97 “I have always considered Dickinson to be a big part of my character development, so being able to give back to the college, be it financially or with my time, is really an honor. —Kirsten Nixa Sabia ’92

V

olunteers play a critical role in Dickinson’s success: It’s been estimated that we would need to double the size of our alumni, advancement and admissions staffs to replace the time that volunteers give to the college each year.

Volunteering with Dickinson gives you the chance to connect with prospective and current students, alumni, parents and friends and be part of this community —not just for four years—but for a lifetime.

And to help you get the most out of your volunteer experience, the Office of Alumni & Parent Engagement is hosting its first Volunteer Leadership Summit during the weekend of Aug. 2-4. The program includes: • in-depth training and best practices from our staff and seasoned volunteers through engaging workshops • valuable tools and tips for your Dickinson volunteer work and other volunteer work • a chance to expand your Dickinson network by reconnecting with classmates and meeting other Dickinson volunteers and senior leaders, including President Nancy Roseman • the opportunity to learn about additional ways you can volunteer for Dickinson • the presentation of our volunteer awards during our special awards dinner.

Whether you are a current volunteer or just thinking about volunteering for Dickinson, this weekend will offer you the opportunity to see how you can help advance Dickinson across the country and around the globe. —Laura Wills, manager of volunteer operations

Volunteer Leadership Summit

2-4 AUGUST

Learn more at my.Dickinson.edu/volunteer or contact Laura Wills at willsl@dickinson.edu.

39

[ closing thoughts ] Bingo is its name-o

By S i o b h á n O ’ G r a dy ’ 1 3

F

or Dickinson students, Thursday nights have a lot to offer. For some, it’s the last chance to finish homework before the weekend.

For others who are lucky enough to have no Friday classes, it already is the weekend, and the night is treated as such. For me, it means only one thing: B-I-N-G-O. “N42, we’ve got an N42!” I shout into the microphone as the crowd before me scrambles to put their pieces in place.

On a warm Thursday night in April, there are plenty of places I could be. Most of my friends are lounging outside of The Quarry or playing catch on Morgan Field. But I’m standing at the front of the game room at a senior citizens’ residence just down the road. Three of my friends are positioned strategically around the room, helping the players to identify the right squares on their Bingo cards.

The game finishes up, and we crown our Bingo Queen, who (much to the dismay of her neighbors) has won the final round four weeks in a row. As I walk one of the residents to her room, making small talk about the weather and my upcoming final exams, I realize that at some point over the past seven months, something in me has changed.

I started playing Bingo at Thornwald Home in the fall of my sophomore year. I had returned to Dickinson feeling that one part of my first year that came up short was my involvement in service. I was determined to fill that gap by doing something to give back to Carlisle. I had never worked with the elderly: Playing Bingo at Thornwald seemed like the right fit.

After the first few weeks, it seemed to me that to the residents, Bingo was more of an obligation than a treat. So we volunteers stepped up our game. We ran around the room and sang the Bingo song every time someone won: “B-I-N-G-O, Bingo was his name-o!”

Crowds started to form around the doorways. Passersby stopped to watch. We introduced new prizes: candies and a crown for the final-round winner. More people showed up every week. Rivalries began popping up in every corner. And most important, we all started to enjoy ourselves.

It was on that warm April night, after missing other Thursday nights full of Caf Sits and study sessions, soccer games and guest speakers, that I realized how much Bingo meant to me. I was about to go abroad for a full year. Some of the older regulars might not be around anymore when I got back. Who would sing the Bingo song when someone won? Who would get to know the residents who had become my friends?

Volunteering takes time, energy and planning, and community service tends to be a selfless commitment. But it’s not like you get nothing out of it, either. When I first started Bingo I felt I could never miss a Thursday because I was worried the residents would have nothing to do. But after Bingo became my routine, I realized I couldn’t miss it because I wasn’t as happy when I didn’t go. I liked how it felt to march into Thornwald, be greeted by a group of people who were excited to have me there and to then return to my spot in the library still laughing about all of the fun we had earlier that night.

So in my year abroad, I looked for something—anything—to fill the Bingo hole in my heart. In Morocco, I found a volunteer gig teaching English once a week, and the anticipation actually did remind me a little of the way I felt before Bingo. Yet in Cameroon, I never quite found anything to compare to Thornwald.

My study-abroad classmates and I missed a lot of what we took for granted in the United States. “I miss my dog,” my friends would say. “I miss Bingo,” I would think. So upon my return to Carlisle last fall, I quickly got back into my Bingo schedule. My conversations with the players in between rounds inspired me to start an oral-history project at the home, and though some of the relationships I had formed have been tainted by the onset of Alzheimer’s or other degenerative diseases, the residents are still just as excited for Bingo each week. In Carlisle, I’ve been fortunate enough to find a service project that doesn’t only do good for others; it does good for me too. And Bingo is its name-o.

Siobhán O’Grady ’13 is a political-science and French double major. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in journalism with a focus in international affairs.

dickinson magazine

Spring 2013

56

To celebrate the Durdens’ 14 years at Dickinson, April has been named Distinctively Durden Month.

This is your chance to honor Bill’s tenure at Dickinson, as well as his leadership and inspiration, before he retires—to say thanks, celebrate Dickinson’s accomplishments and show that you too remain committed to leaving your college better than you found it.

“Together we are Dickinsonians for life.”

—William G. Durden ’71

Leave a Message Share your well wishes, photos and memories of the last 14 years with the Durdens and the Dickinson community.

Volunteer Recognize the Durdens’ 14 years of service with service of your own in your local community.

Give Back Acknowledge the Durdens’ dedication to Dickinson by showing your support with a gift to the college in their honor.

For more information and to track our community’s activity during Distinctively Durden Month, visit

http://dson.co/aprildd.

Let’s see how many messages, gifts and hours of service we can gather for Bill and Elke!

P. O . B o x 1 7 7 3 C a r l i s l e , PA 1 7 0 1 3 - 2 8 9 6 Periodical

w w w. d i c k i n s o n . e d u / m a g a z i n e

P o s ta g e p a i d at C a r l i s l e , PA and additional mailing office

[

well-stated

]

I learned a lot in law school, but I put 80 to 90 percent of my skill set down to Dickinson.

G r e g Z i mm e r ma n ’ 8 3

in “Thinking Inside the Box.” Visit http://dson.co/gregzimmerman for more.

There’s no reason why students can’t wait for the losing opponent to leave the floor, then happily jaunt to center court. … That’s what fans of Dickinson did.

M att N o r l a n d e r , CB S S p o r ts .

Learn more at http://dson.co/devilsadvance.

What I love about Dickinson: the sweatpants! ¨

M i k aE l T o u l za ,

Instagram, http://dson.co/dsonphotos.

“The thing about working at the nano level is that you can get lost for hours in a couple of square millimeters.”

Sarah St. Angelo,

assistant professor of chemistry. Visit http://dson.co/brumbaugh for more.

We bought a church.

H e ad l i n e i n T h e D i c k i n s o n i a n , J a n . 3 0 .

To learn more about Dickinson’s acquisition of Allison

United Methodist Church, visit http://dson.co/landmarkaddition.

People say [to me], “You just want a technological solution, but those technologies will cause new problems.” Well, welcome to planet earth! Welcome to life in this world.

I don’t know what you were expecting as the author and environmental-policy alternative. expert, during a Jan. 29 roundtable discussion with students.

Michael Shellenberger,