#80 SPRING 2017
A publication of New College of Florida
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER NEW COLLEGE SPARKS THE C4 CONSORTIUM Enter, Stage Left
Dr. Dennis Saver ’72
Teamwork brings ambitious productions to Black Box Theater
In Medicine and Service
NCAA Communications Committee Jordan Clark - Communications Chair Hazel Bradford Carmela French Cindy Hill Steve Jacobson Editorial Staff Jessica Rood Director of Communications and Marketing Jessica Rogers Associate VP for Advancement Kim Butler Creative Services Manager David Gulliver News Services Manager
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Glen Van Der Molen Assistant Director New College Alumnae/i Association
Tying it all Together New College sparks the C4 Consortium
Publisher Office of Communications & Marketing New College of Florida 5800 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, FL 34243-2109 941.487.4153 communications@ncf.edu
19 Profiles
15 Enter, Stage Left Teamwork brings ambitious productions to Black Box Theater
Edline Francois ’14 Dr. Dennis Saver ’72 Erin Craig ’09 Maxeme Tuchman ’00
Also inside this issue: On Campus > 1 In the Community > 5 We Heard You > 7 Op Ed > 18 Alumnae/i Focus > 24 Chapter News > 25 Class Notes > 26
*Submitted by Shelley Overton. Like our Nimby-doodle? Submit your version of the Nimbus masthead for consideration to communications@ncf.edu.
NCAA Board of Directors Executive Committee Chair – Frazier Carraway ’72 Chair-Elect – Cindy Hill ’89 Treasurer – Sarah Thompson ’06 Communications Chair – Jordan Clark ’04 Governance Chair – Chad Bickerton ’05 Immediate Past Chair – Susan “Spozy” Sapoznikoff ’83 Hazel Bradford ’75 Robert Freedman ’83 Carmela French ’06 Steve Jacobson ’71 Gera Peoples ’94 Leslie Reinherz ’70 Rick Schofield ’85 Norman Stein ’69 Jim Tietsworth ’84 Troy Winfrey ’87 Vernon Woodworth ’70 MaryAnne Young Vice President for Advancement Dr. Donal O’Shea President of New College For a full board listing, visit ncf.edu.
THEN & NOW Know more about this photo? Contact communications@ncf.edu.
Classes then and now: Blackboards, still, but students have new ways of taking notes.
CAMPUS NEWS
U.S. News Ranks New College among Country’s ‘Best Colleges’ ew College of Florida received another impressive national ranking with the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2017” edition, released Sept. 13, 2016. The magazine ranked New College as the No. 5 public liberal arts college in the nation. It marks the 12th consecutive year New College has been listed in the top six public liberal arts colleges nationwide. The magazine also listed New College as a great financial deal for students and their families. New College ranked 7th nationwide for “Least Debt” among all liberal arts colleges. New College’s 2015 graduates owed just $14,929 on average. The magazine’s statistics pointed to several reasons for New College’s strong showing.
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Top-performing students. Nearly half of incoming freshmen (43 percent) were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. • Small classes. Almost three-quarters of its classes (73 percent) have 20 or fewer students; just 1 percent has 50 or more students. • Better than six out of 10 New College students (62 percent) graduate with no debt at all, 13th in the country. The U.S. News listing follows two other impressive performances in national college guides. In August, The Princeton Review named New College as among the top 15 percent of all U.S. colleges and universities in its guidebook, “The Best 381 Colleges.”
CAMPUS NEWS
New College Ranks in Top 20 of Kiplinger’s Best Public Colleges or the 14th consecutive year, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has recognized New College of Florida as one of the nation’s best values in higher education. The magazine ranked New College 19th on its list of the 100 best values in public colleges for 2017. Kiplinger says the colleges in its rankings “best meet our definition of value: a quality education at an affordable price.” Kiplinger found that New College is a tremendous value for Florida students: • New College ranked 7th among the nation’s public colleges for the lowest total cost to in-state students after awarding need-based financial aid. • It also found that New College was an excellent choice
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for any students, from any state, hoping to minimize student loan payments. • New College ranked 6th among public colleges for lowest total debt at graduation, and 11th among all colleges, public and private. Kiplinger derives 55 percent of a college’s grade from academic quality measures, such as graduation rate, freshman retention and incoming students’ test scores. The rest of the grade comes from cost criteria, such as cost, financial aid and student debt. The complete rankings are now available online at kiplinger.com/links/colleges and will appear in print in the February 2017 issue of “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.”
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ON CAMPUS CAMPUS NEWS
New College Celebrates Heiser Addition with Groundbreaking Ceremony t an Oct. 18 groundbreaking ceremony, New College of Florida’s president and faculty members hailed the expansion of the Heiser Natural Sciences Complex as testimony to the College’s excellence in producing scientists, and as a guarantee of continued success. The $9.7 million project, funded by the state of Florida, will add a third wing to the Heiser complex, housing labs, classrooms and faculty offices, and increasing space by more than 50 percent. Construction is under way now and is expected to be complete by fall 2017. In his opening remarks, President Don O’Shea listed measures of that success: New College graduates a greater percentage of science and math majors than almost all Florida colleges, and 15 percent of those graduates go on to receive a doctorate – better than almost all colleges in the United States. One reason, he said, is the tradition of students and faculty members working closely together, and that requires space for laboratories and collaboration – the core of the new wing’s design. “This will allow the interdisciplinary approach that is the marrow of New College,” he said. Biochemistry Professor Katherine Walstrom, chair of the Division of Natural Sciences, thanked her colleagues Sandra Gilchrist, professor of biology, and Paul Scudder, professor of chemistry, for their work on Heiser project proposals. She said the expansion will benefit everyone. “The new wing will allow us to accommodate new faculty research labs and more teaching labs. It will not only add more space but improve the space we have,” she said. Meagan Ash, a third-year biology and chemistry student, talked about her research into the effects of sunscreen on coral reef ecology. She said students are excited to be among the first to conduct research in the new building. “Students who come to New College in the next few years are going to be working in these labs and talking with their professors in these halls,” she said. Emily Saarinen, a 1997 graduate of New College and now assistant professor of biology and environmental studies, drew laughs from the 60 guests as she shared her perspective. “Two decades ago, Natural Sciences was housed in two small, low-ceilinged old buildings. The little complex served us well,” she said. “But we outgrew those buildings, and I actually think the it was our sheer intellectual strength that blew the roofs off those buildings!” “So we were fortunate to receive the Heiser complex 16 years ago. And this building has served us well – but you cannot hold back our intellectual fortitude!” she said. “This space marks yet another developmental milestone for
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the College and our students,” she said. “I feel really confident about the future of the College and our ability to support and train the next generation of great thinkers.” Each year, one-quarter to one-third of New College students major in sciences or mathematics – a greater percentage than any other Florida institution other than University of Florida. And more than half of all New College students take at least one science course each year. The 22,000-square-foot addition will help accommodate that demand. The first floor of the new wing will include the division and chair’s offices, eight faculty offices, a computer sciences reading room, a physics teaching lab with support spaces, and a conference room and large classroom that can be converted to research laboratory space in the future. The second floor will contain six additional faculty offices, biology and chemistry teaching laboratories as well as three biology research laboratory spaces. The Heiser complex’s existing two wings were completed in 2000 and comprise about 34,000 square feet of laboratory, classroom and office space. The addition is being designed to obtain LEED Silver sustainability certification, the highest possible level under the project’s budget. Project architects are Harvard Jolly of St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Construction management is by Tandem Construction of Sarasota. The Heiser complex is named for the late General Rolland V. Heiser, former president of the New College Foundation, whose efforts helped establish a solid financial base for the College. General Heiser had a distinguished 30-year Army career, serving in Korea, Vietnam and, among other posts, as chief of staff of the U.S. European Command in Germany under Gen. Alexander Haig, who later became U.S. secretary of state and White House chief of staff. Heiser passed away in June 2016, and the groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled to coincide with a memorial service on campus earlier in the day. Members of the Heiser family attended both the memorial and the groundbreaking.
ON CAMPUS EVENTS
Plaintiff in Landmark Marriage Equality Case Speaks at New College of Florida im Obergefell and John Arthur changed the landscape of same-sex civil rights in the United States. Jim and John had been in love for more than two decades, but had not married because their home state of Ohio did not allow it. As John faced a terminal ALS diagnosis, however, they hoped their relationship could be recognized. They flew to Maryland, which recognized same-sex marriage, and were married on the tarmac in the medical plane required for John to make the trip. But John died in Ohio, which did not recognize the marriage. The state listed him as “single” on his death certificate. This denial of their relationship impelled legal action, which grew into the consolidated federal case bearing Jim’s name: Obergefell v. Hodges. In June 2015, a year and a half after John died, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy delivered
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the opinion that guaranteed the right to marry to same-sex couples. The Court determined that states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and they must recognize marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The legal record of Jim and John’s marriage was secure, and the effect was far more than they could have imagined. They’d won gay marriage across the United States. Obergefell shared his compelling story of love, loss, legal recognition and a historic moment in civil rights history as part of New College’s “New Topics” discussion series on Oct. 26, 2016.
CAMPUS NEWS
Local Kids Get Real-World Science Training at New College ew College of Florida and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens have established a formal collaboration between the education and research departments with a focus on plant science, conservation and public outreach. The agreement, finalized in November 2016, sets a path for sharing research facilities, providing international internship opportunities to students and adjunct positions for staff to work for both organizations. “Working with Selby Gardens’ international group of plant scientists will enhance New College’s biological sciences program,” said President Don O’Shea. “Plant biology is a vast, rapidly changing area with new discoveries that are transforming our knowledge of the world, and botanical research greatly impacts global and local conservation and sustainability efforts.” The agreement also assists Selby Gardens by offering opportunities for
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project collaboration – an area key to scientific funding. “By working with a national leading college with a focus on earth and life sciences, Selby Gardens can share its 40 years of scientific study with a larger, more diverse audience,” said Jennifer O. Rominiecki, president and CEO of Selby Gardens. “Collaboration is valued in all academic and scientific circles, and we’re excited to be able to formalize this agreement.” New College students will have the opportunity to meet professional scientists visiting Selby Gardens each year to conduct research and collaborate with other botanists. Students will also have the opportunity to apply for internship positions with Selby Gardens. Selby Gardens staff will co-supervise undergraduate research students. The two institutions will also allow access to the laboratory, museum, library and field research facilities for staff from both organizations. The partnership will be overseen by Dr. Brad Oberle, assistant professor of biology at New College, and Bruce K. Holst, director of botany at Selby Gardens. Concurrent with this agreement is the announcement of the $25,000 annual Calusa Prize, to be awarded by Selby Gardens via an anonymous donor to students in degree programs at New College in the area of horticulture or botany, public garden management, research, collection management, preservation or documentation including art and photography.
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ON CAMPUS FOUNDATION
New College Receives $1.2 Million Gift for Scholarship Fund iting his belief in public education and the importance of attending college, Sarasota resident Akgun Temizer has given $1.2 million to New College of Florida to expand a scholarship fund. Temizer established the fund in 2014 to provide scholarships with preference to honors students from his native country, Turkey. The first Temizer Scholar came to New College in fall 2015. His new gift essentially doubles the size of the scholarship fund and will allow the College to have two Temizer Scholars beginning in Fall 2018. “Education is my priority,” Temizer said. “I was fortunate to have received a great education from elementary school through university in my home country of Turkey. I want to give back and make education possible for others.” MaryAnne Young, vice president of advancement and executive director of the New College Foundation, announced the gift at the Foundation’s Clambake event, with Temizer and many of his friends in attendance. “We are so grateful to Mr. Temizer for establishing a second scholarship for students from his home country,” Young said. “We’ve had several conversations about the value of education. He sees first-hand the impact his scholarship has had and is so gratified that he’s had a part in changing a student’s life. We are indebted to Mr. Temizer for believing in education and making a second scholarship to New College.” Temizer came to America as an employee of Turkey’s State Department, after serving in the country’s military. He then
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SAVE THE DATE.
joined a Washington, D.C.-area construction company, working his way up from entry level to a supervisory position. He became a U.S. citizen in 1969, and then worked for the International Monetary Fund for many years. Temizer retired to Sarasota in 1987, where he learned of New College’s success as a public liberal arts college that achieves consistently high placement in national rankings. He knows the advantages that education provides. “I believe supporting education is the best investment for the future,” he said. “New College has made my dream come true.”
The New College Alumnae/i Association Presents:
REUNION WEEKEND Sarasota, FL February 15-18, 2018 All Classes Welcome! 4
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IN THE COMMUNITY
A Rewarding Experience: Local Volunteerism Gains Momentum BY A NGE L A DUDA ‘ 15 AT 8:15 ON A SATURDAY MORNING, Ashley Foust and eight New College volunteers piled into a van and headed across town to All Faiths Food Bank for a half-day of stocking and packing food for the region’s hungry. It’s one piece of the energetic community service program on campus so far this year. New College’s history of volunteerism dates almost to its inception. In 1969, students volunteered to teach in “protest schools” in Sarasota’s Newtown community, set up by residents fighting the proposed closure of their local school. More recently, it has continued with long-running tutoring programs at Newtown’s Robert L. Taylor Community Center, the founding of the SailFuture mentoring program on the College’s waterfront, and teaching ESL classes for the Sarasota County Literacy council. This fall, for the second straight year, students and faculty spent a week helping students at nearby Bay Haven School of Basics Plus learn computer programming skills via the school’s “Hour of Code” event during national Computer Science Education Week. And for the 13th year in a row, faculty, staff, students and trustees participated in the Manatee County Adopt-a-Family program, donating enough toys, clothing, and money to see that 12 children would have bright holidays. In just last semester, students and staff also have: • cleaned up Coquina Beach, on Anna Maria Island; • delivered food for Meals on Wheels to 60 Sarasota households; • gardened and weeded at Sarasota’s Orange Blossom Community Garden; • staffed a food festival in Newtown; • gathered 90 pounds of food for All Faiths Food Bank. Foust, the AmeriCorps VISTA coordinator at New College, led many of the activities. She has worked all over the country, and has learned along the way that volunteering isn’t always easy. “Community service can be equal parts rewarding and heart-wrenching,” she said. “It can be difficult to educate yourself about the unique hardships other people face. It can be difficult to realize that someone you are serving at a food pantry has not eaten an actual meal in three or four days. “That being said, the hug, the ‘thank you,’ or the silent look of relief in someone’s eyes when you are able to help them far exceeds any heartbreak you might feel when learning of unfair
circumstances. Knowing that you are part of the solution to a problem that affects someone’s quality of life makes any difficulties fade away.” She began volunteering at age 12 in her hometown of Zephyrhills at the annual ‘Music and Motorcycles’ festival, setting roadblocks, posting signs, and working with vendors. But it became her career after graduating from USF, when she discovered and joined AmeriCorps. She traveled across the country, volunteering wherever needed—removing invasive plants in a Tennessee state parks; building a greenhouse in the Mississippi Delta for a community lacking access to fresh produce; responding to a natural disaster in South Carolina, and her favorite project: Gathering with hundreds of volunteers to build a playground for a low-income community in New Orleans, during the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Her experience suggests that, despite being the first non-alumnus to serve as campus VISTA coordinator, Foust is a Novo Collegian at heart. She applied for the position, despite several other Florida openings, because of the College’s culture on social justice issues. “I believe that once you become aware of an injustice in the community, it becomes your duty to get involved and help the best you can,” she said. Other students have already begun to follow that example, like frequent volunteer Allegra Nolan, a second-year student in environmental studies. “I started volunteering in high school. I wouldn’t even say I volunteered a lot, compared to how much others did. But when I saw an opportunity to help out in any way I took advantage of it, because I believe that if you are going to live on this earth, benefitting from it and enjoying this life, giving back in your own way is the least you can do to show gratitude for everything you have been so fortunate to receive.”
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ON CAMPUS
What’s Happening CLAMBAKE 2016
A beautiful evening on Nov. 3. With around 240 guests, New College’s annual Clambake raised approximately $150,000 for student scholarships. Thanks to all of our sponsors and supporters for once again making this a very special evening. Save the date for the next Clambake on Nov. 2, 2017.
HOLIDAY TEA
The Foundation’s annual Holiday Tea was Dec. 8, welcoming some of New College’s donors and sponsors to campus. This group of 55 experienced Ron McCarty’s (curator and keeper of the Ca d’Zan Mansion at The Ringling) fascinating presentation and tour of “Historic Ringling Properties,” including College and Cook Hall.
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FAMILY WEEKEND
The College recently had its most successful Family Weekend ever, with more than 100 parents and family members coming to Sarasota to reunite with their students and to take in the New College experience.
WE HEARD YOU
Best of Social Media I’m so humbled and proud to say that I’ve been accepted into New College of Florida’s Honors College for the fall of 2017. #dreamcometrue - Liz
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I have officially been accepted to the honor’s college of Florida. This was the best Christmas present! #ncfbound - Lily
Connect with New College ncf.edu/resources-for-alums
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Third-year Ayana Perez checks out the results of her work on the “Pathless Woods� exhibit, on display in the Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Gallery of Contemporary Art, at the Ringling Museum. Keith Monda is the former chair of the New College Board of Trustees.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER / COVER STORY
T ng it all Together New College sparks the C4 Consortium, seeking synergy from region’s diverse colleges BY JASM IN E RE S P E S S ‘14 A N D DAVI D GU LLI VE R
THIS SPRING, JUST A WALK DOWN THE BAYFRONT FROM NEW COLLEGE, the Ringling Museum displays a stunning interactive
exhibit called “Pathless Woods,” by artist Anne Patterson. In the black-walled room, thousands of ribbons, in colors spanning the visible spectrum, descend from the ceiling. Visitors are invited to meander through the forest of color, listening to the music playing in the gallery. The exhibition display is in the Keith D. (former New College Board of Trustee chair) and Linda L. Monda Gallery of Contemporary Art. Third-year Ayana Perez ‘14 beams as she strolls through one morning, as well she should. Just a few weeks earlier, Perez was tying the ribbons to precise locations on a intricate grid. Before that, she was cutting them into precise lengths and placing them into labeled Ziploc bags. And before that, she was driving the artist to craft stores all over greater Sarasota, buying up all the red ribbon they could find after a mail order went awry, but that’s another story. Now she’s just awed by the final product.
“It was a really great experience and I just really enjoyed seeing all of it come together, the tedious ribbon after ribbon after ribbon, making this magnificent exhibit full of light and coming together,” she said. An unusual experience, though perhaps not far removed from New College’s tradition of far-flung independent study projects and senior theses. Her participation in the project is one of the more tangible pieces of an initiative that is linking the colleges of the Sarasota-Bradenton area in new ways, from facilities planning to community initiatives, to opening classrooms to each others’ students. This spring some 20 New College students are taking courses through Ringling College of Art and Design, State College of Florida, USF Sarasota-Manatee and even Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. It’s the most visible aspect of an initiative launched by New College President Don O’Shea.
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COVER STORY / TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Third-year Alice Leavengood works in the printmaking workshop at Ringling College for a class she took via the new cross-registration program.
The Idea
“New College itself is very small, but if you hook together students and faculty at other places, there’s just more density When O’Shea was a dean at Mount Holyoke College, he of intellectual activity, and the more intellectual activity, the worked with a similar association of Western Massachusetts better,” he said. colleges (The Five College Consortium). Soon after his arrival Over the long term, the colleges hope their partnership will in 2012, he noticed a similar situation: several colleges with build the Sarasota region’s reputation as a center of learning distinctly different missions, in close proximity. and education, bringing it both more students and more New College is a national liberal arts college. Just to the employers looking to hire those well-prepared graduates. north, USF Sarasota-Manatee offers business-related degrees The initiative quickly drew the support and State College of Florida provides of several local foundations, including the pre-professional training with “New College itself is very two-year programs. Next door, The Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which small, but if you hook Ringling is home to Florida State was the first to provide financial support, together students and faculty University’s acting conservatory and and connected the project with former at other places, there’s just its master’s program in museum and USF-SM Chancellor Laurey T. Stryker, who cultural history studies. And a few has been appointed the initiative’s more density of intellectual minutes down Tamiami Trail, manager. activity, and the more Ringling College is nationally known “What I really like about C4 is that all of intellectual activity the better.” the presidents are on board and leading the for visual arts instruction. Finally, up -President Don O’Shea I-75 in St. Petersburg, Eckerd College charge,” said Mark Pritchett, also offers liberal arts education, but president and CEO of the Gulf Coast in a private-college context and with Community Foundation. “We’ve already some different programs and course offerings than New seen their quick-hitting successes, like courses shared, new College. grant money in, and a cooperative spirit among the colleges. In June 2013, O’Shea brought together his fellow college This gives me enthusiastic confidence that our region’s new presidents for the first of a series of meetings, which was the ‘multiversity’ will provide us with a competitive advantage in genesis of the Consortium of Colleges of the Creative Coast – higher education and economic development.” for short, C4. The June 2013 meeting resulted in an outline of areas where they could cooperate. Some were in business and operations The central premise of the partnership is to create more – shared purchasing arrangements, joint marketing plans, and opportunities for students by capitalizing on the diversity and resources of the various colleges. coordination in case of natural disasters.
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TYING IT ALL TOGETHER / COVER STORY Others were more student-focused, such as the possibility of teaming up to build and then share new dormitories or student programming spaces. There already have been impressive short-term dividends. In November 2015, the colleges’ top officials met at New College for emergency management training. And this fall, the Consortium’s potential helped in the development of a five-year, $750,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant for building arts and humanities partnerships in the community. “I don’t think we would have got it without the Consortium links,” O’Shea said. “I think they were very attracted by the fact that the schools were working together, and then there were all these arts organizations, and that collectively we could make a huge difference in Florida.” One goal, a cross-registration system letting the students take classes at partner colleges, seemed the biggest challenge to implement – how to handle tuition, financial aid, assigning course credit, and so on. That prompted some resistance at the member colleges. The colleges came up with a simple solution. First, no money changes hands. Students’ tuition stays at their home campuses. Second, students get priority for seats in classes at their own colleges; cross-registering students are eligible only for openings remaining after that. Finally, advisor approval is crucial, and required. New College students seeking to take classes elsewhere first need to meet with their advisor and discuss how the course fits into their academic plan. They also must do the same with Dean of Studies, Robert Zamsky. In addition, non-New College courses can’t be used for AOC or college requirements. Alice Leavengood ’14 (pictured) had been interested in taking classes at Ringling since she first came to New College and said she “jumped on the opportunity.” “I took the screen printing class because I took printmaking at New and fell in love with the process and wanted to learn more,” she said. “It was refreshing to work with a new professor and I was able to really push my artwork beyond anything I had made before. The class inspired me to continue my pursuit and study of art, particularly printmaking and screen printing as a medium.”
Cohabitate, Collaborate New College students can be seen all over the community. Here’s a small list of partners where our students intern and volunteer. •
Bay Haven School of Basics Plus
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Sarasota Chamber of Commerce
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St. Stephen’s School
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Cat Depot
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Mote Aquarium
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Selby Gardens
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Newtown Nation
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Sarasota Orange Blossom Community Gardens
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All Faiths Food Bank
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Sarasota Economic Development Corporation
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The Ringling Museum
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The Sarasota Arts and Cultural Alliance
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Florida House Institute
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Planned Parenthood
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ALSO Youth
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WSLR
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Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA
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New College Child Center
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CareerSource Suncoast
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Robert L. Taylor Community Center
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Meals on Wheels Sarasota
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“It was refreshing to work with a new professor and I was able to really push my artwork beyond anything I had made before. The class inspired me to continue my pursuit and study of art, particularly printmaking and screen printing as a medium.” - Alice Leavengood, third-year Eliminating so many bureaucratic hurdles allowed cross-registration to come together more quickly than any other initiative. “The thing that looked like it would be hardest has been embraced,” O’Shea said, laughing. Students from each college now can take classes at any of the C4’s member campuses. As one might expect, enterprising New College students have been the first to take advantage. New College launched cross-registration with a soft opening, via an email to students and the community over the summer. “I was contacted immediately by tons of students,” Zamsky said. “All these students are very enthusiastic about this opportunity. I understand that enthusiasm and I think it speaks to a need that our students have.” Alumnus Daniel Anderson-Little ’12 actually got a head start, becoming the cross-registration test case when he took classes at Ringling in his third and fourth years at New College. He used the Ringling classes to add job market skills to his degree. The Humanities AOC took a series of design classes at Ringling, including graphic design, visual communications, design and drawing and finished with two semesters of typography and design. He learned to use programs including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. While courses at other colleges don’t count toward New College requirements, the Ringling classes bolstered his studies. His senior thesis, a prototype of a mobile application, incorporated graphic design, and Ringling Prof. Edwin Utermohlen even served on his thesis committee.
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“I wanted to do a thesis with a graphic component, because I wanted to have a full product that I could show to future employers,” Anderson-Little said. “At New College I was getting a great liberal arts education where I learned to ask the right questions and think through difficult processes, as well as practicing strong writing. I believe these are the foundations of a successful education and career, but having hard skills is immensely helpful and essential to getting a job.” Second-year Volanta Peng ’15 was one of the students who responded to the summer email. She took a class in printmaking at Ringling in the fall. “I wanted to take Ringling classes because I’ve always been interested in art,” she said. “Ringling’s printmaking workshop is one of the best in Florida.” Her classes were three hours long, twice a week. Extensive open hours in the labs and the aid of teaching assistants helped her work in Ringling’s program. “It’s been nice really focusing myself towards these large projects every three weeks or so and challenging myself to do physical art,” she said. She appreciated perks like the ability to use Ringling’s advanced Mac labs, and having access to programs including Photoshop and Illustrator. The “C4” students also can use the Ringling library and the letterpress, after attending a free orientation.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER / COVER STORY “I would definitely recommend it for other New College students,” Peng said. But with classes not counting toward requirements, students need to have time and energy for the extra workload. While most of the cross-registration business is from New College students, the traffic does go in both directions. Viktorija Deksne, a third-year at Ringling, has taken two classes at New College – “Globalization and Social Justice” with Professor Sarah Hernandez and “Race and Ethnicity in a Global Perspective” with Professor Uzi Baram – and hopes to take a third next year. Deksne, who studies business and art and design at Ringling, decided to take classes at New College, after playing basketball with some New College students. She enjoyed getting to know her new classmates. “After my first class, two friends of mine went to the beach and had a good time, but we were still discussing the issues from class,” Deksne said. “I enjoyed the conversations.” Deksne also said that the New College community helped her appreciate diversity and collaboration. “New College people, as a whole, are different from Ringling people as a whole,” she said. Because of the Consortium’s cross-registration program,” she said, “I think we can find how to interact better and find a common ground. Talking to my classmates is helping me to be more open-minded and accepting and curious.” It’s also helped her find her academic path; she now plans to study sustainability and urban planning. “I would not really know what my goals were, if I hadn’t taken classes at New College,” she said. The program also seems to be delivering on one of O’Shea’s hopes, making New College more attractive to potential students. High school senior Charlotte Ralph plans to attend New College to take advantage of the Consortium by taking classes at Ringling College. Ralph heard about it from her sister, currently a third-year computer science AOC at New College, but she is more interesting in psychology and arts, in particular performing arts and graphic design. (cont. on p. 14)
New College Awarded $750,000 Grant fom Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New College of Florida has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of New College’s initiative “New College: Connecting the Arts and Humanities on Florida’s Creative Coast.” The project has three central goals: To elevate New College’s capacity to contribute to public discourse on humanities and arts in our region, To build sustainable relations with local arts organizations, To establish sustainable academic connections with local colleges that comprise the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast (the C4 group). The five-year grant is a testimony to New College’s strength in the humanities, to vibrancy of the arts community in the Sarasota-Manatee area, and to the promise of the C4 consortium. “This grant from the Mellon Foundation will establish New College’s role as a champion of the humanities in the region and in Florida, and place the arts and public humanities at the center of our new consortium,” O’Shea said. “The symbolic effect of support by Mellon for public humanities and the arts cannot be understated.” Cristle Collins Judd, senior program officer at the Foundation commented: “The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is pleased to support this creative initiative to enhance the work of the diverse institutions of the Sarasota-Manatee area as they come together to comprise a thriving arts and education alliance under the leadership of New College.“ Judd visited the campus Nov. 14-15 to speak about the value of the arts in the liberal arts and why the Foundation found the proposal compelling.
The project will be managed by the provost’s office at New College and will be directed by Professors Nova Myhill (English) and April Flakne (Philosophy). The grant will enhance New College’s contribution to public discourse in arts and humanities by expanding existing public programs and developing a new series of open seminars that invite the community to engage with expert faculty on a wide variety of topics and methods. The project will also build mutually beneficial relationships between the colleges and Sarasota’s arts and cultural organizations, increasing collaboration by connecting artists to the classrooms and supporting performance as a means of promoting discussion of the humanities. In addition, the grant will support projects that bring together faculty and students across C4 colleges, such as faculty seminars and jointly developed courses that will be available to students at the colleges, and the sharing of arts and humanities opportunities between campuses.
EVENT INFORMATION www.ncf.edu/mellon-grant
COVER STORY / TYING IT ALL TOGETHER (cont. from p. 13) New College was already the top college on her list, but Ringling was a close second. “But because of the Consortium, I definitely am more passionate about applying to New College,” she said. And Perez, too, is taking away a more clear view of the world after her internship. “Throughout my academic career, I’ve been torn between pure academia and art, because I absolutely love fine art. I do watercolor and illustration, but there’s not really a career in that.” She continued, excited: “So I was torn between having to choose one or the other. Then I figured out that museums offered me a way to be creative and work in a group and make something that you could see. It wouldn’t be pure research but there would be research, and I could work on a bunch of different projects, and travel, and there was everything I wanted for my life in one package.” As students complete their off-campus experiences, Dean of Studies Zamsky has been meeting with them to learn what works and what doesn’t. Perez’s response is typical. “The students who have done it really enjoy it, and lots of students are doing it again,” said Zamsky. “We’re a small campus with a fairly small faculty, so the ability for students to enrich their academic program, but “We’re a small campus without having to do an with a fairly small exchange program, is a terrific faculty, so the ability part of it. And I do think it’s for students to enrich really good for our students to be on other campuses and interact their academic with students at other schools. program, but without We’re always interested in having to do an thinking about how the work we exchange program, do at the College interacts with the local community and is a terrific part of it.” constituencies outside the -Robert Zamsky campus, and this is a great opportunity for our students to do that,” he said. O’Shea, too, is pleased with the response so far, and notes that the Consortium will go beyond classrooms and into other aspects of the student experience. He foresees a lot more collaboration around the sciences, as well as the humanities. The colleges may team up in public-private partnerships to build dormitories or student centers. They could develop a shuttle or transportation service linking the campuses. There will be better coordination or sharing of activities and services like clubs, games, intramural sports and chaplaincies. “You know, when you come here to New College, you get a very good education. But you give up some sorts of things you would get at a larger school,” O’Shea said. “That’ll be remedied in time by the C4.”
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Participants from Leadership Sarasota, a program of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, recently met at New College of Florida to take a tour of campus and learn about the C4 Consortium from the leaders of New College, Ringling College of Art and Design, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, the University of South Florida SarasotaManatee, FSU/The Ringling, and Eckerd College. Leadership Sarasota County’s programs, which started in 1984, includes community immersion, leadership training, and educating participants in “how things work” in the community.
The Consortium began a tradition with the gathering of new faculty and academic leaders at a January dinner hosted by the Consortium academic vice presidents. Sixty-five faculty and academic leaders came together, from new deans to new faculty, from across the colleges’ many disciplines. Fifteen of the attendees were STEM faculty, which is indicative of increasing student demand and another 11 faculty were in the arts, which are central to our community identity. This inaugural event was intended to start conversations and make connections that can lead to joint research and projects across campuses.
Enter, Stage Left
Teamwork brings ambitious productions to Black Box Theater
BY E RICH BA RGANIE R ‘ 10 THE HOUSE LIGHTS FLASHED RED AND A TERRIFIED SCREAM RATTLED THROUGH THE AIR. Two actors stood in front of the audience, a sheepish man with a worried expression in a threepiece beige suit and an usher ambivalently smiling into the crowd. Thus began Griselda Gambaro’s “The Walls,” the latest performance presented in New College’s Black Box Theater. The play confronts the psychological despair induced by Argentina’s “Dirty War” during the 1960’s. Cayli Caruso, the fourth-year student and director, needed a movable set that slowly constricts the performance space to create an increasing sense of claustrophobia. She knew the BBT could accommodate it. “[It was] a huge undertaking to create this,” Caruso said. “After spending so much time in a place, [the Black Box Theater] becomes a home in a way. I’ve definitely come to know every nook and cranny of the space.”
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“This theater creates a wonderful community and everyone gets very close and learns a lot about each other while working some very late nights on some very amazing productions.” -Connor Cross ‘15
Under the partnership between New College performing groups and Black Box Theater management, productions are becoming more ambitious.
In its sixth year on campus, the BBT as it’s called, is tackling increasingly challenging productions, thanks to hiring of New College alumna Monica Cross ’06 as technical director and her work with ambitious student performance groups and the rest of the community. Cross developed the set design for “The Walls,” one of several efforts she has shepherded to the opening curtain since being hired in 2014. The 2010 graduate of New College was working as a playhouse manager for the American Shakespeare center when this job opened up, making her a natural choice for the position. As the first College staff member directly responsible for the Black Box Theater, her duties required her to maintain the building and oversee the scheduling of performances and Black Box teaching assistants and groups that use the Theater. “I bring in a very detailed rehearsal style,” Cross said, and the complex productions that have come to the stage bear witness to her approach. Last year, Nova Myhill, professor of English, directed Carol Churchill’s play “Soft Cops,” which addresses societal policing and how to criminalize and institutionalize. “Soft Cops” was one of the largest productions performed by New College students, as the cast included 16 actors and required an extensive crew for the elaborate production. “We set up a drape on the back that we projected images on, we had supertitles, three projectors running and at the time,” Cross said. “It was the biggest thing we have ever done. And here we are, a year later, building a show with walls that move.”
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Since the Black Box Theater’s creation in 2010, seasons were undetermined. Since Cross was appointed as technical director, a fixed schedule has gradually shifted into place. “Each season is fleshed out by thesis performances, non-thesis related student-directed shows and facultydirected shows,” Cross said. “We plan a semester in advance. What we do is constantly changing and evolving.” This structure has been working so far. “I think that it is the best timeline for the students at the moment. That sort of living with all of the details clearly laid out and none of the details set in stone is sort of particularly how New College theater works at the moment,” Cross explained. “That’s what the Black Box is particularly suited for.” Cross works closely with the student-run Windmill Theatre Company and supports the group by teaching essential skills, such as lighting design and costume making. While Cross provides the infrastructure to make multiple performances possible, the majority of responsibility falls on the students, who in turn are developing their skills in an art form they love. Brianna Brand ’14, a third-year student, was attracted to the Black Box Theater through her passion for performing and stage managing in high school. “I definitely was an actor in high school. I would act in extra parts and help with stage managing,” Brand said. She was introduced to the Black Box Theater by MyhilI, who has produced multiple plays for the Theater. Brand worked closely with Connor Cross ’15, a second-year student, on many productions and began pursuing theater in college.
ENTER STAGE LEFT / FEATURE “I started as a writer on ‘The Shadow,’ and once the writing and editing was done, I got turned into a stage manager. Something that made me come back was that it improved me. I used to be very unorganized, and as a stage manager, you have to be organized,” Brand said. Over the past few years, the Black Box has become more and more ingrained into the community. “If the Black Box were to disappear, a big part of this community would die,” Brand said. “It takes a lot of people to build these sets, to hang these lights and to pick out these props. Recently, mostly by Monica, we have been making the Theater more open and people could walk in, bringing in more of the New College community.” As they continue to define the space, new opportunities loom on the horizon. “One of the things I would love to see more of is poetry,” Cross said. “I love the idea of poetry as performance, so I would love to see more. Now that there is a strong theatrical presence, moving into non-dramatic performance is something I’m very interested in.
That’s what the Black Box is particularly suited for. Transforming an event from something that could be anywhere to creating an atmosphere for that individual event.” They also are considering collaborating with an outside theater company. Cross cited one group, the Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure, which takes audience members through a series of site-specific performance pieces. The group will be doing a workshop with New College students. While the Black Box Theater has evolved since its inception in 2010, what is unchanged is its place as a creative heart on campus. Connor Cross sums it up: “This theater creates a wonderful community and everyone gets very close and learns a lot about each other while working some very late nights on some very amazing productions.”
17 www.ncf.edu (clockwise) 1, 3 Photo by Amy Bernard, Design by Amy Bernard 2, 4, 5, 6 Photo by Eric Young, Design by Amy Bernard
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The Soul of a University — the Faculty BY DO NA L O’SHE A ORIGINALLY PUBLISH E D IN TH E B R AD E N TO N - HE A R LD O N O CT. 1, 2016
WHEN WE THINK OF UNIVERSITIES, we tend to think of students. And students, of course, are their most visible manifestation. Between all of the colleges in the C4 (Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast), more than 13,000 students have enrolled this fall, a fact that is justly celebrated. But if students are the heart of every university, its faculty members are the soul. What powers a great university is the interaction between students and faculty, the collision of energetic inexperience and hard won knowledge, painstakingly acquired over lifetimes. The C4 institutions — New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee — are home to 522 full-time continuing faculty members with specialties in fields
ranging across all of human experience. In an age when “knowledge” is easily available to all on the internet, it is easy to take for granted the extraordinary value of their collective expertise. Knowledge packaged in books or YouTube videos is relatively inert and hard to use. On some level, we all know this: imagine yourself showing up at a local hospital with advanced renal failure and being told that everything you want to know can be found in books or online. But when lives are not at stake, it is easy to forget how difficult mastery is to acquire. We underestimate what we learn from others. Because of the range of interests of the faculty who live in our community, any person can easily identify any artifact found on a local beach, find out details of local history, and ascertain what it would be like to live in any country at any time in the last several hundred years. You can learn the precise details of the code hacked at Yahoo, the algorithms that sort through large data sets, what is happening with the Pluto probe, and the significance of the recent discoveries in epigenetics of dogs. You can get help identifying any worm, learning the latest in infrared photography, and finding out what is actually known about the linguistic structure of cetacean sounds. Most important, you can learn what is not
known in a particular area—something that is very hard to do on the internet. That knowledge base is multiplied, because faculty members bring connections to other centers of learning worldwide. Faculty members at different universities around the country and worldwide are in constant touch with one another. In a given year, there are an additional couple of hundred visiting faculty who come from around the world to Manatee and Sarasota counties to pursue research projects with the continuing faculty or to teach for short periods. Both those visitors and the permanent faculty and their families, of course, also have a significant economic impact on our region. Apart from intellectual and financial capital, faculty members bring diversity to a community. Faculty openings are advertised nationally and internationally, and draw candidates from across the nation and internationally. The successful candidates bring families, new habits, new foods and new ways of looking at things. They share those perspectives with their colleagues, of course, but they also do so with members of our community. Academia has no borders and that principle extends beyond the property lines of our colleges.
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941-487-5000 or admissions@ncf.edu
EDLINE FRANCOIS / PROFILE
A Passion for Public Health Fourth-year Edline Francois ’14 is on the move BY DAV ID GULLIV ER
THIS YEAR, YOU NEVER KNEW WHERE YOU’D FIND New College student Edline Francois ’14. As she completes her fourth year, she is finishing her thesis project, examining how physician bias contributes to higher infant mortality rates among African-American infants. But Francois also structured her schedule to allow her to work full-time. So six days a week, she traveled to Bradenton, where she works with patients for MCR Health Services, a network of clinics serving low-income people. And on her day off, she works for Planned Parenthood, where she is a public policy and outreach intern. And she takes no summer breaks: She has worked for the Sarasota County Health Department and Oregon Health and Sciences University on public health issues. It sounds like a daunting amount of work, but as Francois says, “I realized that when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.” She took a winding path to her interest in public health. Francois transferred to New College from the honors college at Palm Beach State College, coming here to study biochemistry. She was drawn to New College for its small classes and reputation for student-faculty collaborations. “I knew that here I would have the opportunity to do in-depth research,” she said. She was considering pursuing a career in medicine or in chemistry, but a series of internships and independent projects, a staple of the New College education, “New has taught me helped her discover a that there are many new interest. roads that lead to the For one project, she same outcome. In other shadowed an OB/GYN in Sarasota. Doing thesis words, I don’t have to research, she learned take the same path about the pressures that my friend takes to minority physicians face. become a public health And at her Oregon professional. I love the internship, she researched gentrification fact that there are and how it impacts health always options.” care accessibility in older African Americans. “I have to honestly say that my experience in Portland made me realize that public health is my passion,” she said.
Francois said her experience at New College made it possible. “New has taught me that there are many roads that lead to the same outcome,” she said. “In other words, I don’t have to take the same path that my friend takes to become a public health professional. I love the fact that there are always options.” She credits faculty members, like biology Professor Sandra Gilchrist. “She has been my advisor since I’ve been here and I have grown immensely under her guidance. She is tough because she wants things done correctly and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Francois said. But she also said her New College support system goes beyond faculty to several staff members – the registrar who helped get her credits transferred, the financial aid director, who helped her find ways to cover tuition costs, the internship coordinator who started her on the community service path. New College, she said, has taught her how to handle anything the world throws at her. “New College has taught me how to anticipate curveballs and roll with them,” she says. “As a result, I understand my capabilities and my value to any organization that I would choose to work for.” After graduation, Francois plans to pursue a Ph.D in public health and to keep working for better medical care in the community.
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PROFILE / DENNIS SAVER ’72
In Medicine and Service Dr. Dennis Saver ’72 reflects on distinguished and rewarding medical career BY GER ARD WA LEN DR. DENNIS SAVER ’72 STUDIED BIOLOGY at New College, envisioning a career in medical research. But he also developed a commitment to public service that led him in a different direction, to a career that has endured for four decades and brought him statewide and national honors. Saver is a board-certified family physician and geriatrician based at Primary Care of the Treasure Coast in Vero Beach, but after graduating New College, he worked in the inner city of Philadelphia as part of the Model Cities Program, a part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. It aimed to coordinate and develop myriad anti-poverty initiatives and led Saver to shift his focus from research to hands-on doctoring. “I decided that people really needed doctors to take care of them,” he said. After graduating from the Medical College of Pennsylvania (now the Drexel University College of Medicine) in 1977, Saver joined the National Health Service Corps. This eventually led him to practice in “a very rural area in West Virginia,” he said, as part of the NHSC Loan Repayment Program. He stayed for 10 years before moving back to Florida in 1990. Though the Vero Beach area did not have the crushing poverty of Appalachia, there still remained a need to provide care for the underserved. “I got involved with the county medical society in developing a volunteer program in which private practice physicians would volunteer on a rotating basis to take care of people who were medically indigent,” he said. Saver remains with the program, which marked its 25th anniversary in 2016, and he became president four years ago of an associated charitable foundation that raises funds to supply needed medical equipment for the patients. Over his career, Saver has served on numerous panels and has received myriad awards and honors. In late 2015, Florida’s surgeon general appointed him to the state’s Physician Workforce Advisory Council, where he and 12 other physicians will advise the Surgeon General’s Office on issues related to the state’s physician needs. “We will make recommendations about what kind of doctors are going to be needed in Florida, what the issues are with distribution problems,” he said. “For example there are more doctors in cities and not enough doctors in rural counties.” Another pressing issue the board could tackle is that there are too few residency programs in Florida for the students
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graduating from its medical schools. “We export graduating students to other states because we don’t have enough capacity to enroll them in post-graduate programs in Florida,” Saver said. “It’s not a good situation.” In 2001, Saver received what he called “the most impressive honor of my entire career.” The American Academy of Family Physicians awarded him with its highest honor – Family Physician of the Year. In the annual recognition program, each of the 50 state chapters of the AAFP choose a doctor as its Family Physician of the Year, and a panel then selects one for national honor. It recognizes a physician who is “directly and effectively involved in community affairs and activities that enhance the quality of life of the community.” “I was a relatively young guy at the time,” Saver said, “and I didn’t expect to get that kind of an honor at that point in my career, so that was pretty amazing.” Looking back, Saver said that the people and the atmosphere of New College have shaped him. He credits the “marvelous faculty,” especially his adviser, the late Dr. John B. Morrill. “I credit a lot of my interest in living things and physiology systems to him,” he said. “He was a pretty exciting guy to be with; he was a real character.” But beyond any one person, the College’s environment also has a lasting influence. “New College allowed a sense of curiosity, and I learned how to ask good questions and think about things with perspective – kind of a ‘what if’ perspective,” he said. “I found that useful over my entire career.” Saver completed his residency at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida and currently serves as part-time faculty at both the UF and Florida State University medical schools. So who does he root for during the rivals’ annual football game? “Well, I’m a Gator from way back – that’s where I did my training,” he said. “You’ve got to be true to where you start from.”
ERIN CRAIG ’09 / PROFILE
Building a Friendlier World with Data Science Graduate student Erin Craig ’05 (BA) puts storytelling and data science together BY ER ICH BARGA NIE R ’ 10
AFTER GRADUATING FROM NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA in 2009,
Erin Craig put her mathematics degree to work designing educational software at Wolfram Research, a computational research firm. “It was incredibly fun and we took on some ambitious problems.” Craig said. But six years later, she put her career on hold – to return to New College. The reason? One of her math professors, Dr. Patrick McDonald, informed her that New College was forming a master’s program in data science under his guidance. “[Dr. McDonald] is amazing and I knew whatever he would build would be amazing,” Craig said. “When I heard about the program, everything just clicked.” Looking to study emerging technologies and design software aimed at bettering the overall standards of healthcare, Erin applied to the program, was accepted, and began her studies in 2015 as part of the program’s inaugural cohort. “I wasn’t sure where it would take me,” Craig said. “But I knew it [would] challenge me and inspire me and push me in new ways.” Data science, a field that deals with the organization and analysis of information, is an emerging area. “There actually aren’t that many data science programs. They are just starting to crop up,” Craig said. While the area is still developing, it is one of the most essential fields of science in the world. “Data science takes part in most of the technical things that we interact with,” Craig added. “It helps [design] cars, recommends music to us, and builds our social networks. We are at a point now where computers are more powerful than they ever have been.” The practical application of data science drives the master’s program at New College and continues to inspire her. “What is really incredible about the program is that we are working
with data from real companies and from companies people have heard of,” Craig said. “You get to practice on real world examples and as you go out, you get to tell stories about data from real companies.” This experience is crucial, as it helps Erin plan her next career move and gives her an opportunity to experiment with different practices. “I love building things that you can see have an impact on the world. But I also love tackling really ambitious questions that don’t have a business goal,” Craig said. The open-ended possibilities fostered by the program inspired Erin to organize New College’s first Women in Data Science conference, in conjunction with Stanford University, on February 3, 2017. “Stanford hosts a Women in Data Science conference, and New College is a regional ambassador,” Craig said. “All the speakers are women and the idea is to give women a space for technical talks. In the morning, we will have technical talks from local speakers and in the afternoon, we will have talks live-streamed from Stanford. The goal is to build Sarasota’s data science and technical community, to bring people together.” Craig’s drive to help others has led her to considering pursuing healthcare opportunities after she finishes the data science program. “There is a lot that can be done [in healthcare] with data science; looking at how we can improve the process within hospitals for people and how we can understand our health better,” Craig said. At the end of the day, Erin’s ultimate goal coincides with New College of Florida’s primary mission. “I care about understanding how we treat each other; how human beings treat one another and how we find ways to build a friendlier world.”
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PROFILE / MAXEME TUCHMAN ’00
Problem Solver From working with educators to White House Fellow, Maxeme Tuchman ’00 focuses on the complicated challenges facing our country BY ROGE R DROUIN WHILE AT NEW COLLEGE, Maxeme
Tuchman ’00 took a course in American Government taught by McGee Young. During that course, she read “Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools,” by author and educator Jonathan Kozol. At the time, Tuchman planned to focus on international politics, and Cuban-American relations in particular. As Tuchman read “Savage Inequalities,” however, she learned how problemsolving was required here in the United States if vexing and complicated challenges—such as erasing the educational divide—were going to be addressed. She decided to shift her focus to the domestic arena, and has since dedicated herself to trying to solve the most complex challenges facing the country—the kind of problems Kozol highlighted. “I wanted to help people in developing countries, and yet reading the chapter on a school in East St. Louis [in Savage Inequalities] showed me that there was still a lot of work be done here at home in terms of issues such as socioeconomic disparities and educational equality,” Tuchman said. After graduating in 2004, she taught social studies for two years at an inner city high school in her native Miami, with Teach for America. During that time, she taught 480 12th-graders and coached an award-winning Urban Debate League team. She went on to get a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, both in 2012. Now 34, Tuchman recently concluded a year serving as a White House Fellow, considered government’s most prestigious program for leadership and public service. For the 2015-2016 year, Tuchman served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a strategic policy advisor, providing guidance, coordination, and strategic planning on financial inclusion initiatives. Each year, only about sixteen
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aspiring leaders are appointed by the President of the United States to serve as White House Fellows. Tuchman saw first-hand how “incredibly dedicated” people —both career officials and political appointments—work hard to address the most complex problems. “It was incredible to be up there to see how much good work is being done and how many people care so much about the lives of 318 million people here in the U.S.,” Tuchman said. The experience confirmed for Tuchman that despite oft-repeated rhetoric about lassitude and inaction in Washington, there is a unified effort on important projects, such as connecting private investment to public infrastructure projects—an initiative that Tuchman worked on. As her time as a White House Fellow winded down, Tuchman recognized that she would be most comfortable returning to work at the grassroots level to try to solve the problems that the Treasury and other government departments view from a strategic “30K point of view.” She recently honed in on the potential of technology to improve the educational experience and lives of students. “I started searching for ways to make a bigger impact, faster, and I started to see that possibility in the education technology space,” Tuchman said. After a three-month leave to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, she is back at work as co-founder and CEO at Caribu — an innovative educational start-up. Caribu integrates children’s books into a child-friendly video calling app—think “Facetime meets Kindle”—providing an engaging communication experience for kids and their families. Currently, she’s collaborating with educators, parents, and students to improve the app and facilitate its use as an educational tool. “We are starting to work with non-profit volunteer reading programs, where the app can help cut down on travel time for volunteers who want to read to children,” said Tuchman. Tuchman recalls that many of her 12th-graders were reading at a fifth-grade level, so she is excited to be involved in a company that’s using technology to address childhood illiteracy. “Caribu focuses on three to seven year olds,” Tuchman said, “and builds not only the love of reading, but soon, the foundations of literacy, and for me, I couldn’t imagine a more important place to be right now.”
PROGRAMMING/ACHIEVEMENT
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Chapter Events and Novo Network Trips: Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA The New College Alumnae/i Association hosts between 15 and 25 events a year around the country in different alumni chapters. In an effort to connect current students with alumni in key cities, the Center for Engagement and Opportunity (CEO) and the New College Alumnae/i Association have teamed up to bring students on several trips. While visiting these locations, students are meeting alumni and New College friends in career fields the students are interested in pursuing. This past October, four students traveled to Washington, D.C. and nine students traveled to Atlanta, GA for a variety of in-depth experiences.
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2016 Giving Challenge Thanks to the generosity of more than 500 New College trustees, board members, alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends who gave during the 2016 Giving Challenge, New College continues to be one of the leaders as participants in the annual Sarasota Community Foundation Giving Challenge.
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This year, the 2016 Giving Challenge was held on Sept. 20–21 from noon to noon. During the 24-hour time period, New College received more than $125,000 in gifts and matching gifts, making 2016 the highest-grossing Giving Challenge for New College ever. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this the most successful Giving Challenge yet.
Phonathon-Fall 2016 For two weeks in September, November, and December, ten students were on the phone in the evening hours calling alumni and parents to chat, update information, and discuss The New College Fund. More than $40,000 was raised this fall during Phonathon in gifts and pledges. New College student Phonathon callers love speaking to alums and swapping stories on the phone. Pictured above is the annual holiday party where the student callers come wearing ugly sweaters.
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Alumnae/i Fellows The Alumnae/i Fellows program was founded in 1990 and allows New College alumni the opportunity to return to campus to instruct a course or Independent Study Period (ISP). For the 2017 ISP period in January, Lacy Warner ’04 taught a creative writing course titled, “Difficult Women: The Art of Creating Unlikeable Female Characters.” Lacy received her master’s in Fine Arts from Columbia University in 2015.
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Rebecca Balon ’02 was awarded an Alumnae/i Fellowship to teach on campus during the spring semester of 2017. Rebecca received her Ph.D. in English from University of California Irvine in 2016 and is teaching a literature course for the semester titled, “Nonnormative Sexuality in Contemporary African American Literature and Theory.” Thank you to the New College Alumnae/i Fellows selection committee for reviewing and recommending applicants for this cycle: Adam Kendall ’98; fellows committee chair, Jordan Clark ’04; New College Alumnae/i Association Board representative, Aron Edidin ’73; humanities faculty representative, Thomas McCarthy; social science faculty representative, and Cheikhou Kane; NCSA student representative.
While in D.C., the students met with alumnus and foundation board member David Lipsey ’71. During their visit, David took students on a tour of the Conservation Lab at the National Gallery of Art and hosted a special meeting with staff at the Institute for Policy Studies. Many thanks to Nicole Whalen ’07, Rosana Tavarez ‘09, Len Simon, and Rudo Kemper ’05 and all those have taken the time to connect with our students. A special thank you to NCAA Board Director Hazel Bradford ’75 for hosting alumni, students and college leadership at a chapter gathering at the National Press Club on the evening of Oct. 13. The second October trip took place in Atlanta and centered around the Law School Admissions Council Law School Forum on Oct. 28. New College alumnus Glenn Hendrix ’76 hosted a chapter gathering connecting students, alumni and College leadership at his law firm in downtown Atlanta on Oct. 27. Glenn also hosted a special meeting led by President O’Shea the following morning on Oct. 28 at his law firm with alumnai and College staff to discuss forming a New College law alumni network and ideas for a future law conference on campus for students and alumni. Thank you to Glenn and all of the alumni that attended the chapter gathering and the law network discussion.
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ALUMNAE/I FOCUS
Hassold Symposium In January 2016, Professor Cris Hassold retired after 50 years of teaching art history, gender studies, and the humanities at New College of Florida. In recognition and in celebration of the decades of Cris’s involvement and dedication to New College and its students through the years, a special symposium celebration was held on Oct. 21 -22, 2016. The reception, held in the College’s Music Room, showcased a full-day Symposium with a lunch in Sudakoff Center. More than 50 alumni, faculty, and friends attended the Symposium to present their work and commemorate Professor Hassold. Special thanks to Jessen Kelly ’93 and Nicole Archer ’94, lead organizers for the weekend, and for all of their work on this year-long planning effort.
Save the Date: New College Alumnae/i Association Reunion 2018
Annual Alumnae/i Weekends In lieu of annual reunion gatherings, all alumni are invited back to campus for Commencement Weekend on May 26 and Family Weekend in fall 2017. A special, light reception before the Commencement ceremony for alumni will be held at the Keating Center from 5-6 p.m.
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Save the date for the next Reunion, “Finding our Common Ground: Celebrating What Makes Us Unique,” Feb. 15-18, 2018. All classes are invited to join in this celebration of Novo Collegians throughout the eras. Reunions will move to a five-year model starting in 2020 to mark the anniversary of the College’s founding and the creation of the New College Alumnae/i Association.
ALUMNAE/I EVENTS / CHAPTER NEWS
ST. PETERSBURG, FL
HOUSTON, TX AUSTIN, TEXAS
August 11, 2016 -- Michelle Flint ’91 organized a second career panel discussion with local alumni Jack Massa ’71, Dewey Davis-Thompson ’87, April Doner ’02 and Michael Long ’10 serving on the panel.
August 26, 2016 -- Alumni gather at True Food Kitchen in Houston, TX. This was the third Texas gathering of the week with Dallas and Austin events earlier.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
ATLANTA, GA
October 13, 2016 -- Alumni join with current New College students in the Novo Network Program at the National Press Club. This gathering was generously hosted and sponsored by New College Alumnae/i Association Board Member Hazel Bradford ’75.
October 27, 2016 -- Alumni meet at Glenn Hendrix’s ‘76 Law Firm in Atlanta. Nine students interested in law school attended the gathering and the LSAC Law School Forum the following day.
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CHAPTER NEWS / ALUMNAE/I EVENTS
CORAL GABLES, FL
TALLAHASSEE, FL AUSTIN, TEXAS
December 3, 2016 -- Kathleen Zorn ’72 and her husband Peter Zorn hosted a special holiday gathering at their historic home in Coral Gables. Five prospective New College students attended the event to learn more about New College.
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1960s Tom Manteuffel ‘65 and Margaret Sheeran ‘67 became grandparents for the first time on Nov. 7, 2016, welcoming Philip Edward Manteuffel into the world. “It is a glorious relief to have something other than the election to think about.” They are living the retired life in Vienna, Va. and say hello to all of their New College friends. After 34 years in California, Barbara Hanna ‘66 is happy to be back on the East Coast just north of New York City. Barbara’s husband, Ed Ball, and she moved to live close to her son and his family. Barbara is enjoying traveling and visiting friends and family.
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January 10, 2017 -- New College alumnus Phil Twogood ’72, the coordinator of OPPAGA (The Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability) works with two fellow New College alums, Justin Grahm ’88 (Chief Legislative Analyst) and Taylor Filaroski ’10 (Legislative Analyst), pictured above on June 24 with associate director of the New College Foundation, Jessica Rogers.
For more than 40 years, Don Gervich ’67 lived in the Boston area. He first came to graduate school; then 8 years of his little resume business; then 12 years suffering and evolving in medical software. This September Don began his 12th year teaching writing at Curry College. Along the way Don taught computer skills to homeless people and has been leading writing classes at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for several centuries. In 1993, Don was fortunate to meet a lovely/lively nurse practitioner, who he married. Don and his spouse’s main splurge is travel, in the U.S. and Canada and further. His best trips were in
Thailand, Prague, Japan, Spain, Guatemala, Italy, and Oaxaca (Mexico). On a good day they play ukulele, dance, and cook for each other. Don is also a writing coach. You can investigate his secret life at editorboston.com. In his teaching and beyond, Don tries to continue the traits of New College = creativity, debate, and exploration. Bruce Benidt ‘68, who graduated in 1972, published “The Geezer Squad,” a baby boomer mystery with a social conscience. Five 60-something friends who were going to change the world in their youth search for meaning at the back end of their lives. Tired of just lamenting the fate of the earth, they
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pool talents honed over long careers to right some wrongs, linking the spirit of the 1960s with the energy of the Occupy Wall Street movement and a dash of The Monkey Wrench Gang. They get jazzed by taking on the powerful as they side with the little guy against corporate “greedheads” and hardball developers, but along the rivers and lakes of Minnesota and Florida they run into shootings and arson and more invigoration than they bargained for. One of the characters went to New College and tells how he learned how to learn there. This is Bruce’s third book. He studied history and literature at New College, and wrote the centennial history of the Minneapolis public library system and an historical novel about Stonewall Jackson. Bruce works for himself as a communications coach, helping people engage audiences through presentations and news interviews. He fell in love with the Gulf Coast at New College and six years ago moved to a house on a tidal pond north of Tampa Bay. John Van Ness ‘68 just completed the adventure of a lifetime, riding his BMW motorcycle 21,200 miles around the world. John started in London on May 20 and rode through 15 countries across Europe and Asia, arriving in Magadan, Russia after 106 days. The bike was then shipped to Los Angeles where he picked it up and drove it across the U.S. back to Virginia. “In the Park,” a film Lynwood Sawyer ‘69 adopted from a play by L.A. writer Trudi Roth at the Wildfire Theatre on Ventura Boulevard, just won Best Comedy/Dramedy Short at the L.A.
Independent Film Festival. Robert Hollocks, the British director of the new Clive Barker film, “Entwined,” will be directing a character-driven horror he co-wrote with Gary von Haas, “Vampires of Hollywood.” Lynwood is otherwise, enjoying the indie film scene in London immensely, since the one in New York “has pretty much evaporated due to rent increases driving filmmakers farther and farther afield.” New College Alumnae/i Association board member Norm Stein ’69 was named a pension “superhero” by the Pension Rights Center in Washington, D.C. in October. Norm, a law professor at Drexel University School of Law, was named Public Interest Retirement Income Security Superhero for helping the center secure benefits for pension plan participants. At the award ceremony, he was honored for his “elegant, perfectly drafted” amicus briefs filed on behalf of the center.
obtaining federal funding for MDMA/ PTSD research in veterans and others. The inspiration for the event came from Palm Court Parties (PCPs) and Burning Man. Jack Massa ‘71 recently published two novels: an epic fantasy concerning witches and icepirates, and a young adult ghost story set in rural Florida. His website, Triskelion Books, can be found at jackmassa.com.
1970s Rick Doblin’s ‘71 organization, MAPS, helped organize an event called Catharsis on the Mall (catharsisonthemall.com) which took place near the Washington Monument the weekend after the election. The event was focused on the healing of trauma from all causes, including the election, with a special focus on
Bill Witherspoon ’71 has been leading geology walks and talks in Georgia since “Roadside Geology of Georgia,” which he co-authored, came out in 2013. Bill retired from 17 years teaching geology to K-12 students and their teachers in 2014. Check out the next programs at the Roadside Geology of Georgia Facebook page or at georgiarocks.us/events. Having taught at the University of Maine and the University of Notre Dame, Cynthia Keppley Mahmood ’73 is now Frank Moore Chair in Anthropology at Central College in Pella, Iowa. Cynthia has written five books and many academic articles on religious violence, and testifies
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frequently at hearings relating to political asylum. Cynthia lives with her adult daughter Tara and two cats. Paul Shaphren ’73 became a shareholder at the law firm of Prince, Yeates, and Geldzahler in Salt Lake City, Utah in October, 2016. Paul has been practicing business transactional law at various Salt Lake City firms since graduation from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1980. After a three-chapter career, airline, non-governmental organization (NGO) and then entrepreneur, John Vermilye ’74 is starting a fourth chapter leaving Switzerland to take up a year’s residence at Harvard as a Fellow in the Advance Leadership program. There he will use the time and resources to develop a platform for governments, universities, NGOs and businesses to collaborate on specific environmental and conservation issues. “Think of all the projects and studies on plastic waste in the ocean then imagine if these were all coordinated to eliminate overlap, waste and gaps. How can we move the needle faster?” John is collaborating with Luc Cuyvers ‘74 - see gallifrey.foundation and seafever.info.
For the past two years, Tab Uno ‘74 worked to amend state law to require school districts to disclose contact information of its school community councils and to have his hometown install a $75,000 left-hand turn lane at a dangerous local intersection.
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After working for big names like Netflix and Apple (not to mention a stint at Harvard), one alumnus has turned his attention to America’s literacy crisis. Ruben Kleiman ‘75 is currently the Chief Technology Officer for non-profit ReadWorks, a provider of literacy lessons, assessments and a digital library, all of which are free to teachers. ReadWorks relies on grants and donations to bring free English Language Arts materials to classrooms in all 50 states, and sees especially high use in schools with a large population of students from low-income families. To learn more about ReadWorks, visit readworks.org.
After 17 years living and working in Europe for the U.S. government, Arlana Young ‘76 has been retired and living in the States for the past year. Arlana was really enjoying acclimating to the American culture until the campaign season started up. Now she teaches yoga and “tries to stay balanced in a very unbalanced society.” Arlana plans to continue traveling around the world, including a trip to Thailand and a trip to Spain and Portugal for her third hike on the Camino de Santiago. After 30 plus years in the field of sexuality education/counseling, Laurie Dils ‘76 is serving as the lead for sex education in Washington State schools. Laurie works with teachers and administrators to improve the quality of and access to sexual health education
for K-12 students. Her 16-year-old daughter is working with Planned Parenthood as a peer sexual health educator. Laurie’s grandchild, Amaranth, is a New College first-year this year. Adam Front ‘77 has been practicing Tai Chi for the past two and half years with the Taoist Tai Chi Society (TTCS) (which also has a branch in Sarasota). The Society’s headquarters for the U.S. is in Dunedin, FL and there are locations in 29 states and internationally in 28 countries. Adam attends Tai Chi classes in the San Francisco bay area. He has not been back to Florida since graduating from New College in 1980, but hopes to make it back next year some time, combining a visit to New College and an intensive Tai Chi training workshop at the TTCS center in Dunedin. He continues to work as a psychologist, treating alcohol and other drug addictions at Kaiser Permanente and seeing clients for a wider range of problems in private practice. He is working on a book about addictions and recovery. Molly Hoopes ’78 had a great summer working as a Park Ranger on Hart-Miller Island. This Island is created mostly from material dredged from Baltimore Harbor and its channels and is accessible only by boat. 2016 was the first summer that the public was allowed to explore the South Cell of the island, 300 acres of bird habitat. People have been going to the island for many years, back before 1981, when it was two heavily eroded
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islands. A beach was installed in 1985 as a state park, but that was as far as visitors were allowed to go until this summer. There are a couple of ponds, hosting many migrating birds, since we are under the Atlantic Flyway. Molly collected caterpillars - cloudless sulfurs, monarchs, pandora sphinx, milkweed tiger moths, and Virginia tiger moths. On September 10, 2016 Felice Schulaner ‘78 was elected chair of the New College Board of Trustees. Felice served on the Foundation Board and this Board since January of 2010. Felice stated “It is a great honor to hold this role, the first time an alumna and first woman to serve. I promise all of you that I will work hard to preserve the essence of our alma mater, even as we embark on needed change to make the school relevant for the students of today and the world they will face postgraduation. Wish me luck!”
1980s Madeline Altabe ’82 vacated her nest when it became empty this past August and relocated her psychology practice, spouse, cat and turtle to Atlanta. She is looking forward to getting to know Atlanta New College alums. Randall Lanier ‘82 and Amy Smoker ‘84 are still dancing together, currently in Chapel Hill, N.C. Amy is the “fixer” at Carolina Friends Middle School and Randall is a biologist in a small drug discovery biotech (Chimerix) where he is trying to find a treatment for norovirus and a remedy for teen eye-rolling syndrome. He thinks of John Morrill and Paul Scudder frequently and was throwing a Frisbee (disc, whatever) on the Bay last October in preparation for the Inaugural Great Grandmasters (meaning old folks) Ultimate National Championship in Sarasota. Amy throws pots more than discs, usually on a wheel--occasionally at eye-rolling teens.
Tammera Race ‘82 co-edited “Accidental Information Discovery: Cultivating serendipity in the digital age” with Stephann Makri of City University London. Accidental Information Discovery is published by Chandos Publishing, and focuses on the value of discovering information by chance, and where opportunities exist in the design of learning environments and digital information systems. Susan Woodhouse ‘83 completed her doctoral work in Counseling Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Susan is currently an associate professor at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on parenting and the development of attachment and emotion regulation in children. Susan married artist Robert Barber and they have an 8-year-old daughter named Sofia. “I love my New College friends.” “Our Faith Journey Through Cancer” is Velinda Moore’s (Tracy) ‘84 first book and it came at a great price cancer stole her husband. The book chronicles their journey and how God provided for them with love, grace and humor. Laura Ericson ’85 joined the Board of Sunday’s Child, a fledgling Pensacola-based philanthropic organization modeled after Impact 100, and was delighted to meet fellow board member and New College Alumna,
Sara Latshaw ‘99. Sunday’s Child (sundayschild.org) awards grants for significant charitable and economic initiatives to non-profits who honor and promote diversity, inclusion, and equality in the Pensacola Bay Area. The membership, comprised of LGBT and LGBT-allies, seeks to promote a wider visibility and acceptance of the LGBT community by setting philanthropic example. In addition to its social justice message, Sunday’s Child complements the work of Impact 100 by filling a gap and awarding smaller grants to worthy non-profits. After a difficult couple of years, Harry Monkhorst ‘88 finds himself with a new band, a new job, and a bit of a new life. The band in which he plays guitar and sings, Shells, recently completed its debut album, The Rattle of the Stars. His 11-year-old daughter continues to amaze, delight, and confound him. shellsband.wordpress.com
Dayna Baumeister (nee Ayers) ’89 is tickled green to have launched in 2015 the world’s first master of science degree in Biomimicry, offered through at Arizona State University (ASU). In only the first year and a half, they already have almost 200 students enrolled. Also, this year Dayna celebrated another milestone- after 15 plus years of speaking in front of audiences, she had her first president of a country (Guyana) in the audience! Dayna is sad to be one of the few Novo Collegians in Montana.
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1990s Michelle Flint ’91 is a career strategist and the owner of Flint Careers. Michelle’s specialty is to help people with a passion for making a difference to find the right career, at the right salary, in the right work environment, while holding true to their values. Michelle works via phone and Skype with clients all over the United States. For more information, please visit MichelleFlintCoaching.com. Michelle is also the proud parent of Kian, who recently turned four and who loves trains more than anything. This September, Shawnna Buttery ’92 joined the editorial team at the scientific journal Cell Reports. If you work in science, she would be happy to discuss scientific publishing with you. She lives in Boston with her husband and son. Eric S. Piotrowski ‘93 just published his second book, “MindWipe: Dealing with Stress, Anger, and Ego.” Two of his poems were selected for “Home,” a benefit collection for Occupy Madison’s Tiny Homes project, and his essay “I Never Knew Winter” was published in spring 2016 in “The 3288 Journal.” More information at just-text.org. Matt Grieco ’94 and his wife Kimberly are thrilled to announce that they are now a family of four! World, meet Abigail Elizabeth Grieco, born on Wednesday at 1:11 p.m., at 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and 21 inches. Abby has already stolen her family’s heart, including big brother Ollie’s.
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Adriel Levine ’95 is in Washington, D.C. She is a lawyer working for the U.S. government in the ethics field (conflicts of interest, not Socrates). She has 7-year old twin girls. Say hello anytime. adriel.harris@gmail.com After sticking through two years of the most long-distance relationship possible short of a trip to the International Space Station, and two more nearly as grueling years of living with a Ph.D. candidate, Andres Restrepo and Lauren Hansen ‘98 made it official on September 24, 2016! Then, less than two months later, Cornell and Lauren made it official, too! Lauren defended her dissertation on urbanization and social change in Xinjiang, China on November 16, 2016 and had a Fall 2016 degree conferral. After graduating with a master’s degree in Biomedical Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Allison Vest (Long) ‘98 joined a private practice in Dallas, Texas which specialized in Facial Prosthetics. Allison is now the owner and head anaplastologist at this practice.
2000s Jeanell Innerarity ‘02 is currently working as a freelance facilitator for individuals and groups, specializing in process oriented facilitation for relationships, conflict, love, sexuality, trauma, and grief. Jeanell moved to Portland, Ore. in July 2016 and recently became engaged to Ramsay Everingham.
Cassandra Schmutz ‘02 graduated with an M.S. in Pathologists’ Assistant studies in June and relocated to Tennessee so that she and her chihuahua friend, “Small Bob,” could enjoy the southern climes when Cassandra is not busy prosecting surgical specimens, catching incidental cancer or perfecting her Y-incision and organ block dissection.
Emily Vasile ’03 and Patrick Hickey ‘99 welcomed the arrival of their baby girl, Ella Mae, in September of 2015. They currently live in Morgantown, W.Va., where Patrick teaches political science at West Virginia University (WVU) and Emily works in public health. Patrick was recently honored with the outstanding teacher award from WVU’s Eberly College, a proud accomplishment inspired by his experience as a student at New College. When they’re not working, they enjoy hiking, biking, and exploring wild and wonderful W.Va. and surrounding areas. Natalie Paul ’05 is happy to announce she accepted a position in community health as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Cowlitz Family Health Center. Marilyn Payne Specht ‘09 is living and working in the Bay Area with her husband. Marilyn works in the design and construction industry as a sustainability consultant.
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In August 2016, Sarah McKnight ’09 graduated with a bachelor’s of science in nursing from the University of Florida. Sarah completed a 15-month accelerated nursing program and began working in the cardiac intensive care unit at U.F. Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville in September 2016. Alex Fixler ’09 is now studying for her master’s degree in social work at Tulane University, and in November she was awarded a year-long $10,000 grant from Policy Research Inc., which is funded by the Social Security Administration’s Disability Determination Small Grant Program. The grant will allow Alex to explore early interventions to help people with affective disorders to stay in the workforce and lead more productive and satisfying lives. Her project was one of eight selected nationwide, and she was the only master’s-level student to receive the grant.
2010s C. Taylor Rothenberg ’10 and Robert Manley ‘11, got engaged over the summer. They met at a Wall in 2011 and are planning to get married in late 2017. Wilmarie Rios-Jaime ‘12 wrote her thesis on the history of sterilization in Puerto Rico through the lens of reproductive justice as a way to prioritize the experiences of Puerto Rican women, and move away from the victim/agent narrative that is so often ascribed to marginalized people.
Wilmarie gained so much from the process of researching and writing on this topic, and became incredibly passionate about the issues. Wilmarie states: “As a Puerto Rican woman, my thesis went beyond academic curiosity and that’s what led me to pursue the same line of work post-graduation. I moved to D.C. a week after graduation without a job, but I was so fortunate that I met so many people that were willing to help me succeed. Within a month, I got an interview with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH). Within two months, I got the job. I am incredibly privileged in my position, and infinitely amazed that I got here in part because of the work and love I put into my thesis. I wake up every morning excited to go to work. After the election, I am now more than ever fired up to create the change I want to see in my community.”
YOU’RE OUR BEST AMBASSADORS! The New College Alumnae/i Association Teacher Outreach Initiative is a new effort to engage current alumni high school teachers to help spread the good word about New College to interested high school students. Any New College alumni that are currently teaching or working at a high school are eligible to participate in this initiative. The NCAA will send participating alumni a care package including admissions information and a New College pennant. If you or someone you know may be interested in engaging with this program, please email ncalum@ncf.edu and let us know!
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IN MEMORIAM Sidney Fagin, 94, passed away peacefully on Oct. 27, 2016 in Sarasota, FL. Beloved husband of 68 years to Helen; wonderful father to Judith and Gary; delightful grandfather to Cora; cherished father-in-law, brother-in-law and uncle; he was admired and treasured by all who knew him. Born in New Haven, CT in 1922, Sidney attended Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn and graduated from The City College of New York with a degree in accounting. After serving as a cryptographer in the Army Air Force during World War II, he joined his father’s construction business. Sidney and Helen married in 1948. In 1951, they moved to Miami, FL where Sidney worked as a building contractor, erecting office and apartment buildings, hotels and hospitals, and was actively involved in building Temple Beth Am, of which he was a member. Sidney was president of Miami’s chapter of Recording for the Blind, and provided braille texts for University of Miami’s blind students. Upon retirement, Sidney became a sculptor, producing a number of fine pieces in alabaster, hydrocal, marble, wood and bronze. His nine-foot sculpture, Benediction, graces the courtyard of the Kendall Jewish Community Center in Miami; miniature versions of Benediction are awarded to honorees at the annual “Eight Over Eighty” event at Kobernick House in Sarasota, FL. Also in Sarasota, Sidney’s bronze sculpture, Butterfly Boy, stands sentinel at the Fagin Holocaust Collection in New College’s Jane Bancroft-Cook Library. After arriving in Sarasota in 1993, Sidney served as president of the Palm Aire Arts Association and supervised its yearly Art Exhibit. Together with his wife, Helen, he promoted Holocaust education in Sarasota, established the Fagin Holocaust Scholarship for students at New College of Florida, and provided constant support for the Fagin
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Holocaust, Genocide and Humanitarian Studies Collection at New College’s Jane Bancroft-Cook Library. (Published in Herald Tribune on Oct. 29, 2016) Shirley Denmark Friedland passed away on November 17, 2016. She was a loved and loving wife, mother and grandmother. Shirley was a warm and wonderful person who made all around her smile. Born on January 30, 1927, in Providence, Rhode Island, she graduated from Pembroke College in Brown University with a Bachelors degree in Biology. She was a biologist, teacher, homemaker, and scout leader. She began her married life when her husband, Bernard, made her an Army wife on October 25, 1953. Subsequently, she lived in Nashville, TN, Miami, FL, and moved to Sarasota, FL in 1989. Her son stimulated her interest in minerals and rocks and she learned to do stone cutting, silver casting, and jewelry making. She was an avid supporter of the Sarasota Music Festival, New Music New College, and the Perlman Music Program/Suncoast. She is survived by her husband, Bernard, her ophthalmologist daughter, Beth Friedland, M.D., Beth’s husband, Robert Rosenthal, her son, Jay Friedland, his wife Melissa, and her grandsons Alex and Benjamin. (Published in Herald Tribune on Nov. 23, 2016) Robert Compton’05 , 29, of Nokomis, Florida, loving son and dear brother, passed on August 17, 2016. He graduated from Venice High School, and he holds advanced degrees from the University of Florida. Robert worked as an environmental engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Published in Herald Tribune on Aug. 21, 2016)
Kenneth ‘Ken’ Vickers was born August 26, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York to Thomas and Mary Eva Vickers. He grew up in Brooklyn with his seven sisters and brothers, Ethel, Mildred, Mary, Ruthie, Thomas, Robert and Albert. He served his country through the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. He then began his forty-one year law enforcement career in 1973 with the NYTPD retiring as lieutenant from the NYPD in 1995. Upon moving to Florida, Ken knew he wanted to remain in law enforcement and retired again after 18 years in 2014 as a sergeant with the New College Police Department where he enjoyed being both police officer and unofficial confidant/friend /relationship counselor to the students. Ken would always say that he loved his job because every day was different and interesting. He cared about the students very much and was known to brag about their accomplishments as if they were his own children. In 1974, Ken married the love of his life, Arlene, and had two children, Christopher and Cathryn. Christopher and his wife, Courtney, then gave him the three lights of his life, his grandsons, Grady, Griffin, and Reid. Ken was a devoted family man who loved spending his time entertaining his grandsons in the pool, giving impromptu history lessons (especially about World War II), working on home improvement projects at his own home as well as those of his children and spending time with his wife. He was amazingly calm under pressure and was the rock his whole family leaned on. Ken passed away after an all too brief, but very strong battle against cancer on September 16, 2016. He will be missed greatly, but was loved fervently in life and that will continue always. (Published in Funeral Mass brochure)
PICTURE PERFECT
Recovered bicycle wheels await rebirth at the New College Bike Shoppe. Under student managers James Montgomery, Cole Zelznak and Kaithleen Coñoepan, the New College Bike Shoppe is more a ‘shop’ than ever -- while staying true to its roots as a place to learn and to socialize.
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NEW COLLEGE ALUMNAE/I ASSOCIATION NEW COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC. THE KEATING CENTER 5800 BAY SHORE ROAD SARASOTA, FL 34243-2109
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SCIENCE FAIR SIDEKICKS New College of Florida students help fifth-grade students at Lakeview Elementary School with science projects and experiments in Sarasota Sept. 22, 2016. Science Fair Sidekicks, a pilot program developed by the Florida House Institute, is a local nonprofit that advocates for “green” technologies. The program is staffed by volunteer New College students, recruited by second-year Katrina Carlin, who is an intern at Florida House.
