INSPIRING HISTORY: Shaping the Future

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SPRING 2012

News from the Southern Vermont College — St. Joseph College Community

INSIDE THIS ISSUE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE SVC ATHLETICS UPDATE

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DEVELOPMENT NEWS

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REUNION SCHEDULE

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CLASS NOTES UPCOMING EVENTS

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I N S P I R I N G H I S T O R Y:

Shaping the Future Edward Everett’s Country Manor Turns 100 The President Goes to Washington

PRESIDENT GROSS GOES TO WASHINGTON;

COO Beckwith Steps In

Philanthropy Class

& Bank of Bennington Create Community Grants

When the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) invited SVC President Karen Gross to come to Washington, D.C., to serve for one year as a Senior Policy Advisor to the White House and the DOE, it was an offer, she said, that was difficult to refuse. “The Department of Ed is working on so many of the same things—retention rates, keeping college affordable, vulnerable youth—which we at SVC have been focused on,” said Gross.

“Some of the unique initiatives we’ve used to deal with these issues put us on the DOE radar.

While I hope to be able to share ideas while at the DOE, I also hope to bring new ideas back to SVC.” With the Board of Trustee’s approval, Gross was allowed the one-year leave and to tap Chief Operating Officer, Jim Beckwith as Acting President in the interim. “Jim and I have worked alongside each other in all strategic, long term and day to day issues for the last five years,” said Gross. “Along with an excellent senior management team, Jim will continue the good work we’ve been doing here.” Under the terms of her DOE appointment, Gross will be researching, blogging and speaking on issues in higher ed, including increasing student access to college, improved alignment between high school and college, educational affordability, programmatic quality and college completion rates. She will return to SVC in January 2013.

MANAGING THE SVC VIRTUAL STORE: BREANNA GOSCH Looking for an SVC onesie, T-Shirt or hoodie? Check out the selection online at the Campus Store, www.svc.edu, or call Breanna Gosch, Virtual Store Manager at 802-447-6318. Breanna has assembled a dazzling array of gift items, memorabilia and SVC stock for alums and students. In her spare time, Breanna works with another type of stock: she’s a champion rodeo rider in the Eastern Circuit.

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LEARNING ABOUT GIVING: Students in Business Professor Jebediah Gorham’s Philanthropy course at Southern Vermont College aren’t only reading, writing and studying for examinations; they have the enviable task of giving away real money to community organizations.

Designed by Professor Gorham, students in the new class are working in collaboration with The Bank of Bennington, which has provided a $5,000 donation to fund grants the students will award. A mix of upper-level students who are majoring in Business, Communications and Healthcare Management, the students have studied philanthropic giving and visPhilanthropy Professor ited the Bank to meet key personnel and learn about Jebediah Gorham their giving model.

“Students have prepared requests for proposals (RFPs) divided up into three designated giving areas: Autism-related Programming and Outreach, Youth Enrichment Grants and Abuse Rehabilitation programs,” according to Professor Gorham. Students will review requests from Bennington County organizations within those areas as they come in (due April 13) and then use a point system to determine which will receive grants of up to $1,600.

“Giving back is part of who we are,” said The Bank of Bennington President Jim Brown. “We are all part of the Bennington area community, and we all benefit by supporting the many non-profit entities who work to make this a better place to live. These SVC students are learning first-hand about social responsibility, philanthropy and the needs of our community. This is a great experience for them, and The Bank of Bennington is glad to be a part of it.”

COL. FAXON,’81 TO BE HONORED AS 2012 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS Allan M. Faxon, Jr.,’81 will be honored at Southern Vermont College’s 85th Commencement Exercises in May. Faxon enlisted in the Marines following his SVC graduation and transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserves after serving in posts from San Diego to Okinawa, Japan.

After 9/11, Faxon was asked to be part of a special Marines anti-terrorism unit and spent several months in Afghanistan. In 2005, he was sent to Iraq to serve as Deputy Chief for Logistics. In 2008, he was sent back to Afghanistan as lead engineer for the Helmand Province and to oversee the building of two base camps and one of the largest airfields ever built in a combat zone.

Faxon is currently working for Homeland Security in Columbus, Ohio. In photo at left, Faxon is speaking at Burr & Burton Academy where he has taught math, sciences and coached for many years. His wife, Nancy O’Connell ’83 will accept the award on his behalf at Commencement.

EVERETT MANSION:

Creating “a Gentleman’s Gentlemen’s Estate” in the Early 1900s One hundred years ago, a quart of milk could be purchased for about 25 cents, Irving Berlin’s first hit, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” played from bandstands and dance halls and the United States was basking in an era of wealth and prosperity.

Despite a panic and depression in the 1890s, the Gilded Age continued for the very rich, and massive estates popped up in the Northeast. “This was an architecturally productive generation,” Glenn Andres, professor of Art History at Middlebury College, said recently at Southern Vermont College.

“The Vanderbilt family alone built at least 10 great estates from the Carolinas to Ve r m o n t , ” A n d r e s added.

Left to right: Edward Everett on horseback; Totten’s Turkish Embassy; commencing construction

Vanderbilt’s Biltmore in the south and Shelburne Farms in northern Vermont were “particularly notable as ambitious working landscapes with model agricultural operations.”

Andres, along with Bennington Museum historian Tyler Resch and McCullough Library director Susanne Wa r r e n , spoke

before a crowd of more than 200 guests at the College’s Everett Mansion during a lecture, entitled The History of Everett Mansion, an event held this winter in celebration of the 100th anniversary of its construction.

Edward Hamlin Everett was “an aggressive, wealthy, late-nineteenth century American, pre-income-

tax entrepreneur and capitalist,” according to Resch. Everett was born into money and blessed with wise business investments timed fortuitously, Resch also claimed.

Everett’s company manufactured “a much needed product—glass bottles—for a beverage industry that was marketing itself nationally, in a nation whose population literally doubled during his working life.”

When

Everett retired at age 60 in 1911, “he chose to do it in the most extravagant way possible,” Resch said, hiring Washington, D.C.based architect, George Oakley Totten, Jr., to design both his city house in the U.S. Capitol and a country ‘cottage’ in Vermont.

Totten fit well the mold of the Gilded Age architect, according to Andres, having been trained at the famed Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris—the place which set the standard for grand formal design with functional building plans of the times.

(Vanderbilt’s architect, Richard Morris Hunt, was the first American to train at the school.)

To d ay E ve r e t t ’ s Totten-designed city house in continued on page 5

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE: Acting President James B. Beckwith Inspiring History: History; Shaping the FutureFuture: Time Marches On TIME FLIES, as the saying goes. As this Spring issue is distributed to SVC alumni, parents of current students, donors and friends of the College, we will be one quarter through the calendar year of my time in this office, while President Karen Gross attends to her duties as a Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in Washington, D.C. Karen’s invitation to Washington was, in a sense, praise for the programs SVC has initiated to increase retention and help vulnerable students get to and through college. Programs, like Pipelines into Partnerships and Campus Community Dinner Series, attracted national media interest and the attention of the DOE when Undersecretary Martha Kantor visited the College in 2010. Initiatives like these are ways we are working to further strengthen SVC’s bright future.

“Inspiring History: Shaping the Future” is the theme of SVC’s 2011-2012 Lecture Series. In our most recent lecture, we learned about a unique time in history when the enterprising businessman Edward Everett made sure the granite exterior to his castle-style Mansion was finished in a period of eight months—in the early 1900s era before bulldozers or Bobcats, that means fueled by man and horse, not horsepower.

Finishing the interior of the Mansion took more time; it would be three years before the Everett family moved into their summer home. This is why we chose to celebrate the Centennial with events in place from 20112014. At the end of that four years, other milestones: SVC will mark 88 years as a College and 40 years since it changed from The College of St. Joseph to become the private institution, Southern Vermont College.

Time marches on...and the senior team and all staff at SVC are working hard to continue the College’s upward trajectory of enrollment, applications, retention and attention. Our foundation is strong; as Edward Everett dared to create monumental things here in record time, so do we.

“Inspiring History”? Yes it is. “Shaping the Future”? You bet.

Please enjoy this issue of the SVC/SJC Chronicle. —JB

TAKING HOMEWORK SERIOUSLY: Social Problems Class Helps at Home A MODEL OF ACHIEVEMENT Prompted by an assignment in her Social Problems class, Criminal Justice major Rita Hall started a program in her Maryland hometown called, Girls, Girls, Girls.

The program helps provide high school girls with mentoring role models and activities to help them “be all they can be.”

Students in Adjunct Professor Joan Sakalas’ class Social Problems last fall knew they would have a whopper of a final project on which they would be graded. What they didn’t know was how much more they would get out of the class, than just a grade. All students performed some sort of community service, either locally or in their hometown. Several of them are seeing their programs flourish, according to Professor Sakalas, who was moved by the depth and breadth of some of their proposals. “Our students are doing such amazing things,” Sakalas said, “the communities want them to continue.”

Sophomore Brittney Millay studied hunger among youth in her hometown of Claremont, N.H. and learned that many students do not eat breakfast before school. Working with Trinity Episcopal Church, she set up a program to provide free breakfast to all students. The church has continued her program every weekday morning, now including school bus drop-offs and to-go containers for students in a hurry.

“Breakfast is such an important meal,” said Brittney, a History & Politics major who hopes to go to law school to study civil rights and public interest law to further her community work. “It felt good to help so many children by offering good, healthy food.”

Other students have started sports programs promoting healthy habits and worked with their hometown schools on current issues like bullying and mentoring.

MORE ACADEMIC NEWS: RAD TECH ROCKS: 2011 Graduates of the Radiologic Sciences degree program received a 100 percent pass rate (and a test score average of 87 percent) on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) examination in radiography, considered the ‘gold standard’ of the field according to Linda Lippacher, faculty director of the program.

TEEING UP: FOUR! Starting in 2012-2013, Southern Vermont College will implement its new 4x4 curriculum. Simply stated, most courses will be four (4) credits, and a standard, full-time load will be constituted by four (4) of these courses (4X4). The key feature of the new curriculum is "laboratory learning" which means that, in every class, there will be co-learners. Professors will facilitate opportunities for students to learn from one another, but everyone in every class will be teaching and learning.

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MUST Reads! Books Every College Student Should Know Sarah Sanfilippo, Director of Library Services at SVC recently canvassed faculty, staff and administrators to offer their choice of a book that should be read in College. All books are available in the SVC library.

1984 by George Orwell David Brown, Social Sciences Adjunct Faculty

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Sue Metzner, Director of Human Resources

Allegory of the Cave by Plato Joan Sakalas, Social Sciences Adjunct Faculty

On the Beach by Nevil Shute Sue Harris, Clerk

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Kitty Farnham, Administrative Assistant, Success Center

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Bryna Siegel Finer, Humanities Faculty

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin Michael Zauzig, Women’s Soccer Coach

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Nicole Myers, Humanities Adjunct Faculty

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Sarah Knapp-Oliver, Social Sciences Faculty

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster Catherine Burns, Learning Cooperative Coordinator

Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal

by Eric Schlosser Sarah Koehl Sanfilippo, Director of Library Services

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Daryl Kenny, Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls Susan Biggs, Director of Communications

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin Kim Schultz, Administrative Assistant, Nursing & Rad Tech

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Susan Sykas, Nursing Faculty

The True Story of Hansel & Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival

by Louise Murphy Marion Whiteford, Assistant Director of Communications

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Stefano Donati, Learning Differences Assistant Hamlet and others by William Shakespeare Lynda Sinkiewich, Humanities Faculty The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Albert DeCiccio, Provost

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith Michelle Deal, Humanities Faculty Walden by Henry David Thoreau Andrea Robare, Reference Librarian

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Karen Gross, President

The World According to Garp by John Irving Karoline Sears, Coordinator of Student Programs, Residence Director

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn Sara Patch, Director of Residence Life

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson Scott O’Callaghan, Humanities Faculty Chair

Everett Mansion continued from page 3

D.C. is the home of the Turkish Embassy. The country manor, called “The Orchards,” is now a central administration and classroom building for Southern Vermont College. The Bennington house is different from Totten’s other designs, which Andres points out “trace their origins to the French Renaissance and Baroque, the Mansion is more medieval in its sources, some critics invoke Norman architecture….”

After Everett purchased the 500-acre John S. Holden farm on the eastern slopes of Mount Anthony in Bennington in 1910, he moved quickly to survey and start excavation, bringing in horticulturist H.A. Albyn for the grounds. In April, 1911, a crew of 32 expert stonemasons from Italy began quarrying, cutting and placing tons of granite for the exterior of the building.

“In December, 1911, only 12 months after Everett had purchased the site, the structure was enclosed and the imported Italian roof tiles were in place,” according to Susanne Warren—a feat that, for its time, was “truly astonishing.” “It took another four years to finish the interior and furnish the house in the most elegant and opulent manner possible,” Warren reported. “Cuban mahogany paneling in the dining room (now the school’s library) Italian marble for fireplaces and stairways, English silver for the door handles, chandeliers and wall lamps.”

Warren demonstrated that The Orchards was less a summer retreat and more “a gentleman’s estate modeling the most advanced horticultural techniques.” Everett soon bought another 720 acres on Carpenter Hill, for his extensive orchards, and with a total of 55,000 apple trees, 15,000 pear, quince, plum and cherry trees, would eventually succeed in creating the largest privately-owned orchard in the country.

Much of Everett’s horticultural enterprise is now part of working orchards like the Apple Barn, and a few apple trees still dot the landscape behind the Mansion. Everett’s second wife sold the Mansion to the Holy Cross Novitiate, which occupied the building until 1974. Southern Vermont College, previously known as the College of St. Joseph, became an independent private college that year and occupied the estate.

Currently, the Everett Mansion serves 550 students and 130 SVC faculty and staff. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mansion has been carefully maintained and restored to protect its physical beauty. The grand, castle-style summer home, designed by a worldly architect for an enterprising businessman, still maintains its old world charm, for new generations to enjoy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EDWARD EVERETT AND THE MANSION, VISIT WWW.SVC.EDU/CENTENNIAL/.

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Photo credit: Adam Samrov/Bennington Banner

SWEET MOMENTS IN SV

Women’s Volleyball Wins NECC Championship; Plays in NCAA Tournament

Taeshon Johnson Garners NECC All-Conference The Conference recognized junior guard Taeshon Johnson for first team in Men’s Basketball. Johnson finished the 2011-2012 season as NECC leading scorer in conference play (23.6 points per game) and overall (22.2 points per game). Johnson finished the season with 534 points, that is the fifth most scored at SVC in a single season.

Arguably the most memorable run in SVC history and one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA history. Only two years ago, Head Coach Josh Stokes took over a program that was 1-21. In 2011, this year the women went 31-3, won an NECC regular season championship, an NECC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. It was only the second time in SVC history that a team moved on to the Nationals and a first for an SVC women’s program.

CALLING ALL ATHLETE ALUMS: For More Sports News, visit www.svcathletics.com!

Women’s Volleyball Team Beats Williams College

Strong Showing at NCAA Regionals for SVC Cross Country Coach Maria Stuber helped push both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams to compete in the NCAA Regionals this past fall for the first time since 2003. The SVC men came in fourth place and the women were seventh place. In photo at left is Olivia Botteron, who finished the season as top runner at regionals with a 29:05 6K, a third fastest 6K time in school history. In center photo, Hesbon Ogeka in the lead.

Victor Velazquez, at right, also had a strong season, named Rookie of the Week by NECC. 6

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In September, for only the second time in SVC history, a Mountaineers team beat the Williams College Ephs and nothing could be sweeter than the Women’s Volleyball team’s victory, 3-1, on the away court.

VC SPORTS 2011-2012

Alvarez Named National Player of the Week by Volleyball Assoc.

In October, Junior outside hitter Jessica Alvarez was named the American Volleyball Association national player of the week, a first for any SVC athlete.

Claircius Named to NECC All-Conference Second Team Women’s Soccer Makes it to the Playoffs In his first season as Head Coach, Michael Zauzig returned the Women’s Soccer program to the playoffs in 2011 (for the first time since 1999.) The team won two New England Collegiate Conference games, earning the seventh seed in the NECC Playoffs. In photo, Shawnee Webster.

Senior Joa Claircius has been a four-year starter of the Mountaineers, helping lead SVC to backto-back, seven-win seasons, the most since 1998-99. In January, the team traveled to Wheelock where Claircius scored 29 points behind 10-19 shooting. Claircius averaged 15.7 points per game this season, fourth best in the NECC. The guard finished tenth in the conference with 8.2 rebounds a game.

Dave Gage Sets NCAA Record for 82 Hit By Pitches In April, 2011, senior second baseman Dave Gage set a Division III record for hit by pitches in a career. The captain ended his career with 82 hits by pitches and 32 in his senior season, a NCAA best for 2011. Dave is now Sports Information Director for SVC athletics and also assistant Men’s Baseball coach.

SVC Baseball Makes NECC Championship Playoff Game Needing to win four of its final five regular season games, the SVC baseball team did just that, then made another run in the NECC tournament to make the championship game. In the final game, the Mountaineers left the tying run on third base five times, and lost 3-2 against host Mitchell College.

51 Consecutive Sets?

That’s the 3rd Longest Streak in NCAA History It started when the Women’s Volleyball team beat Williams College in September and only got better…For the next 50 consecutive sets, the Mountaineers went undefeated. The streak stands as the third longest in NCAA Division III history.

Men’s Soccer Captain Nick Haggerty Scores 100th Point Nick, a senior, reached the milestone 100th goal at an away game against Mitchell College in September. He finished his career at SVC with 118 points, second best in school history.

WE CAME, WE SAW… WE WENT TO CARMODY’S The group of dedicated alumni who came back to SVC to play hoops in February was, unfortunately, not enough to field a basketball team, but a good time was had by all after they headed to Carmody’s in downtown Bennington. In the Mountaineer Athletic Center, from left, Jeff Burke ’96, Charles Beekman ’02, Jeff Casey, Sean Brown ’96, SVC Coach Mike McDonough, Scott Fruscio ’96, Dennis Green ’97 and Chris Davis ’99.

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Renowned Johns Hopkins Neurosurgeon QuiñonesHinojosa Joins SVC Board The Southern Vermont College Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Director of the Johns Hopkins Pituitary Tumor Center and Director of the Brain Tumor Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, to its Board in December. A migrant farmer from Mexico who spent his days in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley and studied at a community college at night, Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa went on to Harvard Medical School and has become a leader in the field of neurosurgery, oncology and stem cell research. His inspiring story, which has been featured in the The New York Times, National Public Radio, The Today Show and Public Broadcasting series NOVA, has been documented in his book, Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon.

Dr. Q, as he is now known to students and patients, addressed the SVC graduating class of 2011 last May, a segment of which was aired on CSPAN. After SVC awarded him with an Honorary Degree of Humane Letters, he urged the graduates to “find the steel in your soul…that determination and resilience within you and no matter what, keep moving forward.”

“Dr. Q is an inspiring physician, teacher, researcher and role model. His life story and his successes enable generations of students to see the power of the possible,” stated Board Chair Deborah Wiley. “We welcome his wisdom and experience—in life and in healthcare—to our Board.”

In addition to Harvard Medical School, Dr. Q attended University of California, San Francisco, to complete his residency and then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental and stem cell biology, which brought him to Johns Hopkins. Named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in 2008, selected by Popular Science magazine as one of the Annual Brilliant Ten, he also received the 2008 National Leadership in Science and Medical Award by the Merage Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Kunzelmann Bequest Supports College Endowment The Board of Trustees at Southern Vermont College is pleased to announce that the College has received a substantial endowment gift from the estate of the late Helen Dixon Kunzelmann of Old Bennington. Mrs. Kunzelmann, who was well known for her many contributions to, and affection for the Bennington community, died in June at the age of 93.

The Helen Dixon Kunzelmann Endowment will be distributed to the College over a period of several years. (Under estate stipulations, the amount of the gift cannot be released.) The income from the endowment is designed to enable the College to pursue its educational goals and provide support for initiatives at SVC that will further student success, including through scholarships.

President Karen Gross called the gift, “educationally transformative, providing both shortand long-term benefits to the College.” Helen Kunzelmann was a graduate of the Dana Hall School and Vassar College. For information on making a bequest to Southern Vermont College, please email dkenny@svc.edu.

SVC Mourns the Loss of Selma Greenberg On October 8, 2011, SVC lost one of its most remarkable friends and supporters, Selma Greenberg, wife of Norman Greenberg. “Mrs. Greenberg was an extraordinary woman, exhibiting grace and dignity throughout her life.

Her sense of humor and warmth were always present, “ said SVC President Karen Gross.

Selma Greenberg was a deep believer in SVC’s mission and particularly stressed the important role the College played within the Bennington community. Selma and her family helped cut the ribbon at the unveiling of Hunter Hall and the Greenberg Atrium in 2009. The Atrium is a multi-functional space built through their support, which has been used countless times for College functions and student lounging. “I am deeply saddened Mrs. Greenberg will no longer be with us,” Gross said. “Her legacy of friendship and support will be with us always.”

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Seasonal Art of Joan Benjamin on Permanent Display in Atrium Last fall, SVC unveiled four, large-scale, abstract murals depicting the seasons, as seen from Hunter Hall, by Williamstown artist Joan Benjamin. The work, commissioned by the school, is now on permanent display at the College in the soaring Greenberg Atrium. Michael Cassin, Education Director at the Francine & Sterling Clark Art Institute, was on hand for the opening celebration of the artwork. “The work is here to be seen, they are here to be lived with and enjoyed, they are here to be engaged with,” Cassin said. “It’s an incredible thing for students, faculty and visitors to enjoy in this lovely space.”

JOIN US FOR SVC/SJC ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND MAY 18 - 20 ENJOY CAMPUS LIFE AGAIN - MEET OLD FRIENDS - MAKE NEW FRIENDS - HAVE FUN

FRIDAY, MAY 18 5 PM - 7 PM Welcome Reception, Mansion Terrace/Burgdorff Gallery SATURDAY, MAY 19 9:30 AM Alumni/Community 5K Fun Run, Greystone Lawn (Upper Campus) 11 AM - 12:30 PM Alumni Association Meeting, President’s Meeting Room, Everett Mansion President’s Meeting Room, Everett Mansion PM -- 44 PM PM Alumni Alumni Barbecue, Barbecue, Mansion Mansion Lawn, Lawn, Ongoing Ongoing 11 PM throughout the afternoon: Campus Hikes, Alumni games throughout the afternoon: Campus Hikes, Alumni games (softball/frisbee/volleyball/basketball), Kid activities (softball/frisbee/volleyball/basketball), Kid activities PM Alumni Alumni Dinner Dinner & & Dancing, Dancing, Mt. Mt. Anthony Anthony Country Country Club Club 66 PM SUNDAY, MAY MAY 20 20 SUNDAY, 10 AM AM – – 12 12 PM PM Continental Continental Breakfast Breakfast in in the the Mansion Mansion 10 11:30 AM AM Alumni Alumni Admissions Admissions Q&A, Q&A, (all (all alumni alumni interested interested 11:30 in participating as admissions ambassadors welcome), in participating as admissions ambassadors welcome), President’s Meeting Meeting Room, Room, Everett Everett Mansion Mansion President’s CONTACT DARYL DARYL KENNY KENNY AT AT DKENNY@SVC.EDU DKENNY@SVC.EDU OR OR VISIT VISIT CONTACT WWW.SVC.EDU/ALUMNI/EVENTS.HTML FOR MORE INFO. WWW.SVC.EDU/ALUMNI/EVENTS.HTML FOR MORE INFO.

HOW DO YOU SPELL GRATITUDE? It’s a message that bears repeating…

THANK YOU. Each year, Southern Vermont College counts on the generosity of Annual Fund donors to support scholarships, supplies, special opportunities for student and faculty enrichment…and much more. The Annual Fund helps us help students like these succeed… right down to the letter!

Please consider a gift to the Annual Fund in

the

enclosed

envelope

or

visit

www.svc.edu/support SVC. THANK YOU! SVC/SJC CHRONICLE

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Class Notes

View the latest Class Notes online at www.svc.edu/alumni.

TEACH FOR AMERICA Bethany Stolz ’10 is headed to Memphis, Tenn., to train and enter the classroom as a special education instructor for Teach for America, the two-year program that strives to close the achievement gap for all students. Since graduating from SVC, Bethany joined Americorps as a member of the National Civilian Community Corps in Maryland.

THREE GREAT ALUMNAE TELLING THE SVC STORY SVC graduates now working in the Admissions Office:

On the Move…

It’s great to have Maggie Burke ’86 back in the neighborhood! She’s the new Executive Director of the Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice for Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

Susan Dombrowski ’90 has joined the Norwich, CT -based CorePlus Federal Credit Union as Director of Marketing and Public Relations.

Amy Marquise ’05 earned her MBA from Sage College last May. Sarah Yard ’11 just couldn’t bear to leave SVC and has joined the Admissions team as an Assistant Director.

Heather Broome ’10 completes her BS in Nursing here at SVC this May and begins work on her master’s degree at Sage Graduate College next fall. She plans to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Kathleen Harding ’03 was recently selected as a 2012 Featured Athlete by ATHLETA clothing for women. She is an award-winning, pro mountain bike racer, who will compete this year for Team Cystic Fibrosis. Check out the whole story at http://www.athleta.net/chi/featured-athletes/.

Beth McLean ’00, ’03, Campus Visits Coordinator and Administrative Assistant

Leslie Surdam ’09, Coordinator of Enrollment Data Systems

Sarah Yard ’11 Assistant Director of Admissions

DOING WELL, DOING GOOD

Travis Lebel ’89—“I help out where I can.”

Despite being employed full time for IBM in northern Vermont, Travis Lebel has volunteered time weekly to local organizations that improve the lives and well being of his community for more than 27 years. Organizations include Lions Club, food drives, Operation Happiness, Franklin County Humane Society and the Special Olympics among others. Travis says he loves “giving back to the community” but his efforts may soon pay off in other ways. IBM has an incentive plan for those who volunteer; if employees can prove they have donated 10,000 hours at a given organization, the company donates a computer system to the group.

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Trevor Harvey ’09 was promoted to the “Best of the Best” program at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. He’s gotten a transfer to Albany International Airport. We miss him here in Bennington, but are pleased and proud!

Neel Patel ’11 has spent the past few months visiting family and friends in his native India.

If you happened to be watching The Price Is Right on January 30, you saw Amy Walker Gleason ’00 come up a Big Winner!

Nicholas Holden ’08 is the newest member of the Bennington Police Department.

In her new position as the school nurse at North Bennington Graded School, Pam Gulley ’10 arranged for the school to acquire an automated external defibrillator. Nicely done!

Harry Gold ’92 continues to make headlines! His company, Overdrive Interactive, won 15 awards, including Best of Show, at the 2011 New England Direct Marketing Association Awards for Creative Excellence.

Photographer extraordinaire Max Flatow ’06 will be back on campus to photograph SVC’s 85th Commencement in May. He did an amazing job in 2010! It’s great to have him back.

Talk about having a big year! In addition to beginning his new position as Branch Manager at NBT Bank, Bryce Cutler ’94 married Kerry Dillman last Erik Hansen ’91 is publishing a book of poetry August 20. entitled Compass. It will be out in April, which is National Poetry Month. For those of us who have On August 27, Max Flatow ’06 (photo, left) wed had the privilege of getting an advance peek, it’s Amy Sunners in Waitsfield, VT. If the date rings a pretty great! bell, that was the weekend of Hurricane Irene.

There’s a wedding that will be remembered!

Vermont State Trooper Wayne Godfrey ’06 has become a member of a K-9 unit; one of only two at On September 10, 2011, Jennifer Bland Finlan ’90 the Shaftsbury Barracks. His German Shepherd wed Fred Hamm. partner, Tarawa, is 85 lbs. of adorable… as long as you’re on the right side of the law!

The Dubois family will be very busy for the next few months. Matt Dubois ’04 will wed Tami Maheux on March 10, and Dan As the single biggest vote-getter in the March Dubois ’01 marries Rachel Lachat on July 7! (Just buy the tuxedos, guys...)

6th election, Jim Carroll ’90 became Bennington’s newest Selectman!

Jill Sheldon ’02 is engaged to marry Jeffrey Morris. An October 20 wedding is planned in Delton, FL. Flavia Paolucci Jacobs ’91 has been hired as Policy Kayla Hewitt ’10, ’11 is engaged to marry Adam Denio. The wedding will take Development Coordi- place on June 16 at the Park McCullough House in North Bennington. nator for the Arkansas Environmental Quality Tara Chickerell ’07 and Barrett McInnis ’06 will tie the knot on April 28th in Department. Read the Celebration, FL. Sounds like a great place to get married! incredible story of her long and winding road to true love and Anja marriage with Stephen Jacobs ’93 on the SVC website’s Alumni Profile Derek Nagle ’08 and Jessica Chase Nagle ’09, ’11 Page, http://www.svc.edu/alumni/Alumni_prowelcomed daughter Anja on March 18, 2011. file.html.

Bells Are Ringing…

Welcoming Bundles of Joy…

Just in case you missed it…Chad Levesque ’98 and Chris Davis ’99, pictured here with Chris’s daughter, Emma, and President Karen Gross, were inducted into the SVC Mountaineer Athletics Hall of Fame on October 1, 2011.

And just in case you really missed it, Denise Welch Land ’97 took home Distinguished Alumni Honors at the 2011 SVC Commencement, while Zachary Garafalo ’09 was named Distinguished Young Alumnus.

IN MEMORIUM SVC marks the passing of: Mona K. Young ’85 Violetta C. Santo

Dana

Joe Frey ’08 and wife Sara welcomed Jackson Leon on July 3, 2011. Brothers Isaac and Evan think he’s a real firecracker (sorry)!

On July 28, 2011, Erin and Scott McEnaney ’01 welcomed daughter Dana. Big brother Eli is delighted!

Nina

Trista Hoot Comtois ’09 and husband Michael adopted four-year-old Nina. Nina is originally from Haiti, and almost-three-year-old brother Connor is thrilled.

On February 9, Tony Kasulinous ’94 and wife Tracy gave birth to baby #5, Laney Kate. Tony says he is working on his own soccer team!

Send us YOUR NEWS! Email your updates and photos to Daryl Kenny, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at dkenny@svc.edu or alumni@svc.edu.

Spring 2011 October 4, 2011

Brian Kriger ’83

December 10, 2011

Lionel Marcoux ’34

December 30, 2011

Rita Bishop Niles ’54

February 27, 2012 SVC/SJC CHRONICLE

11

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Dubus

On Being a Townie: Writing the Memoir Andre Dubus III, author House of Sand and Fog, Townie Tuesday, April 3, 2:15 p.m. | Everett Mansion Theatre

Susan Amberg Biggs Director of Communications

American Red Cross Blood Drive Wednesday, April 4, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Mountaineer Athletic Center

Marion Whiteford Assistant Director of Communications Katerin Design Design & Production

Redden

Contributors: Bree Della Rocca ‘05 David Gage ‘11, Director of Sports Information Daryl Kenny, Director of Alumni & Annual Giving Photography: Lee Krohn Adam Samrov/ Bennington Banner alumni@svc.edu

SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE UPCOMING EVENTS

SVC Admissions Open House Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m For more information contact admissions@svc.edu Healthcare Forum on Nursing Research Program Thursday, April 26, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. | Everett Mansion Theatre The Buddhist President: Envisioning a Politics of Compassion for America Thomas Redden, Ph.D., History/Politics Professor, Zen Buddhist priest Friday, April 27, 7 - 8:30 p.m., Maple Street School, Manchester, VT

Bergman

Book talk: Birds of a Lesser Paradise Megan Mayhew Bergman, Professor, author Thursday, May 3, 2:15 p.m. Everett Mansion Theatre Southern Vermont College 85th Commencement Exercises Commencement Speaker Dr. Ruth Levy Guyer, author, bioethicist Saturday, May 12, 1 p.m.

Visit www.svc.edu for more event details.

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