Concert Choir Performance at Wells College 

“Music for a Royal Occasion” presented Sunday, May 11

The Wells College Music Department proudly presents “Music for a Royal Occasion,” performed by the Wells Concert Choir. The concert will be held in the Sommer Center at 4:00 pm on Sunday, May 11. Admission is free and the public is cordially invited to attend.

This regal program features the Coronation Mass in C Major, K.317, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for full chorus, soloists and orchestra. In addition to the joint performance of the Mozart mass, the College’s women’s and men’s ensembles will sing works from their respective repertoires. The concert will be conducted by Wells Professor of Music Crawford R. Thoburn.

Soloists in the Mozart Mass will be soprano Mary Gooding ’10, alto Jillian Kline ’09, tenor Justin Zehr ’11, and bass Marshall Anderson ’09, all of whom are from Professor Thoburn’s vocal studio. The orchestra will consist of Wells students and professional players from the Ithaca area, led by concertmaster Meyer Stolov.

The Coronation Mass is the most popular of the sixteen works by Mozart that set the ancient words of the Latin mass to music. Written in 1779, it may have been composed to accompany a celebratory springtime crowning of a venerated image of the Virgin Mary in a pilgrimage church near Salzburg, Austria. Later, the work was performed at the coronation of two Austrian sovereigns, Leopold II and Francis I.

“The music is very festive and energetic, but it’s also infused with some of the composer’s richest, most lyric melodies,” said Professor Thoburn. “It wonderfully encapsulates, in a fairly short and highly accessible work, the genius that is Mozart.”

This is the first academic year, following the College’s move to coeducation in 2005, that the full Wells Concert Choir is performing as a mixed-voice ensemble.  Previously, for several decades under Professor Thoburn’s direction, the Concert Choir annually performed major choral works with men’s ensembles from other colleges and universities. “The enthusiasm the students have shown in expanding the choral program here at Wells is very exciting,” said Thoburn. 

For more information about the concert and music offerings at Wells, please contact Professor Thoburn at 315/364-3347.

May, 2008

Three graduates display paintings, sculpture as part of thesis project

The Wells College Art Department is pleased to present the spring senior thesis exhibit featuring paintings and sculpture by graduates June Lesney, Annie Ryerson, and Nicole Blum. The show opens on Monday, May 12 in the String Room Gallery, Main Building, and will run through May 25. The public is cordially invited to view the free exhibit. An opening reception on May 12 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. offers an opportunity to meet the student artists and discuss their work; light refreshments will be served.

June Lesney of St. Paul, Minn. is a visual arts major with a concentration in studio arts. Her focus on three dimensional, found object sculptures came about fairly recently, beginning with independent study and developing during an internship at the New York Student Art League. Her thesis explores the aesthetic and practical problems of the accumulation of consumer by-product. The challenge lies in consuming the rest of that by-product into her work. This idea originates less in the environmental movement than in the depiction of the Native American practice of using “every part of the buffalo.” As June explains it, “Essentially, I am taking the refuse of my own consumerism and turning it into something meaningful.”

This summer following graduation, June will begin an internship with the Rogue Buddha Gallery in Minneapolis.

Aurora native Annie Ryerson also holds a concentration in studio art and a minor in French.  Her love of the arts in addition to the French language led her to spend a year in Paris studying under several accomplished artists and art historians.  It was through her painting professor, Betsy Castleman Damez, Wells class of 1964, that Annie became a copyist in the Louvre Museum.  That experience transformed her general love of art to a deep passion for painting.  

Annie has completed an internship at the Sherry French Gallery in Manhattan, taken courses at the Student Art League, and studied abroad at the University College of Cork, Ireland. After graduation, she plans to take a year off to work and exhibit her paintings before attending the Art Institute of Chicago. She hopes to one day be a professor of art.

The bright colors in Nicole Blum’s paintings flow smoothly in work that is non-representational and free flowing, yet calls to mind organic forms. Nicole, who comes from Rochester, likes to leave her work open to interpretation by those who are experiencing it.
Senior theses are the culminating requirement of study at Wells College. Art seniors are expected to plan and implement the entire exhibit, including the creation of the artwork to be shown, hanging the pieces and preparing the gallery, coordinating the reception, and promoting the show. Art professor and gallery director William Roberts, along with Associate Professor Ted Lossowski, guides the students’ work in the studios and oversees the installation of the show. 

The String Room Gallery is located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the exhibit, please contact Professor Roberts at 315/364-3237.

May, 2008

Travelling show features representative anti-Black and racist items

A traveling exhibition of Ferris State University’s Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia will visit Wells College from April 23 – 28, 2008. The exhibit, entitled “Hateful Things,” will be on display on the second floor of Long Library between the hours of 8:00 am – 6:00 pm, and is free and open to the public.

“Hateful Things,” a sampling from the museum’s 4,000 pieces, represents nearly 150 years of anti-Black racist objects and images. The exhibit was created by David Pilgrim, the university’s chief diversity officer and museum curator, and Carrie Weis-Taylor, coordinator of FSU’s Rankin Center Art Gallery. The museum is located in Ferris’ College of Arts and Sciences in Big Rapids, Mich. It addresses the relationship between Jim Crow segregation and everyday objects that belittle African-Americans. Examples vary from Jim Crow memorabilia to caricatured images of Blacks on postcards, games, ashtrays and drinking glasses.

Dr. Pilgrim views the collection of images and artifacts not as a traditional museum, but as a learning and teaching laboratory. He seeks to use the images of intolerance to teach tolerance. As a youth, Pilgrim purchased and disposed of racially insulting items wherever he found them. The sheer volume of merchandise forced him, eventually, to change his tactic. “I found them at flea markets and garage sales as a kid,” said Pilgrim. “Items would offend me, and I'd buy them to destroy them. I got older and recognized the historical significance of these items. I stopped destroying them and started collecting them.”

“Hateful Things” is brought to the Wells campus through the sponsorship of the following student clubs and organizations: Amnesty International, Appointed gospel choir, Collegiate Cabinet, POWER, the Programming Board, the Publications Board, Student Diversity Committee, and the Wells International Students Association.

For more information about the “Hateful Things” exhibit at Wells College, please email coordinator Emma Henry at ehenry@wells.edu. Additional information about the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University may be found at www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/menu.htm.

April, 2008

University of Buffalo professor gives public lecture on Native American role in environmental policy

Dr. Donald Grinde, professor and chair of American Studies at the University of Buffalo, will give a lecture at Wells College in celebration of Earth Day. The free talk, “Native American Eco-centricity in the Environmental Movement,” will take place on Wednesday, April 23 at 4:45 pm in Stratton Hall 209. All are invited to attend. 

Donald Grinde's research and teaching center on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history, U.S. Indian policy since 1871, Native American thought, and environmental history and policy.  He is the author of several books, including The Encyclopedia of Native American Biography: Six Hundred Life Stories of Important People; Apocalypse of Chiokoyhikiu, Chief of the Iroquois; and The Iroquois and the Founding of the American Nation, among other texts.  A Japanese translation of his book Exemplar of Liberty (co-authored with Bruce Johansen) was published in Japan in 2006.

Dr. Grinde received his B.A. in history from Georgia Southern University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. His talk at Wells College is co-sponsored by the Campus Greens, the Environmental Studies major and the First Nations and Indigenous Studies minor.

For more information about Dr. Grinde’s Earth Day lecture, please contact Assistant Professor Jaclyn Schnurr at 315/364-3274.

April, 2008

Featuring lithographs, paintings by late Ithaca artist Arnold Singer

A memorial exhibition of paintings and lithographs by the late Arnold Singer of Cornell University will be on display in Wells College’s String Room Gallery, Main Building, from April 9 – May 8, 2008. An opening reception with refreshments will be held on Wednesday, April 9 from 7:00-9:00 pm; the public is invited to attend.

A master of the art of lithography, Arnold Singer, professor emeritus of art in Cornell's Department of Art, devoted his life to printmaking, painting, and drawing. His subject was often the human figure, and his imagery was marked by strong, simplified forms, graceful contours and large areas of solid color. 

Before coming to Ithaca in 1966, he lived and worked in New York City, printing at the Art Students League and teaching lithography at the Pratt Graphic Arts Center, where he was a master printer. He printed works of art by such well-known artists as Rufino Tamayo, Stuart Davis, Larry Rivers, Ellsworth Kelly, Adolf Gottlieb, and Barnett Newman. 

A 1957 woodcut collage by Singer appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine, and another Singer print was selected for the 1966 UNICEF calendar. He went on to teach lithography, painting and drawing in Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning for 22 years, becoming emeritus in 1988. 

Singer died in January 2005 at the age of 84.

The String Room Gallery is located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the show and art classes at Wells, please contact William Roberts at 315-364-3237.

April, 2008

College Trustee, Executive Director of “By The People” to address graduates on May 24

Wells College President Lisa Marsh Ryerson has announced that Wells trustee Gail Leftwich Kitch, executive director of MacNeil/Lehrer’s By The People, will be Wells’ 2008 commencement speaker.  This year’s ceremony will take place at the Aurora Inn on Saturday, May 24.

Gail Kitch is the executive director of By The People, an initiative of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions which uses public television to encourage and support informed non-contentious citizen dialogue around policy issues. Prior to joining MLP, Ms. Kitch served as president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils following service as director of Cambridge Forum (Mass.), and principal of Strategic Business Consultants, an international business consulting organization. Ms. Kitch established SBC after serving as associate director of the Program on South Africa at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

“As a member of Wells’ Board of Trustees, the College community has had the pleasure of talking with Gail over the past decade and know her to be a passionate and articulate advocate of liberal arts education and of Wells,” said President Ryerson. “We are deeply honored to welcome Gail Kitch as our 2008 commencement speaker.”

Ms. Kitch earned her B.A. cum laude from Bryn Mawr College and law degree from the University of Chicago.  A lawyer by training, she practiced for a number of years with large firms in Washington, D.C. and Boston, where she was a board member and chair of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, and a Radcliffe College Public Policy Fellow from 1997-1999. 

Among her many leadership roles, Ms. Kitch sits on the executive committee of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group; is a board member of the American Bar Association Museum of Law in Chicago; serves on the National Advisory Group to The State of the USA, Inc.; and is a member of the Advisory Commission to the Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She joined the Wells College Board of Trustees in 1999, and now serves on the executive committee as secretary of the board; she is also chair of the enrollment committee and a member of the student affairs and academic affairs committees. 

Wells College expects to confer degrees on more than 90 students this spring. Commencement ceremonies will take place at 10:00 am at the Aurora Inn, Main Street, on Saturday, May 24.

For more information about Ms. Kitch’s commencement address and general commencement activities at Wells College, please call Director of Publications & Media Relations Kelly Tehan at 315/364-3260.

April, 2008

“Dances Then and Now, Again” is collaborative choreographic work

The Wells College Performing Arts Department is pleased to present its annual faculty and guest artist dance concert, “Dances Then and Now, Again,” with performances on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 pm in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall.  “Dances Then and Now, Again” features choreography by Wells Professor of Dance Jeanne Goddard of Ithaca and guest artist Elizabeth Wilmot Bishop. Prices are $3.00 for students; $5.00 for seniors and the Wells community; and $7.00 for the general public. Tickets are available at the door or by calling the box office at 315-364-3456.

The third in a series of retrospective concerts developed by the Wells College dance faculty in recent years, “Dances Then and Now, Again” juxtaposes new choreography and seasoned repertory pieces by Goddard and Wilmot Bishop in a wide array of styles. Such concerts showcase the long-term and current accomplishments of faculty choreographers while expanding the stylistic range and technical skill of student performers. Musical selections range from Boccherini to Donovan, and from commissioned score to the spoken word.

The April program features a number of exciting large ensemble pieces, including Goddard’s driving 1982 creation, “The Closer We Get,” with a commissioned score by Paul Briggs, and her premier of “Whispers,” an exploration of secrecy and things unseen, accompanied by baroque strings. Wilmot Bishop’s lyrical neoclassical piece, “The Sea is Calling,” contrasts with her high energy jazz-tango fusion “Fire Dance” as well as “The Box,” set to John Denver’s sobering anti-war text.

Goddard offers three more intimate dances to round out the concert. “One Who Was Working,” a suite of three solos set to piano transcriptions of DeFalla guitar pieces, draws inspiration from the paintings of Pablo Picasso and the writings of Gertrude Stein. Finally, Goddard sounds a lighter note with the premier of “Your Lovin’ Mind,” a playful duet nostalgically pairing youth and age, and “Maud,” a solo caricature portrait of the 19th century handkerchief-wafting, fainting female. “Maud” was originally choreographed in 1988 for Goddard’s first dance concert at Wells College. 

Lighting design for “Dances Then and Now, Again” is by Wells technical director Joe DeForest, with costume designs by Roberta Kolpakas.

Student members of the Wells College Dance Ensemble are: Ryan Addario ’10, Brittany Bouchard ’11, Megan Chamberlain ’08, Michelle Chase ’11, Sara Chiochetti ’11, Mary Gooding ’10, Janin Hendry ’08, Eden Kostick ’10, Catherine Marshall ’11, Iivy Murphy ’09, Tiffany Orellana ’09, Julia Swisher ’09, and Michaela Wilson ’11.

For more information about “Dances Then and Now, Again,” please contact Professor Goddard at 315/364-3213.

April, 2008

Aquila Theatre Company to present dynamic, timely play about war

The Wells College Arts & Lecture Series is pleased to welcome the award-winning Aquila Theatre Company to campus on Friday, April 18 for a stage production of Joseph Heller’s important play, “Catch-22.”  The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall. Prices are $6 for students, senior citizens and the Wells College community; $10 for the general public; free for Wells students with ID. Tickets are now on sale; call the box office (315/364-3456) to reserve seats. Any tickets remaining will also be available at the door the night of the performance.

The Aquila Theatre Company’s dynamic and humorous new production of Joseph Heller’s own stage adaptation of his classic novel “Catch-22” will explore the important and timely questions surrounding the nature of war and its impact on American society. 

Joseph Heller himself was a bomber pilot during World War II; he created his novel and his play in response to his own experience. “Catch-22” is set on an island off the coast of Italy, where World War II bombardier Yossarian is caught in a world of bureaucratic absurdity and irrational madness. Determined to keep the squadron active and on the front line, Yossarian’s superiors abuse their authority by increasing the number of required flying missions, making it impossible for anyone to complete these missions and be discharged from duty. Yossarian’s efforts to plead insanity fail, as his superiors realize that active avoidance displays a healthy mental state. Yossarian avoids the missions by creating ridiculous excuses, but in doing so prolongs his duty as the missions continue to accrue. A maze of inter-related “Catch-22’s” develops as the play unfolds.

“Catch-22” is a great American classic, and the term itself has become embedded in our everyday vocabulary. This will be the first-ever professional production of “Catch-22” to tour nationally.

This tour engagement of Aquila Theatre Company is funded through Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Mid Atlantic Tours program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program.

Each year, the Wells College Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform, to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre, music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.

For more information about Aquila Theatre Company’s performance of “Catch-22” and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please contact Rebecca Cooper, coordinator of the Arts & Lecture Series Committee, at 315/364-3330 or visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. Additional information on Aquila may be found at www.baylinartists.com/aquila.htm. 

April, 2008

Etchings, engravings by Giovanni Piranesi on display

The Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce its March exhibition. A selection of engravings and etchings from the Wells College art collection will be on display in the String Room Gallery, Main Building, from March 12 through April 4. The exhibit is free and the public is cordially invited to view the show. There will be no opening reception, but a talk on Piranesi is being planned for later in the month; check www.wells.edu soon for more information.

This special exhibition, pulled from Wells’ own collection, will feature 22 framed engravings and etchings by Italian neoclassical engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). Piranesi is famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and imaginary “prisons” (Carceri d'Invenzione).

Piranesi’s work is on permanent display in some of the world’s finest art museums, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Hermitage, the National Museum of Warsaw, and many more. The portfolio of prints in Wells’ possession came to campus in the mid-20th century and was once used in classroom art instruction.

Wells alumna Pleasant Thiele Rowland, class of 1962, salvaged the prints when they were discovered tucked away on campus in 1995. Recognizing their decorative and historical value, she underwrote the cost of having the prints archivally matted and framed.

The String Room Gallery is located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the show, please contact gallery director William Roberts at 315/364-3237. Additional information about Piranesi may be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Piranesi.

March, 2008

“The Anatomy of Change” is the theme of this year’s student-run event

Wells College continues its tradition of academic excellence and student leadership with the seventh annual Activism Symposium on Friday, March 28. Under the direction of Associate Professor of Sociology Laura McClusky, students have organized the campus-wide event, entitled “The Anatomy of Change,” which captures the global theme of “the body.” The symposium is free for all; a deli lunch with vegetarian options will be available during the luncheon talk. Interested parties are requested to pre-register online at http://athena.wells.edu:6080/special/symposium/.

The day will begin with a keynote address by Andrea Ritchie, a New York City activist representing INCITE! (www.incite-national.org). INCITE! is a national organization of feminists of color that is mobilizing to end all forms of violence against people of color, especially women. Ritchie’s lecture is “Insight into Women of Color and the Prison Industrial Complex: INCITE! on State Violence Against Bodies on the Margins,” and will take place at 9:00 a.m. in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall.

The day continues with more than 20 workshops, lectures, demonstrations, and break-out sessions; individuals may attend one or all. Following Ritchie’s talk, participants may choose from two morning sessions (starting at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.) and two afternoon sessions (at 2:30 and 3:30, with a brief wrap-up at 4:30 p.m.). The sessions are offered by Wells students, faculty and staff, and outside presenters, and address a wide range of activist-related topics. Some sessions this year will focus on international reproduction rights, sex trafficking, energy and renewable power, sexual assault, homelessness in Swaziland, ’zines, how to be an activist in 10 minutes, transgendered rights, and the School of the Americas.

Members of the Beehive Collective (www.beehivecollective.org) of Maine will give this year’s lunchtime talk. The artist/activist group creates collaborative, anti-copyright images that can be used as tools to educate the public about complex geopolitical issues. They are especially interested in Latin American – U.S. relations with a particular focus on trade relations. The presentation, which takes place at 12:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall auditorium, is entitled “Dismantling Monoculture: Tales of Ants and Economics in the Americas.”

Started by the Collegiate Association (student government) in 2002, the purpose of the student-centered symposium is to promote a bridge between activists and scholars, and to celebrate the connections that already exist. One objective of the day is to empower Wells and local community members to use the College as a resource for advancing social justice and community development through interdisciplinary study. As a liberal arts institution, Wells College recognizes the value of service and activism as part of the experiential learning process.

This year’s Activism Symposium theme “the body” was specifically chosen as part of Wells’ year-long celebration of the sciences. The College dedicated its new 45,000 square foot science building, Ann Wilder Stratton ’46 Hall, last fall.

For more information about the Activism Symposium, please call Professor McClusky at 315/364-3252 or email symposium@wells.edu and visit the symposium’s official Web site at aurora.wells.edu/~symposium.

March, 2008

Dr. Kenneth Miller of Brown University is preeminent biologist

The Wells College Dean’s Council has invited Dr. Kenneth R. Miller to deliver this year’s Beckman Lecture. During his two-day residency, Miller, a renowned spokesperson on the importance of teaching evolution in the public schools, will speak on “God, Darwin, and Design: Thoughts About America’s Continuing Problem with Evolution” on Friday, February 29. The lecture will begin at 4:45 pm in Stratton Hall 209, and is free and open to the public. 

Kenneth R. Miller, a professor of biology at Brown University, is a preeminent evolutionary scientist and the co-author of the most widely used high school biology textbook in America. He is also the author of the acclaimed Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, now in its second printing.

He was the lead witness in the 2005 Dover trial in Pennsylvania (sometimes called “Scopes II”), a case that challenged the legitimacy of public schools teaching “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution to explain the origin of life.

During his two-day residency on the Wells campus, Dr. Miller will meet with faculty and students, and present the weekly science colloquium talk. That presentation, “Time to Abandon Darwin? Meeting the Challenge from Intelligent Design,” will take place in Stratton Hall 209 on Friday, February 29 at 12:30 pm and is free and open to all.

The Dean’s Council selected Dr. Miller to be part of the College’s year-long celebration of the sciences. Wells opened its new 45,000 square foot science building, Ann Wilder Stratton ’46 Hall, last August.

“I could not be more excited that Kenneth Miller is coming to Wells in this year of celebrating the connections between science and all the liberal arts,” said Professor of Biology Candace Collmer, chair of the sciences division and member of the Dean’s Council. “Not only is Ken Miller an excellent biologist, he has become known as a respected and reasoned speaker who addresses issues surrounding the teaching of ‘intelligent design.’ He himself is a religious person, and in Finding Darwin’s God, he contends that ‘properly understood, evolution adds depth and meaning not only to a strictly scientific view of the world, but also to a spiritual one.’ I urge anyone interested in these topics to come to his talk(s) to hear a fair, articulate, accessible, and thought-provoking presentation.”

Dr. Miller received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Colorado, and has taught at Brown University since 1980; he has also taught at Harvard University. Dr. Miller holds membership in a range of professional associations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Special Instrumentation Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, and Sigma Xi. He is an editor of three scientific journals—The Journal of Cell Biology, The Journal of Cell Science, and Advances in Cell Biology—and was the scientific advisor to the WGBH/NOVA television series on evolution (1999-2001).

The Beckman Lecture Fund was established in 1952 by three Wells alumnae.  The Beckman sisters endowed the fund “with sincere appreciation of the enduring character of a Wells education.” They desired that Beckman lecturers “be distinguished for creative work and the ability to teach. The lecturer should be an original thinker, an artist in his or her field who can communicate easily and with enthusiasm.” 

For more information about the Beckman Lecture and Dr. Miller’s residency at Wells, please contact Kelly Tehan, Director of Publications & Media Relations, at 315-364-3416; to learn more about Wells, visit the College’s Web site at www.wells.edu. Additional information about Dr. Miller may be found at www.millerandlevine.com/km/.

February, 2008

School Honored for Distinguished Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service has named Wells College to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service learning programs.

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovativeness of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Wells was among the 12% of colleges and universities honored in this way. In total, 528 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

“I am delighted that Wells College has been nationally recognized for our commitment to community service,” said Wells President Lisa Marsh Ryerson. “Wells has long been a leader in instilling the principles of community service in students as we provide opportunities for their active involvement, both domestically and abroad.”

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. CNCS administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service learning in schools, institutions of higher education, and community-based organizations. 

“College students are tackling the toughest problems in America, demonstrating their compassion, commitment, and creativity by serving as mentors, tutors, health workers, and even engineers,” said David Eisner, chief executive office of CNCS. “They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses.”

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, “Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country.”

The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. 

For more information about Wells’ recognition by the Corporation for National and Community Service, please contact Kelly Tehan, director of publications and media relations, at 315/364-3260; to learn more about Wells, visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. Additional information on CNCS may be found at www.nationalservice.gov.

February, 2008

Poet Karen Anderson to read from her new book Punish Honey

The Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to announce that poet Karen Anderson will read from her work on Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. The event is free and will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet the writer; light refreshments will be served. 

Karen Anderson graduated from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop and is completing her Ph.D. in English at Cornell University. Her work has been published in Verse, The Indiana Review, The Colorado Review, The New Republic, and other journals. Her first book, Punish Honey, is forthcoming from Carolina Wren Press. Ms. Anderson currently teaches at Cornell and Wells College. 

This reading and the Wells College Visiting Writer Series are made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.  Poets and writers are invited to campus throughout the academic year to meet with students, present writing workshops, and read from their respective works.

For more information about this and other readings at Wells, please contact Professor Cynthia Garrett at 315/364-3250.

February, 2008

Internationally renowned troupe offers exceptional modern dance

The Wells College Arts & Lecture Series is pleased to welcome the award-winning Paul Taylor Dance Company of Manhattan to campus on Saturday, February 16. The internationally recognized dance troupe will perform in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, at 7:30 p.m. The show is expected to sell out. Prices are $6 for students, senior citizens and the Wells College community; $10 for the general public; free for Wells students with ID. Tickets are now on sale; call the box office (315/364-3456) to reserve seats. Any tickets remaining will also be available at the door the night of the performance.

Now in its 53rd year, the Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world’s most exquisite modern dance ensembles. Founder Paul Taylor first presented his choreography in Manhattan in May 1954.  That modest performance marked the beginning of a half-century of unrivaled creativity.  In the decades since, Mr. Taylor has become a cultural icon and one of history's most celebrated artists. 

His two dance companies (Taylor 2 was created in 1993) have traveled the globe many times over, bringing his ever-changing repertoire to theaters and venues of every size and description in cultural capitals, on college campuses and in rural communities. His choreography, once considered experimental, avant-garde and even “painful” to sit through, has become the gold standard of modern dance.

Taylor 2 has been in the Finger Lakes region this January, offering master classes at Wells College, Cornell University, Ithaca College and a number of area schools and dance venues. Over the next two weeks they are presenting ten classes at Wells featuring ballet and modern dance technique, Taylor repertory, and a lighting design class, all of which are open to the entire community.

“We are so fortunate to have these talented young artists in residence in our area, particularly as we kick off the new semester,” said Wells Professor of Dance Jeanne Goddard. “Their energy, enthusiasm, discipline, and passion are an inspiration for both students and faculty. The extended exposure to the Taylor repertory and style are of great value to our educational program, and provide a shared experience with other area institutions and the wider community. Furthermore, their teaching will pave the way for a full performance by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the flagship company and one of the most beloved dance troupes in the United States today.”

The Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform three dances at Wells on February 16 – “Cloven Kingdom,” “Equinox,” and “Promethean Fire.”

Paul Taylor and his company are the subject of the Oscar-nominated film Dancemaker, hailed by Time magazine as being “perhaps the best dance documentary ever.”

MetLife Foundation is the official tour sponsor of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Additional support is provided by the National Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the board of directors and donors of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, Inc.

Each year, the Wells College Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform, to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre, music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.

For more information about Paul Taylor Dance Company’s performance and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please contact Rebecca Cooper, coordinator of the Arts & Lecture Series Committee, at 315/364-3330. More information on Paul Taylor Dance Company may be found at www.ptdc.org.

January, 2008

Community members invited to join in uplifting workshop, concert

The seventh annual Wells College Gospel Workshop and Concert Weekend will be held February 15 and 16, 2008. The workshop is a two-day event in which Wells College’s gospel choir Appointed and singers from the surrounding communities come together to learn about and engage in singing this inspiring genre of music. No auditions are required and the event is free and open to the general public. Everyone is warmly invited to lift their voices during this inspirational weekend event.

The Gospel Workshop Weekend is coordinated by the Department of Students Life and Appointed, led this year by Emma Henry ’08 of Springfield, Mass. Professional gospel virtuosos L. Kirk Hatcher of Miami, Fla. and Ed “Chief” Menifee, Jr. of Atlanta, Ga. have been invited once again to serve as choir director and music director, respectively. Gospel choirs from Chatham University and Hamilton and Muhlenberg Colleges have been invited to attend as well.

All rehearsals and the concert will be held in Barler Recital Hall on the Wells campus. The weekend schedule is as follows:
 

Friday, February 15 Rehearsal/workshop 7:00-9:00 p.m

Saturday, February 16 Rehearsal/workshop 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Warm-up  4:00 p.m. Concert  5:00 p.m.

Advance registration is recommended; participants must attend both rehearsals. Those needing more information or who are interested in participating in the workshop may contact Rebecca Cooper at 315/364-3330 by February 8 if they’d like their name included in the program.

January, 2008

Work by more than 50 students to be featured 

An eclectic mix of art will be on display in Wells College’s String Room Gallery from February 6 – March 7, 2008. Artwork produced by students enrolled in studio art classes during the Fall 2007 semester will be shown. The annual student art exhibition is free and the public is cordially invited to view the show. An opening reception with refreshments on Wednesday, February 6 from 7:00-9:00 pm offers an opportunity to meet the student artists and view and discuss their work.

More than 50 students are exhibiting their work this winter. Media represented include painting, ceramics, photography, drawing, two- and three-dimensional design, and more. 

Professor of Art William Roberts and Associate Professor Theodore Lossowski guided and instructed the students during the fall semester. They oversaw the students’ work in the studios and coordinated the installation of the show. 

The String Room Gallery is located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the show and art classes at Wells, please contact William Roberts at 315/364-3237.

January, 2008

New teams expected to attract additional student-athletes

Wells College announces plans to add women’s and men’s basketball teams beginning in the 2008-09 academic year. The men’s basketball program, led by head coach Joe Wojtylko, will begin competing at the intercollegiate level in October 2008. The women’s program will be offered at the club level during the first year, and will elevate to the intercollegiate level in the 2009-2010 season.

“I am pleased by this latest addition to our athletics program,” says Director of Athletics for Recruitment and Retention Jamey Ventura. “Adding basketball to our athletics program provides more opportunities for our student-athletes and introduces an exciting spectator sport for our entire community to enjoy during the cold winter months.”

Wells College is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III member and joined the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) in Fall 2007. The College currently offers intercollegiate teams for women in field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, and tennis. In fall 2005, as Wells transitioned to coeducation, the College introduced men’s soccer and swimming, and a cross country team for both men and women. Men’s lacrosse will debut at the intercollegiate level this spring. 

“This is a great time for athletics at Wells College,” said Ventura. “We have a dedicated coaching staff that is working hard to recruit the best student-athletes to Wells. At the Division III level, student-athletes are choosing a college that can provide them with an excellent education; when we add in the opportunity to continue playing varsity athletics, we enhance their overall college experience. The bond these student-athletes will form at Wells College with their teammates, coaches, professors, and peers create a tremendous learning experience and memories that will last a lifetime.”

The College continues to develop plans for additional sport sponsorship that are inclusive of both men and women, and meet the needs of college students today. 

To advance its athletics programs, Wells offers a variety of indoor and outdoor athletic facilities. The Schwartz Athletic Center houses a swimming pool, gymnasium, and two tennis courts; a state-of-the-art fitness center opened in fall 2006. Outdoor facilities include four newly rebuilt tennis courts, softball field, boathouse, a 9-hole golf course, and game fields for field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. New cross country running trails have been designed and will be developed this year. 

Student-athletes interested in playing basketball for Wells should contact Coach Joe Wojtylko at 315.364.3479 or email jwojtylko@wells.edu. 

January, 2008

Gender Studies and Development now offered in Mumbai, India

In keeping with its promise to connect students to the world around them, Wells College has developed a new study abroad program in Mumbai, India. Designed to help students appreciate the differing impacts development can have on women’s and men’s lives, the new Gender Studies and Development Program welcomes its first students this spring.

“This is an excellent example of a study abroad program which combines classroom learning with cultural immersion,” said John Wells, director of off campus study. “Students combine courses which are specifically designed for them with a service learning experience at a social service organization in Mumbai.”

According to Mr. Wells, Wells College’s partner institution in India, the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), is the ideal host for the new program. “Alongside faculty who conduct research on issues related to women’s health, the environment, and child poverty, students in the Gender Studies and Development Program will be able to combine classroom learning with their own experience volunteering in Mumbai,” he says. 

Program participants will live on-campus with five hundred TISS students from across India, providing an invaluable experience for informal learning about one another’s cultures and countries.

Six Americans are participating in the inaugural semester, said Mr. Wells. “I’m pleased that this initial group represents students from Wells College, St. Mary’s College (Indiana), Notre Dame University, and the University of Mary Washington. The group is solid, and we expect interest in the program to grow.”

Two of the Wells students going to India, Nicole Fambo ’09, a public affairs major from Schenectady, NY, and women’s studies major Krystal Cleary ’09 of Eastlake, Ohio, have received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to participate in the new Mumbai program. The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the Institute of International Education. Its mission is to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go.

For more information about Wells’ study abroad programs, please contact Director of Publications & Media Relations Kelly Tehan at 315/364-3260 or by email at ktehan@wells.edu.

January, 2008

January 7 – 23, 2008 Wells College Dance Studio Schwartz Athletic Center $12 per class; $55 per week / 5 classes

All classes are taught by Emma Batman, who holds a degree from Goucher College with a concentration in dance and advanced coursework in ballet and modern technique and composition. Emma has worked with such guest artists as Nilas Martins, Michael Vernon, Heather McArdle, and Roger Jeffrey.

Creative Movement(ages 4-7)
MWF 3:15 – 4:00 pm

Modern & Ballet (ages 8-12)
MWF 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Adult Stretch & Tone
T, Th 4:30 – 5:30 pm
$10 per class

Modern, intermediate/advanced
MWF 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Ballet, intermediate/advances
T, Th 5:30 – 7:00 pm

The last week of classes will be offered in conjunction with a two-week residency by Taylor 2 of the internationally acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company. Go to www.ptdc.org to learn more about Taylor 2. The Paul Taylor Dance Company will also perform at Wells College on Saturday, February 16; click on www.wells.edu and then call the box office (315-364-3456) to reserve tickets.

To register or for more information, please contact Emma Batman at 315-406-8557 or email ebatman@goucher.edu. 

Sponsored by Peachtown Elementary School

January, 2008

Local businessman Daniel Fessenden among them

The Wells College Board of Trustees recently elected a new board member and three honorary trustees. Among them is local business leader Daniel J. Fessenden.

Dan Fessenden of Union Springs will serve as a College trustee for a three-year term. He is the executive director of the Fred L. Emerson Foundation in Auburn. From 2004 to 2006, Fessenden was the founding executive director of the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva, N.Y., a nonprofit local development corporation engaged in cutting-edge research in food, agricultural and bio-based technologies. Before that he managed government and community relations for the Carrier Corporation in Syracuse, and in 1993, was elected to the New York State Assembly. He went on to serve four terms representing the 126th District.

Fessenden received his undergraduate degree from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, where he majored in applied economics and business management; he was honored in 1995 with that school’s Young Alumni Achievement Award. He also pursued graduate studies at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse. He has served on the staff of the New York state legislature and as a lobbyist with the New York Farm Bureau. 

“It is indeed an exciting time for Wells College,” said Fessenden. “As a resident of the Aurora area, I want to help strengthen the role and relevance of the College to our region’s economy. I also look forward to helping Wells build upon its strong tradition of preparing the next generation of leaders to impact our global economy.”

The College has also named three honorary trustees: Dr. William Clark of Corte Madera, Calif., and Wyoming residents Susan Wray Sullivan, Wells class of 1951, and her husband Pike Sullivan Jr. 

For more information about these appointments, please contact Director of Publications & Media Relations Kelly Tehan at 315/364-3260 or by email at ktehan@wells.edu.

December, 2007

Wells College has adjusted hours for winter break 2007 – 2008:

Last day of classes: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Final exams end: Thursday, December 13, 2007

College closed for winter break: 
   4:30 pm, Friday, December 21, 2007 – 8:30 am, Wednesday, January 2, 2008

College reopens: Wednesday, January 2, 2008
    Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Spring classes begin: Monday, January 28, 2008

If you have an emergency or need assistance while the College is closed December 22 – January 1, please contact the Office of Campus Security at 315.364.3229.

Happy Holidays! 

December, 2007

Grammy-nominated ensemble The Bobs fills room with high energy

The Wells College Arts & Lecture Series Committee is pleased to welcome a cappella group The Bobs to campus on Friday evening, November 30. Billed as “an unforgettable evening of classics that rock and classic rock,” the performance will be held in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, at 7:30 p.m. Prices are $6 for students, senior citizens and the Wells College community, and $10 for the general public; free for Wells students with ID. Tickets are available at the door the night of the performance or from the box office the week preceding the show; call 315/364-3456 to reserve seats. 

Grammy-nominated vocal pioneers The Bobs are a four-voice a cappella group that’s been performing for 25 years. Known for their incredible live show, witty, tuneful original material, and outrageous covers of classic songs, their repertoire runs the gamut from The Doors, Duke Ellington and Cream to flamenco and the Talking Heads. 

In 2001, the band’s concert special, “The Bobs Sing! ( And Other Love Songs),” was filmed for PBS and later released on DVD. That DVD won the Chicago International Film Festival’s film and video competition in the “Interactive Entertainment” category. Their recording of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter received a Grammy nomination in 1984 for Best Vocal Arrangement, and two of The Bobs’ CDs have been added to the permanent collection of the media archives in the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of American History.

Warming up for The Bobs will be Wells’ own Henry’s VIIIs and Whirligigs student singing groups.

Each year, the Wells College Arts & Lecture Series brings professional acts and individuals to campus to speak on relevant issues and represent the arts: drama, music, and dance. The acts are selected annually by a committee composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.

For more information about The Bobs’ concert and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please contact Rebecca Cooper, coordinator of the Arts & Lecture Series Committee, at 315/364-3330 or visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. More information on The Bobs may be found at www.bobs.com.

November, 2007

Festive tradition replete with evergreens and candlelight

All are welcome to enjoy a long-standing holiday tradition at Wells College. On Sunday, December 2, the Wells Concert Choir will present the 48th annual holiday performance at 7:30 pm in Barler Recital Hall on the Aurora campus. Professor of Music Crawford R. Thoburn will conduct the program, which features seasonal music for the men’s, women’s, and combined choral ensembles. The public is warmly invited to enjoy this special treat. Donations of canned and boxed foods for a local food pantry will be gratefully accepted as the price of admission. 

Pine trees and candlelight will create a festive atmosphere for this holiday favorite. This year’s program is a choral sampler, with works ranging from Renaissance motets to American folk-songs, and from the works of Baroque masters to African-American spirituals. Holiday favorites will include Lo, How a Rose, Carol of the Bells, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and Silent Night. The students will also sing several published choral compositions written by Professor Thoburn, including There is No Rose of Such Virtue, ’Neath Starlit Skies, and Venite Adoremus. Wells College Lecturer in Music Russell Posegate will serve as piano accompanist for the program.

“It’s a campus tradition — the candlelight, evergreens, carols and holiday music — but this year something new is added,” said Professor Thoburn. “This is the first year in the College’s history that the holiday concert will include a mixed-voice Concert Choir, with tenors and basses added to the sopranos and altos.” 

In the last two years, some of Professor Thoburn’s students formed a small mixed-voice chamber music group called Sine Nomine that helped make the vocal transition to coeducation. The group has already established a reputation for excellence.

Under Professor Thoburn’s direction, Wells College choral ensembles have appeared by invitation at national professional conventions, toured throughout the northeastern United States and western Europe, and been heard on national network radio and PBS.

For more informatio about the concert and music offerings at Wells College, please contact Professor Thoburn at 315/364-3347.

November, 2007

Cornell University professor Daniel Huttenlocher to give lecture, visit classes, conduct two-day residency

Cornell University's Neafsey Professor of Computing, Information Science and Business Daniel Huttenlocher will be on the Wells College campus November 15 and 16 for a two-day residency as the 2007-08 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar. As part of his campus visit, Dr. Huttenlocher will give a public lecture on Thursday, November 15 entitled "Computer Vision: From Autonomous Vehicles to Video Surveillance to Image Search." The lecture will take place at 4:45 p.m. in Stratton Hall 209.  The public is invited to attend the free talk.

Professor Huttenlocher holds a joint appointment in the computer science department and the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell.  His research interests are in computer vision, online social networks, electronic collaboration tools, computational geometry, and financial trading systems. 

"Professor Huttenlocher is a particularly appropriate choice for Wells this year," said Assistant Professor of Psychology Deborah Gagnon, president of the Wells chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. "As a practitioner of computer and information science, he is a natural fit with the events coinciding with the opening of our new science building, the search for a tenure-track computer science faculty member, and the recent addition of a new associate vice president for library and information sciences."

The recipient of a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1990, Dr. Huttenlocher was named the New York State Professor of the Year by CASE in 1993, and honored as a Weiss Fellow by Cornell in 1996 for excellence in teaching.  He holds 24 U.S. patents and has published more than sixty technical papers.  In addition to academic positions, he has been chief technology officer of Intelligent Markets, a provider of advanced trading systems on Wall Street, and has spent more than ten years at Xerox PARC, where he directed work that led to the ISO JBIG2 image-compression standard.

During his Wells residency, Professor Huttenlocher will make several classroom appearances and meet informally with faculty and students. He will also present the weekly science colloquium lecture on Friday, November 16 in Stratton 209. Beginning at 12:30 pm, Huttenlocher will discuss "Computational Social Science: Large Scale Studies of Wikis, Blogs, and Social Networking Sites."

Huttenlocher earned his B.S. from the University of Michigan in 1980. He went on to receive both his master's and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His visit to the Wells campus coincides with the College's year-long celebration of the sciences, heralding the opening of Wells' new science building, Ann Wilder Stratton '46 Hall.

Daniel Huttenlocher's visit is part of the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program. Each year, the program makes available 12 or more distinguished scholars who visit 100 colleges and universities with chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. They spend two days on each campus, meeting informally with students and faculty members, taking part in classroom discussions, and giving a public lecture open to the entire academic community. Now entering its 52nd year, the Visiting Scholar Program has sent nearly 550 scholars on some 4,500 two-day visits. Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest academic honor society, with chapters at 270 colleges and universities and over 600,000 members. The Wells College chapter was formed in 1932.

Dr. Huttenlocher's residency is sponsored by the Wells Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the Office of the Dean of the College. For more information, please contact Professor Gagnon at 315/364-3307 and visit the College's Web site at www.wells.edu. For more information on the Phi Beta Kappa Society, go to www.pbk.org.

November, 2007

Students and faculty conductor present Schubert's "Mass in G Minor"

Wells College Professor of Music Crawford R. Thoburn is pleased to announce this fall’s choir concert. On Sunday, November 18, the program will include Schubert’s “Mass in G Major” for the combined Concert Choir with vocal soloists and string orchestra. The performance will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the Sommer Center.  The public is invited to attend the free concert.

Franz Schubert’s beloved “Mass in G Major” (D.167) will be the featured work presented by the Wells College Concert Choir and soloists, accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Professor Thoburn will conduct the performance, in which the College’s women’s and men’s choral ensembles will also sing works from their respective repertoires.

“The ‘Mass in G Major’ is Schubert’s best-known choral-orchestral composition and an astonishingly fine work for the eighteen year old composer who produced it in just five days!” said Professor Thoburn. “The choral parts present a lyrical, expressive setting of the traditional liturgical text in a style somewhat reminiscent of Mozart and early Beethoven. The vocal solo writing is woven into the choral movements, with the exception of the ‘Benedictus,’ which is set as a theme and variations for solo trio.”

The vocal soloists in this performance will be soprano Mary Gooding ’10 of Penfield, N.Y., tenor Justin Zehr ’11 from Syracuse, and basses Marshall Anderson ’09 of State College, Pa. and Travis Niles ’09 of Nineveh, N.Y., all of whom are Wells students from the vocal studio of Professor Thoburn.

In addition to the Schubert mass, the Concert Choir will sing arrangements of African-American spirituals and shorter works by William Byrd and Johann Sebastian Bach.  The women’s ensemble will perform works by Orlando di Lasso, Ellen Keating, and Henry Purcell, and the men’s ensemble will present pieces by William Byrd, Thomas Ravenscroft, and Marshall Bartholomew.  The women’s ensemble will be accompanied by pianist Russell Posegate, lecturer in piano at Wells. 

November, 2007

Tribute in honor of late Welsh poet, author Leslie Norris features readings, screenings

The Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to announce that on Wednesday, November 14, there will be a special literary event celebrating the life and work of the late beloved Welsh poet and short story writer Leslie Norris. Beginning at 7:00 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall, the tribute will include readings from Mr. Norris’s poems and stories, and will feature his recently released children’s book, published posthumously. The free event is open to the public; light refreshments will be served. 

Mr. Norris, who passed away last year, had a close relationship with Wells. He read on the Aurora campus several times, and Wells College Press’ first full-length book publication was his poetry collection Holy Places (1998). Subsequently, the Press reprinted his classic collection of poems for children, Norris’s Ark, as well as pamphlets and broadsides of his work. His readings are legendary; he was one of the all-time favorite writers to visit Wells. 

This reading will feature Norris’ latest book, Albert, Lucille, and the Two Williams, sequel to the 2003 Christmas story, Albert and the Angels. One of the readers will be editor, poet, and fiction-writer Peter Makuck, who co-edited An Open World: Essays on Leslie Norris (1994). 

Mr. Norris ranks among the finest contemporary writers in English. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Welsh Academy, and recipient of numerous awards for poetry and fiction, he was named Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at Brigham Young University in 1983. He authored more than twenty books of poetry and fiction; his Collected Stories and Collected Poems appeared in 1996. 

Crossing Borders, a DVD of Mr. Norris reading and talking about his life and work, will be shown repetitively in the Art Exhibit Room beginning at 4:30 pm on November 14 and continuing until the start of the event. Copies of his books will be available for purchase at the reading. 

For more information about this and other readings at Wells, please contact Professor Bruce Bennett at 315.364.3228 and visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu.

November, 2007

Women’s tennis captures first-ever NCAA championship bid

The Wells College Express women’s tennis team traveled to Clarks Summit, Pa. last weekend to compete in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) team and individual championships. In so doing, the Express earned the NEAC’s automatic qualification to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tennis tournament, the first in the College’s athletic history. 

The Express entered the NEAC tournament as the #4 seed last and upset #1 seed Keuka College in the semifinals of the team championship on Friday. In the championship round, the Express took on #2 seed Penn State-Berks, who defeated #3 seed Keystone College in the other semifinal round. Due to their provisional member status of the NCAA, Penn State-Berks did not receive the qualifying bid. The first round of the 27th annual Division III women’s tennis championships will be held May 2-4, 2008. 

The tennis team continued their success on Saturday as eight of the nine flights qualified for the individual championships.  The team met their goal by placing in the top three in every position, and two flights came away with NEAC championship wins. 

“This whole season has been a full team effort as each individual player has contributed equally to our team’s success,” said Express first year head coach Andrew Gross. “The team reached its three season goals:  finish with a 9-5 regular season record, reach the NEAC championship final match, and have all our players place in the top three at individual championships. The team is intrinsically and extrinsically motivated and knows how to come through in the big matches – I couldn’t be more pleased.” 

The women finished the regular season 10-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The team will participate in practices and matches during the spring tennis season to prepare for the May tournament.

Founded in 1868, Wells College is a Division III member of NCAA and joined the North Eastern Athletic Conference this fall. Wells offers the following intercollegiate teams — Women: field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and cross country. Men: cross country, swimming, soccer, and lacrosse. Men’s basketball is being introduced this year at the club level and will elevate to varsity in 2008-09; women’s basketball will be sponsored at the varsity level in 2009-10.

For more information about the tennis team’s berth in the NCAA tournament or athletics at Wells, please contact Kelly Tehan, director of publications and media relations, at 315.364.3260 and visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu/athletics.

October, 2007

X.J. Kennedy to recite from two new books of poetry

The Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to announce that renowned anthologist, poet, and children’s writer X.J. Kennedy is returning to the Aurora campus for a reading. The event will take place at 7:30 pm on Thursday, November 8 in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. The free reading will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet the writer; light refreshments will be served. 

For more than half a century, readers and listeners have taken special pleasure in the poetry of X.J. Kennedy. While at Wells, Kennedy will read from two of his latest books of poetry: Peeping Tom’s Cabin and In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus. The latter is an anthology of his best work — memorable songs, startling lyrics, in-depth character studies, and poems that tell poignant stories. A master of verbal music, Kennedy has long been praised for his wit and humor; as this collection reveals, many of his poems also reach surprising depths and heights. 

Kennedy is also the author of several other volumes and collections, including the prize-winning Nude Descending a Staircase, Cross Ties, and The Lords of Misrule. Kennedy has long occupied a unique place in American poetry; In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus offers the first comprehensive collection to span his entire career. 

“X. J. Kennedy is an eminent anthologist, author of children's books, essayist, and poet, who also happens to be one of the most entertaining readers of poetry around,” said Bruce Bennett, Wells professor of English and director of the Visiting Writer Series. “Wells is lucky to have him back to celebrate the publication of two new major books of his poetry.”

X. J. Kennedy has written poetry, children’s verse, and fiction as well as textbooks on writing and literature. Before becoming a full-time writer, he taught at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina–Greensboro, Tufts University, Wellesley College, the University of California–Irvine, and Leeds University. He now lives in Lexington, Mass. with his wife and sometime coauthor, Dorothy M. Kennedy. 

This reading and the Wells College Visiting Writer Series are made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.  Poets and writers are invited to campus throughout the academic year to meet with students, present writing workshops, and read from their respective works.

For more information about X.J. Kennedy’s reading at Wells, please contact Professor Bruce Bennett at 315.364.3228

October, 2007

Results of “The Aurora Truck Study” report to be shared tonight with legislators, public officials

Wells College continues to apply classroom learning to “real world” situations. In response to a request by Aurora trustees to quantify the magnitude of truck traffic in the village, 23 Wells students participated in a study that has made its way to the upper reaches of state government.

Under the direction of Wells’ Assistant Professor of Psychology Deborah Gagnon and at the request of Aurora village trustee George Farenthold, nearly two dozen students in May 2006 conducted a count of multi-axle trucks traveling through the village of Aurora on State Route 90.

“The truck project started out as what I thought would be a wonderful service learning project for my quantitative methods in psychology course,” said Dr. Gagnon. “I had no idea just how good an opportunity it would turn out to be. The students had been learning all semester about the importance of making careful, systematic, objective observations; here was an opportunity to apply their newfound skills to a concrete, real-world question that would be of use to the community in which they lived. It was truly a win-win situation.”

During the randomly selected and representative week of May 8 – 13, 2006, Wells students rotated shifts, camping out along Main Street in front of Wells College to count the number of multi-axle trucks that made their way through the village between 5:00 am and 7:00 pm. The final count for the six-day period was 617 — 322, or 52%, were identified as garbage trucks, likely en route to and from the Seneca Meadows landfill in Waterloo. 

“This has always been a life safety issue for me,” said Mr. Farenthold, also a nine-year Aurora EMT/first responder. “As an Aurora village trustee, I’ve been greatly concerned for years about the number of trucks pounding through our quiet downtown. Our infrastructure just isn’t designed to handle 80,000 pounds of truck and load. We are running out of time and luck, and without positive action, the results are certain to be tragic.”

Professor Gagnon has compiled the results of the study into a report entitled “The Aurora Truck Study.” She shared the report, which addresses life safety, quality of life, infrastructure costs, and environmental impact issues, with Mr. Farenthold and village leaders, who in turn passed it along to state legislators.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) recently introduced federal legislation (U.S. Senate Resolution 395) as part of a larger bill that will restrict movement of hazardous waste and prevent multi-axle trucks carrying hazardous waste from traveling on non-interstate highways. 

Mr. Farenthold has been lobbying for legislation as well: “We owe Senator John DeFrancisco [R-Syracuse] a huge collective ‘thank you’ for shepherding his trash truck legislation through the first day of the Special Session in Albany; the vote was 57-1. Now we begin to push it through the New York State Assembly’s Transportation Committee, then on to Governor Spitzer’s office.”

Following welcome remarks by Wells College President Lisa Marsh Ryerson, Dr. Gagnon will present the results of the study tonight, Thursday, October 25, to the Upstate Citizens Safety Task Force. The volunteer nonpartisan group is expecting more than 100 in attendance, including a number of public officials. The meeting will take place at the Aurora Inn at 6:00 pm.

“My hope is that our elected officials, concerned citizens, and the trucking industry can come to a mutually agreeable solution to this issue,” said Professor Gagnon. “My desire is not to put truckers out of business - as the niece of a retired interstate trucker, I am all too aware of the economic plight of the trucking industry. However, there is no economic argument, in my mind, that will offset the loss of even one Wells student or one Aurora resident to a multi-ton truck.”

She went on to say that “the students themselves ought to be recognized for the good work that they have done on behalf of Aurora. I hope that by seeing the effect of their work in the greater community, they will gain a sense of hope and optimism that collective efforts of concerned citizens really can make a difference.”

For more information about Wells College’s involvement in the Aurora truck study, please contact Director of Publications & Media Relations Kelly Tehan at 315/364-3260. Additional information about the Upstate Citizens Safety Task Force and legislation surrounding the study may be obtained from the task force’s vice president George Farenthold at 315/730-2698.

October, 2007

Sculpture, drawings on display by artist Jennifer Pepper of Cazenovia

The Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce the third exhibition of the 2007-08 academic year. A selection of drawings and sculptural works by Cazenovia College art professor Jennifer Pepper will be on display in the String Room Gallery from November 7 through December 14. The exhibit is free and the public is cordially invited to view the show. An opening reception to be held on Wednesday, November 7 from 7:00-9:00 pm offers an opportunity to meet the artist; light refreshments will be served.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Jennifer Pepper is a sculptor and installation artist currently on the art faculty at Cazenovia College. Professor Pepper’s work focuses on the connections between language and the physical world. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in solo exhibitions and has participated in over fifty group shows since 1990. Her work has been seen in a variety of venues, including museums and galleries in Ireland, Japan, Canada, New York City and other locations throughout the United States.

In her artist statement, Ms. Pepper says of her Wells College installation: “I make use of found objects and dislocate them from their original cultural frames. By stripping the material from one context and incorporating it into another, the object has the potential to be complex, alive, available, and audience-activated. In new configurations, an object, word, idea, or meaning embraces endless options … These varied perceptions illuminate the very nature in which language functions when the activity of perception [and] interpretation and the process of translation are critically examined. … My drawings are active, contrasting hues and visual vibrations that infer the physical and malleable quality language continually reveals. The use of fragmented sentences from philosophy [and] everyday life and art presents language in an elusive manner, inferring its buoyant and transformational qualities. … In my works, I attempt to bring forth the temporal attributes language offers as it articulates and names our world.”

Ms. Pepper is the recipient of a number of granted awards, including The National Endowment for the Humanities, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Foundation for the Arts, Astraea National Visual Artist fellow (NYC), and The Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. She was a guest panelist at the 2007 Women’s Studies annual conference at Middle Tennessee State University where she presented a paper entitled The Latent Image: Performing Identity. She also presented Digital Flickerings & Femme Technology at the 2005 conference.

Ms. Pepper received her B.F.A. from The Maryland Institute College of Art in 1987, and her M.F.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1989.

The String Room Gallery is located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the show and art classes at Wells, please contact gallery director William Roberts at 315/364-3237.
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October, 2007

Sarah Mkhonza of Swaziland discusses censorship, literacy

Wells College is pleased to welcome African author, activist, and journalist Dr. Sarah Mkhonza to Aurora. Dr. Mkhonza of Swaziland will give a lecture entitled “Exercising the Right to Write” on Thursday, October 25 at 4:45 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. The public is invited to hear the free presentation.

In July 2006, Sarah Mkhonza began a two-year residency sponsored by the Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) Project. ICOA is part of an international network of cities of refuge that supports the freedom of expression and human rights of writers exiled from their home countries. 

Sarah Mkhonza fled her homeland in 2003 after a campaign of harassment against herself and her family. An outspoken voice for women’s rights under the monarchical Swazi regime, Dr. Mkhonza wrote newspaper columns for The Observer and The Swazi Sun that told of the daily struggles of Swazi women and children ejected from their land. As her popularity as a critic of the government’s repressive policies grew, she was told to stop writing. Her refusal resulted in threats, assaults, and hospitalization. At the University of Swaziland, where she was a professor of linguistics and English, her office was twice robbed and vandalized. 

In 2003, Dr. Mkhonza arrived in the United States on a fellowship from the Scholar’s Rescue Fund and began teaching at the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Ind. She received political asylum in 2005.

Dr. Mkhonza’s talk at Wells College, “Exercising the Right to Write,” is from a paper she has been working on. She will also read some of the fiction she wrote while still in Swaziland.

During her residency in Ithaca, she holds a joint appointment as visiting scholar in the Department of English and the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University. She has published two novels, What the Future Holds and Pains of a Maid, and is currently working on a third. She is co-founder of the Association of African Women, and the African Book Fund Group at Michigan State University.

The mother of two sons, Dr. Mkhonza earned her Ph.D. in English from Michigan State University She is ICOA’s first woman writer. 

For more information about Dr. Mkhonza’s lecture at Wells College, please contact Director of Institutional Diversity Stephen Gilchrist at 315/364-3463. More on Dr. Mkhonza and the Ithaca City of Asylum Project can be found at http://cresp.cornell.edu/projects/ithaca_city_asylum.php.
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October, 2007

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is funny, madcap affair

The Wells College Theatre Department proudly presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as this fall’s student drama production. The performance will be featured on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall. There will also be a 2:00 matinee on Sunday, October 21. Prices are $3 for students and children, $5 for senior citizens and the Wells community, and $7 for the general public. Tickets are available from the box office the week preceding the show, and at the door the night of the performance. Please call 315/364-3456 to reserve.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will is the quintessential gender-bending romantic comedy. A love triangle of epic proportions is set into motion when fraternal twins Viola and Sebastian are victims of a shipwreck and both are left to believe the other is dead. Viola washes up on the shore of the mythical land of Illyria where she assumes the role of a eunuch named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino. Viola soon falls for her benefactor, but his sights are set on the beautiful Countess Olivia, to whom he sends Cesario with a plea for her affections. The ploy works and Olivia does indeed fall in love—with the disguised Viola. From there further confusion and hilarity ensue, mostly due to Olivia’s house full of foolish pranksters and their victims.

Several Wells College students play lead roles: June Lesney ’08 is the obstinate Olivia; Zach Dickie ’11 portrays Orsino; Viola, disguised as the man Cesario, is played by Sarah Bonawitz ’11; Viola’s brother Sebastian is played by Ryan Addario ’10. Lindsey Cahoon ’09 is Feste the Fool. Additional students are cast in supporting roles and make up the crew. 

Costume design is by adjunct professor Bobbie Kolpakas. Natalie Kemper ’10 serves as assistant director, and lights and set design were produced by Wells technical director Joe DeForest. 

Twelfth Night is directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Siouxsie Grady. Ms. Grady received a B.A. in speech/theatre from the University of Montevallo (Alabama); an M.Ed. in drama from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro; and an M.F.A. in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College. She was visiting assistant professor of theatre at Wells from 2003 to 2006, and has had professional teaching, acting, and directing experience at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca; The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, N.C.; Seattle Children’s Theatre; and the Georgia Shakespeare Festival in Atlanta. 

For more information about Twelfth Night and other theatrical productions at Wells, please contact Assistant Professor Grady at 315/364-3232.
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October, 2007

Memorial thesis exhibit by the late Emily Richardson, young local artist

The Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce its second exhibition of the 2007-08 academic year. A selection of black and white photographs by the late Emily Richardson will be on display in the String Room Gallery from October 3 through November 2. The exhibit is free and the public is cordially invited to view the show. An opening reception to be held on Wednesday, October 3 from 7:00-9:00 pm offers an opportunity to meet the artist’s family; light refreshments will be served.

Emily Richardson of Sherwood, New York, graduated from Southern Cayuga High School in 2000 and received her B.F.A. from Hampshire College in 2004. After working in New York City for a few months, Emily and her college roommate Emily Doran moved to Portland, Ore. to begin their lives in the Pacific Northwest. Sadly, in September 2005, both young women perished in a tragic automobile accident in Oregon.

The photographs selected for this installation, “Rebuilt Histories: A Walk Through the House,” are “partially documentary and partially imagined fiction,” according to Emily’s artist statement. The show celebrates the creative talent and artistic energy of a young woman whose life ended much too soon.

“Emily was a gifted photographer and it is very clear that she would have continued to succeed in the profession had she lived,” said Wells Professor of Art William Roberts. “Emily had the eye, the intellect, and the heart of a true artist. It has been my privilege to work with her family to bring this exhibit to Wells College.”

Emily’s family shared that Emily found beauty in simple things among the rubble of things past. She often noticed details other people missed, joyfully picking up a leaf, a flower or a piece of glass. Her photographs of old houses reveal beauty in the remnants of past occupants.