Wells College Offers Fourth Annual Activism Symposium

“The Activist’s Toolkit” is this year’s theme

Wells College continues its tradition of academic excellence and student leadership by presenting the 4th annual Activism in the Academy symposium on Friday, March 4. Under the direction of Assistant Professor of Sociology Laura McClusky, students have organized this campus-wide event entitled “The Activist’s Toolkit.” The symposium is free for the Wells community; a $10 fee for all others includes lunch. Interested parties are asked to pre-register on-line at aurora.wells.edu/~symposium; payment may be made upon arrival. 

The day will begin with a keynote address at 9:00 am in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall. Human rights activist and writer Marjorie Agosin will speak on “Threads of Memory: Women and Resistance Movements in Latin America.” A professor of Spanish at Wellesley College, Ms. Agosin is recognized in North and South America as a versatile and provocative Latin American writer. She lived in Santiago, Chile until age sixteen, when she came to the United States to escape the military coup that overthrew the Socialist government of Salvador Allende. 

Activities continue all day with more than 25 workshops, demonstrations, lectures, and break-out sessions; individuals may attend one or all. Following Agosin’s talk, participants may choose from workshops offered in two morning sessions (starting at 10:30 and 11:30) and three afternoon sessions (beginning at 1:45, 2:45, and 3:45). Issues addressed include nuclear power, transgender rights, responsible consumerism, pro-choice activism, art and activism, non-violence training, media activism, and more.

Ron Casanova, vice president of the National Union of the Homeless in New York City, will be the luncheon speaker. Beginning at 12:45 pm in the college’s dining hall, Mr. Casanova will speak on “Each One, Teach One: Learning About and Fighting For Homeless Peoples’ Rights.”

The activism symposium will wrap up at 4:30 pm with an endnote address by Ms. Agosin.

Started by the Collegiate Association (student government) in 2002, the purpose of the student-centered symposium is to promote civic engagement, encourage critical thinking, and find links between the academy and the world at large. 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 learning process.

McClusky is excited about the symposium. “This year we have sessions that deal with an amazing array of issues: women and resistance movements in Latin America, animal rights, marginalization on campus, the School of the Americas, and so much more,” she says. “The students have done a remarkable job organizing this opportunity for the community to learn more about how each of us can work responsibly to change the world.”

“The Activist’s Toolkit” is intended to bring activists and academicians together in raising issues, raising consciousness, and finding answers. For more information about “The Activist’s Toolkit” symposium and for workshop descriptions, please contact Professor Laura McClusky at 315/364-3252, visit the symposium website aurora.wells.edu/~symposium.

February, 2005

Wells College Presents Piano Duet and Two Piano Recital

Concert features husband and wife duo from Moravia

The Music Department at Wells College is pleased to offer an evening of piano music. On Saturday, March 5 at 8:00 pm in Barler Recital Hall, music lecturer Nancy Gilbertson will be joined by her husband Kim in a performance of piano duets and two piano music. The concert is free and the public is cordially invited to attend. A reception with the pianists will follow the recital.

The evening's musical program will showcase music by composers Aaron Copland, Maurice Ravel, and Gabriel Faure, as well as a Latin American jazz duet by Brian Dykstra and the Paganini Variations for Two Pianos by Witold Lutoslawski. 

Nancy Gilbertson also received her M. M. from Kent State University in 1981, and was an active  performer as soloist and accompanist in the Northeast Ohio area.  She has been a Lecturer in Music at Wells College, teaching piano and music theory, since 1987.  In 2000, she recorded and produced a compact disc of exotic and eclectic piano music from Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Israel titled Mediterranean Magic.  Ms. Gilbertson has been teaching private piano lessons since 1973 and is now a frequent performer in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

After receiving a Masters degree in Music from Kent State University in 1981, Kim Gilbertson taught piano at Mount Union College, taught piano privately and  was a Dance Accompanist at the University of Akron in Ohio. Moving to New York was also moving to a new life.  Mr. Gilbertson has taught Chemistry at Moravia High School since 1986.  He continues with musical activities by performing with his wife, Nancy, and playing violin with the Cortland University Orchestra.

For more information about the performance, please contact Nancy Gilbertson at 315/364-3343.

February, 2005

“Learning From Renoir” Memorial Poetry Reading

Given in tribute to the late Bonnie St. Andrews

The Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to welcome three writers and professors from SUNY-Upstate Medical University to the Aurora campus. The three will read selected poems from Learning from Renoir in tribute to the late poet Bonnie St. Andrews. The memorial reading will be held at 7:o0 pm on Tuesday, March 1 in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall.  The free reading will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet the speakers; refreshments will be served.

Dr. Bonnie St. Andrews, a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Upstate Medical in Syracuse, was also an accomplished poet and writer. Dr. St. Andrews passed away on October 21, 2003. This memorial reading is given in her honor by three of her colleagues: Drs. Deirdre Neilen and Catherine V. Caldicott, both associate professors of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, and Dr. Kathy Faber-Langendoen, professor and chair of the same department.

The women will read poems from St. Andrews’ book, Learning from Renoir, which was published in spring 2004 by the Wells College Press. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the reading.

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 “Learning From Renoir,” Bonnie St. Andrews, and the Visiting Writers Series at Wells College, please contact English professor Bruce Bennett at 315/364-3228.

February, 2005

“The Poets’ Grimm” Poetry Reading at Wells College

20th century poems feature rewrites of old favorites

The Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to welcome poets and editors Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson to the Aurora campus. The authors will read from their edited volume “The Poets’ Grimm” at 7:30 pm on Thursday, February 24 in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. The free reading will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet the speakers; refreshments will be served.

“The Poets’ Grimm” is a wide-ranging compilation of fairy tales and poems which features the work of more than 100 poets. All pieces in the anthology are based on the classic Brothers Grimm folk stories of almost 200 years ago. Margaret Atwood, Hayden Carruth, Galway Kinnell, and Anne Sexton are just some of the literary stars represented in this collection.

 “Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White - they’re all here, dusted off and freshened through revision. ‘The Poets’ Grimm’ welcomes you back to childhood with a sly modernist twist,” says reviewer Billy Collins.

Readers for the evening will include the volume’s editors Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, and contributors Bruce Bennett, professor of English at Wells College; Barbara Crooker; Charles Martin; and Katharyn Howd Machan of Ithaca.

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 “The Poets’ Grimm” and the Visiting Writers Series at Wells College, please contact English professor Bruce Bennett at 315/364-3228.

February, 2005

Indiana Soul Revue Rolls onto the Wells College Campus

Dynamic R & B ensemble rocks Aurora

The Wells College Arts & Lecture Series Committee is pleased to announce that the Indiana University Soul Revue will perform on the Aurora campus. The all-student group will take the stage on Friday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sommer Center, Smith Hall. Prices are $3 for students and children, $6 for senior citizens and the Wells College community, and $10 for the general public. Tickets are available at the door the night of the performance; please call 315/364-3428 to reserve.

High energy, impeccable musicianship, and sizzling soul - the IU Soul Revue delivers the sounds of timeless R&B, soul, funk, and contemporary urban black popular music. Everyone is invited to this performance featuring original compositions along with arrangements recorded by Stevie Wonder; Earth, Wind and Fire; Patti Labelle; Kelly Price; D’Angelo; Mary J. Blige; Eric Benet and more.

The Revue hails from Indiana University, and is a full ensemble featuring male and female lines, horns, and rhythm section. Directed by Tyron Cooper, the Revue has maintained its reputation as one of the finest collegiate popular music ensembles in America since 1971.

The Soul Revue is managed by the African American Arts Institute of Indiana University (AAAI). Founded in 1974, the AAAI is one of the premier university performing arts programs in the nation. AAAI seeks to promote and preserve African American culture through performance, education, creative activity, research, and outreach.

The Wells College Arts & Lecture Series features professional guest artists and performers who are brought to campus to enrich the cultural and academic components of Wells as a learning community. The acts are selected annually by a committee comprised of Wells faculty, staff, administrators, and students.

For more information about I.U. Soul Revue and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please contact Meagen Mulherin, assistant dean for campus involvement, at 315/364-3428. Additional information about Soul Revue may also be found at www.indiana.edu/~aaai.

February, 2005

Early Music Concert Presented at the Aurora Inn

The Frogwork Consort will perform “Table Musik”

The Frogwork Consort will present Table Musik, an evening of early music on period instruments, on Sunday, February 27. The recital will take place at 4:00 pm in the Lakeside Room of the beautiful Aurora Inn, 391 Main Street, Aurora. The public is warmly invited to enjoy this special recital. Admission is $10.00 at the door.

In Elizabethan times, music was often played at home after a meal, providing the evening’s entertainment. The gentry would sing and play while sitting around the table; thus, this type of intimate and often intricate chamber music was called “table music.” The concert features The Frogwork Consort, a period instrument trio that performs on viols, a family of string instruments popular before the string quartet and which was the preeminent ensemble for chamber music in Elizabethan England. 

The Frogwork Consort has played together for more than ten years. The name of the group, Frogwork, has two origins. It is derived from the small piece of wood called a frog that separates the bow hair from the neck of a stringed instrument. The name also describes the frog-like position of viola players who hold the instrument between their legs. In fact, another name for the viol is viola da gamba, which means “viol of the leg.” 

The Frogwork Consort is comprised of three extraordinary area musicians. The organizer of this program, Dr. Susan Sandman of Aurora, is professor emerita of Wells College. She earned her B.A. in music from Vassar College and a Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford University.  She has won several National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and other grants for performances and recordings. Professor Sandman retired from Wells College after 26 years to devote her time to performance.  In addition to Frogwork, she performs with the Aurora early music ensemble Elizabethan Conversation. 

Lee Johnston of Nedrow is a print music specialist with Hickey's Music of Ithaca, and organist and choir director at the First English Lutheran Church in Syracuse.  Frequent performances on organ and viola da gamba include Crouse Early Music Ensemble, Schola Cantorum of Syracuse, Hendricks Chapel of Syracuse University, and the Marcellus Chorale. 

Alexander Rakov of Cortland received his music training in conducting, composition and performance from the Leningrad Conservatory of Music in Russia, and holds a performance diploma from Syracuse University. Formerly a professor of early music at St. Lawrence University and director of the early music program at Syracuse University, he now teaches privately and performs on lute and the viola da gamba with the New World Renaissance Band and Cantiga. 

The fine acoustics of the Aurora Inn’s Lakeside Room has a special appeal for the trio, and the setting is historically appropriate for the type of music featured. Performed will be fantasies and dance suites by the English master composers Simpson, Gibbons, Locke and Hingeston. Various combinations of viols, including trebles, tenors and basses will be used; two were built by the Crocker Workshop in Aurora. 

For more information about Table Musik and The Frogwork Consort, please contact Susan Sandman, professor emerita of music, at 315/364-8406 or the Aurora Inn at 315/364-8888.

February, 2005

New Lecture Series Spotlights Wells College Faculty

Seneca Falls Library program features four professors in 2005

Wells College and the Seneca Falls Library are collaborating to bring the public a new lecture series this year. The Wells Lecture Series began last fall, and will continue in 2005 with four professors speaking on a variety of topics. Talks will begin at 7:00 pm in the meeting room of the Seneca Falls Library, located at 47 Cayuga Street. The lectures are free of charge and open to all members of the community.

“The library is working hard to provide programs and information that will broaden the scope of our mission and provide a valuable resource to our neighbors,” says the library’s director of development Jacqueline Grey.  “We hope that these new offerings will increase the library’s visibility in the community while enhancing the lives of our residents on a daily basis.”

The 2005 Series will be held on Thursday evenings and features the following:
 
 

	February 17 “Cultures of Collecting” by visiting assistant professor of foreign languages, literatures, and cultures Raul Delgado-Rodriguez.  This talk will cover two basic and very different manners of collecting, comparing and contrasting the collection of the Imperial Czar Peter I to that of the private collector. Slides will help the audience visualize the contrasts between the collecting narratives.
	March 3  “Toni Morrison, Author” by associate dean Carolyn Denard. Carolyn is the founder and board chair of the Toni Morrison Society. This talk will kick off the library’s “Everybody in Seneca Falls reads Beloved” campaign; Beloved is one of Morrison’s many award-winning books. April 5 Beloved discussion led by Carolyn Denard.
	April 28 “Women’s Spaces and Women’s Lives in 19th Century America” by assistant professor of art history Sara French. A discussion about the ways in which public and private architectural spaces are subject to social ideas about gender roles. The talk will address English architecture of the 16th century and early colonial houses in America, interspersed with more modern examples. This will be related to the women's rights movement in Seneca Falls and Catharine Beecher's "American Woman's Home."
	Sept 15 Poetry reading by professor of English Bruce Bennett. Bruce is an award winning published poet and the director of the Creative Writing Program at Wells. He will read from his new work, including his newly published Bright Hills chapbook “Web-Watching.”

“Professors and those who teach have so much knowledge to share,” continues Jackie. “I wanted to begin a series where there would be a forum for sharing their specialties. In Seneca Falls we have an interested audience who will take advantage of these offerings. It seemed to me that there was a logical connection between Wells College on the west side of the lake and Seneca Falls on the east side that celebrates itself as the home of women’s rights.  We are excited at the prospect of all the interesting topics we have scheduled for 2005.” 

The mission of the Seneca Falls Library is to serve the community's educational, informational and leisure needs through the provision of literary materials, programs, meeting venues and multimedia services.

The Wells Lecture Series is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, which is administered locally by Finger Lakes Arts Grant and Services, Inc. 

For more information about the Wells Lecture Series and other programs at the Seneca Falls Library, please call Jackie Grey at 568-8265, visit the library on-line: www.senecafallslibrary.org or go to the Wells College website: www.wells.edu.

February, 2005

Fourth Annual Gospel Workshop and Concert at Wells College

The fourth annual Wells College Gospel Workshop and Concert Weekend will be held February 18 and 19, 2005. The workshop is a two-day event in which the Wells College community and the local Aurora community come together to learn about and engage in singing this uplifting genre of music. No auditions are required and the event is free and open to the general public. Everyone is warmly invited to lift up their voices during this inspirational weekend event. 

The Gospel Workshop Weekend is coordinated by Wells’ Gospel choir Appointed and the Dean of Students Office. All rehearsals and the concert will be held in Barler Recital Hall. The weekend schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 18
Rehearsal 7:00-9:00 pm 

Saturday, February 19
Rehearsal 9:00 am-1:00 pm
Concert 7:30 pm

Interested parties are encouraged to show up for rehearsals; no advance registration is necessary. Participants must attend both rehearsals. The culminating concert is free and open to all. 

Gospel Weekend and Appointed are the brainchildren of Wells’ Dean of Students Karen Green, who will coordinate the weekend. L. Kirk Hatcher of Montgomery, Alabama will be choir director, and Ed Menifee of Atlanta, Georgia serves as music director.

For more information about Gospel Weekend and the concert, please contact Jenn Bell in the Dean of Students Office at 315/364-3311. 

February, 2005

President of Wells College Joins CIC Board Of Directors

Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of Wells College, has been elected to the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Board of Directors. President Ryerson will serve a three-year term from January 2005 to January 2008.

The election was held during a meeting of the Board of Directors at CIC’s 2005 Presidents Institute in Marco Island, Florida, on January 4, 2005.

Among the responsibilities of the CIC Directors are providing fiduciary oversight for the allocation of CIC’s assets and approving operating budgets; participating in the development and approval of long-range plans; and advising on the direction of the council’s programs and services.

“The Council is pleased to have Lisa Ryerson as a Board member,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “Her wealth of experience and expertise will help guide CIC through the planning and execution of many exciting new projects, and thereby benefit all of independent higher education. I am certain that Lisa will serve the Council admirably, and look forward to working with her.” 

The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of 540 independent liberal arts colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills, tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. 

In addition to her CIC service, Ryerson advocates for higher education through her work on several other boards, including the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York State (board chair), the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the Public Leadership Education Network in Washington, D.C., and the Independent College Fund of New York. She also aids in regional economic development through her efforts with the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and the Aurora Foundation.

A native of Jamestown, New York, Ryerson earned her bachelor’s degree in 1981 from Wells cum laude and her master of science degree from the State University of New York at Cortland.  She resides in Aurora with her husband, George E. Farenthold, and their four daughters. She is the daughter of Murray and Carol Marsh of Jamestown, NY and Naples, FL.

February, 2005

Wells College Sponsors Foreign Film Series

“Berlin to Barcelona” is part of foreign languages, cultures seminar

The Wells College Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures is offering a foreign film series this semester. Kicking off on February 10, “Berlin to Barcelona” features films from German and Spanish/Catalan cinema. Screenings will be held every Thursday evening through May 12 at 7:00 pm in Cleveland Hall Auditorium. The public is invited to attend one or all of these free screenings; many will be in German or Spanish with English subtitles. 

Professor Raul Delgado-Rodriguez has selected the following films for February:

February 10  Berlin Babylon (2001; 88 minutes)
A documentary by Hubertus Siegert that presents a reflection on the history of Berlin through an examination of its architecture ranging from elaborate scale models to long panoramic shots of the great construction sites of recent years. The film follows the work of several leading architects as they seek to come to terms with the rebuilding of the great city.

February 17  Der letzte Mann/The Last Laugh  (1924; 90 minutes)
Emil Jannings plays the lead role in this story of the downfall of an aging hotel doorman in a luxury hotel. The collaboration of director Friedrich Murnau (Nosferatu, Faust) and screenwriter Carl Mayer (Das Cabinet des Doktor Caligari) results in one of the first films to deal with the issues of social hierarchy and national identity.

February 24  M    (1931; 110 minutes)
Fritz Lang's retelling of the story of serial killer Peter Kuerten (“the vampire of Dusseldorf”) sets the crimes and final manhunt in the German metropolis. The film explores the sinister within the ordinary, everyday life of the city and draws meaningful parallels.

The remainder of the series’ films are listed below; please call for descriptions:

March 3   Der Himmel ueber Berlin/Wings of Desire  (1988; 128 minutes)
March 10  Die Architekten     (1990; 102 minutes)
March 17   Lola rennt/Run Lola Run    (1998; 93 minutes)
March 31   Lola und Billy the Kid    (1998; 93 minutes)
April 7   Berlin is in Germany    (1999; 91 minutes)
April 14   Goodbye, Lenin     (2003; 121 minutes)
April 21   Barcelona      (1994; 102 minutes)
April 28   En Construccion     (2001; 125 minutes)
May 5    La Casita Blanca     (2002; 80 minutes)
May 12   Pau i el seu germa     (2002; 110 minutes)

For more information about the “Berlin to Barcelona” film series and for film descriptions, please contact Professor Raul Delgado-Rodriguez at 315/364-3304

February, 2005

“Roses Red, Lillies Whyte”

Chamber music performed by Elizabethan Conversation

The melodious notes of Elizabethan music will once again fill the crisp air in Aurora. On Sunday, January 30, at 4:00 pm, Elizabethan Conversation will present Roses Red, Lillies Whyte, a concert at the beautiful Aurora Inn. Admission is $10.00; tickets are available at the door. All are warmly invited to enjoy the splendid live acoustics and intimate setting of the Inn’s Lakeside Room, located at 391 Main Street. Aurora is on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, halfway between Ithaca and Auburn on local Route 90.

Elizabethan Conversation is Susan Sandman and Derwood Crocker of Aurora. They will be joined this day by tenor Gary Aubin, also of Aurora. Started in 1982 as a renaissance lute duet by Sandman and Crocker, Elizabethan Conversation has gained a national reputation through recording and performance. It now performs diverse programs, frequently with guest artists. Last fall, Elizabethan Conversation was invited by Cornell University’s Johnson Art Museum to create and present a “concert of old music” played in 1908 at Byrdcliffe, an artists colony in Woodstock, New York. The performance focused on the work of early 20th century Elizabethan music pioneers Arnold and Natalie Dolmetsch. 

An expansion of the Cornell recital, the Roses Red, Lillies Whyte program includes such well-known art songs for tenor, lute, and bass viola da gamba as “Gather Your Rosebuds” and  “Have You Seen but a Whyte Lillie Grow.”  The concert features Elizabethan popular music for treble viola da gamba and lute, variations by Christopher Simpson for bass viola da gamba, and solo recorder variations by Jacob van Eyck.  Featured composers are John Dowland, Thomas Campian, William Byrd, and Diego Ortiz. 

Early music performer and musicologist Susan Sandman earned her B.A. in music from Vassar College and a Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford University. Her publications include a column on the performance practice of early music for Continuo, and articles in professional journals. She has won several NEH Fellowships and other grants for   performance and recordings. Now a professor emerita at Wells College, Dr. Sandman   devotes her time to music performance. She also serves as the researcher and organizer for all programs offered by Elizabethan Conversation. 

Derwood Crocker’s interest in design, sculpture, and music led him to making musical instruments. He has been a full-time craftsman and musician for almost 40 years. The Crocker workshop has produced hundreds of instruments, some now found in private and public collections. The three viols used in Roses Red, Lillies Whyte were produced in his workshop. Crocker also practices art restoration. 

Tenor Gary Aubin has trained under Renata Carisio in New York City. Aubin holds an M.S. in Voice from The College of St. Rose, and has performed in numerous engagements in the U.S. and Canada. Gary is currently a general manager for Sodexho Campus Food Services at Wells College. 

As Elizabethan Conversation, Crocker and Sandman have performed together at many venues around New York State, including Hamilton, Elmira, Heidelberg, and Wells Colleges; SUNY at Binghamton, New Paltz, Potsdam, and Buffalo; Cornell, Colgate, and St. Lawrence Universities; Tompkins County and Liverpool public libraries; the Everson Museum in Syracuse, the Johnson Art Museum at Cornell, and the Plattsburgh Autumn Festival.

Another ensemble of Sandman’s, The Frogwork Consort, will perform Table Musik, chamber music trios for violas da gamba, at the Aurora Inn on Sunday, February 27 at 4:00 pm.

For more information about these chamber music concerts, please contact Susan Sandman at 315/364-8406. Additional information about the Aurora Inn, including directions to the concert, may be found at www.aurora-inn.com or by calling the Inn directly at 315/364-8888.

January, 2005

Annual Student Art Show Opens at Wells College

An eclectic mix of art will be on display in Wells College’s String Room Gallery from February 2 - March 3, 2005. Artwork produced by students enrolled in studio art classes during the Fall 2004 semester will be shown. The exhibit is free and the public is cordially invited to view the show. An opening reception with refreshments on Wednesday, February 2 from 7:00-9:00 pm offers an opportunity to meet the student artists and view and discuss their work.

Nearly 50 students are exhibiting this year. Such mediums represented include advertising art, painting, ceramics, photography, design, drawing, and more. Students from the “Basic Concepts of Advertising Art” class will be showing a variety of graphic design projects, including shopping bag and business card designs. This class participated in a national competition for The One Club Foundation in New York City, which sponsors an annual college contest for advertising students. This year, students were required to create ads which promote the sugar industry, an enterprise that has sustained significant losses due to the national fitness trend as well as the new low-carb craze. These ads will be exhibited in the show.  Members of the painting class are presenting large-format portraits, landscapes, and natural object studies.

Art professor William Roberts oversees the students’ work in the studios and coordinates the installation of the show. Visiting instructor Tricia Bishop guided and instructed the ceramics students during the fall semester. Tricia is a recent graduate of the MFA program in ceramics at Syracuse University. Kristin Merola, who received her MFA in digital photography from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, was the instructor for the photography students. 

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, 2005

Trustees Announce Decision

Wells will begin admitting men in the Fall of 2005

The Wells College Board of Trustees voted on Saturday, October 2, 2004 to admit men as matriculated undergraduate students. The college will begin enrolling men in the 2005-06 academic year. 

Wells College is a four-year, private liberal arts college located in Aurora, New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. It was established in 1868 by Henry Wells, founder of the Wells Fargo Express and the American Express Company. Wells boasts small class sizes, an extensive experiential learning program, a diverse off-campus study program, and cross-enrollment with both Cornell University and Ithaca College. The academic program allows students substantial freedom to create individually unique educational experiences. In addition to becoming coeducational, the college is strengthening its off-campus study programs and introducing new initiatives in its Book Arts Center.

Coeducation has been considered by several Wells administrations over the course of at least four decades.  In fact, the college’s Charter was amended in 1969 to allow the college to grant degrees to men. For more than a year, Wells’ trustees had seriously been studying the possibility of coeducation to grow the college’s enrollment and financial resources. 

“For 40 years, Wells has made countless attempts to increase enrollment, including cutting tuition by 30%, adding new programs, trying innovative marketing and advertising campaigns, and increased spending on student aid,” said Stephen L. Zabriskie, chair of the Board.  “Yet we have not been able to get above an enrollment of 400 for a sustained period of time. From all the information we studied, it was clear to us that we had run out of time to continue as we were. It was time to change.”

For the current school year, residential enrollment is 302; and Wells needs at least 450 students living on campus, along with more commuters and other part-time students, to grow toward fiscal stability. 

“We have decided it is time to make everything Wells has to offer available to all potential students – both women and men,” said Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of the college. “All the evidence made it abundantly clear that we could not grow our enrollment by remaining in our present state. We looked at nearly 200 liberal arts colleges, including a number of women-only colleges, and found that in nearly every case, applications and enrollments went up for colleges that made the transition from single-sex to coeducation. That is what we need for Wells College.”

A continued focus on the advancement of women will remain a key objective in the college’s new mission. “Wells will always be a small, close knit, high-quality liberal arts college, with our rich traditions as a women’s college. Even as we welcome more men to the campus, we will remain a college that honors women, and our deeply held values will still predominate,” she said. 

According to The College Board, only 3% of college-bound women consider an all-women’s school as their first choice for college. Other research indicates that after women-only institutions become coeducational, most of the enrollment increases came from women, and the campus population usually remains at about 80% female, even over the course of decades.

 “We believe that now many more prospective students will look at Wells and see it as a desirable destination, a place to get an excellent education in a beautiful environment. They will want to come here for our small class sizes and for the opportunity to interact closely with faculty.”

In a letter to alumnae announcing the decision, Ryerson wrote,  “Wells College confronted a stark choice: continue to shrink and decline until we were no longer viable, or choose to transform to fit new realities leading to an opportunity to survive and prosper. We chose change over decline. And we are committed to the future.”

October, 2004

Earlier Articles in Wells College News:
 

		Dec., 2002	March,1998
		Nov., 2002	Feb.,1998
	Jan.-Feb., 2005	Oct., 2002	Jan.,1998
	Nov.-Dec., 2004	Sept., 2002	Dec.,1997
	Oct., 2004	Aug., 2002	Nov.,1997
	Sept., 2004	Sept.,2001.-May.,2002	Oct.,1997
	May-Aug., 2004	Sept.,2000.-May.,2001	Sept.,1997
	April., 2004	Sept. 1999-Aug.,2000	July - Aug., 1997
	March, 2004	August,1999	May - June,1997
	Jan.-Feb., 2004	May,1999	March - April,1997
	Nov., 2003	April,1999	Feb.,1997
	Oct., 2003	Feb.-March, 1999	Nov. - Dec.,1996
	Sept., 2003	Jan.,1999	Oct.r,1996
	Summer, 2003	Fall,1998	Sept.,1996
	May, 2003	Aug.,1998	June - Aug.,1996
	April, 2003	June -July, 1998	May,1996
	March, 2003	May,1998	April,1996
	Jan.-Feb., 2003	April,1998	Feb - March, 1996

Last updated 04/06/2005