Alumni

FROM THE PRESIDENT

As you know, we are in the midst of a busy yearlong celebration of our sesquicentennial, and as life at the College quiets down for the summer we have a chance to reflect on what a year it has been so far.

Our Sesquicentennial Lecture Series has provided us with fascinating lectures by several speakers on an enriching range of topics — from architecture to wine to renewable energy. Now you can listen too by downloading their speeches from our Web site. You can find more details on page 6, and don’t forget to check back in the fall when we pick up the lecture series where we left off. The College is scheduled to hear from such notable opinion-makers as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Yale University chemist Joan Steitz.

In a nod to our special anniversary, Commencement speaker and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky sent the Class of 2007 out with wise words on the importance of history in his speech, “The Year 1857 and the Liberal Arts in America.” Graduation turned out to be a spectacular day as you can see from several photos in the magazine, and we welcomed families and friends back to campus for a reception in the Mohr Student Center, which is now a year old, after the ceremony.

We are extremely proud of all our graduates, and you will read about some who started and participated in a student organization called Students Educating Students. Through the initiative, students decided to share their own life experiences with fellow students to raise awareness on campus about important global and social issues, including the genocide in Darfur and racism. Their efforts helped mobilize a renewal of responsible student activism on campus,one that we hope to see sustained in the years to come.

Finally, we say goodbye — in a sense — to three of the finest faculty members the College has ever known. James D. Vail III Professor of History Michael Ebner, Professor of Politics Paul Fischer, and Ernest A. Johnson Professor of Economics Richard Dye helped pioneer the College’s current ties to Chicago. It is impossible to quantify their contributions to the College, to our students, and to our Chicago initiatives. We wish each of these outstanding professors and scholars the very best as they — like our recent graduates — move beyond our campus boundaries to new activities and broad influence in the world outside. I say goodbye “in a sense” to Michael, Paul, and Dick because they have promised to stay involved with the College — and we’ll hold them to their promise.

Have an enjoyable and safe summer.

Stephen D. Schutt
President