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May 21,
2004
Quidnunc
Sciences
Score The College
has just been awarded a grant of $1.2 million from the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute. This major grant, to be expended
over four years, will support a collaborative effort to build
stronger curricular and research connections among the biology
and chemistry departments and the biochemistry program they
jointly support. The project directors are Craig Woodard, associate
professor of biological sciences, and Sean Decatur, professor
of chemistry.
The Graduate Returns Chris Benfey, codirector of the Weissman
Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts and professor of English,
gave the commencement address May 8 to cheering crowds at his
alma mater, Guilford College, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Benfey’s father, Ted, is professor emeritus of chemistry
at Guilford; his mother, Rachel, is also a Guilford alumna.
MHC Students “Saxed” Mari Dumbaugh ’07 and
Karlene Ferron FP were among 13 winners of the 2004 J.W. Saxe
Award for Public Service. Dumbaugh received the award for her
work at Sojourner House in Pittsburgh, a residential program
for women with substance abuse problems and their children. Ferron
was honored for her work at the Somali Bantu Refugee and Immigrant
Assistance Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Teenage Justice Laura Khor ’05 has drawn up a proposal
for a youth peer court for Holyoke, Massachusetts. Khor’s
program would have teenagers serve as lawyers, judges, and juries
for peers charged with nonviolent misdemeanors. The project,
which began as an independent study with Preston Smith, associate
professor of politics and associate director of the Community-Based
Learning Program, is now under consideration by Holyoke’s
City Council.
Well-Versed Alumna Class agent Cynthia Tether ’72
participated in the campaign celebration activities May 8–9
(see story on page one) and found the weekend so inspiring that
she wrote the following:
A Short Rhyme of Thanks for
a Delightful Legacy Campaign Celebration Weekend
Many thanks to all for a wonderful time ...
The events were well structured; the company, divine.
From the north to the south, from the east to the west,
The tours were tops; the speakers, the best.
Kudos, too, for the architect’s team—
Kendade’s spectacular, graceful and “green”!
From Shattuck to Pratt and the Museum of Art,
The buildings have class; the campus has heart.
The Greenhouse is lovely, room after room...
With its gardens and plantings all in spring bloom.
Narcissus and poppies, hosta and phlox
Cover the hillside and cradle the rocks—
The fragrance of lilacs floats on the breeze,
While blossoms of white fill the old apple trees.
From Friday’s hors d’oeuvres to Saturday’s
dinner,
The meals, by all counts, were surely a winner...
(Though no one can claim to be any thinner.)
From the opening procession to the final “Amen,”
We could certainly enjoy Sunday’s service again.
Class agents can rest for a moment, but then...
Fundraising starts for 2010!
College Board The College’s board of trustees met May
7 and 8. Among other actions, the board conferred emeritus status
on professors Mary K. Campbell, Alberto Castilla, Richard Johnson,
and Lester Senechal, upon their retirement. The board also approved
the proposed operationg budget for 2004–2005. This budget
will increase faculty and staff base salaries by 2 percent across
the board, plus equity and promotional adjustments, beginning
January 1, 2005. In recognition of the good work performed across
the campus and sacrifice entailed in delayed pay increases, the
College will grant two additional paid holidays this year, December
29
and 30.
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