notable

Faculty choreography ends twentieth anniversary events Choreography by Five College dance faculty, including MHC's own dance professors Jim Coleman and Terese Freedman, will be featured in the Five College Faculty Concert, running through May 1. The concert, which also features performances by dance alumnae including Marya K. Wethers '97, is the culminating event in a year-long celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Five College Dance Department.

Remembering a presidential visit If you think tickets to commencement are hard to come by this year, pity the poor seniors of 1899, when U.S. President William McKinley attended. A new exhibit in the College archives commemorates the event. A century ago, MHC had its first--and still the only--visit by a sitting president. He and Mrs. McKinley came because the president's niece and ward, Grace Howe McKinley, was among the graduates.

Although the president did not deliver the commencement address, his presence on campus caused quite a stir in the area. An estimated 20,000 "strangers" were in town for his arrival by special train, and "cheering thousands lined the streets over which he was driven," according to one newspaper account.

An eyewitness account noted the hoopla surrounding the visit: the campus was professionally decorated, and an alum sent a "handsome chair" to serve as "the democratic throne of the occasion." The presidential party made quite an impression. At commencement, the writer noted, "every face expressed keen and loyal delight" at being in the president's presence.

Ironically, the president had tried to talk Grace into transferring to Smith after a fire destroyed the MHC seminary building in 1896. According to Archives Librarian Patricia Albright, "When her uncle, the president, telegraphed her with orders to transfer to Smith College, Grace replied, 'Not much, Am staying here.' She remained an active and loyal alumna until her death in 1943."

Support for chemistry research Margaret A. Fredricks '00 received a Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in support of original research she will undertake in organic chemistry. The chemistry major will conduct the research under the supervision of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Donald Cotter. Her project will address some issues in the mechanism of a chemical reaction that has been widely used by synthetic organic chemists for the preparation of complex organic molecules. This reaction can be used to form new carbon-carbon bonds between molecular fragments, even when these are themselves quite elaborate.

Up close and personnel Departures: Jeffrey S. Cahill, Dining Services; Eric D. Laroche, Public Safety.

Correction In the April 2 article on "The Economics of School Choice," remarks by panelist Beverly P. Greenberg '62 were misrepresented. The following is her response: "I never said that 'America's public schools are not in crisis.' I only referred to that hyperbolic word to clearly state my objection to the original title for this panel, 'The Crisis in America's Public Schools,' which painted public education with too broad a brush. I deliberately focused on the positive results in Connecticut, where I have been a policy maker for eighteen years. We are very proud of student achievement in our state. Of course, we recognize that there are districts where students perform far below acceptable levels. But the ubiquitous use of the term 'crisis' only serves to camouflage the great effort and many successes occurring in even our worst-performing schools. Furthermore, the article misstated that I believe there is little accountability in the public schools. It is in the private educational sector where there is little or no accountability to the general public." CSJ regrets the errors.

What's new with you? Send news for "New & Notable" to Emily Weir, Office of Communications, or email eweir@mtholyoke.edu.