SUMMER 2003 •
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 1
SPECIAL ISSUE: REAPING THE REWARDS OF
THE PLAN FOR MOUNT HOLYOKE 2003
Plan
goal: Develop a more competitive and visible athletics program
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BEN BARNHART
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Track and field athlete Langhan
Dee '04 has been a national qualifier in two events over the
last two years and earned All-American Team honors at the
2002 NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships. |
For Langhan Dee '04,
all the numbers seem to add up. The mathematics major, artist,
and star sprinter participates in three sports at the College
(indoor track, outdoor track, and soccer); has been a national
qualifier in two events over the last two years; earned All-American
Team honors at the 2002 NCAA Division III indoor track and field
championships; and has spent her time off the field absorbing
abstract mathematical concepts and proving complex theorems. An
art minor, she enjoys "problem solving, figuring out patterns
and how things go together" in mathematics, as well as in her
artistic and athletic pursuits, and is considering a career in
architecture.
Mathematics professors
Margaret Robinson and Giuliana Davidoff cite Dee's maturity as
a mathematician (she took senior-level courses as a first-year
and sophomore) and her intuitive ability to concentrate directly
on the meaning of things as keys to her academic success. "Langhan
focuses not on how to do something, but why you might be interested
in it, in other words the mathematical reason," says Robinson.
"She also knows when she understands and when she doesn't. All
these things are rare qualities in an undergraduate." Indoor track
coach Teresa Winstead has equally high praise for the indoor and
outdoor track teams' cocaptain. "Langhan is an exceptional student
athlete who pours her heart into everything she does," notes Winstead.
"On and off the track, her success is born out of hard work and
a great attitude." For her part, Dee places high value on the
sense of community at the College and in the friendships, camaraderie,
and role models she has found among her teammates and coaches.
"It is really wonderful to be around strong women who work so
hard that it makes you want to be as strong and to push yourself
as hard as they do," she says. "I have improved so much as an
athlete, and as a student, since I've been here." With her senior
year still in front of her, Dee seems certain to sprint to a strong
finish.
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