Rev. Marlowe Washington to Deliver Baccalaureate Address
The Rev. Marlowe V.N. Washington, pastor of Christ Community Church in Rochester and a social justice and human rights advocate, will deliver the baccalaureate address at Keuka College Sunday, May 27.
One of the College’s commencement day traditions, baccalaureate begins at 9:30 p.m. in Norton Chapel.
Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Washington earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Francis College in Brooklyn. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, but received a Master of Divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in Manhattan. (more…)
Barbara Miller to Receive Honorary Degree
Fifty-six years after earning her first Keuka College degree, Barbara Miller will receive another at the College’s 104th commencement Sunday, May 27.
This time, Miller will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
It will mark the third time she has been honored by her alma mater since graduating in 1956. Miller received the Keuka College Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award in 1974 and its Effective Use of Retirement Award in 2009. (more…)
Inauguration an International Affair
Dr. Nguyen Trong Do, rector, Vietnam National University—International School, Hanoi.
The inauguration of Dr. Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera as Keuka College’s 19th president May 4 was truly an international affair.
Delegates and guests from a number of foreign countries traveled to Keuka Park for the ceremony including Madame Hiam Sakr, president of the American University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Beirut, Lebanon.
“I was honored that Madame Sakr and Dr. Nabeel Haidar, vice president for academic affairs at AUST, joined us for the celebration,” said Díaz-Herrera. “I am particularly pleased to have the pleasure of welcoming Madame president to Keuka Park and the Lucina, where she was the guest of honor at a small, family-oriented reception. In a short time, I have developed a real affinity for her school and Lebanon; quite simply, Beirut is a most enchanting place.” (more…)
Joyce Cohen to Deliver Commencement Address
Joyce Cohen, a 1967 graduate of Keuka College and a leading figure in the field of career development and life planning for more than 25 years, will deliver the commencement address at her alma mater Sunday, May 27.
Keuka’s 104th commencement will begin at 12:30 p.m. on the Norton Chapel lawn.
Founder and president of Unconventional Wisdom LLC, a life planning consulting agency, Cohen is an experienced consultant, workshop facilitator, life coach, outplacement counselor, and creator of updated credentials. She has worked with more than 350 companies, universities, and government agencies in this country and abroad. (more…)
The Bard: A Reader’s Digest Version
By Amanda Harrison ’12
Shakespearean actor and author Tim Mooney will bring his one-man show Lot ’o Shakespeare to Keuka College Wednesday, April 25.
The next offering in the Spotlight Series, the show begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Red Barn Theater and is free and open to the public.
Mooney will perform a single monologue from each Shakespeare play, with the order determined by chance.
Lot ’o Shakespeare “takes highbrow art and mixes it with lowbrow fun,” said Matthew J. Palm of the Orlando Sentinel. “Mooney is an engaging presence and can switch from indignation in Comedy of Errors, to earnest in a love sonnet, to comical Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He may not be as physically imposing as some actors to play Henry V, but his St. Crispen’s Day speech made me want to take up arms with him.”
Chaim Eliyahu of KCStage.com called Lot o’ Shakespeare “a tour de force comprising no fewer than 19 Shakespeare scenes and sonnets. Mooney’s interpretations were outstanding, and not infrequently cast new light on obscure corners of Shakespeare’s work.”
Mooney has also garnered rave reviews for Moliere Than Thou, another one-man show. He is the author of an acting textbook titled Acting at the Speed of Life; Conquering Theatrical Style.
Eleanor Roosevelt Focus of April 17 Talk
Historic photo of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt meeting with Keuka College students in 1938.
Christopher Brick, director and editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., will speak at Keuka College Tuesday, April 17.
Brick will discuss “Eleanor Roosevelt and Israeli Nationhood, 1945-1962” at 6:30 p.m. in Hegeman Hall 109. It is free and open to the public.
Roosevelt was not only an ardent champion of human rights, but also one of the century’s most prolific journalists, publishing more than 8,000 columns, 580 articles, 27 books, and 100,000 letters. She also delivered more than 1,000 speeches, and appeared on more than 300 radio and television shows.
Since 2000, The Eleanor Roosevelt Project has worked to return her voice back into the written record and train approximately 6,000 teachers, 500 civil society leaders, 100 policymakers, and countless citizens around the world to study and apply her writings, knowledge, and strategy in their various arenas.
It was founded in 2000, with strong support from the National Archives, National Endowment for the Humanities, the George Washington University, a host of private donors, and an advisory board chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Keuka College’s connection with the first lady dates back to Feb. 16, 1938, when she visited campus to deliver a lecture and meet with students.
Two years later, College President J. Hillis Miller wanted Keuka to contribute to the war effort should the country be drawn in. But how? The answer came from Roosevelt.
Miller wrote Roosevelt and she replied by urging the College to set up courses in nursing and work with the Red Cross. Three years later, during World War II, Keuka’s nursing program was born.
Simone to Speak at Mid-Year Conferral of Degrees
Dr. Albert J. Simone, president emeritus of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), will deliver the address at Keuka College’s mid-year conferral of degrees Sunday, Dec. 11.
The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. in the Weed Physical Arts Center gymnasium.
Simone served as RIT’s 8th president (1992-2007) and during his tenure numerous academic programs were established in response to changing global needs and opportunities in areas of RIT’s strengths. The Albert J. Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, established in 2007, recognizes his contribution to academics and strong support of local business. (more…)
Printmaker Hosts Workshop, Exhibit at Keuka
Printmaker Barbara McPhail in her studio
She calls it “the printed collage.”
Artist Barbara McPhail of Canandaigua likes to use household items – wallpaper, fabric, string, tag board, almost anything with a texture – in her specialty prints, often works that focus on nature and the beauty she finds in it.
In her current exhibit, “Shadows in the Water, “ on display at the Lightner Gallery in Lightner Library, Keuka College, through Oct. 6, the elements of water, shadow and light take center stage. Prior to a gallery reception running 4:15 – 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, McPhail will demonstrate her printmaking technique in a two-hour presentation for students that starts at 1:30 p.m.
After planning out a design in a sketchbook, she’ll pick up those textured scraps, and over weeks, or perhaps months, begin crafting them into the shapes she wants, perhaps modifying her design if she feels it necessary. When she’s finally ready to print, McPhail will set aside an entire day to focus on one image. (more…)
General Peter Pace Challenges Keuka Graduates
Pace
Thanks to his eighth-grade English teacher, General Peter Pace, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, learned that conduct was part of his grade in life. That teacher was the late Marion Cutler, a 1952 Keuka graduate.
“Ms. Cutler taught me the difference between capability and conduct,” said Pace.
Years later, serving as a Marine in Vietnam, pausing to consider his conduct prevented Pace from ordering an airstrike that would have decimated a village of innocent women and children.
“Take time to set your moral compass,” Pace urged Keuka graduates during the 103rd commencement Sunday. “You will be morally challenged when, emotionally, you are least prepared to deal with it. Decide for yourself what you and will not do … so that when a challenge does come, you take the three to five seconds to think through (it).”
After giving him a “D” in the first quarter of his eighth-grade English class for “always mouthing off with some kind of joke,” he said, Cutler’s face would pop into his head in later years when tempted to say something inappropriate.
Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Development Jim Blackburn and 2011 graduate Ben Gilligan share a laugh briefly before the 103rd commencement processional.
“The way you conduct yourself impacts everybody around you,” said Pace, who was awarded an honorary doctorate Sunday, along with the late Cutler, who died in March. Pace accepted his award “on behalf of the 2.4 million (soldiers) in our armed forces that make days like today possible.”
The Sunday ceremony was the final one for College President Joseph G. Burke, who is retiring after 14 years. Burke was awarded the title President Emeritus by Melissa Brown, Class of 1972, and chair of the College’s governing board.
Other commencement highlights included:
-
Slocum, at podium, gives his acceptance speech shortly after being conferred the Doctor of Humane Letters degree by President Joseph G. Burke.
An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree was presented posthumously to Marion Cutler. Cutler was one of General Pace’s favorite teachers growing up in New Jersey. The two exchanged letters often after Pace assumed his Joint Chiefs’ responsibilities and remained close up until Cutler’s death in March.
- George Slocum, who celebrated his 50th anniversary of employment at the College in April, also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and a standing ovation from students, faculty and staff. Though Slocum is “retiring” from the College, he will continue to hold down his part-time job cleaning at the U.S. post office in Keuka Park, where he has also worked nearly 35 years.
- Three students (Stephen Ingram, Elaine Bailey, and Michael Fenton) from the D.R.I.V.E. (Diversity, Responsibility, Inclusion, Vision, and Experiential learning) received an Award of Higher Education at commencement. In the program, Keuka College students serve as peer mentors to young adults with intellectual disabilities as they assimilate into the college environment and explore their personal goals. D.R.I.V.E. is a collaboration between Keuka College, Penn Yan Central School District, and Yates County ARC.
- Rita Gow, assistant professor of accounting, received the 2010-11 Professor of the Year Award.
- Retiring faculty members Diane Burke, professor emerita and chair of education, and Helen Clancy (nursing) were honored.
Class Act
Keuka College’s Class of 2011 will receive degrees at the College’s 103rd commencement Sunday, May 29.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. on the Norton Chapel lawn (Weed Physical Arts Center in case of inclement weather).
General Peter Pace
General Peter Pace, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the
commencement address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Pace was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Teaneck, N.J. Among his junior and senior high school teachers, one of his favorites and the one who had lasting impact was Marion Cutler, a 1952 graduate of Keuka College, who died March 24.
Marion Cutler
“He was my student in English 8 and in my ninth grade group guidance class,” recalled Cutler in a letter to classmates on the occasion of her 50th Keuka reunion. “Even then I knew that his bright future was assured because he exhibited only the best qualities.”
Cutler and Pace, who retired from active duty in October 2007 after more than 40 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, stayed in touch over the years and were scheduled to be reunited at Keuka’s commencement. Cutler was also slated to receive an honorary degree but died March 24. The degree will now be awarded posthumously.
Recent Comments