News, views, and connections
for the Keene State College community
Here's a scoop: We are happy to announce the new President of the College and introduce you to her. This issue of KSC Newsline offers important updates, reminders of campus events, and reports on innovative work by faculty and students. (For information on subscribing or opting out, please scroll to the end.)
New President Announced! Be the first on your block to know.
During March, the entire campus community had a chance to meet each of the four distinguished candidates for the office of President of the College. Today, April 25, USNH Chancellor Stephen J. Reno has announced the appointment of Dr. Helen Giles-Gee, who will assume the KSC presidency on July 1, 2005. Dr. Giles-Gee is scheduled to appear at a welcoming reception on the campus today. For more about Dr. Giles-Gee, click here.
Dr. Gordon Leversee, currently serving as Dean of Sciences and Social Sciences, will serve as interim vice president for academic affairs, beginning May 30.
Two new residence halls will open in 2006, adding 360 urgently needed spaces for students. Pondside III and Butler Court dorms will feature suite-style living.
The new Zorn Dining Commons is looking more handsome by the day, as construction continues at a good pace.
A surprise guest at the gala April 8 Science Center ribbon cutting was none other than Albert Einstein himself (or a reasonable facsimile), who explained the real meaning of E=mc2. "Education equals memory times community, squared." Now we understand!
Outstanding Women of New Hampshire Lauded at Banquet
At the 15th Annual Women's History Month banquet at the end of March, four women were lauded for their powerful contributions to the campus, community, and state. They are Valerie Nettleton (KSC senior commended for her leadership skills, scholarship, and service); Mary Mayshark-Stavely (KSC educator and administrator); Susan Bloom Newcomer (community activist and expert on human resources); and Roberta Barry (social justice advocate on behalf of gays, lesbians, and transgendered persons).
Ask the Owl Newsline's Question of the Month
Alicia Barnett asks, What was the name of the well-loved elderly dorm mother at Huntress Hall around 1970?
If you know the answer, please e-mail Susan Peery at speery@keene.edu. We'll draw one name from among all the correct answers and will send the lucky winner an official KSC baseball hat.
Last month's "Ask the Owl" wondered about the original menu when the Zorn Dining Commons opened in 1966. Does anyone remember? Send your response or any other KSC food memory to speery@keene.edu. We'd like to publish a smorgasbord of your answers this fall when the new Zorn opens. We'll send something special, we promise, to anyone whose food memory is published.
Mark Your Calendar
Don't miss "Emerging Art" at the Thorne-Sagendorph Gallery. The show, which runs through May 8, showcases the finest work of KSC art students.
Spring concerts featuring the KSC Jazz Ensemble (April 27) and the Concert Band (April 29) round out a series of fine musical events
There's still a chance to see our softball and baseball teams in action at home. Read all about it at www.keene.edu/athletics. Read all about it at www.keene.edu/athletics.
Commencement Update: Speaker, Honorary Degree Announced
Dr. Stanley Yarosewick, who retires this year, will give the main address and preside over his 11th Keene State commencement.
Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst, Massachusetts, and visiting senior lecturer in environmental studies at Mount Holyoke College, will receive an honorary doctor of sciences degree from the College during the Commencement ceremony on May 8. Postel's work is dedicated to the preservation and sustainable uses of freshwater ecosystems.
The Spring Honors Convocation on Saturday, May 7, will begin at 4 p.m. rather than 5 p.m. as announced earlier. For a full schedule of Commencement activities, go to www.keene.edu/commencement.
JUST FOR ALUMNI Mistakes 'R' Us
We inadvertently made our Reunion brochure into a collector's item (for the wrong reason) when an attack of typographical malaise led us to omit the second "r" from the word "anniversary." We swore on a stack of dictionaries neverrrr to do that again.
Open Mike Mike Maher, director of Alumni and Parent Relations, invites you to join the group (user group, that is) and hopes you'll follow the white rabbit to "Alumni in Wonderland," this year's Reunion.
Keeping our alumni informed and connected is a big part of our mission in this business. I recently established Yahoo user groups for alumni in Northern California, Boston, Hartford, the Merrimack River Valley (Concord, Manchester, and Nashua), and Keene. If you visit www.keene.edu/alumni/chapters.cfm you will find how to join these groups and connect with other alumni in your area or arrange to get together. Go ahead, post a message and join the group!
Encourage your KSC friends to join, and, if you get a chance, please forward a link to this newsletter to them as well. Research tells us that 90 percent of college graduates use the Internet frequently. (That number is nearly 100 percent for people who graduated in the last 10 to 15 years.) Right now, we have valid e-mail addresses for only a few thousand alumni out of a population of 23,000, so we'd like to expand our list. Don't worry; we won't give your address to some nefarious spammer! Let us know, too, if there are other online services we could provide for you. Contact me at alumni@keene.edu.
On another subject, all of us in the Alumni office hope to see you at "Alumni in Wonderland" on campus, June 3-5. Reunion brochures are in the mail with more details, or go to www.keene.edu/alumni/reunion.cfm. Please return your Alumni Association directors ballots, too. Don't be late for this very important date!
KSC Connections Alumni to Alumni
Dave at VTCordoba@aol.com hopes there will be a WKNH disk jockey reunion. Dave DJed from 1980 to 1985, doing Operation Underground, and he'd like to connect with radio friends from then.
Irene DeMeco Parent '52 adds a plea to send your news to your class secretary (see any issue of Keene State Today, in print or online) or to Barbara Hall, class notes editor at kscclassnotes@yahoo.com.
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Events
Mike Maher, director of 
