Sponsored by the President's Office and the Campus Commission on the Status of Women, the Outstanding Women awards recognize those who have made extraordinary contributions to our College, regional, and state communities. The 2009 award recipients:

• Bonnie Riley received the Monadnock Region Community Award for her support of other women; for her work as a role model, organizer, motivator, and life-long educator; and for her community-building seminars for local women.
• Rachel Rouillard received the State of New Hampshire Award for her local, regional, and global contribution to the empowerment of women through training and leadership development.
• Annelies Spykman, a KSC student, received the Keene State College Student Award for her commitment to women and women's interests locally and globally, and for her initiatives to support and empower women.
• Mary Jensen, coordinator of sustainability programs and recycling, received the Keene State College Award for the depth and quality of her service to the campus and local community, for her service as a mentor and role model to women, and for her leadership.

While sophomores in Keene State College's Honors Program were off on their two-week spring semester travel-study course, they used Twitter accounts to keep people on the home front apprised of their adventures.

• In South Africa, nine students conducted research, interviewed locals, and experienced a new culture and geography. "Spoke with two amazing women, Prudence and Agnes (from Tanzania and Kenya, respectively)," one student tweeted on May 25. The short messages from the field offered students a way to express experiences that couldn't be captured in a paper: "After seeing the conditions of the Imizamo Yethu township, giving our lunches away felt like a drop in the bucket," a student wrote on May 23.
• Ten students in Peru stayed with families in Urubamba, a town in an area of the Andes Mountains often called the Inca's Sacred Valley. There, students helped construct and install basic stoves and water filtration systems for local families. One tweet captured a strike over water privatization: "Went to Macchu Picchu today – amazing. Another strike tomorrow. Roads closed, no transportation. Protesting water privatization. Nonviolent."

The Keene State community was saddened over the summer by the deaths of two of its beloved emeriti faculty, Drs. Susan Herman and Jack Marshall.

We posted obituaries on Newsline, Susan Herman and Jack Marshall, and were touched by how many former students responded with heartfelt comments that testified to the influence these professors had on so many lives.

Dr. Susan Herman, professor emerita of management, passed away on June 24. Dr. Herman was an important catalyst in the evolution of the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, which established the Susan J. Herman Award for Leadership in Holocaust and Genocide Awareness in April to honor her vital contributions to its work. (Donations can be made in Dr. Herman's honor to the Susan J. Herman Leadership Award in Holocaust and Genocide Awareness, Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03435-3201.)

As one former student wrote, "Professor Herman was a remarkable instructor, leader, and friend. I took her Organizational Behavior class and was never so challenged and inspired."

Dr. Jack Marshall, who taught sculpture at KSC from 1973 until he retired in 2002, died on July 7. His students described him vividly:

• "Elegantly discombobulated, he … found beauty and hilarity in ordinary things, often simultaneously. With a sense of timing all his own, he tended to speak verbosely, adding details and making pictures with his words while laughing with his eyes. He could really lose you in a story." – Cate (James) Platt '91
• "He put his heart and soul into art, and his unique perspective radiated out from him every moment. He … would actually look you in the eyes and listen to what you would say, and you could see him analyzing every word in order to be truly connecting with you." – Alicia Kamuda-Barnett '79

Threatening storms held off until 855 graduates had received their degrees at Keene State's commencement on Saturday, May 9. "Did anyone really think it would rain on your parade?" President Giles-Gee asked as she closed the ceremony.

Honorary doctorate recipient Lewis M. Feldstein, president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, encouraged the graduates to get involved in the world, to seek out mentors and the unknown.

Former Keene mayor Michael E. J. Blastos received the Granite State Award for his service to the community.

And Class President Ian Lord noted that he and his classmates have already started serving their communities: "You are beyond ready for the real world, because you have been living in and succeeding in it for the last four years."

As President Giles-Gee pointed out, this was a very special commencement ceremony, occurring as the College celebrates its 100th anniversary.

The Keene State community showed its generosity and its commitment again this year, when alumni, faculty, staff, and friends stepped up to support the Student Financial Aid Initiative. The College learned that financial hardship is making it difficult for many of our students to return to campus next year, so it asked alumni, friends, and the campus community to consider a gift to an emergency fund, with a goal of raising $100,000.

The great news is that gifts and confirmed pledges top $180,000; however, it's not time to kick back and take it easy. Every day, additional appeals flood into the Financial Aid Office as the economy continues to languish, so the College must keep working to make sure that talented students who want to attend can do so.

Keene State hosted the 2009 Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) annual meeting June 19-21, bringing 100 guests from 20-member institutions to campus. Concurrent sessions throughout the three-day program focused on various aspects of the meeting's theme, "The Value of a Liberal Arts Education."

"The COPLAC conference showcased the many areas where Keene State College has become the aspirant institution for a number of our peers: town/gown relationships, facility planning and implementation, integrative curriculum, and the SODEXO dining staff," said President Giles-Gee. "Many institutional leaders are coming back to visit the College and bringing their partners to learn how to improve."

As our KSC faculty continues to move up in the world, we have two who are retiring and several who have been promoted and/or given tenure.

Judith Hildebrandt, Associate Professor Library (2000-09), and Robert Madden, Associate Professor Library (1976-2009), are both retiring as emeriti faculty.

The following faculty members merit our congratulations for being promoted and/or becoming tenured:

• Phyllis Benay
  English and Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor
• Matthew Crocker
  History, Professor
• Christopher Cusack
  Geography, Professor
• Rebecca Dunn
  Health Science, Tenure
• Michael Hanrahan
  Computer Science, Tenure
• Wayne Hartz
  Technology, Design and Safety, Tenure, Associate
• Gregory Knouff
  History, Professor
• Robert Kostick
  Art, Tenure, Associate
• Mark Long
  English, Professor
• Donna Paley
  Technology, Design and Safety, Tenure, Associate
• Kristen Porter-Utley
  Biology, Tenure, Associate
• Elisabeth Roos
  Theatre and Dance, Professor
• Marianne Salcetti
  Journalism, Tenure
• William James Stemp
  Sociology, Tenure, Associate
• Margaret Walsh
  Sociology, Professor
• Barbara Ware
  Modern Languages, Tenure

Members of the Keene and campus communities gathered in front of Parker Hall on Earth Day, April 22, to dedicate the triangle garden in front of Parker Hall to Frederick "Chris" Feiker, Keene State's gardener from 1976 to 2004.

He created many wonderful gardens on campus before being seriously injured in a bicycle accident. Friends and colleagues shared memories and paid tribute to Chris's horticultural legacy, beauty that renews itself each year.