This is Vassar...January 2009

Local Dyson Foundation Awards $600,000 Grant

The Dyson Foundation has awarded Vassar College a grant of  $600,000 towards Vassar’s new Exploring College Project (EC). This program focuses on preparing students from low-income and high-academic achievement backgrounds for admission and success in college. The grant will cover two groups of 20 students to be identified from the high school classes of 2012 and 2013. Beginning on January 1, 2009, the program will begin to work with the initial group of 20 students from the Class of 2012. Some of the students selected for EC may also be participants in current Vassar programs in Poughkeepsie schools, including the Vassar After School Tutoring Program (VAST), Vassar’s highly successful tutoring/mentoring program at Poughkeepsie Middle School, and Sistah Power (pictured), a service-learning project for adolescent girls. Each EC student will be assigned two Vassar mentors, one a faculty member or administrator and the second a Vassar student. Beginning in the ninth grade, the students will meet with their mentors at least once each month for group or individual activities designed to provide enrichment and motivation.  These activities might include a concert or theatrical performance, an athletic or academic event at Vassar, or a meal or other one-on-one activity. Vassar student mentors will be drawn from the ranks of those who have volunteered in VAST and other Vassar outreach programs. The mentorships will create connections and continuity over the four years of the program as well as guidance for the students and their families at critical points in the college preparation process.

Iraq Veteran John McCary ’98 Speaks on Campus

On December 11, Vassar’s International Studies Program invited Sgt. John McCary ’98 to campus to discuss his experience as an intelligence officer in the Iraq War in a lecture titled “A Warrior’s Tale: To Iraq, Back and Beyond.” McCary graduated from Vassar with a degree in French and Francophone Studies, but he is also fluent in Arabic — a skill that helped him as lead interrogator and human intelligence collector for Task Force 1-34. Beginning in fall 2003, McCary was stationed in the al Anbar province, known as the most hostile territory to American forces (it is located halfway between Fallujah and Ramadi). He was involved in the first siege of Fallujah during his tour, among other major events in the war. As an intelligence collector, McCary led a range of tactical operations and extensive coordination with local military, political, and religious leaders. He also interacted with Iraqi citizens on a daily basis, including everyone from insurgents to farmers.

McCary with Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of International Studies Pinar Batur

McCary left active duty in 2005 and returned to the United States to record his experiences, which have been widely published. One of his letters home, “To the Fallen,” was published in Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families (2006). The letter and a personal testimony are also featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007). He recently completed a master’s degree in international security from Georgetown University and has covered international trade for the Wall Street Journal. He currently runs his own security-consulting firm in Washington, DC.

Women’s Squash Wins Liberty League Championship

On the weekend of November 22-23, the Women’s squash team defeated Hobart-William Smith and St. Lawrence for the Liberty League Squash Championship title. The match represented the first time that Vassar has hosted the league championship in Kenyon Courts. Head Coach Jane Parker emphasizes how proud she is of the team, and notes that the team has “worked hard and it’s paid off. A lot of people have stepped up and they pulled it off.” Junior captain Emilie Kraft from Seattle, Washington, gave the Brewers a decisive 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 victory at the No. 1 spot, and the remainder of the squad came through with wins to give Vassar its first Liberty League title ever.

Vassar’s Farm Project Supplies Campus

Vassar’s Campus Dining has made a concerted effort in recent years to serve organic and local foods to students, but this year they’re going very local — right across the street, in fact. After a 50-year hiatus, Campus Dining is working with the Poughkeepsie Farm Project to serve vegetables grown on Vassar Farm at ACDC and the Retreat. “We bought 565 pounds of butternut squash and 500 pounds of potatoes from the Poughkeepsie Farm Project yesterday,” said Director of Marketing and Sustainability for Campus Dining Ken Oldehoff on December 16. The Poughkeepsie Farm Project is a non-profit organization that works toward a just and sustainable food system in the Mid-Hudson Valley. It operates a member-supported garden on the Vassar Farm (located at the intersection of Raymond and Hooker Avenues), a 500-acre tract of land that grows over seven acres of vegetables. They donate over 16,000 pounds of produce each season to local soup kitchens and shelters. It is also a site for ecological research and hiking, biking, and nature exploration by Vassar faculty and students as well as members of the local community. It is also the site of rugby games and a pick-your-own-produce organization.

Vassar Community Lends Its Support to AIDS Awareness Week

The week of December 1, several campus organizations hosted events for World AIDS Week to raise awareness of people living with HIV and AIDS around the world and efforts at finding a cure. (World AIDS Week is a week of events beginning on World AIDS Day, which has been observed on December 1 since 1988.) Events included free HIV testing, a talk by Randy Barron, M.D., about the experience of living with HIV, and film screenings of Rent and Life Support. Several alumnae/i also returned to campus to participate in the official start of the week's events, which included a reinstallation of the AIDS Memorial Plaque and an alumnae/i panel. The memorial plaque honors friends of Vassar who were lost to AIDS, and the ceremony featured an open microphone where attendees could share memories, stories, and thoughts regarding AIDS issues. The 1991 Vassar AIDS quilt was on display at the event and was rededicated along with the plaque. The panel, moderated by author and activist Eric Marcus ’80, included Kevin Aldridge ’99, Suzanne Benzer P’89, Kevin Berrill ’78, and Associate Professor of Sociology Diane Harriford. "The best way I know to honor Vassar friends whose names are on the memorial plaque is to share our memories of them, which is some of what we did on World AIDS Day. But HIV/AIDS is still very much with us, so I hope the plaque will also serve to remind all members of the Vassar community how essential it is to educate, organize, and exercise care to avoid its continued spread," said Marcus.

Team Hosts Annual Alumni Basketball Game

On January 24, the men’s basketball team, with Head Coach Delmar Harris (pictured), will host the annual alumni game. The game, which will be held at 10 a.m. in the Athletics and Fitness Center, will also include a luncheon with the current players. In the afternoon, Vassar will face off against St. Lawrence University at 4 p.m. Coach Harris, a new addition to the Athletics Department this year, says that the annual game is important for helping current students to understand that “wearing a Vassar uniform represents everyone who has come before them and everyone who will come after them.” “Tradition never graduates,” he says. Harris has enjoyed his time at Vassar so far, and says that he’s already had a chance to meet some alumni at games this fall. “It means a lot to see their support of our program and their school,” says Harris.

Basketball alumni interested in attending the game and luncheon should contact Coach Harris at delharris@vassar.edu by January 5, and include a t-shirt size.

Presenting MODFEST 2009

The seventh annual MODFEST, a festival of new music, film, art, and literature, will explore the musical world of composer Steve Reich (pictured). Reich is widely celebrated as one of the most important and original American composers of all time. MODFEST will run from January 22 through February 14 and is open to the public. Adene “Dee” Wilson ’69, wife of Professor of Music Richard Wilson, came up with the idea for MODFEST in 2003 to foster better communication between the arts on Vassar’s campus, featuring the Departments of Africana Studies, Art, Dance, English, Film, and Music. The events are designed to explore all aspects of the creative process, from rehearsal to performance.  This year’s events will include a Ghanaian drumming workshop with Joakim Lartey ’78, screenings of four student films, a performance by the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater (VRDT), various poetry readings, and an open rehearsal with the New York Music Ensemble. There will also be several events celebrating the work of Reich: performances of his percussion music and orchestral arrangements, a conversation between Reich and Richard Wilson, and a rehearsal with Reich and VRDT. “Our choice to invite Steve Reich was a natural one given that, 32 years ago, Vassar hosted two concerts of his music, in which he performed; that was before he had achieved widespread recognition,” explained Dee Wilson. “We are now delighted to welcome him back as a world celebrity.”

Photo credit: Wonge Bergmann

Local Birdwatchers Hold Annual Count on Campus

Members of the local Hudson Valley community often visit Vassar to participate in events, enjoy the natural beauty of the arboretum, or interact with campus residents. But who knew those residents aren’t always human? The Waterman Bird Club, consisting of 400 bird enthusiasts from the area, visited the college on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for their annual bird count. Ralph T. Waterman founded the Waterman Bird Club in 1958. They meet once a week and every other weekend, often traveling to locations across the country in search of interesting birds. They spent their morning at Vassar hiking the woods and trails around the south end of campus, tracking bird movements and changes in bird species populations. Many species of birds thrive around the ponds, creeks, weeds, and shrubs; for a small area, the campus is home to a wide range of diverse habitats. Club members know what to listen for: they heard everything from blue jays and chickadees to swans and yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and even spotted a great blue heron in flight during this year’s visit. Strolling between buildings in the center of campus, one often sees the infamous Vassar squirrels busily preparing for winter, and even the occasional groundhog — but a pair of binoculars and a walk in the woods reveals a whole new world of wildlife right in our own backyard.