This is Vassar...                           May 2008

Skinner Hall of Music comes to New York City

On Monday, May 12, 2008, the Vassar College Choir (pictured), Madrigal Singers, Opera Workshop, Orchestra, and Women's Chorus will be performing at St. Bartholomew's Church (Park Avenue at E. 51st Street) in New York. The concert will be from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., and will include performances of works by Byrd, Gasparini, Mendelssohn, Purcell, and Tchaikovsky. Admission is $15.00 per person, and reservations can be made by visiting the Regional Programs website. There are no tickets issued for this performance; your name will be on the door list. For inquiries, please contact the Office of Regional Programs at 888.328.8528.

On Monday evening, June 2, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. at Weill Recital Hall (located at Carnegie Hall), pianist Blanca Uribe will perform Isaac Albeniz’s Iberia suite. Uribe, who retired as George Sherman Dickinson Professor of Music in 2005 after teaching at Vassar for 37 years, was awarded the coveted Albeniz Medal in 2007. Her many other honors include the General Francisco de Paula Santander Medal, awarded for outstanding contributions to Colombian culture, and the Order of Saint Charles, which she received directly from the President of Colombia. Uribe was born in Bogota, Colombia, into a family of many generations of professional musicians. She studied in Vienna at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art with Richard Hauser and in New York at The Juilliard School with Rosina Lhevinne and Martin Canin. Her work as concerto soloist has included appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Symphony, the Berlin Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, the Residentie Orkest of the Hague, and all of the major orchestras in Colombia. Tickets are on sale at CarnegieCharge (212.247.7800) or online at www.carnegiehall.org.

Vassar Celebrates Founder’s Day, Saturday, May 3

Arguably Vassar’s most beloved tradition, Founder’s Day has been one of the highlights of the school year since the first celebration in 1866, when it served as a surprise birthday party for Matthew Vassar. The character of the event has changed a lot over the last 142 years, but it continues to be a fun event for students and alumnae/i alike. This year’s theme is Candyland, and most of the day’s activities will center on that idea. There will be two “Kids’ Hours” from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. with rides, bouncy castles, and arts-and-crafts activities. Many local food vendors will attend alongside the beer truck, and a student band will provide musical entertainment. In the spirit of the original Founder’s Day, Vassar president Catharine Bond Hill will deliver the traditional toast to Matthew Vassar at 12:35 p.m., and buses will be available to take attendees to his grave. At 9:00 p.m., fireworks and a movie screening will take place on the Chapel lawn.

For alumnae/i interested in athletic activities, there will be plenty of sports events throughout the afternoon. There will be a cross country fun run and a women’s soccer alumnae game, both at 10:00 a.m. at Prentiss Field. At 11:00 a.m., there will be a memorial dedication of the tennis gazebo for Eric M. Smith ’92 followed by an alumni vs. men’s varsity tennis match. At Vassar Farm, women’s rugby will have an alumnae game at 11:00 a.m. and men’s rugby at 12:00 p.m. Also at noon, men’s soccer will hold an alumni game on Prentiss Field.

Alumnae/i interested in participating in these events should contact:

Fun Run: James McCowan, jamccowan@vassar.edu.
Women’s Soccer: Richard Moller, rimoller@vassar.edu.
Men’s Tennis: Roman Czula, roczula@vassar.edu.
Men’s and Women’s Rugby: Tony Brown, tobrown@vassar.edu.
Men’s Soccer: Andrew Jennings, jennings@vassar.edu.

Molly Finkelstein’s Last Dispatch as an Undergraduate

It's time to get sentimental. Or, at least, that's what I hear. Graduation is in less than a month, but I've been too busy with all the work I have left to do to start weeping about my last ever Parents' Weekend (am I the only senior whose parents come to this?). There are still papers to write, issues of The Misc to work on, and very important Mug nights to go to. But I know the end is near. Ever since I turned in my thesis (80 pages of poetry) and sent the yearbook in to the publisher, I've felt a combined sense of relief and disbelief that I still have to go to class and do all my reading.

Now that I know the end is near, I think I'm ready for it. Or about as ready as I can hope to be. When I read an article for class about the politics of 18th-century French furniture, it just feels unnecessary. I'm ready to be a productive member of a society facing issues slightly more pressing than the gender of pre-revolutionary writing desks. I've been in school for the past 16 years; I'm ready to put my education to more practical uses. Surely, my ancient societies correlate will come in handy.

To be fair, Vassar is trying to help us with the more mundane aspects of post-collegiate life. Earlier this week the Career Development Office offered a workshop about finance and budgeting. The room was packed; I had to sit on the floor. A huge group of seniors and one overachieving sophomore frantically took notes about bank accounts and credit cards. Let's just say there was more than one question asked along the lines of "Wait, so, what's a mutual fund?" Maybe we're not quite ready to enter the real world yet, but hey, we're quick learners.

I've really loved my years here at Vassar, but I think it's time for me to go. I don't want to live with four of my nearest and dearest friends anymore. I don't want to think that 10:30 a.m. is early or that pizza bagels are part of a balanced diet. I want to grow up already, at least a little bit. I'm not too worried about graduating. I already know I'll see most of my friends in New York City next year. I've already looked at all the English classes in the 2008–09 course catalogue and for once, I think I'll live if I don't take any of them. I know once I graduate I'll miss Vassar, but I also know that my college years will be irrevocably over. I won't need Vassar to guide me anymore; I'll be just fine on my own—thanks, in part, to all I've learned here. And besides, I can always come back and relive my favorite Mug night ('80s Night!) at Reunion.

Molly will be living in New York City and attending Columbia University’s Publishing Institute this summer. Look for a profile of Molly in the summer issue of the Vassar Quarterly.

Photo Credit: Craig Burdett

Alumnus Matthew Kavanagh ’01 Addresses the Class of 2008

On April 30, Vassar held its Spring Convocation, marking the end of the academic year. This year, students, fitted with the caps and gowns that they will wear on Commencement Hill in a few short weeks, listened to remarks by President Hill and featured faculty speaker Ron Sharp. Sharp is stepping down from his post as dean of the faculty to teach in Vassar’s English Department.

Prior to Sharp’s words, Matthew Kavanagh ’01 presented the Class of 2008 banner to Senior Class President Colin Sanders. (AAVC will store this banner for the class to carry at the parade on the occasion of its 5th reunion.) Kavanagh is the global campaigns director at RESULTS Education Fund, where he coordinates the non-profit’s five-country ACTION campaign focused on global health, TB, HIV, and economic policies. Prior to working at RESULTS, Kavanagh was the executive director of Global Justice, a national grassroots human rights organization working with young people on HIV/AIDS, child health, and trade justice. He is also an active member of DC Fights Back, an AIDS activist organization, and a writer on topics including health, human rights, economic justice, and the construction of the family.

Coming Soon to the Powerhouse Theater

Despite the absence of students, professors, and other members of the school-year community, summer at Vassar marks anything but a lull in activity. During these four months, the Vassar campus transforms into a platform for myriad camps, workshops, performances, and special events. From screenwriting to basketball to video games, a vast range of interests are covered among the many programs offered. One of the most popular and longstanding Vassar summer programs is the Powerhouse Summer Theater and Apprentice Training Program. Now in its 24th season, the Powerhouse works with both new and established artists to present world premieres throughout the summer. Created out of a partnership between New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, more than 200 artists and 40 apprentices live together on the Vassar campus as part of an eight-week residency, creating and constructing new works of theater. This summer, audiences can look forward to new work from actor/writer Eric Bogosian, Obie winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith (pictured), Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler, and more. The 2008 Powerhouse Theater season will run from June 27 – August 3. Subscription tickets can be purchased online starting May 21 at http://powerhouse.vassar.edu.

Ethicist Columnist for The New York Times to Give 2008 Commencement Address

Writer and humorist Randy Cohen, best known for his weekly “The Ethicist” column in The New York Times magazine, will deliver the address at the 144th Vassar College commencement exercises on Sunday, May 25, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., at the college’s outdoor amphitheater.

Cohen’s column is widely syndicated as “Everyday Ethics” to newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, and he is also the ethics columnist for the Times of London, as well as a regular contributor on ethical questions to the weekend edition of the National Public Radio program All Things Considered. A versatile writer who has authored collections of short stories (Diary of a Flying Man) and letters (Modest Proposals), as well as a book based on his New York Times column (The Good, the Bad and the Difference), Cohen won three Emmy awards for his writing on Late Night with David Letterman and a fourth for the program TV Nation. President Hill said, “Randy Cohen has significantly raised awareness and sensitivity regarding issues of ethics in everyday life, and he is a creative and entertaining writer. He will add to both the sense of responsibility and celebration that are very much a part of the commencement atmosphere.”

You can watch and listen to a live webcast of Cohen’s address, and all of the day’s activities, beginning at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, May 25.

Marie Dugo ’11 on The Today Show

Alumnae and alumni, keep an eye on your television: before long, your morning news program might feature one of our own. Marie Dugo ’11, AAVC Web Assistant, received a scholarship from the New York Women in Communication Foundation for young women interested in pursuing careers in the field. Dugo hopes one day to work in television news like her professional icon, Meredith Vieira. Dugo had the opportunity to meet Vieira when she and the 21 other scholarship winners appeared on The Today Show on Monday, April 7. Vieira even let Dugo deliver her sign-off before the commercial!

The scholarship goes to students from the tri-state region. Dugo is a native of Staten Island and hopes to stay in the New York area for graduate school. She is a Media Studies major and plans to emphasize news media in her course of study, which will include classes in the film, English, sociology, and American culture departments. Dugo is also a singer and is a member of a new student journalism group devoted to producing multimedia projects about campus life.

Photo Credit: Craig Burdett

There’s Always Something New to Learn About on Campus

For undergrads interested in pushing their study beyond their regular classes—and sometimes, for residents of Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley eager to continue their own educations—the Vassar campus is always host to a wide array of distinguished writers, speakers, and topics of discussion. Just in the last month, scholars have given lectures on campus about everything from the cultural politics of salsa dancing in Chicago to the interactions between seafloor fauna and geological fault lines at mid-ocean ridges. Mohsin Hamid (pictured) read from his New York Times bestselling novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist and discussed the current state of Pakistani politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough spoke about “Why History Matters” in conjunction with the Letters of John and Abigail Adams exhibit in Special Collections. Daniel Mendelsohn talked about his acclaimed memoir The Lost: A Search For Six Million and The Nation columnist Katha Pollitt lectured on “Living and Writing Feminism.” Economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, discussed his recent book The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. Read about these and other campus events happening every day on the InfoSite—there’s something to edify everyone.