Editorial

One big weekend

By Editorial Staff

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Family, alumni, trustees, and even a presidential inauguration: last weekend was a festive one at Hamilton. It was a time for students to reconnect with their families, for the alumni to revisit their alma mater and for the entire campus community to welcome a new president. 

It would be nearly impossible to acknowledge every event on the long schedule for the weekend, but we will nonetheless cite some of the highlights. The daytime activities included the debut of Hamilton’s new Alex Talks, a lecture series structured similarly to the renowned “TED Talks” series, that will highlight Hamilton professors’ personal research passions and give the community an opportunity to learn more about what our favorite faculty members have been up to outside of the classroom. This weekend’s talks covered subjects ranging from the U.S.-Mexico relations to spiritual quests to the silver screen. 

Elsewhere on campus, WISE was holding a silent student art auction at the Wellin Museum which donated 50 percent of the proceeds to the Olympics of the Visual Art (the New York State Art Teachers Association), the Microfinance Club hosted a giant pumpkin and watermelon “Guess the Weight” contest to raise money towards issuing small loans to local entrepreneurs, and a very family-friendly C@B Movies board hosted screening of the movie Finding Dory at several semi-regular intervals. Bake sales, lunches, fundraisers and performances abounded, and our mascot, Alex, could be seen at many of these events, snapping photos with enthusiastic members of the Hamilton network. 

Evenings were dedicated to performances. Friday night featured Hamilton’s annual Fallcoming Jazz Concert in the Fillius Events Barn starring pianists extraordinaire Dick Hyman and Rossano Sportiello. The duo performed an inspiring setlist together in a simultaneous concert/live recording session for an album that will be released in the spring. The following night, the Hamilton College Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble took the stage in Wellin Hall, while the a cappella groups performed across campus in the Chapel. 

Even as all of these wonderful things were happening, perhaps the most exceptional event of the weekend was the inauguration of Hamilton’s new President, David Wippman. On Saturday, Oct. 8, hundreds of guests gathered in the Field House to celebrate the official beginning of David Wippman’s tenure at Hamilton. The president was welcomed by many community members, along with the 42nd Vice President of the United States, Walter Mondale, Wippman’s close friend of many years. 

The Spectator would like to join the community in welcoming President Wippman. We hope that his tenure will bring a spirit of continued progress to this superior institution. 

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