News
NESCAC News
By Rylee Carrillo-Waggoner ’19
April 27, 2017
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Colby students guaranteed funding for studying abroad thanks to generous alumnus donation
Colby alum Andrew Davis ’85 donated a $25 million gift to Colby College to develop the DavisConnects program. The college is planning to work the program into their current model of the liberal arts experience. To Colby College, liberal arts no longer just means a broad, liberal education that hones critical thinking skills, but places that understanding of education on the universal stage. What does that mean? All Colby College students are guaranteed funding to go abroad and will be encouraged to do so as a part of rounding out their education. Colby College President David Greene reacted, “The Davis family changed American higher education by making the best colleges and universities available to deserving students from around the world through the Davis United World College Scholars program… That program changed Colby College and the life trajectory of countless students who came here to study and left prepared and committed to changing their communities for the better. Now Andrew Davis and his family are bringing Colby to the world by providing all of our students with rigorous, meaningful global opportunities. DavisConnects is leading a transformation of the liberal arts by demonstrating how research, global and internship experiences can enrich an education and provide an unlimited set of postgraduate opportunities.”
Connecticut College students organize and participate in 10th annual Walk to End Homelessness
On Sunday, April 23, 500 people walked 1.6 miles through the streets of New London, CT to fundraise for the homeless. This year’s 10th annual Walk to End Homelessness raised $25,269. Connecticut College’s Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy and the New London Homeless Hospitality Center (NLHHC) co-organized the walk, and all of the proceeds went back to the NLHHC to aid them in the services and housing that they provide for hundreds of people in southeast Connecticut. A decade-long tradition now, many Connecticut College students look forward to the event and see it as a celebration. This year, one of the college’s a cappella groups, Vox Cameli, performed as well as Ben and Nancy Parent of The Rivergods and spoken word poets Viri Villalva-Salas ’20, Juan Garcia ’20 and Verdi Degbey ’20.
Middlebury College alum explains the history behind the college’s tradition of commencement canes
History professor Jim Ralph ’82 explained why Middlebury graduates receive canes along with their diplomas during commencement. The tradition was first implemented by President John McCardell in 1995; however, the tradition pays homage to 1800, when the college was founded. Gamaliel Painter was a founder both of Middlebury College and the town of Middlebury and left a large sum of money to the college… as well as his cane. During the time period, canes were a symbol of authority, and Painter took his cane with him everywhere. Ralph explained that as upper-class collegiate culture developed, colleges sought traditions and emblems to become defining features for the culture. At Middlebury, Painter’s cane was that emblem. The school even erected a statue in honor of the cane and developed a choral song about the cane.