Newsbriefs
Ford Hall Construction Begins: For those who would like to
stay informed about the construction of Ford Hall, Smith’s new building for
engineering and the sciences, a webcam gives a continual bird’s-eye view of
the site. The camera features a new picture of the construction progress every 15
minutes. For the latest view, go to www.fordhall/construction/webcam.php.
Photo by Fish/Parham.
Carrying out its commitment to ban investment
in companies with operations that support the government of Sudan, Smith will divest
from one direct holding in its endowment and prohibit investment in an additional
26 firms. The college’s board of trustees voted unanimously at its May meeting
to take those actions based on its opposition to the Sudanese government’s
campaign of genocide in the Darfur region. The banned companies were identified through
a yearlong study led by the board’s Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR).
The CIR is charged with monitoring social issues related to the college’s endowment
and advising the board on responsible investing. “The hope is that without
foreign investments, the Khartoum government will find it impossible to continue
its policy of genocide in Darfur,” says Smith President Carol T. Christ. “Smith
and other institutions are collectively exerting important international pressure.”
The college has a new statement of its mission,
approved in May by the Smith College Board of Trustees: “Smith College educates
women of promise for lives of distinction. A college of and for the world, Smith
links the power of the liberal arts to excellence in research and scholarship, developing
leaders for society’s challenges.” The statement and supporting values
are online at www.smith.edu/collegerelations/mission.php.
“The Power of Women’s Voices,” a
conference celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Sophia Smith Collection, was held
in late September. It featured a host of feminist activists, including keynote speaker
Gloria Steinem ’56 and performer Margie Adam. In addition to the Voices of
Feminism Oral History Project, the conference highlighted the recently processed
YWCA Records, the Living U.S. Women’s History Oral History Project, the Population
and Reproductive Health Oral History Project, and the newly received Women’s
Music Archives. Visit www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/events.html for more information.
Leslie Hill is now at the helm of Smith’s
Office for International Study. As associate dean for international study, Hill oversees
the college’s junior year abroad programs in Geneva, Paris, Hamburg and Florence.
Smith students may also apply for opportunities that enable them to study at more
than 40 other locations around the world. “I am honored to collaborate with
my new colleagues who are dedicated to international education for Smith students,” said
Hill, who began August 1. “It is a wonderful time to be arriving at Smith,
as the college has recently identified international education as a strategic initiative
for growth.” Previously Hill served as an associate director for the Office
of International Programs at Harvard University.
The college welcomed new trustees to its board
in May, and they started their terms July 1. They are Megan E. Ambrus ’07,
Linda Smith Charles ’74, Lisa Ferrell ’85, Charlotte G. Kea ’82,
Judith Pelham ’67 and Linda Salisbury ’78.
Mentha Hynes, former associate dean for multicultural
affairs and student affairs, left Smith in June to assume her new position as director
of student life at Whitman College of Princeton University. She was at Smith for
11 years and also served as associate director of admission. Venus Ricks, east Quad
area coordinator, will serve as acting director of multicultural affairs while a
search takes place this year.
Smith College is a cosponsor of the 75th Anniversary
Symposium on Sylvia Plath ’55 at Oxford University, United Kingdom, held October
25–29. The conference brings together scholars, writers, artists and poets
to demonstrate the many aspects of Plath’s work. Karen Kukil, Smith associate
curator of special collections, is a featured speaker. Cornelia Pearsall, associate
professor of English language and literature, and Smith student Aubrey Menard ’08
will also give talks. Alumna Enid Mark ’54 will display her 1996 Elm Press
book About Sylvia at the conference. Additional information is available at www.plathsymposium2007.org.
In addition, Kukil recently was co-recipient of the
2007 (Division One) Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current
Exhibition Catalogue Award from the American Library Association. She received the
award for “’No Other Appetite: Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, and the Blood
Jet of Poetry,” which she co-authored with Stephen Enniss of Emory University.
Together Kukil and Enniss curated the exhibition of the same name at The Grolier
Club in New York City in fall 2005.
Workers recently installed the new turbine that will help
fire the innovative cogeneration power plant the college expects to have in place soon.
With the new system up and running, Smith will meet the heating and electrical demands
of the campus with a measure of energy independence while cutting its greenhouse emissions
in half. Visit www.smith.edu/green for more on Smith’s sustainability efforts.
Photo by Fish/Parham. |
