News & Events

George Will, a Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative journalist and author, used an impressive array of facts, his sharp wit, and several well-timed baseball references to illustrate the state of politics today.

In his lecture, "American Politics: The Political Argument Today," Will discussed the limits of government -- criticizing the ever-growing welfare state that encourages a sense of entitlement. He spoke in defense of free market capitalism and said the American people need to be more self-reliant.

The dry humor behind Will's sardonic tone engaged the audience as he laid out his case for a more limited government in terms of foreign and economic policies.

The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization organized Will's visit to Memorial Chapel on Thursday. Professor Robert Kraynak established the center in 2004 to "promote intellectual diversity by presenting a conservative voice on campus."

The act of creating something is both a tangible enterprise, and an empowering exercise.

Knowing this full well, artist Tim Rollins, who recently visited Colgate, has given inner-city youths a concrete reason to pursue literacy and a path to achievement for more than 20 years. He and his Kids of Survival (KOS) read and discuss works of literature and music and then explore ways to find visual counterpoints to them.

After the paper on Tolstoy has been turned in and the research notes on reverse micelles have been typed up, some students just want to use a different part of their brain for a different purpose for awhile.

So they strategize and ponder world domination by playing Risk or Axis & Allies, or release their inner Flea by plugging in to Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

A campus group called Game's Afoot fosters those moments by staging monthly game nights at the O'Connor Campus Center, which each draw about 70 students.

Justin Cronin is the author of the widely praised novel-in-stories Mary and O'Neil, which won the 2002 PEN/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, both for best debut fiction of the year.

In the third episode of the podcast series Colgate Conversations: Writers and their Craft, Cronin talks about the success of his book and shares information about his most recent literary activities.

That new work includes the contribution of "Down the Deep Well of Gravity: A Talk on the Cosmology of Fiction" for the Colgate University Press's forthcoming publication of Crafting Fiction, Poetry and Memoir: Talks of the Colgate Writers' Conference (spring 2008).

Maps can get you from point A to point B, and if you're a tourist in London, that's useful.

Twelve students taking part in the London Art and Art History Study Group last fall also learned that maps can serve as benchmarks of experience, providing graphical representations of intangible ideas.

The students shared their mapping projects and artwork they created overseas at a recent exhibition at Little Hall.

Tickets for the Dalai Lama's lecture at Colgate University will be made available starting Thursday (March 20).

As part of the university's Global Leaders Lecture Series, sponsored by Colgate's Parents' and Grandparents' Fund, the Dalai Lama will give a talk at Sanford Fieldhouse from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 22.

Thanks to the generosity of Colgate's parents and grandparents, all tickets will now be complimentary.

Joanne Race Borfitz of Norwich, N.Y., will join Colgate University as associate vice president of community relations and auxiliary services starting April 7.

Borfitz fills a new position created to manage Colgate's relationship with and investments in local and regional communities. She will also oversee the primary auxiliary operations of the university.

"Joanne is a proven collaborator with great appreciation for what makes Hamilton and central New York so special," said David Hale, vice president for finance and administration at Colgate. "She will hit the ground running as she helps us all ensure that Colgate continues to play a meaningful and appropriate role in the community."

The Colgate rugby football club today departed New York City for a nine-day trip to Ireland.

It is the club's second tour of Ireland - its maiden voyage was in 2004.

Since then, the club has enjoyed tremendous success, making the "Elite Eight" in the Northeast Rugby Union in 2004 and again last fall in 2007, where it finished first in their division and was runner-up in the New York State Rugby Conference.

For spring break this year, nine Colgate students will roll up their sleeves and dig in to help others -- literally.

Accompanied by Daniel Mandell, assistant director of the COVE, the group will head to the Dominican Republic this Friday to plant vegetable gardens and lead educational sessions on nutrition for the community of El Mangito.

The idea for this trip sprouted from Marla Pfenninger '08, who interned in the Dominican Republic last summer thanks to the Dr. Merrill Miller Endowed Fellowship.

Campus was buzzing today about the blizzard that hit Sunday.

No, not the lake-effect-snow kind of blizzard, but rather the hundreds of students and fans who donned white T-shirts to watch the men's basketball team beat Bucknell to advance to the Patriot League championship game.

More than 1,300 fans jammed Cotterell Court to watch the Raiders beat the Bison, 54-40. Colgate now plays American University at 4:45 p.m. Friday in a game to be televised on ESPN2.

The winner gets to go to the NCAA Tournament.

The thrill is definitely not gone for Ken Schanzer.

As president of NBC Sports for nearly 10 years, he says he has "one of the greatest jobs on the planet."

As an alumnus from the Class of 1966, he says his love of Colgate -- a place of "magic and miracles" -- is as strong as ever.

During a recent visit to campus, Schanzer talked about his job and alma mater for the latest episode (mp3) of Colgate Conversations, the podcast series that highlights members of the campus community.

Within minutes of walking into New York City's Soho House on Wednesday night, the club was abuzz with Colgate alumni exchanging stories -- a few good laughs as well -- about their days back in Hamilton.

Then, it was time to get down to business.

More than 100 Colgate alumni from the classes of '85 to '02 were eager to hear the latest installment of Colgate's CEO Conversations with Greg Blatt '90 and Pete Sheinbaum '92.

Students gathered in the O'Connor Campus Center last week to engage in formal political discussion as part of a mock Democratic caucus.

With tensions running high between the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, students hoped the caucus process would help them better understand the candidates and their platforms.

A Colgate couple's tireless efforts to return a digital camera accidentally left in a New York City taxicab to its owner became the focus of an Associated Press article picked up by newspapers and websites around the world.

Brian Ascher and Erika Gunderson , both from the Class of 2003, were the main players in the digital-age mystery.

According to the AP story, Gunderson, who works at Bear Stearns Cos., found the Canon camera in a cab on New Year's Eve. The cabbie didn't know who had left it behind and - surprise, surprise - offered no help in finding the owner.