News & Events

Anna Keegan '08, whose love of adventure led to numerous opportunities during her four years at Colgate, was presented with the 1819 Award at Tuesday's awards convocation.

The award is the most selective and prestigious the university gives to a graduating senior, and Keegan was among dozens of students and several faculty members honored during the year-end ceremony.

Keegan will graduate May 18 with degrees in sociology and anthropology and in Africana studies. Besides the 1819 Award, she also earned the Ramshaw Service Award from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Arthur Schomburg Award for Excellence in Africana Studies.

Instead of having to fight through rush hour traffic to make it to work, Ruthia Yi '07 travels down a dirt road to her "office," a small village in Togo that lacks running water and electricity.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, Yi teaches residents about soil conservation methods and the pressing need for reforestation. She also promotes HIV and AIDS awareness for those living in the remote village.

The Upstate Institute Student Philanthropy Council (SPC) at Colgate University has awarded three nonprofit organizations in central New York grants totaling $10,000.

The SPC is a service-learning program composed of twelve Colgate sophomores.

This year's grant money will support initiatives that enhance the personal and life skills development for underserved populations in the community.

Colgate students nominated for highly selective fellowship programs were honored last week during a Merrill House luncheon.

Provost Lyle Roelofs commended the students for their interest in extending their educations and serving as ambassadors for Colgate in the global community.

"It's important for us as an institution to provide the resources for these students to pursue these kinds of rigorous opportunities," said Roelofs. He was joined by several faculty members at the lunch, which was organized by Ann Landstrom, associate director for fellowship, scholarship, and graduate school advising for the university's Center for Career Services, along with Kelly Snyder in the Dean of the Faculty office.

For Stephanie Macomber '08, the Dalai Lama's discussion about religion and spirituality was the culmination of her four years on campus as a religion major and member of University Church.

"One of my most influential professors, Professor Sindima of the religion department, once told me, 'an unexamined faith is no faith at all.' He couldn't be more accurate," Macomber said. "By examining my faith I have learned a lot about religious tolerance in a time when our world certainly needs it. I was so deeply impacted by the Dalai Lama's words because all of our differences, whether racial, economic, or religious are just secondary to our likeness as humans."

The day after his public talk, the Dalai Lama on Wednesday expanded on his views about religion in a panel discussion for about 100 students who are involved with religion on campus, either through academic study, student clubs, or the campus ministry.

The program, titled "The Moral and Spiritual Power of Religion and the University," was introduced by Colgate President Rebecca S. Chopp, herself a religion scholar, and moderated by Steven Kepnes, Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Professor in Jewish studies and religion.

On the second day of his Colgate visit, the Dalai Lama was given a glimpse of home when he was treated to a presentation on the constellations of the night sky over Lhaso, Tibet, in the visualization lab of the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center.

His Holiness then participated in "A Dialogue on Science and Religion" in the center's Meyerhoff Auditorium with faculty panelists Lyle Roelofs, Vic Mansfield, Harvey Sindima, and David Dudrick.

Mansfield, professor of physics and astronomy, presented his new book Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics to the Dalai Lama, who had written the book's foreword.

Nearly 5,000 people streamed into Hamilton, across Colgate's campus, and into Sanford Fieldhouse to hear His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speak about happiness -- that illusive quality that all human beings want, yet find so hard to achieve.

Before beginning, he removed his shoes and arranged himself slowly in a cross-legged position in the oversized crimson leather chair that was made for the occasion.

Between classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and doing the many other tasks that keep college students busy on a daily basis, one thing is clear: Colgate students need their rest.

The Wellness Initiative, a campuswide program that provides education and opportunities for personal health, sponsored a series of events last week to teach students about the importance of sleep and how to get the most out of it.

At the Hall of Presidents on Monday night, Charlotte Johnson, vice president and dean of the college, read Goodnight Moon to a group of pajama-clad students gathered around her feet.

Yul Kwon, winner of CBS's hit show Survivor: Cook Islands, came to Colgate last week as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

During a workshop organized by the student-run Asian Awareness Coalition about achieving professional and academic success after college, Kwon shared some useful pointers.

"Develop social networks, pursue your passion, and ask employers for feedback," Kwon said.

Former presidential candidate Walter Mondale said, "Modern politics today requires a mastery of television."

On April 8, while the rest of America was flipping channels in search of the latest 2008 presidential campaign news, a capacity crowd of more than 200 alumni and friends gathered at the Paley Center for Media in New York City to gain election insights first-hand from a panel of Colgate's modern political experts.

The life of an acclaimed sports journalist is filled with many interesting opportunities and experiences, but it would be a mistake to think that these can be achieved without hard work and persistence.

By day, Jamal Patterson '97 works as a sales executive for an orthodontics company. By night, Patterson trades his business suit for boxing shorts as he trains for his next match as a mixed martial arts fighter.

It's a double life, of sorts, that caught the attention of The New York Times.

The U.S. health-care system must move from an emphasis on intervention to one of prevention and early diagnosis if it is to provide real value to American consumers.

That is one of the topics Dr. Michael J. Wolk '60 discusses in the latest episode of Colgate Conversations, a podcast series that highlights members of the campus community.

The noted cardiologist was on campus recently for the Michael J. Wolk '60 Conference on Medical Education. More than 100 students met with physicians from around the Northeast and dissected the medical profession, how to join it, and what to expect from life as a clinician.

The remaining tickets for the much-anticipated lecture by the Dalai Lama at Colgate University were snatched up by the general public in just three hours Saturday.

The free tickets were available via the Colgate Bookstore's website starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Last Friday I stepped into the Ho Lecture Room in Lawrence Hall to get a sense of what life was like many centuries ago on another continent.

I came away with just that, and more.

The Colgate Medieval Colloquium focused on literature from that time period, and the expression "medieval literature" flooded my mind with images of warriors in thick armor sitting on the steps of a grey castle somewhere in Scotland and composing poetry.

An interdisciplinary symposium -- Nature/Place/Cinema -- will be spread out over two weekends and two campuses (Colgate University and Hamilton College) providing students with behind-the-scenes access to filmmakers and film scholars.

The series of screenings and lectures will draw attention to the depiction of place and the environment, as well as the history of the nature film. It will also examine cinematic manifestations of place, as it relates to contemporary culture, history, and habitat.

Nature/Place/Cinema begins this Friday at 4:15 p.m. at Hamilton College with a screening of John Gianvito's Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind.

"The sole purpose of the company is to give," said musician PJ Johnson.

What Johnson was talking about was TOMS Shoes, a nonprofit organization that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased.

Last Friday, Johnson performed with two other musicians from Nashville, Tenn., Tim Schurrer and Adam Agin, at the O'Connor Campus Center for a "Style your Sole" event benefiting TOMS Shoes.

"The event will help raise money for a shoe drop planned this summer in Ethiopia and in selected parts of the United States," said Courtney Walsh '10, co-president of the Colgate chapter of Amnesty International, which sponsored the event.

"It was the best experience of my life."

That was the simple text message that Jesse Winchester '08 had sent to the Colgate athletics department after his NHL debut on Saturday night.

Winchester, a dominant force for the Raiders hockey team the past four years, jumped directly to the NHL after being signed by the Ottawa Senators three days after the Raiders season ended.