David K. Lewis, Ph.D.

Dear Connecticut College Parent:

As I write this letter, the college has just celebrated its 83rd Commencement. As the keynote speaker, composer and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis urged the graduates to remain optimistic and idealistic and capped his remarks with a joyous trumpet rendition of "Buddy Bolden's Blues." The college conferred honorary degrees on Mr. Marsalis, humanitarian Rachel Robinson, shareholder rights advocate Robert A.G. Monks, and neurology researcher Vilayanur Ramachandran. Paul Weissman, trustee emeritus and father of a Connecticut College graduate, was awarded the Connecticut College medal. Earlier this semester, the college awarded honorary degrees to genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter and former vice presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, both of whom spoke to large student audiences in Palmer Auditorium.

We are already preparing for the return of students next fall, including a strong Class of 2005. The college received 4,317 applications for admission-the second largest pool in the college's history-and accepted 34 percent of applicants. Eighty percent of accepted students rank in the top 20 percent of their high school classes (compared to 76 percent last year) and the median SAT rose 10 points to a record 1310.

Another indicator of the college's strength are the prestigious fellowships won by students and recent graduates. Cynthia Erickson '01 has been awarded a Truman Fellowship, which she will use to pursue graduate studies in law and education at Boston College. Laura Israelian '00 will spend next year as a Luce Foundation Scholar in Asia. Sara Wilkinson '03 was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater scholarship. Kim Wolske '03 received a Morris K. Udall scholarship. Students in the class of 2001 have been accepted at many top graduate schools including Stanford, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and Duke.

The past semester had many highlights. Five outstanding new faculty were appointed, each bringing a new dimension to the college's strong interdisciplinary focus.(Please see short bios on each, below.) Eugene V. Gallagher, Rosemary Park Professor of Religious Studies, was awarded a national Excellence in Teaching Award by the American Academy of Religion. Six current and one new faculty were named to distinguished professorships.

Students did an impressive job organizing the 11th annual Southeastern Connecticut Earth Day Festival on April 22. Special thanks to Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists and father of Alice Kelly '04, for his keynote speech on sustainable choices. Students also worked with the administration and physical plant personnel to create a partnership under which the college will purchase about 17 percent of its electrical energy needs from environmentally friendly energy sources. You will receive details in a forthcoming letter from student government president Scott Montemerlo '01.

In athletics news, 15 students earned All-NESCAC Honors and 30 students were named to the All-NESCAC Academic Teams this year. The women's sailing team finished fourth among 18 schools in national championship competition. The field hockey team spent five weeks ranked in the Division III Top 20 and earned its first post-season appearance since 1996 with a trip to the ECAC Tournament. The men's basketball team went 18-7 this winter to extend their record to an impressive 87-17 over the last four years. The women's squash team, with a record of 14-10, captured the "C" Division championship at the Howe Cup. The men's lacrosse team was among the most improved teams in New England going 11-6 and reaching the ECAC Semifinals. Men's and women's cross country sent four runners to the NCAA Division III Championship. The women's novice eight won a silver medal at the ECAC Collegiate Rowing Championship. For the second time in four years, Connecticut College expanded its list of varsity sports with the addition of men's and women's water polo.

For me, a personal highlight of the past semester was getting to know more students. My weekly dinners in Harris Refectory gave me an opportunity to talk with dozens of students and to witness once again their extraordinary level of engagement in academic pursuits and campus governance.

In May, the Board of Trustees approved an $83.4 million budget for 2001-02, which represents a slight increase over spending this year. As part of the budget development process, the college community-including students-carefully examined all programs and priorities. Funding was increased over last year's levels for several strategic areas including financial aid, technology and physical plant. The budget also reflects reorganization of the Athletics Department. Following the recommendations of a task force composed of faculty, students and staff, Athletics will reduce the use of part-time assistant coaches. Instead, head coaches will assume additional responsibilities as assistant coaches in other sports. These changes will allow us to realize cost savings while maintaining the integrity of our physical education program and keeping all varsity teams intact in 2001-02.

Students also participated this year, along with a team of outside consultants, in a task force that evaluated health services at the college. Based on the group's recommendations, the college will move from a 24-hour-a-day infirmary model to a clinic model of health services emphasizing non-emergency medical care and educational and preventive programming. The student health services center will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Professional staff and trained peer advisers will be available in the residence halls to help students access medical resources in the surrounding community for after-hours urgent and emergency care. We will again offer students a low-cost, comprehensive health insurance plan. We recommend very strongly that students purchase this plan, but students with proof of comparable coverage may choose to waive purchase. You will receive more details about health services and insurance in mailings from the Office of Student Life.

As you know, Claire Gaudiani is on sabbatical at Yale Law School and will officially step down as president on June 30, 2001. At the request of the trustees, I will serve as interim president until the search for a new president is completed. The presidential search committee has been delighted by the quality and experience of applicants, and is moving forward rapidly in the deliberation process.

My wife, Nancy, who works in the college's development office, asks that I remind you that your contribution to the Parents Fund will be most appreciated. By demonstrating your support for the value of a Connecticut College education, you will help the search committee recruit a top candidate and let our faculty know that you appreciate their work.

I send you best wishes for a happy, productive and safe summer. I plan to be on campus most of the summer and will spend some of my time working with students in the chemistry laboratory. You may reach me through the President's Office if you have any concerns or questions.

Sincerely,

David K. Lewis
P'95 Interim President

New Connecticut College Faculty 2001

Catherine Benoît, Associate Professor of Anthropology

Professor Benoît is currently conducting two studies in applied medical anthropology in the Caribbean, including one that focuses on AIDS in the French/Dutch island of Saint Maarten and the other on sickle-cell disease in Saint Maarten and Guadeloupe. Her goal is to improve the health care system through an improved understanding of cultural practices linked to both of these diseases. The studies will be part of her next book about labor markets, migrations and transnationalism, set against the horizon of French nationalism in the Caribbean. Professor Benoît earned her bachelor's degrees in archeology and art history, and anthropology from the University of La Sorbonne-Paris I and Paris VII. She earned master's degrees in archeology and anthropology as well as her doctorate in anthropology from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Professor Benoît is currently a fellow in landscape architecture studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Her latest book, "Bodies, Gardens and Memories - Anthropology of the Body and Space in Guadeloupe," examines the embodiment of African-American gardens in Guadeloupe as a way toward understanding ethnicity and creolization among traditional healers and the patients in a multi-ethnic society. She has had extensive teaching experience in France.

Jane Dawson, Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Associate Professor of Government

The author of the award-winning Eco-nationalism: Antinuclear Activism and National Identity in Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine, Professor Dawson is currently working on a global study examining how environmentalism may be linked to a variety of subgroups within a broad spectrum of political settings and the implications of this linkage for domestic and international environmental policy. Eco-nationalism is a study of the emergence of environmental activism in the U.S.S.R. under Gorbachev and explains how and why this movement ultimately took the form of nationalist mobilization against Soviet rule. Professor Dawson received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and Russian from Bryn Mawr, her master's degree in chemistry from Harvard, her master's degree in Soviet studies from The Johns Hopkins University, and her doctorate in political science from the University of California-Berkeley. Professor Dawson currently teaches at the University of Oregon. She recently was awarded the William Piche Prize in recognition of her teaching and research.

Ozgur Izmirli, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science

Professor Izmirli received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey. Professor Izmirli is currently a visiting assistant professor of mathematics and computer science and associate director for technology at the Center for Arts and Technology. He joined the college community following a year as a visiting scholar at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. His research interests include automated music recognition from acoustical signals, information retrieval of audio and music, music perception and cognition modeling, and multimedia, human-computer interaction. He will teach courses involving theoretical, hardware and design aspects of math and computer science.

Christine J. Small, Instructor in Botany

Christine Small's teaching and research interests are broadly based in plant ecology, with emphasis in plant community ecology and systematics. She received her bachelor's degree from Christopher Newport University, her master's degree in botany from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and is a candidate for her doctorate in environmental and plant biology at Ohio University. Her dissertation, "Herb-layer diversity in central Appalachian oak forests: influence of disturbance, site quality, and scales of investigation," focuses on the influence of time and space on plant diversity in deciduous forests.

Derek D. Turner, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Professor Turner's research interests are in the philosophy of biology, especially in natural history, evolutionary biology, systematics, and biological teleology. His dissertation, "Evolution and Inquiry: An Analogy," defends a version of evolutionary epistemology that explores inquiry as an evolutionary process. He has received many prestigious awards and fellowships, including membership in Phi Beta Kappa and a Fulbright Fellowship for study in Germany before beginning his graduate work at Vanderbilt, where he teaches currently. He received his bachelor's degree from American University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University. He was awarded the Franklin J. Matchette Foundation Award for Excellent in Teaching by the philosophy department at Vanderbilt.